Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT pairing in Lockdown Protocol shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions, with the system transitioning from a CPU-bound state at 1080p to a GPU-bound state at 4K. The measured data indicates that this combo lands at rank 2630 out of 3714 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This analysis breaks down how the components interact, what settings offer the best experience, and where the bottleneck shifts as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a steep and consistent decline as resolution climbs, which is the hallmark of a system where the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At 1080p Low settings, the combo produces 159 FPS average, but this drops to 117 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 75 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 26.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35.9% drop from 1440p to 4K. This pattern strongly indicates that the RX 6600 XT is the primary constraint at 4K, while the CPU still has headroom to push more frames at lower resolutions.

The scaling behavior changes when looking at High settings. At 1080p High, the average is 99 FPS, which falls to 72 FPS at 1440p High and 47 FPS at 4K High. The percentage drops are 27.3% and 34.7% respectively, nearly identical to the Low setting pattern. This consistency across settings suggests that the resolution scaling is driven by the GPU's pixel throughput, not by the CPU's ability to feed it. The i5-9400 with 6 cores and 6 threads at a 4.10 GHz boost clock appears sufficient to maintain frame pacing up to 1440p, but the GPU's 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 128-bit bus become the wall at 4K.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story but with lower absolute numbers. From 74 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 54 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 35 FPS at 4K Ultra, the drops are 27.0% and 35.2%. The fact that the scaling percentages are so uniform across Low, High, and Ultra presets — all hovering around 27% for the 1080p-to-1440p step and 35% for the 1440p-to-4K step — points to a purely resolution-driven bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, you would expect the gap between 1080p and 4K to shrink at lower settings, which is not what the data shows. Instead, the GPU is clearly saturated at 4K regardless of quality preset, while the CPU is able to keep up at 1080p even on Ultra.

Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 85 FPS (159 vs 74), which is a 53.5% reduction in performance from the lowest to highest quality setting. At 4K, that same Low-to-Ultra gap is 40 FPS (75 vs 35), a 46.7% reduction. The slightly smaller percentage impact at 4K suggests that the GPU is so heavily loaded at that resolution that even the reduced shading work from Low settings cannot fully compensate — the memory bandwidth and rasterization limits dominate. For a 6-core processor from 2018, the i5-9400's performance percentile of 47 versus all CPUs indicates it is average, and the data confirms it does not bottleneck the RX 6600 XT until the GPU is already overwhelmed.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process from TSMC, featuring 2048 shading units and 32 ray accelerators. Its boost clock of 2589 MHz and game clock of 2359 MHz are the key specs that drive the measured performance. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the critical figure for understanding the 4K results. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 35 FPS average, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and even 4K High at 47 FPS is marginal. This is not a GPU designed for 4K gaming, and the data confirms it.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 70 versus all GPUs places it above average overall, but its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher average score), Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.8% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (1.1% higher). This grouping is interesting because it shows the RX 6600 XT sits in a tight cluster where small percentage differences separate it from much older or much newer cards. The RTX 2080 SUPER being only 1.1% ahead in average benchmark score suggests that raw compute is not the differentiator here — the RX 6600 XT's RDNA 2 architecture with 10.60 TFLOPS FP32 performance is competitive with that older flagship.

The memory configuration is the most telling spec for this game. With only 8 GB of VRAM and a 128-bit bus, the card is constrained at higher resolutions where texture data and frame buffers demand more capacity and bandwidth. The 4K Medium result of 53 FPS average with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS shows some headroom, but the Ultra preset at 35 FPS average indicates the card is running out of both compute and memory resources. The 165.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 331.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the theoretical limits, and the measured data shows the card approaching these limits at 4K.

The fact that this GPU's launch MSRP was 379 USD is worth noting for context, but the data shows that in Lockdown Protocol specifically, the card performs best at 1080p where it can leverage its high boost clock. The 1080p Low result of 159 FPS average demonstrates that the GPU has plenty of headroom when the CPU is not the bottleneck, and the 1080p Medium result of 113 FPS with a 96-130 FPS range shows consistent frame delivery. The GPU's 70th percentile ranking versus all GPUs, combined with the CPU's 47th percentile, explains why this combo ranks at 2630 out of 3714 — the CPU is average, the GPU is above average, but together they are not optimized for 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo?

A: The data shows 1080p is the sweet spot. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 113 FPS average with a minimum of 96 FPS, which is smooth for a competitive FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 83 FPS, which is still playable but less consistent, while 4K Medium at 53 FPS average is borderline for fast-paced gameplay.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-9400 bottleneck the RX 6600 XT?

A: Based on the scaling data, no. At 1080p, the FPS scales almost linearly with settings (159 Low, 113 Medium, 99 High, 74 Ultra), which indicates the GPU is the limiting factor even at the lowest settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, you would see smaller FPS gains from lowering settings. The 6-core, 6-thread processor with a 4.10 GHz boost appears sufficient for this title.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The average benchmark scores show the RX 6600 XT is within 1.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, 0.8% of the GTX 780 Ti, 0.7% of the GTX 1630, and 0.8% behind the Intel Arc A350M. These are all within a tight cluster, meaning real-world game performance will vary by title, but in Lockdown Protocol the RX 6600 XT performs as expected for its tier.

