Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a 2024 FPS that is clearly demanding on older hardware. Testing this title with an Intel Core i5-9400 and an AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a wide spread of results depending on resolution and quality settings. The data reveals a pairing that can deliver acceptable performance at 1080p, but that struggles heavily at higher resolutions, particularly when the preset is pushed beyond Medium. The platform is an end-of-life combination, but it remains relevant for a specific range of gaming scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently achieves playable frame rates. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 40 on Ultra to 85 on Low, with Medium hitting 60 FPS. At 1440p, the average FPS drops to a range of 29 to 62, and at 4K it drops to a range of 19 to 40.

Q: What is the difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The difference is significant. At 1080p, the Low preset yields an average of 85 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields an average of only 40 FPS. That is a drop of 45 FPS, or more than half the performance of the Low preset, just from moving to the highest quality settings.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 580 a strong GPU for this game?

A: The RX 580 is a mid-range GPU in the database, with a 53rd percentile ranking against all tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 12928, which places it in the same performance class as GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which are the closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-9400 rank among all CPUs?

A: The i5-9400 places in the 47th percentile when compared to all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 2254 places it just below the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and just above the Intel Core i7-10710U, making it a mid-tier processor in the context of all tested CPUs.

Q: What is the minimum FPS for the Medium preset?

A: The measured data includes minimum FPS only for the Medium preset for each resolution. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS is 24. At 1440p Medium, the minimum FPS is 38. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 51.

Q: Was the performance data measured or estimated?

A: The performance data is measured. The field "dataIsMeasured" is true, indicating that the FPS values come from actual runs of the benchmark rather than estimates.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination ranks 3384 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the combo in the lower percentile of tested systems, meaning the vast majority of other tested pairings achieve higher performance. The combo sits in the 9th percentile of all tested combos, which is a significant indicator that this is not a high-end setup for this particular title.

The ranking is a summary of the parts' relative standing. The CPU is a mid-range part on the whole, ranking 47th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU is similar, ranking 53rd percentile. But the combination of these two mid-range parts in this game results in a low overall rank. This suggests that the game is demanding and that the pairing of a six-core, six-thread processor from 2018 with a GPU from 2017 is not enough to get high performance.

The combination is a notable distance from the top of the chart. The majority of tested combos achieve higher performance, which means that this pairing is suited for 1080p gaming at best. The data indicates that the combo is better than 330 combos, but not much of the field, and users of this setup will have to rely on lower resolutions and lower settings to maintain playable frame rates.

The low ranking also makes sense when looking at the parts. The GPU is a 53rd percentile part, having an average benchmark score of only 12928. The CPU is a 47th percentile part, having an average benchmark score of 2254. Combining a mid-tier CPU and mid-tier GPU results in a low overall ranking for a game that needs more performance. This is a combination that is not going to be competitive for high-refresh-rate gaming.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this pairing, the data points strongly toward using the Medium preset at 1920x1080. This preset delivers an average FPS of 60, which is the golden standard for smooth gameplay. At this setting, the measured minimum FPS is 51, and the maximum FPS is 69, which is a stable, smooth range. The Low preset at 1080p is an alternative for those who want the highest frame rates, but the 85 FPS average is not necessary for a game that is perfectly playable at 60.

Using the High preset at 1080p is a worse choice. It drops the average to 53, but the Low preset at 1080p is a better option for frame rate. The High preset at 1440p is mediocre, with an average of 39 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, with the highest average being only 40 FPS at 1080p, and dropping to 19 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is for screenshot-taking, not for actual gameplay.

The data indicates that the best experience is the 1080p Medium preset. It provides a 60 FPS average and a 51 FPS minimum, which is a stable 60 FPS experience. It is a good balance between visual quality and performance, and it is the only setting that gives a true 60 FPS experience. The Low preset at 1080p is also a good choice for those who want a higher frame rate, but the Medium preset offers a better visual experience for the same smooth frame rate.

The 1440p Medium preset offers an average of 44 FPS, which is not smooth enough for a fast-paced FPS. The 4K Medium preset has a 29 FPS average, which is not playable. The settings recommendation is to stick to 1080p and use the Medium preset for the best balance. The Low preset at 1080p is also a good option if a higher frame rate is desired, but the Medium preset is the best choice for the overall experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy of settings. The Low preset produces an average of 85 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69. The High preset produces an average of 53 FPS. The Ultra preset produces an average of 40 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 45 FPS, which is a substantial range.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset produces an average of 62 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 44 FPS, with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 51. The High preset produces an average of 39 FPS. The Ultra preset produces an average of 29 FPS. The 1440p Low preset is the only one that is close to a 60 FPS average, with the Medium preset falling to 44 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance is the lowest. The Low preset produces an average of 40 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33. The High preset produces an average of 25 FPS. The Ultra preset produces an average of 19 FPS. The 4K resolution is not playable with this combo for a competitive FPS, with the highest average being 40 FPS on Low.

