Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title. This combination ranks 30th out of 1,637 tested combos, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations measured. The data reveals a system that delivers exceptional frame rates across all resolutions, yet the scaling patterns suggest the CPU and GPU are not always working in perfect harmony. The i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, represents the mid-range of Intel's 13th generation, while the RTX 5090 is NVIDIA's flagship Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory. This pairing yields average FPS figures that range from 87 at 4K Ultra to 287.7 at 1080p Low, demonstrating both the ceiling and floor of what this combination can achieve.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals distinct scaling characteristics that change dramatically with settings. At Low settings, the RTX 5090 drives 287.7 FPS at 1080p, but this falls to 258.5 at 1440p and further to 182 at 4K — a reduction of 36.7% from 1080p to 4K. This relatively modest drop suggests the GPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions, with the CPU likely becoming the limiting factor at 1080p. At Medium settings, the pattern shifts: 251.3 FPS at 1080p drops to 198.6 at 1440p, then to 131.4 at 4K. The 1440p to 4K transition now shows a 33.8% decrease, indicating the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload as pixel count increases.

The High settings curve tells an even more revealing story. From 238.1 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 172.8 at 1440p and then to 110.8 at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 27.4% is larger than the Low settings equivalent, suggesting that as visual complexity increases, the GPU's role expands. Ultra settings provide the clearest evidence of GPU-bound behavior: 181 FPS at 1080p, 128.5 at 1440p, and 87 at 4K. The scaling here is nearly linear with pixel count, a hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 94 FPS, representing a 51.9% reduction, whereas the same resolution gap at Low settings only costs 105.7 FPS. This data implies that at lower presets, the i5-13400F's 4.60 GHz boost clock becomes a constraint, while at higher presets, the RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute is fully utilized.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F brings 10 cores and 16 threads to Lockdown Protocol, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost of 4.60 GHz. Its Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, includes 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The benchmark data places this CPU in the 82nd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 25,236. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% behind), and the AMD EPYC 9474F (0.5% ahead), showing that this chip sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 287.7 FPS. This figure is only 11.3% higher than the 258.5 FPS seen at 1440p Low, a smaller gain than expected if the GPU were fully utilized at both resolutions. The 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and multi-thread score of 7,307 suggest that while the CPU is capable, it cannot fully saturate the RTX 5090's capabilities at lower resolutions. The PassMark multithread score of 25,032 and single-thread score of 3,634 reinforce this interpretation. At 1080p Ultra, the system still manages 181 FPS, which is notably lower than the 238.1 FPS at High settings — a 24% drop that cannot be attributed to GPU pixel throughput alone, indicating CPU overhead from game logic and draw calls at higher preset complexities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a monstrous GPU by any measure, featuring 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, with a boost clock of 2,407 MHz. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 39,650 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its computed FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate massive raw performance that should excel in FPS titles.

The GPU's role in Lockdown Protocol becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings scale up. At 4K Ultra, the 87 FPS figure represents the heaviest workload, and the GPU's 176 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s to handle this demand. The 4K Medium result of 131.4 FPS and 4K High result of 110.8 FPS show that the RTX 5090's 32 GB frame buffer is not a limiting factor, as even the most demanding preset leaves ample memory headroom. The bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming at 4K with Ultra settings does not cause stutters. Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 D (0.1% ahead), RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% ahead), and AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% ahead), though these comparisons are from synthetic benchmarks rather than Lockdown Protocol-specific measurements.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience across different resolutions. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 238.1 FPS, which is only 16.5% lower than Low's 287.7 FPS but substantially higher than Ultra's 181 FPS. The 1080p Medium setting of 251.3 FPS offers a strong balance, sitting between Low and High while likely providing better visual fidelity than Low. For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset's 287.7 FPS exceeds 240 Hz refresh rates, making it the choice for maximum responsiveness.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 172.8 FPS, which drops to 128.5 at Ultra. The Medium preset's 198.6 FPS represents a 14.9% improvement over High, suggesting that Medium offers the best compromise between visual quality and frame rate at this resolution. The 4K results show a starker tradeoff: Ultra runs at 87 FPS, while High reaches 110.8 FPS and Medium hits 131.4 FPS. For a 60 Hz display, Ultra at 4K is playable, but for 120 Hz or higher refresh rate monitors, High or Medium becomes necessary. The data indicates that the Low preset at 4K (182 FPS) is not advisable, as it likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a frame rate that exceeds most displays' capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 30th out of 1,637 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1.8% of all systems measured for Lockdown Protocol. This ranking reflects the synergy between the i5-13400F's 82nd percentile CPU performance and the RTX 5090's 94th percentile GPU performance. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25,236 versus the GPU's 84,306 average indicates that the processor is the weaker link in this pairing, which aligns with the resolution scaling analysis showing CPU limitations at lower settings.

The ranking suggests that while the RTX 5090 is among the fastest GPUs available, it is held back by the i5-13400F in certain scenarios. The 10-core, 16-thread CPU with a 65 W TDP cannot fully feed the GPU at 1080p, where the frame rate ceiling appears to be around 287.7 FPS. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the system's ranking improves relative to weaker GPU configurations. The 30th place ranking out of 1,637 indicates that there are 29 combinations that outperform this setup, likely featuring more powerful CPUs paired with the RTX 5090 or similar GPUs.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination achieves in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 287.7, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25,236, which is 0.1% below the Intel Core i7-13620H, 0.5% above the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, and 0.5% below the AMD EPYC 9474F.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the system delivers 181 FPS at 1080p and 87 FPS at 4K, representing a 94 FPS or 51.9% reduction.

Q: Does the RTX 5090's 32 GB of memory ever become a limiting factor?

A: The data shows no evidence of memory limitations; the 4K Ultra preset runs at 87 FPS, and the GPU's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for all tested settings.

Q: How many total combinations were tested, and where does this setup rank?

A: This combo ranks 30th out of 1,637 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2% of all measured systems.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 is in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the system delivers 87 FPS on Ultra, 110.8 on High, 131.4 on Medium, and 182 on Low. The 4K results show that Ultra runs at slightly less than half the frame rate of Low, highlighting the significant performance cost of maximum settings. At 2560x1440, the measured values are 128.5 FPS for Ultra, 172.8 for High, 198.6 for Medium, and 258.5 for Low. The 1440p Medium result of 198.6 FPS is notably close to the 1080p Ultra result of 181 FPS, suggesting that Medium at 1440p provides a comparable frame rate with higher resolution. Finally, at 1920x1080, the system achieves 181 FPS on Ultra, 238.1 on High, 251.3 on Medium, and 287.7 on Low. The 1080p results demonstrate that even the most demanding preset remains well above 144 Hz refresh rates, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays regardless of quality settings.