Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers commanding frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, with data showing every tested resolution and preset combination clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold. Benchmark results place this combo at rank 119 out of 3714 tested configurations, placing it in the top 3.2% of all tested systems. The measured FPS data reveals a pattern where the GPU scales performance predictably across resolutions, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking even at lower settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset at 4K resolution?

A: The Ultra preset achieves an average of 81.9 FPS at 3840x2160, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. This makes Ultra the highest playable setting at 4K.

Q: How much performance drops when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 173.9 at 1920x1080 to 81.9 at 3840x2160, representing a 52.9% reduction in frame rate. The scaling is consistent with GPU-bound rendering at higher pixel counts.

Q: Does the Low preset ever exceed 300 FPS?

A: No. The highest recorded average is 291.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 263.3 FPS, and at 4K Low it reaches 176.3 FPS.

Q: Which component has the larger performance headroom?

A: The RTX 4090's benchmark percentile of 88 versus the i5-14400F's 83 percentile suggests the GPU ranks slightly higher overall. However, the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power, as evidenced by the frame rates remaining high even at 1080p Low where CPU load is typically highest.

Q: Is the 1440p Ultra experience significantly better than 4K Ultra?

A: Yes. The 2560x1440 Ultra preset delivers 125.2 FPS average, which is 43.3 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result of 81.9 FPS. Both are playable, but 1440p offers a substantially smoother experience.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 119th out of 3714 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3.2% of all systems benchmarked for Lockdown Protocol.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear GPU-centric scaling pattern across resolutions. When moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset, the average FPS drops by approximately 28-30% depending on settings. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is even more pronounced, with High settings falling from 165.4 to 107.8 FPS, a 34.8% reduction. This scaling behavior indicates the rendering workload is primarily handled by the GPU.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 291.9 FPS average, suggesting the i5-14400F can feed frames rapidly enough to keep the RTX 4090 busy. The CPU's boost clock of 4.70 GHz and 16 threads provide sufficient single-thread and multi-thread performance for this FPS title. At 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with the average dropping to 81.9 FPS as the 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus are taxed by higher pixel counts.

The gap between Low and Ultra presets widens with resolution. At 1080p, Low beats Ultra by 118 FPS (291.9 vs 173.9). At 1440p, that gap grows to 138.1 FPS (263.3 vs 125.2). At 4K, the difference is 94.4 FPS (176.3 vs 81.9). This nonlinear scaling suggests that at 1440p, the GPU's compute resources are more efficiently utilized, while at 4K, memory bandwidth and rasterization limits come into play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 291.9 FPS, Medium reaches 256.5 FPS, High achieves 230.2 FPS, and Ultra settles at 173.9 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 35.4 FPS, while Medium to High costs 26.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 56.3 FPS. The largest single decrement occurs between High and Ultra, suggesting the Ultra preset enables particularly demanding effects.

At 2560x1440, the averages remain well above the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings deliver 263.3 FPS, Medium yields 195.6 FPS, High produces 165.4 FPS, and Ultra manages 125.2 FPS. The performance delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 138.1 FPS, which is proportionally larger than at 1080p. The Medium-to-High transition shows a 30.2 FPS drop, while High-to-Ultra costs 40.2 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload increases substantially. Low settings still deliver 176.3 FPS, Medium drops to 124.2 FPS, High reaches 107.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 81.9 FPS. The 4K results show the closest margins between settings: Low-to-Medium costs 52.1 FPS, Medium-to-High costs 16.4 FPS, and High-to-Ultra costs 25.9 FPS. The relatively smaller gaps at 4K indicate that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck, with settings having less relative impact on overall throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves rank 119 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the system in the 96.8th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning only 118 other combos performed better. The RTX 4090's individual percentile of 88 versus all GPUs indicates it is a top-tier graphics solution, while the i5-14400F's 83rd percentile ranking shows it is a high-performing but not elite CPU.

The gap between the CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that some of the 118 higher-ranked combos likely use more powerful processors such as flagship Core i9 or Ryzen 9 parts. However, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (291.9 FPS) indicates the i5-14400F does not severely limit the RTX 4090 in this particular game. The combo rank reflects the overall balance achieved, with the high GPU performance compensating for the mid-range CPU in a title that appears to favor graphics throughput.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals by average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U with a delta of 0.1% and the Intel Core i9-11900 at 0.2% delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS sits 0.2% below the i5-14400F, while the Intel Core i7-12800H is 0.5% faster. These alternatives would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol, with frame rate differences well under 1% in synthetic benchmarks.

For the GPU, the closest competitors by average score are the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a 0% delta and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 0.3% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% faster, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% slower. These professional-grade GPUs would deliver similar frame rates in most scenarios, though the RTX 4090's 24 GB memory buffer and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide advantages in texture-heavy scenes.

Systems combining the i5-14400F with these rival GPUs would see nearly identical FPS in Lockdown Protocol, as the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Conversely, pairing the RTX 4090 with slightly faster CPUs like the Core i7-12800H would yield marginal gains only at 1080p Low where CPU overhead is highest.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol at all tested resolutions and presets with performance well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 3840x2160, even the Ultra preset maintains an average of 81.9 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the threshold. The 2560x1440 Ultra preset achieves 125.2 FPS, while 1920x1080 Ultra reaches 173.9 FPS.

The verdict data confirms that all four settings presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at every resolution tested. The minimum FPS values were not recorded in the dataset, but the average FPS figures at all 12 resolution-preset combinations exceed 60 FPS by a significant margin. The lowest recorded average is 81.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still 21.9 FPS above the playability threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 173.9 FPS average, making it the most demanding setting that remains above 60 FPS. Since all presets at this resolution exceed the threshold, Ultra provides the best visual quality without sacrificing playability.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves 125.2 FPS average. This is the highest quality option while maintaining performance far above the 60 FPS requirement. The 1440p Ultra experience offers 43.3 FPS more than the 4K Ultra equivalent, making it the recommended balance for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset produces an 81.9 FPS average. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset dips below 100 FPS, but it still clears the playability threshold by a meaningful 21.9 FPS. For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity at 4K, Ultra remains viable, though those seeking higher frame rates can step down to High (107.8 FPS) or Medium (124.2 FPS) for smoother motion.