Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS where frame pacing and responsiveness directly translate into survival time, and the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT produces a combination that is decisively GPU-bound at high resolutions. The measured data shows a setup that can comfortably handle 1080p and 1440p competitive play, while 4K Ultra remains a stretch. This analysis breaks down exactly what the numbers say about the pairing, from recommended settings to the CPU's contribution in a 10-core, 16-thread package.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of presets for Lockdown Protocol. At 1080p, the data shows the Low preset delivers an average of 167 FPS, which is the highest measured result for the entire combo. Medium follows at 119 FPS, High at 104 FPS, and Ultra drops to 78 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 48 FPS, while the step from Medium to High is a smaller 15 FPS. For competitive play on a high refresh monitor, the Low preset at 1080p is the only way to hit the ceiling of the measured data, but the Medium preset at 119 FPS is a better balance of visual fidelity and speed. The 101 FPS minimum on Medium (the only 1080p row with min/max data) indicates that even during the most demanding frame time, the system stays above the 100 FPS threshold, which is a strong signal for consistency.

At 1440p, the results are still strong. Low delivers 123 FPS, Medium drops to 87 FPS, High is 76 FPS, and Ultra falls to 57 FPS. The Medium preset here offers the same appeal as its 1080p counterpart: a 74 FPS minimum frame rate ensures no drops below the 60 FPS standard, while the 100 FPS maximum shows it can push higher when the scene is simple. Considering the 119 FPS at 1080p Medium and the 87 FPS at 1440p Medium, the scaling rate is roughly 27% lower when moving up a resolution step. For most players, 1440p Medium is the recommended preset: it keeps the min FPS above 70 and provides a clear upgrade in image quality over Low.

At 4K, the settings curve flips from playable to demanding. Low sits at 79 FPS, Medium at 56 FPS, High at 49 FPS, and Ultra at 37 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K produces a 48 FPS minimum, which means it will dip below 60 FPS during intense firefights. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo is only viable at Low settings for a smooth experience, and even then, 79 FPS is below what the lower resolutions offer. The 4K High preset (49 FPS) and Ultra preset (37 FPS) are effectively unplayable for a fast-paced FPS.

The recommendation across the board is to prioritize frame rate at the expense of Ultra graphical effects. Medium is the sweet spot at 1080p and 1440p because it offers the best compromise between the 101 and 74 FPS minimums respectively. Ultra settings are only advisable at 1080p where the 78 FPS average remains above the minimum playable threshold, but note that the 37 FPS and 49 FPS results at 4K show that pushing the preset scale to the max at high pixel densities will bottleneck the experience. The strongest recommendation is for 1080p Low, but for a balance of visuals and performance, Medium at 1080p or 1440p is the most data-supported choice.

FAQ

Q: What average FPS can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The benchmark data shows 76 FPS for the 2560x1440 High preset. That's a frame rate that is perfectly smooth for single-player but slightly below the 100+ target for esports-level play.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra, and is it worth trying?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 37. This is the lowest measured score in the entire dataset. It's far below the minimum threshold for a smooth FPS experience, so the measured data indicates that 4K Ultra should be avoided for Lockdown Protocol.

Q: What is the highest FPS measured for this CPU+GPU combo?

A: The absolute highest average FPS in the locked data is 167 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration that reaches that level, showing that the CPU and GPU are both sufficiently fast to push a 165 Hz monitor in this game.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to a common rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292. The data places it with a deltaPct of 0 against the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284) and a -0.3 deltaPct against both the Intel Core 5 120 (25362) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365). This means it's essentially equal in synthetic benchmarks to those CPUs.

Q: Is the GPU better than a GeForce RTX 3070 in benchmark terms?

A: Based on the GPU benchmark data, the RX 7600 XT has an average score of 17083 and a percentile of 60. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which has an average score of 17208. The deltaPct is -0.7, meaning the RTX 3070 is 0.7% faster in the synthetic average, which is a negligible gap in real-world gaming.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded score in Geekbench, and why is that relevant?

