Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing delivers a clear, resolution-dependent story for Lockdown Protocol. At 1080p, this combo is overwhelmingly capable. At 1440p, it presses against the 60 FPS threshold at the highest preset. At 4K, only the lowest settings remain playable. The data recorded for this combination spans twelve distinct configurations, covering three resolutions and four quality presets, with no minimum or maximum frame data available, so the analysis relies on average FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the recorded average frame rates show a wide spread across settings. Low settings produce 175.9 FPS, which is the highest average measured for this combination at any resolution or preset. Medium settings drop to 124.6 FPS, still far above the playable threshold. High settings yield 109.3 FPS, and Ultra settings land at 82.1 FPS. Every preset at 1080p clears the 60 FPS playable mark with substantial headroom. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution is steep: Ultra runs at roughly 53% of the Low settings frame rate, indicating that quality presets carry a significant rendering cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages shift downward but remain playable across the board. Low settings record 130 FPS, a 26% reduction compared to the same preset at 1080p. Medium settings produce 93.6 FPS, High settings reach 82.6 FPS, and Ultra settings land at 60.1 FPS, just barely above the playable threshold. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is notable: 82.6 to 60.1 FPS represents a 27% drop, which suggests that Ultra settings introduce a disproportionately heavy load. The data shows that 1440p Ultra is a borderline case, while every other preset at this resolution offers comfortable margins.

At 3840x2160, the results become more restrictive. Low settings average 82.1 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings fall to 58.8 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. High settings drop further to 49.9 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 41 FPS. Only Low settings at 4K clear the playable bar, and even that result is much lower than the same preset at lower resolutions. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a halving of performance: 82.1 to 41 FPS, a 50% reduction. This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint at 4K, with each increase in preset quality exacting a larger toll than at 1080p or 1440p.

The absence of min and max FPS figures in the recorded data means that frame pacing and consistency cannot be assessed directly. However, the average values alone tell a coherent story about the overall capability of this combination.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU in this pairing, the Intel Core i5-14400F, sits at the 83rd percentile among all processors in the database. Its average benchmark score is 32279. Nearby alternatives include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U with an average score of 32233 and a delta of 0.1%, the Intel Core i9-11900 with a score of 32226 and a delta of 0.2%, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS with a score of 32354 and a delta of -0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-12800H with a score of 32121 and a delta of 0.5%. These deltas are so small that any of these processors would likely deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol. The practical takeaway is that the i5-14400F is not an outlier in either direction; it sits squarely in a cluster of similarly performing CPUs, so users upgrading from one of these rivals should expect no meaningful change in frame rates from the processor alone.

The GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, ranks at the 65th percentile among all graphics cards. Its average benchmark score is 20282. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M with a score of 20480 and a delta of -1%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a score of 20534 and a delta of -1.2%, the Intel Arc B570 with a score of 20556 and a delta of -1.3%, and the Intel Arc A750 with a score of 20582 and a delta of -1.5%. All of these deltas are negative, meaning the RTX 2070 SUPER scores slightly lower than each of these rivals in aggregate benchmarks. In practice, the performance differences are small enough that these GPUs would behave similarly in Lockdown Protocol, particularly at settings where the frame rate is not heavily GPU-bound. The Quadro M4000M is a professional card with a different feature set, but its raw score places it in the same performance tier. The RTX 3070 Mobile and the two Intel Arc cards are more recent designs, yet their measured scores land within 1.5% of the RTX 2070 SUPER, so they would likely produce comparable averages in this game.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are high across all presets, and the gap between Low and Ultra is large but not extreme. This suggests that the GPU is the primary limiter, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed the graphics card at these frame rates. The fact that Low settings hit 175.9 FPS while Ultra hits 82.1 FPS points to the GPU being the bottleneck, because a CPU-bound scenario would show smaller differences between presets.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with more strain. The drop from Low to Ultra is still significant, and the Ultra preset lands almost exactly at the playable threshold. The CPU still has capacity to spare, but the GPU is working harder to fill the higher pixel count. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset shows a consistent reduction: Low goes from 175.9 to 130 FPS, a 26% drop; Medium goes from 124.6 to 93.6 FPS, a 25% drop; High goes from 109.3 to 82.6 FPS, a 24% drop; Ultra goes from 82.1 to 60.1 FPS, a 27% drop. These near-uniform reductions indicate that the GPU is the consistent limiting factor across resolutions, not the CPU.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the overwhelming constraint. The frame rates at every preset are much lower, and the scaling from Low to Ultra is steep. Low at 4K produces 82.1 FPS, which is the same as Ultra at 1080p, a coincidence that underscores how much resolution stresses the GPU. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is unlikely to be the cause of the 4K slowdown, as the same processor drives much higher frame rates at lower resolutions. The recorded data shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER simply runs out of throughput at 4K, especially as settings increase.

