Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti produces a surprisingly balanced set of results in Lockdown Protocol, though the data reveals a clear bottleneck shift as resolution changes. This six-core Coffee Lake processor, with its 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost clock, combines with the Ada Lovelace GPU to deliver playable frame rates across the board, but the scaling behavior tells a distinct story about where the system's limits lie.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline varies significantly by settings preset. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 164.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 149.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 9%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 126 FPS, which represents a further 16% drop from the 1440p figure. This relatively gentle scaling curve at Low settings suggests that the CPU is doing substantial work to keep frames high, even as the GPU takes on more pixel-pushing responsibility.

The High preset tells a different story. At 1080p High, the system produces 139 FPS. At 1440p High, that number falls to 125 FPS, an 11% decrease. The jump to 4K High brings 89.2 FPS, which is a 29% drop from 1440p. This steeper decline indicates that at High settings, the RTX 4070 Ti's rendering load is becoming the dominant factor, with the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth being pushed harder at higher resolutions.

Ultra settings amplify this trend even further. The 1080p Ultra result of 125.3 FPS drops to 105.4 FPS at 1440p, a 16% reduction, and then plummets to 70.2 FPS at 4K, a 33% decline from the 1440p figure. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is particularly telling: 126 FPS versus 70.2 FPS. That 55.8 FPS spread demonstrates that the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities are the limiting factors at 4K, not the processor.

The 1440p results show the sweet spot for this pairing. At Medium settings, 1440p delivers 127.1 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 1080p Medium result of 142.7 FPS when accounting for the resolution jump. The delta between 1080p and 1440p across all settings averages around 10-15%, whereas the delta between 1440p and 4K averages closer to 30%. This indicates that the system transitions from a CPU-limited state at 1080p to a GPU-limited state at 4K, with 1440p acting as the equilibrium point where both components are reasonably balanced.

CPU Role

The Core i5-9400 brings six physical cores and six threads to the table, with no hyper-threading. Its Coffee Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process, provides a modest 9 MB of shared L3 cache. In Lockdown Protocol, an FPS title that typically benefits from higher clock speeds, the 4.10 GHz boost clock is the more relevant specification for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions.

The processor's synthetic benchmarks place it in the 50th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (scoring 2300, a 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (scoring 2299, also 0.2% delta). This positioning suggests the i5-9400 is a mid-pack performer, adequate for gaming but not exceptional by modern standards.

The data from the measured FPS indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is doing heavy lifting. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 39.4 FPS (164.7 versus 125.3), which is a relatively narrow band. This suggests that the CPU is able to feed the GPU with enough frames that even the most demanding settings don't collapse performance. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra (125.3 FPS) is substantially lower than 4K Low (126 FPS) hints that the CPU's single-thread performance is a limiting factor when the GPU isn't stressed.

The i5-9400's Cinebench R23 scores—7969 multicore and 1125 singlecore—are modest figures. In a game like Lockdown Protocol, which likely relies on a few heavily utilized threads, the single-core score is more indicative of real-world performance. The processor's lack of SMT means it has six threads total, which could become a constraint in scenarios with many actors or complex physics calculations, but the measured data shows no catastrophic drops, suggesting the game is well-optimized for six-core parts.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-9400 sits within 0.6% of the Intel Core i7-8809G (scoring 2319) and is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon E-2134 (scoring 2295). These are all close scores, but the i5-9400's advantage is slim. In practical gaming terms, this means the CPU is unlikely to be the primary differentiator in performance; the GPU will dominate the experience at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data shows 1440p as the most balanced resolution. At High settings, 1440p delivers 125 FPS, which is only 14 FPS lower than 1080p High (139 FPS) but 35.8 FPS higher than 4K High (89.2 FPS). This suggests 1440p offers a strong visual-to-performance ratio without the steep dropoff seen at 4K.

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

A: The i5-9400 scores 2305 on average, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299). It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G by 0.6% (2319). The differences are minimal, indicating all four CPUs perform at a similar level.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti the bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes. The FPS drop from 1440p to 4K is steep across all settings. At High, the drop is 35.8 FPS (from 125 to 89.2), and at Ultra, it is 35.2 FPS (from 105.4 to 70.2). This consistent decline indicates the GPU's rendering workload is the limiting factor at 4K.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows 125.3 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This is the lowest result at 1080p but still comfortably above 60 FPS, indicating the combo handles the highest settings at this resolution without issue.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score position it?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44900, placing it in the 85th percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152, a 0.6% difference. This positions the GPU as a high-end part, though not at the absolute top.

Q: Does the CPU's lack of hyper-threading affect results?

A: The i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads, no SMT. The measured FPS data does not show any anomalous dips that would indicate thread starvation. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 164.7 FPS, suggesting the CPU keeps up even at high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 590th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all pairings, roughly in the 64th percentile of measured configurations.

The ranking is notable given the GPU's high-end positioning. The RTX 4070 Ti sits in the 85th percentile against all GPUs, while the i5-9400 is only in the 50th percentile against all CPUs. This mismatch—a top-tier GPU paired with a mid-range processor—results in a combo rank that is more reflective of the CPU's limitations than the GPU's capabilities. If the CPU were more powerful, the same GPU would likely push the combo higher in the rankings, particularly at lower resolutions where the processor has a greater influence on frame rates.

The data supports this interpretation. At 4K, the combo performs respectably, with 89.2 FPS on High settings, because the GPU is the primary driver. At 1080p, the combo still performs well, but the CPU's six threads become more relevant, and the ranking reflects that this pairing is not optimal for maximizing the GPU's potential. The 590th rank out of 1637 suggests that while the system delivers solid performance, there are many configurations that achieve higher frame rates, likely due to more balanced CPU-GPU pairings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience in Lockdown Protocol comes from the High preset at 1440p resolution. This configuration delivers 125 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual fidelity and smoothness. The Ultra preset at 1440p (105.4 FPS) is also viable, but the 19.6 FPS gain from dropping to High is substantial and likely imperceptible in visual quality for most players.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the 1080p Low preset achieves 164.7 FPS, which is the highest measured result. However, the visual compromise may not be worth the performance gain, especially since 1080p High (139 FPS) is only 25.7 FPS lower and offers significantly better graphics.

At 4K, the Medium preset provides 103.2 FPS, which is the most playable 4K option. The High preset at 4K (89.2 FPS) is also acceptable for players who prefer better visuals, but the Ultra preset (70.2 FPS) dips below the 75 FPS threshold that many FPS players consider minimum for competitive play. The Low preset at 4K (126 FPS) is an option for those who want high frame rates at 4K, but it sacrifices nearly all graphical enhancements.

The data suggests avoiding the Ultra preset at 4K, as the 70.2 FPS result is the lowest measured and introduces the most significant frame pacing concerns. For the best overall experience, 1440p High is recommended, as it provides a smooth frame rate while allowing the RTX 4070 Ti's capabilities to shine. If 4K is a priority, Medium settings offer the best compromise between visual quality and performance.