A: The CPU scores 1996 in Geekbench single-core. For Lockdown Protocol, a single-thread score is a good proxy for per-core performance, which is crucial for the game's engine. The 3DMark single-thread score is 960, and the max-thread score is 7307, showing that the multi-threaded performance scales well beyond the single-thread baseline.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the frame rate is 167 FPS. Stepping up to 1440p Low drops the rate to 123 FPS, a reduction of 44 FPS (or about 26%). Going from 1440p Low to 4K Low (79 FPS) yields another 44 FPS drop, which is a 36% reduction. The pattern is consistent: each resolution step reduces the frame rate by roughly a third to a quarter.

This pattern changes when the preset is raised. At Medium, the 1080p result is 119 FPS, 1440p Medium is 87 FPS, and 4K Medium is 56 FPS. The delta from 1080p to 1440p is 32 FPS, while the delta from 1440p to 4K is 31 FPS, showing a linear scaling. The High preset shows similar behavior: 104 FPS (1080p), 76 FPS (1440p), and 49 FPS (4K), with a consistent 28 FPS drop between each step.

The interesting story lies in the Low preset's scaling. From 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the FPS goes from 167 to 123, which is a 44 FPS drop, but from 1440p Low to 4K Low, the drop is only 44 FPS again. This is a large 44 FPS hit at the first resolution jump, but then the scaling becomes the same as the other presets. The fact that the 4K Low (79 FPS) still beats the 4K High (49 FPS) by 30 FPS indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor as the resolution increases. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is more than capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p Low, but the GPU's fill rate can't keep up when the pixel count quadruples. The data shows that the frame rate drops are more significant from 1080p to 1440p than from 1440p to 4K, suggesting that the CPU is more of a bottleneck at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as the resolution climbs. At 4K Ultra, the 37 FPS result demonstrates a GPU-bound scenario where even the CPU's 4.60 GHz boost cannot compensate for the Radeon's workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank in Lockdown Protocol is 2360 out of 3714 tested combinations. This places it in the 36th percentile, meaning about 63% of tested combos perform better in the game's specific workload. The rank is a relative measure across a wide range of hardware configurations. The data shows that the i5-13400F is in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, indicating that the processor is a strong performer, while the RX 7600 XT is in the 42nd percentile among all GPUs. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-tier GPU explains the rank: the CPU is not the limiting component, but the GPU's 16GB of VRAM and 22.57 TFLOPS compute are not enough to push the combo to the top tier of the list.

The ranking is also influenced by the game's profile. Lockdown Protocol is a FPS that is sensitive to frame pacing and CPU performance at high refresh rates. The 13400F's 10 cores (6P + 4E) and 16 threads, with a boost clock up to 4.6 GHz, provide enough headroom for the game's logic. However, the combo's rank suggests that better GPU options would push it higher in the list. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2348 for the GPU is a measure of its overall DX12 performance, and that translates to a 60th percentile ranking, but the game-specific rank is lower, indicating that Lockdown Protocol is more demanding than the average title.

The fact that the combo ranks at 2360/3714 is a good reference point for gamers. It means that while the setup is capable, it sits in the middle of the pack. The CPU's nearest rivals (Ryzen 9 6900HS, Core 5 120, Ryzen 5 5600X3D) all have nearly identical average scores, so any of those CPUs would perform almost exactly the same in this game when paired with the same GPU. The GPU's nearest rival, the GTX 690 and RTX 3070, show that the RX 7600 XT is in a tight performance band with those two older cards, which is important context for the rank. The combo's rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's 42nd percentile standing, not the CPU's 77th percentile.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core CPU with a hybrid architecture: 6 Performance cores and 4 Efficient cores, which makes up 16 threads. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz and it boosts to 4.60 GHz. In the 3DMark multi-threaded test, it scores 7314, while in the single-thread test it scores 960. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 22604, and the single-core is 3191. These numbers indicate a very strong CPU for gaming, especially in a title like Lockdown Protocol.