The role of the CPU is more visible at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 175.9 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU must keep up with the GPU's output. The i5-14400F, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645, is well equipped for this task. The single-core performance, measured at 3055 in Cinebench R23, also supports high frame rates in a game that likely relies on one or a few threads for game logic. The data does not show a situation where the CPU throttles the combination, as the frame rates at 1080p are consistently high.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but the playable range depends heavily on the chosen resolution. At 1920x1080, the verdict is unambiguous: all four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 82.1 FPS. This means a user can enable the highest quality settings at 1080p and still have a comfortable margin above the playable bar. At 2560x1440, all presets also clear 60 FPS, but Ultra is a narrow victory at 60.1 FPS. This is technically playable, but the margin is slim, and any scene with heavier rendering demand could push the average below the threshold. At 3840x2160, only Low settings clear 60 FPS, averaging 82.1 FPS. Medium falls just short at 58.8 FPS, and High and Ultra are well below the line. The verdict for 4K is that the game is playable, but only at the lowest preset, which sacrifices visual quality for frame rate.

The data suggests that the sweet spot for this combination is 1440p with High settings, which delivers 82.6 FPS and leaves room for detail improvements without dropping below the playable mark. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, 1440p Ultra is viable but borderline. For 4K, the tradeoff is stark: Low settings are playable, but the visual downgrade is significant.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at 1920x1080?

A: Ultra settings average 82.1 FPS at 1080p, which clears the playable threshold. All presets at this resolution are playable.

Q: Is 2560x1440 playable with this hardware?

A: Yes, all four presets at 1440p average above 60 FPS. Ultra is the closest to the line at 60.1 FPS, while Low averages 130 FPS.

Q: Can this PC handle 3840x2160?

A: Only Low settings at 4K are playable, averaging 82.1 FPS. Medium settings fall just below the threshold at 58.8 FPS, and High and Ultra are significantly lower.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, which is within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, Intel Core i9-11900, AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS, and Intel Core i7-12800H. These processors would perform nearly identically in this game.

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, which is 1% to 1.5% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, Intel Arc B570, and Intel Arc A750. The differences are small enough that these cards would produce similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol.

Q: What resolution offers the best balance of quality and performance?

A: 2560x1440 with High settings averages 82.6 FPS, which is well above the playable threshold and offers a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. At 4K, only Low settings are playable, so 1440p is the highest resolution where quality presets remain viable.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best setting is Ultra, which averages 82.1 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, and it provides the highest visual quality available at this resolution. The margin above the threshold is 22.1 FPS, which is comfortable for most gameplay scenarios.

At 2560x1440, the best setting is also Ultra, but the average is 60.1 FPS, just 0.1 FPS above the playable line. This is the most demanding preset that clears the threshold, but the margin is razor-thin. Users who prefer a larger safety buffer might choose High settings instead, which average 82.6 FPS, but the data shows that Ultra is technically playable.

At 3840x2160, the best setting is Low, averaging 82.1 FPS. This is the only preset at 4K that clears 60 FPS. Medium settings are nearly playable at 58.8 FPS, but they fall short, so Low is the recommended choice for 4K. The visual tradeoff is substantial, as Low settings at 4K will look noticeably less detailed than Medium or High.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database, this combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 2145 out of 3714 tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the upper half of all tested configurations, though not in the top tier. The percentile position reflects the fact that the GPU is a mid-range card by current standards, ranking at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is stronger, ranking at the 83rd percentile among all processors. The combination is therefore more CPU-capable than GPU-capable, which aligns with the measured frame rates: the system performs well at lower resolutions where the CPU can shine, but struggles at 4K where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The rank of 2145 out of 3714 means that roughly 42% of tested combinations outperformed this setup in Lockdown Protocol, while about 58% performed worse. This is a solid mid-pack result, especially considering that the GPU is an older design from the Turing generation. The data shows that this combo is well suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being a stretch that requires low settings. For users targeting high refresh rates at 1080p or a balanced experience at 1440p, this pairing delivers, but for 4K enthusiasts, the GPU will need an upgrade.