Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol pairs the Intel Core i7-12700KF with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, a combination that places 1235th out of 3714 tested combos in this game. That rank sits in the upper third of all configurations, indicating a system that handles the title comfortably but is not at the extreme top end. The data shows a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake CPU working alongside a 16 GB RDNA 3 GPU, and the measured frame rates across three resolutions and four settings presets tell a clear story about which component drives performance. This analysis walks through the rankings, the GPU’s role, resolution scaling, settings choices, CPU contribution, and the exact FPS numbers.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1235 out of 3714 tested combinations places this system in the 33rd percentile of all pairings measured for Lockdown Protocol. That means roughly two-thirds of tested combos rank higher, but this is still a strong showing for a mainstream desktop setup. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU: the i7-12700KF is a high-end desktop processor from 2021, while the RX 7800 XT is a current-generation mid-to-high-range graphics card from 2023. Neither component is the absolute fastest in its class, but together they produce playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

The CPU itself holds an 85th percentile ranking against all CPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rivals in that broader CPU ranking include the Intel Core i7-13700T (avg score 35403, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core i5-13600T (avg score 35305, delta 0.2%), the Intel Core 5 213PE (avg score 35428, delta -0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-12700K (avg score 35287, delta 0.2%). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the i7-12700KF is statistically indistinguishable from those four chips in synthetic CPU benchmarks. For Lockdown Protocol, that parity suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios, leaving the GPU to determine frame rates.

The GPU, by contrast, sits at the 51st percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 11627. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (avg score 11680, delta -0.5%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M (avg score 11528, delta 0.9%), the NVIDIA Tesla K20c (avg score 11479, delta 1.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (avg score 11842, delta -1.8%). These are much older or lower-tier cards, which is odd for a GPU with 16 GB of VRAM and a 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth. The discrepancy comes from the averaging method across all benchmark tests, many of which are compute-heavy rather than gaming-focused. In actual Lockdown Protocol measurements, the RX 7800 XT performs far better than that percentile suggests, as the FPS data will show.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, 96 raster operation units, and 60 ray tracing cores. The GPU’s base clock runs at 1295 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. Memory operates at 2438 MHz, translating to 19.5 Gbps effective, across a 256-bit bus for a total bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM is generous for 1080p and 1440p gaming, and it provides headroom for 4K textures.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s role becomes clear when examining the FPS data. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 235 FPS average, which is far above any CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 109 FPS, still high but showing the GPU strain from higher settings. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 52 FPS, which is at the edge of playability for a fast FPS. The 16 GB VRAM is never the limiting factor in these measurements; even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is more likely constrained by the GPU’s compute throughput than its memory capacity. The pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s support this interpretation, as higher resolutions and settings demand more of those units.

The GPU’s 37.32 TFLOPS FP32 performance is substantial, but Lockdown Protocol appears to scale more with rasterization than raw compute. The jump from Low to Ultra at any resolution shows a consistent drop, roughly 54% at 1080p (235 to 109), 53% at 1440p (172 to 80), and 53% at 4K (111 to 52). That consistency indicates a uniform GPU workload scaling across settings, with no sudden VRAM spillover or driver anomaly.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals how the limiting component shifts. At 1080p Low, the average is 235 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame delivery for this game. Dropping the resolution to 1440p Low yields 172 FPS, a 27% reduction, and 4K Low yields 111 FPS, a further 35% reduction from 1440p. These drops are larger than what a pure GPU-bound scenario would show if the CPU were capable of higher frame rates, suggesting that at 1080p Low, the CPU is partially limiting.

At High settings, the scaling is more linear: 1080p High averages 146 FPS, 1440p High averages 107 FPS (a 27% drop), and 4K High averages 69 FPS (a 35% drop from 1440p). The percentage reductions are nearly identical to Low settings, which implies the same balance between CPU and GPU at each resolution. Medium settings show a similar pattern: 1080p Medium at 167 FPS, 1440p Medium at 122 FPS (27% drop), and 4K Medium at 79 FPS (35% drop).

Ultra settings present the clearest GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Ultra, 109 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, 80 FPS (27% drop); at 4K Ultra, 52 FPS (35% drop). The consistent 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p and 35% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the RX 7800 XT’s rendering throughput scales predictably with pixel count. The CPU is not the primary limiter at 4K, where even Low settings only reach 111 FPS, a number that suggests the GPU is doing most of the work.

For a 60 Hz display, this combo handles 4K Medium and High without issue, with 79 and 69 FPS averages respectively. For 144 Hz displays at 1440p, High and Medium settings exceed 100 FPS, and Low reaches 172 FPS. At 1080p, all settings exceed 100 FPS, with Low hitting 235 FPS for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide four presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra, each tested at three resolutions. The data shows that Ultra settings cost a significant frame rate penalty compared to High. At 1080p, Ultra drops from High’s 146 FPS to 109 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra drops from High’s 107 FPS to 80 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 4K, Ultra drops from High’s 69 FPS to 52 FPS, a 25% reduction. That consistent 25% penalty suggests Ultra enables effects that are disproportionately expensive relative to their visual benefit.

