Lockdown Protocol

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT occupies the 1950th position out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. This places the combo in the 52.5th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it sits almost exactly at the midpoint of the performance distribution. The data indicates a balanced pairing rather than one that excels in any particular direction, and this mid-pack positioning is consistent with what the component-level benchmarks suggest.

The CPU itself ranks in the 85th percentile against all processors tested, while the GPU sits in the 72nd percentile against all graphics cards. This gap of 13 percentile points hints that the processor is the stronger component in this pairing. The measured average benchmark scores reinforce this reading: the CPU posts an average score of 35365, while the GPU averages 27425 across its benchmark suite. When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-12700KF essentially trades blows with the Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct of -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (deltaPct of 0.2%), showing that it performs within a hair of newer generation parts. The GPU's nearest rivals tell a similar story, with the Radeon RX 6700 XT matching the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (deltaPct of 0%) and trailing the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 by only 0.5%.

The fact that this combo ranks near the middle of the pack despite both components being above-average performers individually suggests that Lockdown Protocol does not heavily favor either component class. The game appears to require a more balanced system than this pairing delivers, or the specific workload characteristics of this FPS title do not fully utilize the strengths of either component. The rank of 1950 out of 3714 also implies that a large number of combinations achieve better results, which is surprising given the CPU's strong synthetic benchmark showing.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 89 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for most competitive scenarios, though it falls short of the 118 FPS average seen at High settings and the 135 FPS at Medium settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this pairing?

A: The benchmark data suggests the GPU is the primary constraint. At 4K resolution, the frame rate drops from 90 FPS at Low settings to 42 FPS at Ultra settings, a spread of 48 FPS. The CPU's high synthetic scores (including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838) indicate it has ample headroom, while the GPU's performance scaling across resolutions shows it becomes the bottleneck at higher settings.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 87 FPS average, which is close to the 99 FPS seen at Medium. The Ultra preset drops to 65 FPS, which may be too low for fast-paced gameplay. The data indicates High offers the best balance between visual quality and performance at this resolution.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 6700 XT's average benchmark score of 27425 places it essentially equal to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (27435, deltaPct of 0%). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 by 1.5%, while leading the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell by 1.1%.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the combo achieves 56 FPS at High settings and 64 FPS at Medium settings. The Low preset reaches 90 FPS, while Ultra drops to 42 FPS. For 4K, Medium or High settings provide the most playable experience.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance like?

A: The i7-12700KF scores 1043 in the 3DMark single-thread test and 3984 in Passmark single-thread tests. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 4071. These numbers indicate strong single-threaded capability, which is relevant for games that rely heavily on single-core performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Lockdown Protocol shows a clear hierarchy across settings presets, and the optimal choice depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 118 FPS average, which represents a 29 FPS improvement over Ultra's 89 FPS while only sacrificing some visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 135 FPS, but the jump from Medium to High costs only 17 FPS while presumably offering noticeably better visuals. For competitive play at 1080p, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, as it maintains frame rates well above the 100 FPS threshold while retaining substantial graphical detail.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts slightly. High settings produce 87 FPS, which is within striking distance of Medium's 99 FPS. The 12 FPS difference between these two presets may be worth sacrificing for the visual improvement of High. Ultra at 1440p drops to 65 FPS, which is likely too low for a fast-paced FPS title. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 140 FPS, but the jump from Low to High costs 53 FPS, suggesting that High is the best balance for most users at this resolution.

