Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-13400F + AMD Radeon RX 9060

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a playable but not spectacular experience in Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title. The combo ranks 1647th out of 2828 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The measured frame rates reveal a system that handles 1080p gaming comfortably, struggles at 1440p with higher settings, and requires significant compromises at 4K. The data suggests this pairing is balanced at lower resolutions but becomes increasingly GPU-limited as resolution climbs, with the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads providing adequate headroom throughout.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this system. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 109 FPS at 1080p to 80 FPS at 1440p, then plummets to 51 FPS at 4K. That represents a 27% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 36% further drop moving to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets, which strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

Looking at Low settings, the same trend emerges with even more dramatic numbers. The system produces 175 FPS at 1080p, 128 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 27% and 35% respectively, nearly identical to the High settings scaling. This consistency suggests that resolution, not graphical complexity, is the primary factor driving performance degradation. The RX 9060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth appears insufficient for 4K workloads, as evidenced by the sub-60 FPS results at that resolution even on Low settings.

Ultra settings amplify the resolution penalty further. The system manages 81 FPS at 1080p, drops to 60 FPS at 1440p (a 26% reduction), and falls to 39 FPS at 4K (a 35% reduction). The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is barely playable for a competitive FPS title. The data reveals that doubling the pixel count from 1080p to 4K roughly halves the frame rate across all settings, a pattern consistent with a GPU that is bandwidth-limited. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 960, does not compensate for the GPU's inability to feed pixels fast enough at high resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, occupies a curious position in Lockdown Protocol. Its 8 GB VRAM capacity appears to be the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The GPU's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s, yet the 128-bit memory bus creates a bandwidth ceiling of 288.0 GB/s. This explains why the frame rate drops so precipitously between 1440p and 4K — the memory subsystem simply cannot sustain the data throughput required for 3840x2160 rendering.

Clock speeds tell a nuanced story. The GPU boosts to 2990 MHz with a game clock of 2400 MHz, which are respectable figures that help at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the system achieves 175 FPS on Low settings and 109 FPS on High, indicating the GPU has sufficient compute headroom when memory bandwidth is less strained. However, the 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 3322 places this GPU in the 59th percentile overall, and its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a deltaPct of -0.7. This near-parity with a previous-generation card suggests the RX 9060 is positioned as a mid-range offering that excels at 1080p but lacks the memory bandwidth for 4K gaming.

The FP32 performance of 21.43 TFLOPS and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are adequate for the game's demands at lower resolutions, but the 4K results tell a different story. At 4K Low, the system only manages 83 FPS, which is 53% lower than the 1080p Low result. The VRAM usage likely exceeds 8 GB at 4K with higher settings, forcing the GPU to rely on slower memory fallbacks. The fact that 4K Medium produces 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS indicates the GPU is working at its limits, with frame pacing suffering as the memory bus saturates.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-13400F or the AMD Radeon RX 9060 the bottleneck in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p. The frame rate drops of 26-36% when moving from 1080p to 1440p and again from 1440p to 4K are consistent with GPU limitations. The CPU's 3dmark_max_threads score of 7307 and 16 threads provide sufficient processing power, as evidenced by the system's ability to hit 175 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K?

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 4K Low, the system averages 83 FPS, while 4K Medium drops to 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS. 4K High produces 51 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 39 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K achieves consistently playable frame rates for a competitive FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's 16129, with a deltaPct of -0.7. It also closely matches the AMD Radeon RX 7700's 15852 (deltaPct of 1) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500's 15679 (deltaPct of 2.1). This indicates the GPU performs similarly to those cards in this title.

Q: What settings provide the smoothest experience at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 1440p delivers 128 FPS average, which is the only 1440p setting that exceeds 100 FPS. Medium settings produce 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS, and High settings drop to 80 FPS. Ultra settings at 1440p yield 60 FPS, which is the minimum recommended for competitive play.

Q: Is the i5-13400F holding back the RX 9060 in this game?

