Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination produces a wide performance envelope in Lockdown Protocol, ranging from a sub-60 FPS average at 4K Ultra to nearly 190 FPS at 1080p Low. The data reveals a system that is clearly capable of high-refresh-rate 1080p play and fully playable 1440p, but one that struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at the highest 4K preset. The measured FPS values, all recorded as averages without min/max data, show a consistent pattern of scaling that favors lower resolutions and reduced settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the i5-14600K and RTX 4060 deliver their strongest results. The Low preset produces an average of 188.4 FPS, a very high figure that indicates the CPU is not severely bottlenecking the GPU at this resolution. Moving to Medium reduces the average to 134 FPS, while the High preset yields 119.9 FPS. The most demanding Ultra preset at 1080p still maintains an average of 87.2 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 54.4 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 14.1 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 32.7 FPS. The data shows that the largest performance hit occurs when moving from Low to Medium, suggesting a significant increase in shading or texture work at that level.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but the system remains fluid. The Low preset averages 138.7 FPS, which is 49.7 FPS lower than the same preset at 1080p. Medium at 1440p averages 99.4 FPS, and High averages 89.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 62.6 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly consistent across presets, with the Low preset dropping by 26.4%, Medium by 25.8%, High by 25.7%, and Ultra by 28.2%. This uniform drop indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as pixel count increases, but the margin is not extreme.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become apparent. The Low preset averages 90.8 FPS, which is still playable. Medium averages 66.5 FPS, also above the 60 FPS threshold. High drops to 52.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.7 FPS. The delta between Medium and High at 4K is 13.6 FPS, while the delta between High and Ultra is 12.2 FPS. Notably, the 4K Low preset (90.8 FPS) is only slightly faster than the 1440p Ultra preset (62.6 FPS), showing that resolution scaling has a larger impact than the preset scaling at this level. None of the 4K presets reach the 1440p Ultra average, which means the 4K High and Ultra options are the only settings that fail the 60 FPS playability criterion.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data allows for a clear inference about which component dominates Lockdown Protocol at each resolution. At 1080p, the CPU plays a more significant role. The jump from 1080p Low (188.4 FPS) to 1080p Medium (134 FPS) represents a 28.9% reduction in frame rate, which is a larger relative drop than the 25.8% reduction seen when moving from 1440p Low (138.7 FPS) to 1440p Medium (99.4 FPS). This suggests that at 1080p, the i5-14600K’s 14 cores and 20 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, but the GPU is still the limiting factor for the higher presets. However, the fact that 1080p Low exceeds 188 FPS indicates the CPU can sustain extremely high frame rates without creating a bottleneck, as the RTX 4060 is a mid-range GPU that would typically cap out at those levels regardless of the CPU.

At 1440p, the GPU begins to assert more control. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p for each preset is nearly identical, with the Low preset dropping by 26.4%, Medium by 25.8%, High by 25.7%, and Ultra by 28.2%. This uniform scaling pattern across presets strongly suggests that the GPU is the primary constraint at 1440p, as the CPU’s workload does not change significantly with resolution, but the GPU’s pixel and fill-rate workload does. The i5-14600K’s high single-thread performance (2064 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is likely sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck at 1440p, leaving the RTX 4060 to determine the final frame rate.

At 4K, the GPU is unambiguously the dominant factor. The performance gap between 1440p and 4K is substantial, with the Low preset dropping from 138.7 FPS to 90.8 FPS (a 34.5% reduction), and the Ultra preset dropping from 62.6 FPS to 40.7 FPS (a 35% reduction). The RTX 4060’s 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding settings. The CPU’s role at 4K is minimal, as the GPU is clearly saturated. The data indicates that for this game, the RTX 4060 is the limiting component at 1440p and above, while the i5-14600K provides ample headroom at 1080p.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 87.2 FPS. This is a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving room for dips that might occur in intense scenes, though no min FPS data is available. The High preset at 119.9 FPS and Medium at 134 FPS are also viable, but Ultra provides the best visual fidelity without sacrificing the playability target.