For 3840x2160, the data tells a different story. High settings yield 56 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. Medium reaches 64 FPS, and this appears to be the recommended preset for 4K, as it provides the highest average frame rate that remains consistently playable. The Ultra preset at 42 FPS is likely too demanding for this combo at 4K, and the Low preset at 90 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality. The Medium preset at 4K is the only option that combines acceptable performance with reasonable visual fidelity, and the data shows a narrow 8 FPS gap between Medium and High at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 191 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo across all tested configurations. Medium at 1080p delivers 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. High at 1080p reaches 118 FPS, while Ultra drops to 89 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 102 FPS, demonstrating that settings have a massive impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 140 FPS, which is a 51 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium at 1440p achieves 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. High at 1440p reaches 87 FPS, and Ultra falls to 65 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 75 FPS, which is smaller than the 1080p spread but still substantial. The frame time data for Medium at 1440p shows a 30 FPS range between minimum and maximum, indicating some variability but generally consistent performance.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 90 FPS, which is still a respectable frame rate for 4K. Medium at 4K delivers 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. High at 4K reaches 56 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 48 FPS, which is the narrowest range across all resolutions. This narrowing suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as resolution increases, with settings having less relative impact on the final frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals how frame rates scale as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, and this scaling pattern provides insight into the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 191 FPS at 1080p to 140 FPS at 1440p and then to 90 FPS at 4K. This represents a 26.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 101 FPS, or 52.9% of the 1080p performance.

At Medium settings, the progression is from 135 FPS at 1080p to 99 FPS at 1440p and then 64 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 26.7% from 1080p to 1440p and 35.4% from 1440p to 4K. This mirrors the Low settings scaling almost exactly, suggesting that the resolution scaling behavior is consistent regardless of settings. The High preset shows 118 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K, with drops of 26.3% and 35.6% respectively.

The Ultra preset follows a slightly different pattern: 89 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 27.0% and 35.4%. The consistency of these scaling percentages across all four settings presets is striking. The fact that the frame rate drops by roughly 26-27% when moving from 1080p to 1440p and by roughly 35% when moving from 1440p to 4K indicates that the system is behaving predictably, with the GPU becoming progressively more saturated at higher resolutions. The relatively uniform scaling pattern suggests that the CPU is not introducing any resolution-dependent bottlenecks; if it were, the scaling percentages would diverge more significantly across settings presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings substantial processing power to this combo, with 12 cores and 20 threads running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The processor is built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process, and it features a 25 MB shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel memory bus, and it connects to the system via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

The synthetic benchmark results paint a picture of a very capable processor. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance, while the single-core score of 4071 shows excellent per-thread capability. The Geekbench multicore score of 14367 and single-core score of 2255 reinforce this assessment. The 3DMark scores scale predictably with thread count: 1043 single-thread, 2065 with 2 threads, 4011 with 4 threads, 7211 with 8 threads, 9282 with 16 threads, and 9983 with max threads. This scaling pattern shows that the processor continues to deliver performance gains as more threads are utilized, though the gains diminish beyond 16 threads.

For Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's strong single-threaded performance is likely the more relevant characteristic, as many FPS titles depend heavily on single-core speed for game logic and physics calculations. The processor's 5.00 GHz boost clock is particularly notable here, as it allows the CPU to reach high frequencies when fewer cores are active. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking against all processors indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs in the benchmark database, and its average benchmark score of 35365 places it within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-12700K, which is essentially the same chip with integrated graphics enabled.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT serves as the graphics workhorse in this combo, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The GPU contains 17,200 million transistors across a 335 mm² die, and it operates at a base clock of 2321 MHz with a boost clock of 2581 MHz and a game clock of 2424 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's compute resources include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 165.2 GPixel/s, and the texture rate reaches 413.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 13.21 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 26.43 TFLOPS. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, making it fully compatible with modern game APIs. The power requirements include a 230 W TDP and a suggested 550 W power supply.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 6700 XT posts a Passmark G3D score of 19786 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 93500. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2435. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking against all graphics cards places it above the majority of GPUs in the database, but its average benchmark score of 27425 puts it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals. The fact that the GPU's percentile ranking is 13 points lower than the CPU's suggests that the graphics card is the more limiting component in this pairing, which aligns with the measured FPS data showing that Lockdown Protocol's performance scales more dramatically with resolution changes than with CPU-bound workloads.