Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 9070

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 produces a highly capable Lockdown Protocol configuration, ranking 501st out of 1637 tested combos. This places the pairing in the upper third of all tested systems, with the CPU holding an 89th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU sitting at the 79th percentile among all graphics cards. The measured frame rates show a system that can comfortably handle competitive FPS play at high refresh rates, though Ultra settings at 4K push the pairing to its limits.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake-S desktop processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 10 nm process and 125 W TDP place it as a mainstream high-performance part, with 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU's architecture uses a hybrid design that balances performance and efficiency cores, which matters for Lockdown Protocol's thread utilization patterns across its 3dmark benchmarks: the chip scores 9,276 in 16-thread tests, 7,202 in 8-thread tests, and 4,011 in 4-thread tests, showing strong scaling as more threads are engaged.

Single-thread performance remains robust at 1,043 in 3dmark single-thread and 4,128 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is critical for a competitive FPS where frame pacing and input responsiveness depend on rapid sequential processing. The CPU's multithreaded capability, demonstrated by a 29,241 Cinebench R23 multicore score and 34,404 Passmark multithread score, ensures that background tasks and game logic don't bottleneck the GPU. In Lockdown Protocol, the measured frame rates across resolutions indicate that at 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 247.3 FPS average, which suggests the CPU can feed frames well beyond typical 144 Hz monitors.

Compared to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the i7-12700K sits within 0.8% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (deltaPct -0.3) and the Intel Core i7-13800H (deltaPct 0.8). This tight clustering means the CPU's contribution to Lockdown Protocol performance is consistent with other top-tier processors in its class, and the measured FPS deltas between settings presets are more attributable to GPU load than CPU limitations.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

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

A: At 1440p, the system delivers 113.2 FPS on High settings and 181.8 FPS on Low settings, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh gaming. At 1080p, Low settings reach 247.3 FPS, but 1440p offers a better balance between visual fidelity and frame rate.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic tests?

A: The i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35,684, which is 0.3% below the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35,802 score) and 0.6% above the Intel Core i7-13700T (35,468 score). The differences are negligible, indicating comparable processing power.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo averages 53.2 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold many players prefer. Dropping to High at 4K raises the average to 75.1 FPS, a more comfortable margin.

Q: What is the GPU's relative performance standing?

A: The Radeon RX 9070 ranks at the 79th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 34,780. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA A2, scores 34,866, putting the RX 9070 just 0.2% behind.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset cost compared to High?

A: Across all resolutions, Ultra reduces average FPS by roughly 24-29% compared to High settings. At 1080p, Ultra yields 115.4 FPS versus 151.5 FPS on High; at 1440p, 86.1 FPS versus 113.2 FPS; and at 4K, 53.2 FPS versus 75.1 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p Low, the 247.3 FPS average indicates the GPU is not heavily taxed, and the CPU's single-thread score of 1,043 in 3dmark suggests it can sustain high frame delivery. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking supports that it is not the bottleneck at these settings.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 achieves rank 501 out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the 69th percentile of all systems tested, meaning roughly 31% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing: the CPU's 89th percentile standing and GPU's 79th percentile standing combine to produce results that exceed the GPU's relative position but lag the CPU's.

Data indicates the combo outperforms many systems with higher-tier GPUs but weaker CPUs, as the i7-12700K's strong multithread performance (9,276 in 3dmark 16-thread, 12,281 in Cinebench R20 multicore) prevents frame drops during intense combat sequences. The 501st rank is respectable for a mid-high-tier pairing, and the measured FPS numbers show that at 1080p and 1440p, the system competes with far more expensive configurations. However, at 4K Ultra, the 53.2 FPS average pulls the combo's standing down, as many higher-ranked systems maintain 60+ FPS at that preset.