Medium settings offer a middle ground. At 1080p, Medium averages 167 FPS, which is 14% higher than High. At 1440p, Medium averages 122 FPS, 14% higher than High. At 4K, Medium averages 79 FPS, 14% higher than High. The min FPS values for Medium are also recorded: 142 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. These minimums are all above 60 FPS, indicating smooth frame delivery without major stutters.

For the best experience per the measured rows, High settings provide the most balanced result. At 1080p, 146 FPS is smooth for any display; at 1440p, 107 FPS is excellent for 100 Hz monitors; at 4K, 69 FPS is above the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings do push frame rates much higher, but the visual quality trade-off is not quantified in the data; the recommendation stands that High offers the best combination of frame rate and quality based on the measured averages alone. Ultra is only viable for 1080p at 109 FPS, and even then, the 25% drop from High may not justify the visual gains.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s rank in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This combination of Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT ranks 1235th out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all tested configurations.

Q: How much faster is this combo at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The average FPS at 1080p Low is 235, while at 4K Ultra it is 52. That represents a 78% reduction in frame rate from the lowest resolution and settings to the highest.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for 4K?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. The measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K Medium (79 FPS) and High (69 FPS), so VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in these tests.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tested settings?

A: The only min FPS values provided are for Medium settings: 142 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. All other settings lists show null for min FPS in the data.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, with a delta of -0.1% against the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403), 0.2% against the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305), -0.2% against the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428), and 0.2% against the Intel Core i7-12700K (35287). All deltas are within 0.2 percentage points.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game’s performance?

A: The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 235 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited. As resolution increases to 4K, frame rates drop consistently across all settings, indicating the GPU becomes the primary limiter. At 4K Ultra, the average is 52 FPS, showing the GPU constrains performance at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, though the data does not specify which memory type was used in the Lockdown Protocol tests. Its TDP is 125 W, and it uses the Intel Socket 1700.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU’s strengths: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 28838, while single-core scores 4071. Geekbench multicore reaches 14367, and single-core 2255. The PassMark multithread score is 34092, with single-thread at 3984. These numbers place the CPU at the 85th percentile against all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 85% of tested processors in aggregate benchmarks.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is most evident at low resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 235 FPS average, which is the highest measured value across any resolution or setting. That frame rate likely approaches the CPU’s maximum game-thread throughput, as the GPU is under minimal load at those settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 109 FPS, showing that the GPU takes over the workload as settings increase. The 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallel processing for game logic and physics, but Lockdown Protocol does not appear to be a heavily multithreaded title, as the frame rates scale more with resolution than with CPU core count.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all within 0.2% of its average score, meaning real-world gaming differences would be minimal. The i7-12700KF’s boost clock of 5.00 GHz gives it strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for FPS games that often rely on a few primary threads. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 confirm this capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). All values are average FPS unless noted as min or max.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 235 FPS. Medium averages 167 FPS, with a min of 142 and max of 192. High averages 146 FPS. Ultra averages 109 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 126 FPS, with Ultra delivering 46% of Low’s frame rate.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 172 FPS. Medium averages 122 FPS, with a min of 104 and max of 141. High averages 107 FPS. Ultra averages 80 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 92 FPS, with Ultra delivering 47% of Low’s frame rate.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 111 FPS. Medium averages 79 FPS, with a min of 67 and max of 91. High averages 69 FPS. Ultra averages 52 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 59 FPS, with Ultra delivering 47% of Low’s frame rate.

The percentage relationship between Low and Ultra is nearly identical across resolutions: 46% at 1080p, 47% at 1440p, and 47% at 4K. That consistency indicates the settings presets impose a uniform workload increase on the GPU regardless of resolution. The min FPS values for Medium settings are all above 60 FPS, even at 4K (67 FPS), suggesting that Medium is the safest preset for maintaining smooth frame delivery. The max FPS values for Medium reach 192 at 1080p, 141 at 1440p, and 91 at 4K, showing that frame times are not erratic despite the average being lower.

The data also shows that the step from Low to Medium costs roughly 29% of the average FPS at any resolution: 235 to 167 at 1080p (29% drop), 172 to 122 at 1440p (29% drop), and 111 to 79 at 4K (29% drop). The step from Medium to High costs about 12-13% at each resolution (167 to 146, 122 to 107, 79 to 69). The step from High to Ultra costs about 25% consistently (146 to 109, 107 to 80, 69 to 52). Therefore, the largest single-setting penalty is moving from High to Ultra, while Medium to High is the smallest. For users seeking maximum frame rates, Low is the clear choice; for a balance, High offers the best compromise, as Medium only adds 14% over High while Low adds 61% over High at 1080p.