The frame rate scaling is not linear. The 1080p Medium is 60 FPS average. The 1440p Medium is 44 FPS average, which is a 16 FPS drop. The 4K Medium is 29 FPS average, which is a 15 FPS drop from 1440p. The game is clearly more demanding at higher resolutions, and the GPU and CPU combination cannot keep up.

The 1080p Low is the only preset that hits a high average FPS of 85. The 1080p Ultra is the only preset with a higher average at 40. The 1440p Ultra drops to 29 FPS, and 4K Ultra is 19 FPS. The 4K Ultra is the worst data point, with an average of just 19 FPS. The data clearly shows that the 1080p resolution is the only one that can produce smooth frame rates, and the Medium preset is the most balanced of the settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a GPU that is built on the Polaris 20 chip and uses the GCN 4.0 architecture. It was released in 2017 and has been rated a 53rd percentile GPU in the database, putting it at the lower end of the mid-range. It has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, giving it a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. This is a decent amount of memory for 1080p, but the GPU's raw compute power is not high. The GPU's boost clock is 1340 MHz.

The GPU's performance, as measured by the Passmark G3D benchmark, is a score of 8813. Its average benchmark score is 12928, which is close to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER. The 1660 SUPER has a slightly lower average score of 12986, but the RX 580 is 0.4% behind it. The RX 580 also has a comparable score to the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which is 0.1% faster. The RX 580 is a 53rd percentile GPU, meaning it is in the lower half of all GPUs tested.

The GPU's memory bandwidth is 256.0 GB/s. This is a key factor in how it handles the 4K resolution. The data shows that at 4K, the frame rates drop dramatically. The 4K Ultra is 19 FPS, and the 4K Low is only 40 FPS. This is a clear sign that the GPU is not able to handle the pixel count. The 8 GB of VRAM is not the primary constraint, but the 256-bit bus and the overall compute power are the limiting factors.

The GPU's performance is not a strong point. The average of the GPU benchmark is 12928, which is in the lower half of all GPUs. The GPU has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1005, which is a low score for modern gaming. The GPU is also a bit slow in the synthetic benchmarks, with a PassMark DirectX 11 score of 60. The GPU is a mid-range part, but it's showing its age in a game that seems to be quite demanding.

The GPU's memory configuration is a major factor. The 8 GB of VRAM is enough for 1080p and 1440p, but the memory bandwidth is 256.0 GB/s. This is a significant bandwidth for the card, but it is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The GPU's texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s, which are the mid-range numbers. The GPU is a 1080p and 1440p card, but the data shows it is best used at 1080p Medium settings for this game.

The GPU's performance is 0.1% behind the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, and 0.4% behind the GTX 1660 SUPER. The RX 580 is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon 740M and 0.6% ahead of the FirePro W5100. The RX 580 is a mid-range part, and it shows in the game. The GPU is the primary limiting factor for high resolutions, but at 1080p, it is a capable enough card for the Medium preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and is built on a 14nm process. The CPU is a 47th percentile part, with an average benchmark score of 2254. The CPU's performance is close to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average score of 2259, making it 0.2% faster.

The CPU's performance is not the primary bottleneck in most games, but it can be in certain scenarios. The cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629, and the single-core score is 935. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score is 2784, and the single-core is 392. The Geekbench score is 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core. The CPU is a six-core, six-thread part, which is a bit old for modern games, but it's still a decent part for 1080p gaming.

The CPU's 47th percentile ranking means it is in the lower half of all CPUs. The CPU is a mid-range part, but it is not the primary bottleneck in the resolution. At 1080p, the GPU is likely the bottleneck, as the CPU can feed the GPU enough for the Medium preset. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is definitely the bottleneck, as the CPU has an easier time keeping up with the lower frame rate demand.

The CPU's memory bandwidth is 42.7 GB/s, which is a dual-channel DDR4 support. The CPU has a TDP of 65W, and it is an end-of-life product. The CPU is a six-core part, which is enough for many games, but the lack of hyper-threading means it has only six threads. The CPU's a 6-core, 6-thread part, which is enough for this game at 1080p. The CPU is a mid-range part, and it's not the main bottleneck in this combo.

The CPU's boost clock of 4.10 GHz is a decent clock for single-core performance, but the CPU's performance is not outstanding. The CPU is a 47th percentile part, and the data shows that the CPU is strong enough to drive the GPU in this game. The CPU's benchmark score of 668 in Cinebench R15 multi-core is a low score, but the CPU is still a decent companion for the RX 580. The CPU's a balanced partner for the GPU, and the frame rate data shows that the combo's performance is limited by the GPU at higher resolutions.