Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, an FPS released on March 11, 2024, presents a demanding workload for the Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B570 pairing. The CPU, a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake part with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, carries a launch MSRP of $196. The GPU, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 160-bit bus, with a launch MSRP of $219 USD. This analysis draws on measured FPS data to determine playability across resolutions and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a clear performance hierarchy across the three resolutions tested. At 3840x2160, the average FPS spans from 30 on Ultra to 64 on Low. Medium delivers 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 and a maximum of 52, while High sits at 40 and Ultra at 30. No min/max figures are recorded for High, Low, or Ultra at this resolution, but the averages alone indicate that only Low crosses the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between Low and Medium is 18 FPS, and between Medium and High it narrows to 6 FPS, suggesting that the GPU struggles to maintain playable rates once settings rise above the lowest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the picture improves considerably. Low reaches 100 FPS, Medium averages 71 with a floor of 60 and a ceiling of 81, High drops to 62, and Ultra falls to 46. Here, three presets—Low, Medium, and High—stay above the 60 FPS line, while Ultra remains unplayable. The step from Low to Medium costs 29 FPS, but the step from Medium to High costs only 9 FPS, indicating a non-linear relationship between settings and performance. At 1920x1080, the combo shows its strongest results: Low peaks at 136 FPS, Medium averages 96 (min 82, max 111), High holds 84, and Ultra still manages 63. All four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra being the only one that narrowly exceeds it.

The min/max data, available only for Medium settings, provides additional insight into frame stability. At 1080p Medium, the range is 82 to 111 FPS, a spread of 29 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 60 to 81, a 21 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 39 to 52, a 13 FPS spread. This suggests that as resolution increases, the variance in frame times compresses, likely because the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck, limiting both the ceiling and the floor.

Best Settings per Resolution

Based on the verdict data, the most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Low at 3840x2160, with an average of 64 FPS. At 2560x1440, High is the best playable setting, averaging 62 FPS—though Medium offers a higher 71 FPS, High is the more visually demanding option that still meets the threshold. At 1920x1080, Ultra is the best, averaging 63 FPS. This pattern shows that the combo can handle the game at playable rates across all resolutions, but only if the user is willing to sacrifice visual quality at higher pixel counts. At 4K, even Medium falls 14 FPS short of the 60 FPS target, so Low is the sole viable option. At 1440p, the choice between High and Medium is a trade-off: High delivers 62 FPS, while Medium offers a safer 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 exactly matching the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets points to the GPU as the primary performance limiter. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average FPS from 136 to 100, a 26% drop; moving from 1440p to 4K reduces it further to 64, a 36% drop from 1440p. At High settings, the corresponding drops are 84 to 62 (26%) and 62 to 40 (35%). This consistent ~25-35% reduction per resolution step indicates that the GPU's rendering throughput is the constraining factor, as resolution scaling directly increases pixel workload. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, appears sufficient to keep up at lower resolutions and settings—evidenced by the 136 FPS at 1080p Low—but its headroom is not the bottleneck when the GPU is saturated.

The settings scaling reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra cuts FPS from 136 to 63, a 54% reduction. At 1440p, the same settings change reduces FPS from 100 to 46, a 54% reduction. At 4K, Low to Ultra goes from 64 to 30, a 53% reduction. The near-identical relative drop across resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload scales similarly with settings regardless of pixel count, and that the CPU is not introducing a variable limit. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the relative impact of settings to diminish at higher resolutions, but that is not the case. The data implies a GPU-bound scenario across all tested configurations, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the Arc B570 to operate.

FAQ

Q: What is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: High, with an average of 62 FPS. Medium also stays above 60 at 71 FPS, but High is the highest quality option that meets the threshold.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings?

A: 136 FPS.

Q: Does the combo achieve 60 FPS at 3840x2160 on Medium settings?

A: No, it averages 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS.

Q: What is the maximum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 Medium?

A: 81 FPS, with a minimum of 60 FPS.

Q: Which resolution allows Ultra settings to remain playable?

A: Only 1920x1080, where Ultra averages 63 FPS.

Q: What is the average FPS at 3840x2160 on High?

A: 40 FPS.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS or above at every resolution tested, but only with specific settings. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—exceed the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 63 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low, Medium, and High are playable, with High averaging 62 FPS; Ultra falls to 46 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low reaches 64 FPS, while Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 60. The verdict data confirms this: the best playable setting is Low at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p. For users prioritizing frame rate, 1080p Ultra offers a smooth experience, while 1440p High is the sweet spot for visual fidelity and playability. 4K gaming is possible but limited to the lowest preset.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3714 tested CPU-GPU combinations, this pair ranks 2987th. That places it in the lower portion of the distribution, outperforming roughly 20% of tested configurations. The ranking suggests that while the combo can handle Lockdown Protocol at playable frame rates in most scenarios, it is not a high-end performer. The Arc B570's position at the 65th percentile of all GPUs and the i5-14400F's 83rd percentile among CPUs indicate that the GPU is the weaker link, which aligns with the resolution scaling observed. This rank serves as a reference point: users seeking higher headroom would need to move up the ladder, but for the tested game, the combo delivers acceptable performance at mainstream resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (0.1% delta), Intel Core i9-11900 (0.2%), AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (-0.2%), and Intel Core i7-12800H (0.5%). These processors have average benchmark scores within half a percentage point of the i5-14400F, so they would likely produce similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, assuming the GPU remains the same. The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% delta), Intel Arc A750 (-0.1%), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4%), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (-0.5%). The Arc A750, in particular, shares the same architecture family and would be expected to behave almost identically in this title. Swapping the CPU or GPU for any of these alternatives would yield comparable performance, though driver optimizations and thermal characteristics could cause minor deviations. For users considering a change, these components represent the closest performance match to the tested combo.