Lockdown Protocol

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the highest preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is High, with an average of 75.9 FPS. The Ultra preset dips to 59 FPS, just below the playable threshold, so High is the recommended ceiling for a smooth experience at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Medium, averaging 66.9 FPS. Low runs at 89.8 FPS and High drops to 58.6 FPS, which fails the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra is far behind at 39.7 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 56.4 FPS, followed by Medium at 39.3 FPS, High at 37.2 FPS, and Ultra at 29.9 FPS. The database records no playable settings for 4K with this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 3141 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places the combination in the lower portion of the database, reflecting that while the CPU is a high-end part, the GPU is a mid-range model from an older generation. The rank indicates that most other tested processor and graphics card pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this title.

The CPU itself sits at the 90th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 48618. The GPU, by contrast, is at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 12986. This gap between CPU and GPU positioning explains why the combo rank is not higher: the graphics card limits overall gaming performance in Lockdown Protocol, particularly at higher resolutions and presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 125.5 FPS average
• Medium: 86.4 FPS average
• High: 75.9 FPS average
• Ultra: 59.0 FPS average

The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is steep. Dropping from Low to Medium costs 39.1 FPS, while moving from High to Ultra costs 16.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that falls below 60 FPS at this resolution.

2560x1440:

• Low: 89.8 FPS average
• Medium: 66.9 FPS average
• High: 58.6 FPS average
• Ultra: 39.7 FPS average

At 1440p, the gap between Medium and High is 8.3 FPS, pushing High under the playable threshold. Ultra is substantially slower, losing 27.2 FPS compared to High.

3840x2160:

• Low: 56.4 FPS average
• Medium: 39.3 FPS average
• High: 37.2 FPS average
• Ultra: 29.9 FPS average

At 4K, even Low cannot sustain 60 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 17.1 FPS, while High and Medium are only 2.1 FPS apart. Ultra is the weakest recorded result across all resolutions and presets.

The database records no minimum or maximum frame rates for any of these measurements, only averages. The lack of frame time variance data means the analysis relies on average FPS as the primary metric.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 75.9 FPS, Medium averages 86.4 FPS, and Low averages 125.5 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best setting at 1440p?

A: Medium is the best playable setting at 2560x1440, with an average of 66.9 FPS. Low runs faster at 89.8 FPS, but Medium is the highest preset that still clears 60 FPS.

Q: Is 4K playable with the GTX 1660 SUPER and i5-14600K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best recorded result is Low at 56.4 FPS, which fails the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra average 39.3, 37.2, and 29.9 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: High averages 75.9 FPS, while Ultra averages 59.0 FPS. The difference is 16.9 FPS, and Ultra is the only preset at 1080p that drops below the playable threshold.

Q: Which CPU benchmark scores are relevant for this pairing?

A: The i5-14600K scores 24491 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2064 in Cinebench R23 single-core. It also records 38682 in PassMark multithread and 4270 in PassMark single thread. These scores place the CPU at the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What GPU benchmark scores does the GTX 1660 SUPER produce?

A: The GPU scores 12699 in PassMark G3D, 5076 in PassMark GPU Compute, 52490 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 57102 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its overall percentile is 53rd among all GPUs.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows that resolution scaling has a much larger impact on frame rates than preset scaling at the higher end, which points to the GPU as the dominant constraint. Comparing 1080p Low to 4K Low, the average FPS drops from 125.5 to 56.4, a reduction of 69.1 FPS. That is a 55% performance loss from a fourfold increase in pixel count, indicating the GPU cannot maintain throughput as resolution rises.

At 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GTX 1660 SUPER across all presets. The difference between Low and Ultra is 66.5 FPS, and even the weakest preset, Ultra at 59.0 FPS, is close to the playable threshold. The i5-14600K, with 14 cores, 20 threads, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, is not the limiting factor here.

At 1440p, the GPU begins to show its limits. The spread between Low and Ultra is 50.1 FPS, but the more telling detail is that High, at 58.6 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS threshold while Medium, at 66.9 FPS, clears it. This narrow band means the GPU is operating near its capacity at this resolution, and preset choices have a disproportionate effect on playability.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The difference between Low and Medium is 17.1 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is only 2.1 FPS. This compression of frame rates at higher presets is typical of a GPU that has reached its memory bandwidth or shading unit limits. The GTX 1660 SUPER has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and 1408 shading units, which is insufficient for 4K in this title.

The CPU's role is comparatively minor across all resolutions. Its benchmark scores, including a 90th percentile ranking and an average score of 48618, suggest it can handle the game's logic and draw call processing without imposing meaningful limits. The recorded frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and preset, which is the expected pattern when the GPU is the binding constraint.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only at specific resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the High preset is playable at 75.9 FPS, and Low and Medium are also above 60 FPS. Ultra is not playable at 59.0 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low and Medium are playable, with Medium being the best option at 66.9 FPS. High and Ultra are not playable.

At 3840x2160, no settings are playable. The best result, Low at 56.4 FPS, misses the 60 FPS threshold by 3.6 FPS.

The verdict is straightforward: the combination is a solid 1080p machine for this game, a capable 1440p machine with reduced settings, and not viable at 4K. Users targeting 1440p should stick to Medium or lower, while 1080p users can enjoy High settings comfortably.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database, based on average benchmark score, are the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H with an average score of 48698 and a delta of -0.2%, the AMD EPYC 4345P with 48470 and a delta of 0.3%, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX with 48287 and a delta of 0.7%, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with 48995 and a delta of -0.8%. All four are within 1% of the i5-14600K's average score of 48618, meaning any of them would produce nearly identical CPU-side performance in Lockdown Protocol.

The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile with an average score of 12940 and a delta of 0.4%, the AMD Radeon RX 580 with 12928 and a delta of 0.4%, the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 with 13075 and a delta of -0.7%, and the AMD Radeon 740M with 12870 and a delta of 0.9%. The GTX 1660 SUPER's average score is 12986, so these alternatives would deliver essentially the same frame rates in this game.

For users considering a change, swapping the CPU for any of its rivals would not meaningfully alter the measured FPS. Swapping the GPU for a rival would also keep performance within a narrow band. The practical takeaway is that this combination's gaming behavior is representative of a broader group of mid-range GPUs paired with high-end CPUs, and the frame rates recorded for Lockdown Protocol should generalize to those similar pairings.