A: The CPU does not appear to be a limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 175 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently. The i5-13400F's passmark_single_thread score of 3634 and 3dmark_single_thread score of 960 indicate strong single-core performance, which is typical for FPS games.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 1647th out of 2828 tested combos, placing it in the 58th percentile. This is a mid-range ranking that aligns with the GPU's 59th percentile standing among all GPUs and the CPU's 77th percentile among all CPUs, suggesting the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 175 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth for a competitive FPS. Medium settings yield 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS, maintaining consistent frame delivery. High settings average 109 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 81 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra represents a 54% performance penalty, which is reasonable considering the graphical improvements.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve steepens. Low settings still deliver a respectable 128 FPS average. Medium settings produce 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS, showing more variance than at 1080p. High settings average 80 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 60 FPS. The 1440p results show the GPU beginning to strain, particularly at Ultra settings where the frame rate drops to the edge of competitive playability.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings average 83 FPS, which is playable but far from ideal. Medium settings produce 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS, indicating occasional dips below the 60 FPS threshold. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 39 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that this combination is not designed for high-resolution gaming without significant settings reductions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1647th out of 2828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the lower-middle range of all tested configurations, which is consistent with the individual component rankings. The CPU ranks in the 77th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile among all graphics cards. The system's overall ranking is pulled down by the GPU's relatively weaker standing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark performance include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS with a deltaPct of 0, the Intel Core 5 120 with a deltaPct of -0.3, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D with a deltaPct of -0.3, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with a deltaPct of 0.4. These margins are extremely tight, indicating the i5-13400F performs in a crowded field of mid-range processors. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a deltaPct of -0.7, the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a deltaPct of 1, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 with a deltaPct of 1, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 with a deltaPct of 2.1.

The ranking position suggests that gamers with this configuration will have a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but will need to make significant compromises at 4K. The system's performance aligns with its mid-range positioning, offering competitive frame rates at lower resolutions while lacking the headroom for high-resolution gaming with maximum quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset delivers 175 FPS, which provides the smoothest experience with the highest margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 124 FPS offers a better balance between visual quality and performance, with a minimum of 106 FPS ensuring no noticeable drops. The High preset at 109 FPS remains excellent for competitive play, while Ultra at 81 FPS may introduce slight input lag for the most demanding players.

At 1440p, the Low preset at 128 FPS is the only setting that maintains a high refresh rate experience. Medium settings at 91 FPS with a 77 FPS minimum are suitable for players who prioritize visual quality over maximum frame rates. High settings at 80 FPS are playable but leave little headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra settings at 60 FPS are at the edge of competitive viability, with any dip below 60 FPS potentially impacting gameplay.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 83 FPS is the only recommended option. Medium settings at 59 FPS with a 50 FPS minimum risk noticeable stuttering during intense action. High settings at 51 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS are not recommended for a competitive FPS title. Players who insist on 4K should accept the Low preset or consider reducing resolution scaling options within the game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, provides ample processing power for Lockdown Protocol. The CPU's architecture, Raptor Lake-S on a 10 nm process, offers a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This combination of core count and clock speed ensures the GPU is rarely starved for data, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p where the CPU's role is most critical.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate strong multi-threaded performance. The cinebench_r23_multicore score of 22604 and geekbench_multicore score of 11068 indicate the processor can handle the game's background tasks and physics calculations without bottlenecking. The passmark_multithread score of 25032 and 3dmark_max_threads score of 7307 further confirm the CPU's capability in multi-threaded workloads. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core provide sufficient data storage for game assets.

Single-thread performance is equally important for FPS titles, and the i5-13400F delivers with a passmark_single_thread score of 3634 and a cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 3191. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 960 and geekbench_singlecore score of 1996 show the CPU can handle the game's primary thread efficiently. The CPU's overall percentile ranking of 77th among all processors places it above the GPU's 59th percentile, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. The CPU's 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory add versatility, though the game's performance is ultimately constrained by the GPU's capabilities.