Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti delivers a playable but demanding experience in Lockdown Protocol, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. Benchmark data shows that moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings drops the average frame rate from 99.8 FPS to 46.7 FPS, a reduction of 53.1 FPS that demonstrates the renderer’s heavy reliance on graphics hardware as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 159.3 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond the 60 FPS threshold, but the steep decline at 4K Ultra—down to 35 FPS—reveals that the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are stretched thin by the game’s visual demands.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent pattern of diminishing returns as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the RTX 3060 Ti delivers 159.3 FPS on Low settings, which is 61.5% higher than the 99.8 FPS achieved at High settings. This gap narrows at 1440p, where Low produces 117.1 FPS versus 74 FPS on High, and further at 4K, where Low yields 77.1 FPS compared to 46.7 FPS on High. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial: at High settings, performance falls by 53.2% (from 99.8 to 46.7 FPS), while at Low settings, the decline is 51.6% (from 159.3 to 77.1 FPS). This consistency across presets indicates that the limiting factor is resolution-dependent rendering load, not a CPU constraint—the i5-13400F’s 16 threads and 20 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample headroom for the GPU to become the bottleneck.

The data also shows that Ultra settings impose a significant penalty at every resolution. At 1080p, Ultra averages 74.7 FPS, which is 25.1% lower than High’s 99.8 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 55.6 FPS versus 74 FPS on High, and at 4K, Ultra falls to 35 FPS, a 25.1% reduction from High’s 46.7 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately tax the RTX 3060 Ti’s 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The scaling from Medium to High is more moderate: at 1080p, Medium hits 111.5 FPS, which is 11.7% higher than High, while at 4K, Medium achieves 54.1 FPS versus 46.7 FPS on High—a 15.8% improvement. These figures confirm that the GPU is the dominant constraint, with the CPU’s 4.60 GHz boost clock and 10 cores (6 performance and 4 efficiency) rarely becoming the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest measured average is 159.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only preset and resolution combination that exceeds 150 FPS, indicating that the RTX 3060 Ti is capable of high-refresh-rate play only when graphical load is minimized.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in terms of raw GPU score?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 25120, which places it 0.2% below the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180) and 0.5% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235). It also trails the AMD Radeon 890M (25246) by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (25287) by 0.7%.

Q: Is the i5-13400F a bottleneck at 1080p in this game?

A: The data suggests not. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 159.3 FPS, which is far above the 60-75 FPS range typically associated with CPU-bound scenarios. The CPU’s single-thread score of 3004 in Cinebench R23 and multi-thread score of 21279 indicate it can keep up with the GPU’s output at this resolution.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 84.2 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Medium, it drops to 54.1 FPS. This represents a 35.8% reduction in performance, highlighting the GPU’s struggle with the 4K pixel count.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for Lockdown Protocol?

A: It ranks 1165 out of 1637 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of the database. This rank reflects the RTX 3060 Ti’s mid-range positioning—the GPU sits at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 82nd percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Does the game favor higher settings at 1080p for a better experience?

A: The data shows that 1080p High (99.8 FPS) offers nearly double the frame rate of 4K Ultra (35 FPS) while providing better visual fidelity than Low. For smooth gameplay, 1080p High is the sweet spot, as 1440p High (74 FPS) still clears 60 FPS but with more GPU stress.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F brings 10 cores and 16 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004, placing it at the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. These numbers indicate strong headroom for Lockdown Protocol’s physics and AI workloads, which typically scale with thread count. The CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H, scores 25201 (0.1% higher), while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (0.5% higher), so the i5-13400F is competitive with mobile and desktop parts in its class.

In this game, the CPU’s role becomes evident when comparing frame rates across resolutions at the same settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU pushes 159.3 FPS, but at 4K Low, the GPU limits output to 77.1 FPS—a 51.6% drop that is entirely attributable to pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help mitigate stutter during scene transitions, but the benchmark results show no evidence of CPU-induced frame pacing issues. The 65 W TDP and DDR4/DDR5 dual-channel memory support further ensure that the processor does not throttle under sustained gaming loads, allowing the RTX 3060 Ti to operate at its 1665 MHz boost clock without waiting on data from the CPU.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the data points to 1920x1080 with High settings as the optimal configuration. This preset delivers 99.8 FPS, which is 24.7% higher than the 74 FPS at 1440p High and 113.7% higher than the 46.7 FPS at 4K High. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 25.1 FPS (from 99.8 to 74.7), which is a 25.1% performance penalty for marginal visual gains. Conversely, dropping from High to Medium at 1080p gains only 11.7 FPS (from 99.8 to 111.5), suggesting that High is the sweet spot where the GPU’s shading units and texture units are efficiently utilized.