Q: Is 4K playable with this combination?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average is 75 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS, which is marginal for a shooter. At High and Ultra, the averages of 47 FPS and 35 FPS respectively are too low for competitive play. The GPU's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus are the limiting factors at this resolution.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with this setup?

A: At 1440p Low, the average is 117 FPS, which is excellent. At Medium, the average is 83 FPS with a 70-95 FPS range, which is smooth. At High, the average is 72 FPS, and at Ultra it drops to 54 FPS. For a balance of visuals and performance, 1440p Medium or High are the best options.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2630 out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the 29th percentile of all combos. This is lower than the GPU's individual percentile of 70, which suggests the CPU is holding back overall system performance in this title, despite not being a direct bottleneck at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2630 out of 3714 tested configurations places it in the lower 29% of all pairings in the database. This is a significant outlier when you consider the GPU's individual percentile of 70 versus all GPUs — the RX 6600 XT is above average, but the total system performance is dragged down by the CPU. The i5-9400's percentile of 47 versus all CPUs puts it right at the median, but that is not enough to boost the combo.

The ranking disparity suggests that Lockdown Protocol is particularly sensitive to CPU performance, and the 6-core, 6-thread configuration without hyper-threading is a liability. The nearest CPU rivals in the database include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% higher average score), Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% lower), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% lower), and Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% lower). These are all within a 0.8% spread, but the i5-9400's lack of additional threads may hurt in this game's specific workload.

When you look at the measured FPS data, the combo performs admirably at 1080p — 159 FPS at Low settings is better than many higher-ranked combos would achieve. But the rank of 2630 suggests that the database's ranking algorithm weighs higher resolutions and settings more heavily, and the 4K results are poor. The 35 FPS at 4K Ultra is a severe drag on the overall score, and even 4K Low at 75 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider minimum for a smooth experience.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the RTX 2080 SUPER, which is only 1.1% ahead in average score, but that card has more VRAM and a wider bus, which would likely make a bigger difference at 4K. The fact that the RTX 2080 SUPER is only 1.1% ahead in synthetic benchmarks but would likely be much faster in Lockdown Protocol at 4K highlights a limitation of the average benchmark score as a predictor of game performance. The combo rank of 2630 is the more accurate reflection of how this pairing actually performs in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play at 1080p, the Low preset at 159 FPS average is the best choice for maximum refresh rate, but the Medium preset at 113 FPS average with a 96-130 FPS range offers a much better visual experience while still staying well above 100 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 46 FPS (a 28.9% drop), but the visual quality improvement is substantial in a modern FPS. The High preset at 99 FPS average is still smooth and might be preferable for players who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 83 FPS average is the recommended starting point. The 70-95 FPS range shows some variance, but it stays above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 72 FPS average is also viable if you have a 75 Hz or 100 Hz monitor and prefer sharper textures. The Low preset at 117 FPS is the best for competitive play, but the visual downgrade is noticeable. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS average is not recommended for this resolution because it dips below 60 FPS territory, which can feel stuttery in a fast-paced shooter.

For 4K, the data suggests avoiding this resolution entirely unless you are willing to play on Low settings, where the 75 FPS average is playable. The Medium preset at 53 FPS average is borderline, and the High and Ultra presets at 47 and 35 FPS respectively are not recommended for any gameplay. If you have a 4K monitor, the best strategy is to run the game at 1440p with Medium settings and let the display upscale, which will give you a better experience than native 4K on Low. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1440p Medium, but 4K textures push it to its limits.

The measured data shows that the Medium preset provides the most balanced experience across all resolutions, with the smallest performance penalty relative to Low while delivering significantly better visuals. At 1080p, Medium costs 28.9% of the Low preset's FPS, but at 4K, Medium costs only 29.3% of Low's FPS — the relative penalty is consistent, meaning Medium is not disproportionately expensive at higher resolutions. This makes Medium the default recommendation for this combo, with Low reserved for esports-style play and High for slower-paced modes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. The Low preset averages 159 FPS, which is the highest of any setting at any resolution. The Medium preset averages 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and maximum of 130 FPS, showing a tight frame delivery window. The High preset averages 99 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 74 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 85 FPS, which is the largest range across all resolutions, indicating that the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at any setting at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops are consistent. Low averages 117 FPS, Medium averages 83 FPS with a 70-95 FPS range, High averages 72 FPS, and Ultra averages 54 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 63 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor. The Medium preset's minimum of 70 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but the Ultra preset's 54 FPS average would be noticeable in gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low averages 75 FPS, which is the only setting that stays above 60 FPS. Medium averages 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS, showing significant frame dips. High averages 47 FPS, and Ultra averages 35 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 40 FPS, which is the narrowest across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is saturated regardless of settings. The 4K Medium data with its 16 FPS range (45-61) suggests unstable frame pacing, which would be disruptive in a competitive FPS.

Comparing the same settings across resolutions, the 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium drop is 30 FPS (113 to 83, a 26.5% decrease), and the 1440p Medium to 4K Medium drop is 30 FPS (83 to 53, a 36.1% decrease). The 1080p High to 1440p High drop is 27 FPS (99 to 72, a 27.3% decrease), and the 1440p High to 4K High drop is 25 FPS (72 to 47, a 34.7% decrease). These consistent percentages reinforce the conclusion that resolution scaling is the dominant factor. The 1080p Low result of 159 FPS is nearly double the 4K Low result of 75 FPS, which shows the extreme performance cost of 4K on this mid-range GPU.