The CPU's role in the measured FPS is to keep the GPU fed. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 167 FPS, which is the highest in the dataset. The CPU's 16 threads are more than enough to process the game's AI and physics, and the 4.6 GHz boost provides the single-thread performance that the game's engine likely relies on. However, at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 37, which is a fraction of the 1080p Low result. This shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 4K; the GPU is. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22604 is a strong result, but the GPU's 4K performance is the decisive factor.

The CPU's cache structure is also relevant. It has 20 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a large amount for gaming. The L2 cache is 1.25 MB per core, and the L1 is 80 KB per core. This cache hierarchy is designed to keep the cores fed with data, which is crucial for a fast-paced FPS where game logic and world state need to be accessed quickly. The CPU's memory support includes DDR4 and DDR5, meaning it can be paired with fast memory to further reduce latency. The 3DMark max-thread score of 7307 is close to the 16-thread score of 7314, showing that the 16 threads are fully utilized, but the game likely doesn't use all of them.

The CPU's role is to maintain a high frame floor, which is visible in the 1080p Low data. The 167 FPS average reflects the CPU's headroom. The single-thread Geekbench score of 1996 and the Passmark single-thread score of 3634 are strong indicators of per-core performance. The CPU's data shows it can deliver a 167 FPS minimum in the best case scenario, but the GPU's VRAM and compute limits cap the ceiling at higher resolutions. The 13400F is a strong match for the RX 7600 XT, but the data indicates that the CPU is never the main culprit for low FPS; the GPU's 128-bit memory bus and 16GB GDDR6 memory are the limiting factors at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data is the core of this analysis. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields an average FPS of 37. High yields 49. Medium yields 56 FPS with a min of 48 and max of 65. Low yields 79 FPS. The 4K row is the most demanding, and the Medium preset shows a min of 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard. The Low preset at 79 FPS is the only 4K setting that stays above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 76 FPS. Low yields 123 FPS. Medium yields 87 FPS (min 74, max 100). Ultra drops the average to 57 FPS. The 1440p Medium results are the most balanced, with a min of 74 FPS and a max of 100 FPS, indicating a stable 74-100 FPS range. The Ultra preset at 57 FPS is a 33% drop from the Medium preset, showing that Ultra is not recommended.

At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 104 FPS. Low yields 167 FPS. Medium yields 119 FPS (min 101, max 136). Ultra yields 78 FPS. The 1080p Low is the absolute best frame rate in the dataset at 167 FPS. The Medium preset's 101 FPS minimum is the best minimum of any preset, showing that even the lowest frame is above the 100 FPS mark. The Ultra preset at 78 FPS is below the High preset's 104 FPS, which means that Ultra's graphical extra cost is not worth the FPS loss.

Comparing the resolutions, the 4K High result (49 FPS) is lower than the 1440p Ultra (57 FPS), showing that resolution has a more substantial impact than the settings preset. The 4K Low (79 FPS) is very close to the 1440p High (76 FPS), showing that the 4K Low settings are equivalent in frame rate to 1440p High. The data shows that the combo is best served by lowering the resolution or the settings to maintain a playable frame rate. The 1080p Medium is the safest measure for a smooth experience, with the 1440p Medium coming in a close second. The 4K Ultra data point (37 FPS) is a clear outlier, and the 4K High (49 FPS) is still below the 60 FPS standard. The 1080p Low, at 167 FPS, is the only setting that clearly pushes the limit of the combo's capability.

The GPU's memory bandwidth is 288.0 GB/s (128-bit bus at 18 Gbps), and the CPU's memory support for DDR4/DDR5 is a match for the game's data throughput. The frame pacing at 1080p Medium shows a 101 FPS min, which is a high floor. The fact that the 4K Medium only has a 48 FPS min indicates that the GPU's 16GB VRAM is enough at 4K, but the compute units are not fast enough. The FPS breakdown shows that the bottleneck shifts from CPU-bound at 1080p Low to GPU-bound at 4K Ultra. The data is consistent with a balanced system that needs to be tuned to the resolution.