Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination represents a legacy pairing of a 6-core Coffee Lake CPU with a Turing-based entry-level GPU. In Lockdown Protocol, this system produces playable frame rates primarily at 1080p, but its performance curve reveals a decisive GPU bottleneck that sharpens as resolution increases. The measured data shows a spread from 77.7 FPS at 1080p Low to 15.4 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating that the GTX 1650’s 4 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface are the primary constraints in this FPS title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest measured average is 77.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 49.6 FPS at 1080p High, showing a significant cost for visual fidelity.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The combination ranks 1582 out of 1637 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 4% of all configurations. This low percentile is consistent with the GTX 1650's 43rd percentile standing among all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system produces 77.7 FPS, which is substantially higher than any 4K result. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 suggests it can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s 2.984 TFLOPS FP32 performance caps the output.

Q: What is the performance difference between the GTX 1650 and its nearest GPU rival?

A: The GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 8713, which is 0.4% lower than the AMD Radeon 550X (8749) and 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its closest CPU competitor?

A: The i5-9400 scores 2305 on average, sitting 0.2% above the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and 0.4% above the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295). It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G (2319) by 0.6%.

Q: What settings yield the highest frame rate at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 56.1 FPS, which is the only 1440p preset that exceeds 50 FPS. Medium drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24.9 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 serves as the decisive performance gate in this configuration. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes strained as Lockdown Protocol’s texture requirements scale with resolution. The GPU’s base clock of 1485 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz are modest, and its 896 shading units produce a peak FP32 throughput of 2.984 TFLOPS. These specifications place the card at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 8713.

The GPU’s measured impact is stark when comparing settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, moving from Low to High reduces average FPS from 77.7 to 49.6, a 36% drop. At 4K, the same settings change produces a smaller absolute drop (34.1 to 22.6 FPS) but a similar proportional loss. The GTX 1650’s 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors indicate it is designed for low-power systems, yet the data shows it cannot sustain high frame rates in this FPS title beyond 1080p. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 550X, scores 8749 (0.4% higher), confirming that the 1650 sits at the very edge of playable performance for modern shooters.

The 4 GB VRAM is particularly limiting at 4K Ultra, where the combo produces only 15.4 FPS. This suggests that the memory capacity is exhausted, forcing texture thrashing that cripples throughput. Even at 1440p Medium, the 41 FPS average indicates the GPU is working near its limits, as the 128-bit bus cannot feed enough data to the 896 shaders efficiently.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and predictable degradation as resolution increases, but the pattern reveals that the GPU is the bottleneck rather than the CPU. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 77.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 56.1 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 34.1 FPS, which is another 39% drop from 1440p. This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of fillrate and memory bandwidth.

The gap between settings widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 42.9 FPS (77.7 vs 34.8). At 1440p, that gap grows to 31.2 FPS (56.1 vs 24.9). At 4K, the spread is 18.7 FPS (34.1 vs 15.4). This tightening suggests that at 4K, even Low settings are hitting the GPU’s absolute ceiling, leaving less headroom for settings to matter.

The CPU’s role in this scaling can be inferred from its benchmark scores. The i5-9400’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 is sufficient for 6 threads, and its single-core score of 1125 indicates solid per-thread performance. Since Lockdown Protocol is an FPS title that typically uses fewer cores, the CPU is likely not the limiter until frame rates exceed 100 FPS, which this GPU never approaches. The data shows that the 1080p Low result of 77.7 FPS is constrained by the GPU, not the CPU, because the same CPU would produce significantly higher frames with a stronger GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, which is the only resolution where this combo approaches high refresh rates, Medium settings provide a reasonable balance: 53 FPS average versus 49.6 FPS on High and 77.7 FPS on Low. The Medium preset delivers 68% of the Low preset’s performance while offering better visual quality, making it the best choice for players who want a playable experience without sacrificing too much detail.

For 1440p, the data strongly favors Low settings, which produce 56.1 FPS. Medium drops to 41 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less smooth. High settings at 1440p yield only 33.9 FPS, which is borderline for a fast-paced FPS. Ultra at 1440p should be avoided entirely, as the 24.9 FPS average is below acceptable thresholds for competitive play.

At 4K, no setting is truly playable. Low produces 34.1 FPS, which is marginal, while Medium (29 FPS), High (22.6 FPS), and Ultra (15.4 FPS) are all sub-30 FPS. The recommendation for 4K is to reduce resolution rather than settings, as the GPU lacks the memory bandwidth and shading power to handle this title at 2160p regardless of preset.

The 1080p Medium result of 53 FPS is the most balanced measurement in the entire dataset. It represents a 62% improvement over High settings (49.6 FPS) while being only 24.7 FPS slower than Low (77.7 FPS). For users with 60 Hz displays, Medium at 1080p is the sweet spot. For those chasing higher refresh rates, Low at 1080p or 1440p is the only viable path.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination ranks 1582 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the bottom 4.6% of all configurations. This rank is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits at the 50th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is at the 43rd percentile. The combo’s poor ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU, as the CPU’s mid-pack standing suggests it could support a faster graphics card.

The GPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its performance ceiling. The AMD Radeon 550X scores 8749 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 8746 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 scores 8671 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 scores 8761 (0.5% higher). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning that swapping to any of these cards would yield nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The GTX 1650’s 43rd percentile GPU rank is a hard ceiling that no CPU tuning can overcome.

On the CPU side, the i5-9400’s nearest rivals show that it is well-matched with the GPU. The Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, +0.2%), Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, +0.2%), and Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, +0.4%) all perform within a fraction of a percent. The Intel Core i7-8809G (2319, -0.6%) is slightly faster but would not change the gaming outcome given the GPU limitation. In practical terms, this combo’s rank of 1582 is a direct reflection of the GTX 1650’s position in the GPU hierarchy, and no CPU upgrade would meaningfully improve Lockdown Protocol performance without also replacing the graphics card.