Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 pairing presents a significant bottleneck imbalance in Lockdown Protocol, a FPS title released on 2024-03-11. The data shows a combination where the CPU’s substantial processing power is consistently constrained by the GPU’s limited memory bandwidth and shading capacity, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance metrics to show precisely where each component excels and where the system’s overall frame rates are capped.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability, scoring 9,279 in 3dmark_16_threads and 9,979 in 3dmark_max_threads, alongside a single-thread score of 1,043. Its Cinebench R23 results further underline this, with a multicore score of 29,241 and a single-core score of 4,128.

For Lockdown Protocol, this CPU has more than enough headroom to handle game logic and physics. The benchmark results indicate that the processor is not the limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 89 against all CPUs places it well above the GPU’s percentile of 43, confirming a mismatch in relative capability. The nearest CPU rivals show a tight grouping: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 scores 35,802 with a delta of -0.3%, the Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35,468 with a delta of 0.6%, the Intel Core i5-14500HX scores 35,940 with a delta of -0.7%, and the Intel Core i7-13800H scores 35,416 with a delta of 0.8%. This shows the i7-12700K is within a single percentage point of its closest competitors, meaning its performance is typical for its class. Since the CPU’s average benchmark score is 35,684, it is clearly capable of feeding frames faster than the GTX 1650 can render them, especially at 1080p where the gap between CPU and GPU utilization is most pronounced.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU with a TU117 chip, built on TSMC’s 12 nm process. It has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with a memory clock of 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). Its memory subsystem is a critical limitation: 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The pixel rate is 53.28 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 93.24 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 2.984 TFLOPS.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s constraints are immediately visible. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a hard ceiling, particularly at 4K where texture data exceeds available memory. The GPU’s performance percentile of 43 places it in the lower half of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within a tight band: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 8,746 with a delta of -0.4%, the AMD Radeon 550X scores 8,749 with a delta of -0.4%, the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 scores 8,671 with a delta of 0.5%, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 scores 8,761 with a delta of -0.5%. The GTX 1650’s average benchmark score of 8,713 is essentially tied with these cards, showing it is not an outlier but rather a mid-low tier solution. In game, this translates to the GPU being the primary bottleneck, as the measured FPS scales heavily with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1,562 out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the bottom 5% of all tested configurations, which is a direct result of the GPU’s limitations. The combo’s ranking is not due to CPU weakness; rather, the CPU’s high percentile is wasted because the GPU cannot translate that processing power into higher frame rates.

The data indicates that this pairing is severely unbalanced. A combo ranking this low suggests that the GTX 1650 is the dominant constraint, and the i7-12700K’s capabilities are largely untapped. In practical terms, the system will deliver playable frame rates only at lower resolutions and settings, and even then, the experience will be inconsistent. The rank of 1,562 of 1,637 shows that the vast majority of other tested combos outperform this setup, which is expected given the GPU’s age and low memory bandwidth. The CPU’s nearest rivals, which all have similar average scores, would likely produce identical rankings when paired with the same GPU, underscoring that the GPU is the sole determinant of this combo’s position.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 77.9, which is the only result in this dataset that approaches a high-refresh experience. Medium settings yield 55.5 FPS, High settings drop to 48.6 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 33.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 44.0 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact on performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings produce an average of 54.7 FPS, which is a 29.8% decrease from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 38.6 FPS, High settings average 37.6 FPS, and Ultra settings average 28.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p narrows to 25.8 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling is beginning to dominate over settings changes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is overwhelmed. Low settings yield an average of 37.4 FPS, which is the best result at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 23.5 FPS, High settings fall to 22.8 FPS, and Ultra settings produce just 19.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 17.9 FPS, suggesting that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are saturated regardless of the settings applied. The data shows that the GTX 1650 cannot maintain 30 FPS at 4K even on Low settings, which is a critical finding for anyone considering this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and tells a definitive story about the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 77.9 at 1080p to 54.7 at 1440p and then to 37.4 at 4K. This represents a 52% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 4K. For High settings, the progression is 48.6 at 1080p, 37.6 at 1440p, and 22.8 at 4K, a 53% drop. Medium settings show a similar trend: 55.5 to 38.6 to 23.5, a 58% reduction. Ultra settings go from 33.9 at 1080p to 28.9 at 1440p to 19.5 at 4K, a 42% drop.

These scaling patterns are consistent with a GPU that is limited by its 128.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 4 GB VRAM capacity. As resolution increases, the demand on memory bandwidth grows exponentially, and the GTX 1650 cannot keep pace. The CPU, which is capable of handling the game’s logic at much higher frame rates, is never the bottleneck here. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the precipitous drops indicate that the GPU is working at its absolute maximum at every setting, and the only way to improve frame rates is to reduce the pixel count or lower the graphical fidelity to reduce memory pressure. The 4K results, where even Low settings fail to reach 40 FPS, confirm that this combo is not viable for high-resolution gaming in Lockdown Protocol.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1080p?

A: The data shows that Low settings at 1080p produce an average of 77.9 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the dataset. Medium settings yield 55.5 FPS, and High settings drop to 48.6 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 33.9 FPS, so Low is the only preset that approaches a smooth experience.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Lockdown Protocol?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 37.4 on Low settings. Medium, High, and Ultra settings produce 23.5, 22.8, and 19.5 FPS respectively. All of these results are below the 60 FPS threshold and most are below 30 FPS, indicating the GPU is not capable of 4K gaming in this title.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GTX 1650’s average benchmark score is 8,713. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, scores 8,746 with a delta of -0.4%. The AMD Radeon 550X scores 8,749 with a delta of -0.4%, and the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 scores 8,671 with a delta of 0.5%. The differences are negligible, meaning performance is essentially identical to these cards.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile, while the GPU ranks in the 43rd percentile. The FPS drops significantly with resolution and settings changes, which is a hallmark of GPU limitation. The CPU has ample headroom, as shown by its high synthetic scores, but it cannot overcome the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the ranking of this combo among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1,562 out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the bottom 5% of all configurations, directly attributable to the GPU’s low performance percentile relative to the CPU.

Q: How much does lowering settings from Ultra to Low improve FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra settings average 28.9 FPS, while Low settings average 54.7 FPS. This is an improvement of 25.8 FPS, or approximately 89% higher frame rate, showing that settings have a substantial impact at this resolution.