At 1440p, High settings yield 74 FPS, which is playable for most users but below the 90+ FPS threshold preferred in competitive FPS games. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 84.2 FPS, a 13.8% improvement over High, but sacrifices ambient occlusion and shadow quality. For users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, 1080p Low at 159.3 FPS is the only preset that exceeds 150 FPS, but the visual downgrade is severe. The data recommends avoiding Ultra at any resolution above 1080p, as 1440p Ultra (55.6 FPS) and 4K Ultra (35 FPS) both fall below the 60 FPS playability standard. In summary, the measured rows show that 1080p High is the most efficient preset, while 1440p High is acceptable for slower-paced modes, and 4K is only viable at Low (77.1 FPS) or Medium (54.1 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-13400F and RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1165 out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 71st percentile of all systems in the database (since 1165/1637 means it outperforms about 28.8% of combos). This rank is consistent with the GPU’s standalone percentile of 69, which is lower than the CPU’s 82, indicating that the graphics card is the limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% higher average score), would not significantly change the in-game ranking because the GPU’s bottleneck dominates at 1440p and 4K.

The RTX 3060 Ti’s nearest GPU rivals—the RX 6700M (0.2% higher), RX 6600 (0.5% higher), and Radeon 890M (0.5% higher)—all have similar average scores, suggesting that swapping to any of these would yield within 1% of the same frame rates. The combo’s low rank is partly due to the high number of modern GPUs in the database, but the measured FPS data shows that it still delivers smooth 1080p gameplay. For context, the combo sits above the bottom 28.8% of systems, which includes older or entry-level hardware, but below the top 71.2% that feature higher-end cards like the RTX 4070 or RX 7800 XT. The rank is a reflection of the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM capacity and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which are adequate for 1080p and 1440p but insufficient for 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are: Low 159.3 FPS, Medium 111.5 FPS, High 99.8 FPS, and Ultra 74.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 47.8 FPS (30.0% reduction), while Medium to High is 11.7 FPS (10.5% reduction), and High to Ultra is 25.1 FPS (25.1% reduction). This indicates that the Medium preset is the first major visual upgrade that meaningfully taxes the GPU, while Ultra adds effects that disproportionately impact performance.

At 2560x1440, the figures are: Low 117.1 FPS, Medium 84.2 FPS, High 74 FPS, and Ultra 55.6 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is: Low -26.4% (from 159.3 to 117.1), Medium -24.5% (from 111.5 to 84.2), High -25.8% (from 99.8 to 74), and Ultra -25.6% (from 74.7 to 55.6). These reductions are nearly uniform, confirming that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth scale linearly with pixel count. At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low 77.1 FPS, Medium 54.1 FPS, High 46.7 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K costs: Low -34.1% (from 117.1 to 77.1), Medium -35.7% (from 84.2 to 54.1), High -36.9% (from 74 to 46.7), and Ultra -37.1% (from 55.6 to 35). The increasing percentage loss at higher settings suggests that Ultra’s extra effects (likely ray-traced shadows or volumetric lighting) amplify the resolution penalty.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, running at a base clock of 1410 MHz and boost of 1665 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the critical resource for Lockdown Protocol’s high-resolution textures. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 25120 places it at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals like the RX 6700M (25180) and RX 6600 (25235) within 0.5%—meaning the RTX 3060 Ti is firmly mid-range. Its 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 38 RT cores are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS shows that the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel workload.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s role is evident from the scaling data: at 1080p Low, the card delivers 159.3 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 35 FPS—a 78.0% reduction. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario where the CPU’s 16 threads are idle waiting for the graphics pipeline. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p textures, but the 4K Ultra preset likely exceeds this amount, causing the card to fall back to system memory and tanking frame rates. The GPU’s 200 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU are modest, but the performance data shows that the card is best suited for 1080p High (99.8 FPS) or 1440p Medium (84.2 FPS) in this title. For users with 144 Hz monitors, 1080p Low is the only preset that fully saturates the display, while 1440p High at 74 FPS is better suited to 60 Hz panels. The RTX 3060 Ti’s end-of-life production status and 399 USD launch MSRP indicate that it is a last-generation part, but its measured performance remains viable for competitive FPS play at mainstream resolutions.