The delta between the CPU's percentile (89) and GPU's percentile (79) suggests headroom exists: the RX 9070 is the more limiting component in this pairing. This is corroborated by the FPS scaling pattern, where lowering settings from Ultra to High at 1440p yields a 27.1 FPS improvement (from 86.1 to 113.2), while the CPU's synthetic scores indicate it could sustain even higher frame rates if the GPU were faster.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 247.3 FPS, Medium drops to 177.6 FPS, High reaches 151.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 115.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 131.9 FPS, representing a 53% reduction in average frame rate when maxing out all visual options.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 181.8 FPS on Low, 130.7 FPS on Medium, 113.2 FPS on High, and 86.1 FPS on Ultra. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 26-27% of performance across all settings: Low drops from 247.3 to 181.8 FPS, Medium from 177.6 to 130.7 FPS, High from 151.5 to 113.2 FPS, and Ultra from 115.4 to 86.1 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system averages 114 FPS on Low, 86.1 FPS on Medium, 75.1 FPS on High, and 53.2 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration below 60 FPS, making it the sole preset where the combo fails to maintain a smooth competitive experience. Low settings at 4K remain highly playable at 114 FPS, which is notable for a game of this genre.

Across all resolutions, the step from Medium to High costs less performance than the step from High to Ultra. At 1080p, Medium to High drops 26.1 FPS, while High to Ultra drops 36.1 FPS. This pattern holds at 1440p (17.5 FPS vs. 27.1 FPS) and 4K (11 FPS vs. 21.9 FPS), indicating diminishing returns as settings approach maximum.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this pairing. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 247.3 at 1080p to 181.8 at 1440p (a 26.5% reduction) and then to 114 at 4K (a 53.9% reduction from 1080p). This pattern is consistent across all presets: Medium falls from 177.6 to 130.7 to 86.1, High from 151.5 to 113.2 to 75.1, and Ultra from 115.4 to 86.1 to 53.2.

The consistent percentage drops across settings—roughly 26-27% from 1080p to 1440p, then another 33-37% from 1440p to 4K—indicate that the Radeon RX 9070's rendering throughput is the primary constraint as pixel count increases. The GPU's 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM are sufficient for high-resolution textures, but the 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate determine the ceiling.

The CPU's role in resolution scaling is minimal, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS drops are proportional to pixel count increases rather than being capped by thread utilization. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the 1080p Low result (247.3 FPS) to plateau at higher resolutions, but instead it scales down smoothly. The i7-12700K's 3dmark 8-thread score of 7,202 and max-thread score of 9,979 suggest ample headroom for the game's engine at all tested resolutions.

At 4K Ultra, the 53.2 FPS result is 79% below the 1080p Low result, which is a larger drop than the 4x pixel count increase would predict. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce shading and post-processing effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's 3,584 shading units and 128 ROPs at high resolutions.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the 1080p Low preset delivers 247.3 FPS, which is well above any current monitor's refresh rate and provides maximum responsiveness. The 1440p Low preset at 181.8 FPS is also exceptional, offering more screen real estate while still exceeding 144 Hz refresh rates. Players prioritizing frame rate over visuals should select Low at either 1080p or 1440p, depending on display capability.

For a balance of visual quality and performance, the 1440p High preset at 113.2 FPS stands out as the most compelling option. It delivers smooth gameplay on high-refresh monitors (100+ Hz) while maintaining substantially better image quality than Low settings. The 4K High preset at 75.1 FPS is also viable for players with 4K displays who accept a 60-75 FPS experience.

The Medium presets offer only marginal improvements over High at significantly lower frame rates. At 1080p, Medium yields 177.6 FPS versus 151.5 FPS on High—a 26.1 FPS difference that is unlikely to be perceptible on most monitors. The Medium preset's performance penalty relative to High is consistent across resolutions, making High the better choice unless specific Medium-only visual features are desired.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p, where 115.4 FPS remains playable. At 1440p Ultra (86.1 FPS) and 4K Ultra (53.2 FPS), the visual gains do not justify the frame rate reduction, particularly in a competitive FPS where lower latency and higher frame rates confer gameplay advantages. The data clearly shows that High settings provide the best experience-to-performance ratio for this combo, with 1440p High delivering 113.2 FPS and 4K High offering 75.1 FPS for those prioritizing resolution.