Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Lockdown Protocol, but 4K Ultra is a stretch. The data shows this combination ranks 952nd out of 1637 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. At 1080p, the combo easily clears 60 FPS on every preset, with the Low preset hitting 189.2 FPS, indicating a setup that favors high-refresh-rate monitors. Moving to 1440p, performance remains playable, but the gap between presets widens significantly, hinting at the GPU becoming the primary constraint. At 4K, only the Low preset provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, while Ultra drops to 41.5 FPS, making it the only configuration that fails to hit a playable threshold.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 1080p is the sweet spot, as all presets deliver above 86.8 FPS, with the Low preset reaching 189.2 FPS. 1440p is also viable, but the Ultra preset falls to 65.3 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS baseline.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform relative to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321) and 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338). It is 0.7% above the Intel Arc B580 (23021) and 0.8% above the AMD Radeon 760M (22999).

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for this game?

A: Given that the CPU's average benchmark score of 35684 is 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940) and 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i7-13800H (35416), it is unlikely to be a limiting factor at most settings. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K suggest the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets?

A: At 1080p, the High preset yields 119 FPS, while Ultra drops to 86.8 FPS, a difference of 32.2 FPS. At 1440p, the gap is 22 FPS (87.3 vs 65.3). At 4K, the gap narrows to 11.8 FPS (53.3 vs 41.5).

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Only with compromises. The Low preset at 4K delivers 87.4 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 66.4 FPS, and High falls to 53.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that fails to reach 60 FPS, hitting 41.5 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The CPU scores 4128 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 29241 in multi-core, a ratio of roughly 1:7. This indicates strong multi-threaded capabilities, but for gaming, the single-core score of 415 in Cinebench R15 suggests adequate per-core performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience. For 1080p displays, the High preset at 119 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the jump to Medium yields 134.6 FPS but with lower fidelity. The Ultra preset at 86.8 FPS is still playable but sacrifices 27% of the High preset's frame rate for marginal visual gains. For 1440p, the High preset at 87.3 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 100.4 FPS is an option for those prioritizing frame rate, but the Ultra preset at 65.3 FPS is too close to the 60 FPS threshold for consistent smoothness. At 4K, the Low preset at 87.4 FPS is the only sensible choice, as Medium drops to 66.4 FPS and High falls below 60 FPS at 53.3 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2460 MHz and FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS are the key drivers of the measured frames. The GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the CPU can keep up, allowing the GPU to push frames up to 189.2 FPS on Low. However, at 4K, the memory bandwidth and 8 GB capacity become limiting factors, as evidenced by the 53.3 FPS on High and 41.5 FPS on Ultra. The GPU's 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181, places it just 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600M. This suggests that the RTX 4060 is a capable mid-range card, but its performance in Lockdown Protocol scales predictably with resolution, showing a 55% drop in FPS from 1080p Low to 4K Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds a rank of 952 out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the setup in the 58th percentile of all tested combinations, indicating that it outperforms the majority of systems but is not at the top tier. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684, is a strong asset, as it sits just 0.3% below the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) and 0.6% above the Intel Core i7-13700T (35468). The GPU's 66th percentile ranking is the weaker link, dragging the overall combo rank down. This disparity suggests that the CPU has headroom to support a more powerful GPU, and the current bottleneck is the RTX 4060.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K, with 12 cores and 20 threads, operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its Alder Lake architecture features a 25 MB shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the FPS scales well with GPU load. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 and single-thread score of 1043 indicate balanced performance. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 is 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i7-13700T's average score of 35468, showing that it is a modern, capable chip. However, the FPS drops of 32.2 FPS from High to Ultra at 1080p and 22 FPS at 1440p suggest that the GPU is the constraining factor, as the CPU can maintain high frame rates when the GPU has less work.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 189.2 FPS on Low settings, 134.6 FPS on Medium, 119 FPS on High, and 86.8 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear progression, with the Ultra preset costing 54% of the Low preset's performance. At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 140.5 FPS on Low, 100.4 FPS on Medium, 87.3 FPS on High, and 65.3 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show a similar pattern but with a narrower range, as the Ultra preset is 53% of the Low preset's frame rate. At 3840x2160, the averages are 87.4 FPS on Low, 66.4 FPS on Medium, 53.3 FPS on High, and 41.5 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show the most significant drop, with the Ultra preset hitting only 47% of the Low preset's frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU as the limiting component. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 189.2 FPS at 1080p to 140.5 FPS at 1440p (a 26% decrease) and then to 87.4 FPS at 4K (a 54% decrease from 1080p). This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, as the CPU has ample headroom. At High settings, the drop is from 119 FPS at 1080p to 87.3 FPS at 1440p (27% decrease) and then to 53.3 FPS at 4K (55% decrease). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing power are the dominant factors. The 4K Ultra result of 41.5 FPS, which is only 48% of the 1080p Ultra result of 86.8 FPS, further confirms this. The CPU's 20 threads and high boost clock are more than sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS drops when moving from 1080p to 1440p, where the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become the primary constraints.