For 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 62.6 FPS. This is a thin margin of just 2.6 FPS over the 60 FPS threshold, meaning that any slight variation in scene complexity could push it below playable levels. The High preset at 89.1 FPS offers a much safer buffer, but the data shows Ultra is technically playable. The Medium preset at 99.4 FPS and Low at 138.7 FPS are also above the threshold, but Ultra is the highest visual quality that meets the criterion.

For 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 66.5 FPS. The Low preset at 90.8 FPS is also playable, but Medium provides better visual quality. The High preset at 52.9 FPS and Ultra at 40.7 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS threshold, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The 66.5 FPS average at 4K Medium is a solid result for this mid-range GPU, but it leaves no headroom for demanding scenes.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but the playable settings vary significantly by resolution. According to the verdictByResolution data, at 3840x2160, the playable settings are Low and Medium, with Medium being the best option at 66.5 FPS. The High preset at 52.9 FPS and Ultra at 40.7 FPS fail to clear the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, all four presets (High, Low, Medium, Ultra) are playable, with Ultra being the best at 62.6 FPS. This is the highest visual quality available while maintaining playability. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra being the best at 87.2 FPS. The system is clearly capable of high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, as evidenced by the 188.4 FPS Low preset result. The verdict is that the i5-14600K and RTX 4060 combination is a strong 1080p and 1440p performer, but it is not suited for 4K gaming beyond Medium settings. The data shows that the 60 FPS playable threshold is met at 4K Medium, but the margin is narrow.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 87.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Can this PC handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but only at Low (90.8 FPS) and Medium (66.5 FPS) presets. High (52.9 FPS) and Ultra (40.7 FPS) at 3840x2160 fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Which is the best preset at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 is the most demanding playable option, with an average of 62.6 FPS. This is just above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the performance scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 188.4 at 1080p to 138.7 at 1440p and 90.8 at 4K. This represents a 51.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at 1440p and 4K, as performance scales uniformly with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to allow the GPU to reach 188.4 FPS on Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest playable setting at 4K?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 90.8 FPS, which is the fastest 4K option. Medium at 66.5 FPS is also playable, but High and Ultra are not.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 1997 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is consistent with the RTX 4060’s position as a mid-range GPU. The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 61, meaning it outperforms 61% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 90, indicating it outperforms 90% of all CPUs. The combination’s rank of 1997 out of 3714 (roughly the 46th percentile) suggests that the GPU is holding back the CPU’s potential. The data shows that the i5-14600K is a top-tier CPU, but the RTX 4060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus limit its performance in graphically intensive scenarios like 4K Ultra. The rank reflects a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p but underperforms at 4K relative to what the CPU could potentially support with a more powerful GPU.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-14600K, based on average benchmark scores, are the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (avg score 48698, delta -0.2%), AMD EPYC 4345P (avg score 48470, delta 0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (avg score 48287, delta 0.7%), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (avg score 48995, delta -0.8%). These CPUs are all within 0.8% of the i5-14600K’s average benchmark score, meaning they would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Lockdown Protocol. The Xeon Gold 5318H and Core Ultra 5 245 are slightly faster, while the EPYC 4345P and Core Ultra 5 245HX are slightly slower, but the differences are negligible in gaming scenarios.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (avg score 17666, delta -0.2%), AMD Radeon 780M (avg score 17588, delta 0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (avg score 17551, delta 0.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (avg score 17509, delta 0.7%). These GPUs all have average benchmark scores within 0.7% of the RTX 4060, indicating that they would produce very similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The Radeon HD 7790 is a much older card, but its score is essentially identical to the RTX 4060, which is surprising given the generational gap. The Radeon 780M is an integrated GPU, suggesting that the RTX 4060’s performance level is achievable by some iGPUs in certain workloads. In practice, a system with any of these CPU or GPU substitutes would behave almost identically to the i5-14600K and RTX 4060 combo, assuming no other bottlenecks exist.