Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers exceptional performance in Lockdown Protocol, clearing the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution and preset combination tested. Benchmark data shows the combo ranks 241st out of 3,714 tested configurations, placing it in the top 7% of all systems. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates, component roles, and optimal settings based on the provided data.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains over 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 73 FPS, making it the most demanding setting that stays above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Lower presets deliver even higher frame rates, with High at 97 FPS, Medium at 111 FPS, and Low at 157 FPS.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at the same settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate jumps from 97 FPS at 4K to 205 FPS at 1080p, representing a 111% increase. For the Low preset, the jump is even larger: 157 FPS at 4K versus 331 FPS at 1080p, a gain of 174 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER outperform the regular RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54,209, while the RTX 4080 scores 54,247. The delta percentage is -0.1%, meaning the SUPER is effectively tied with the non-SUPER variant, being 0.1% slower in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the system records an average of 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 172 FPS, ranging from a minimum of 147 FPS to a maximum of 198 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 111 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4345P?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48,618, while the AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48,470. The delta percentage is 0.3%, meaning the Intel chip is marginally faster by three-tenths of a percent.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER's performance closer to the RTX 4080 or the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER is much closer to the RTX 4080, with a delta of -0.1%. The gap to the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE is larger at -2.7%, making the SUPER nearly identical to its predecessor and notably ahead of the AMD card.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results show that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU becomes more relevant as resolution drops. Looking at the scaling from 4K to 1440p, the High preset sees frame rates rise from 97 FPS to 151 FPS, a 56% increase. Moving from 1440p to 1080p, the High preset jumps to 205 FPS, a 36% gain. This pattern indicates that resolution reduction yields diminishing returns as the GPU becomes less stressed.

At the Low preset, the scaling is more dramatic. The jump from 4K to 1440p goes from 157 FPS to 243 FPS, a 55% increase. From 1440p to 1080p, the frame rate climbs to 331 FPS, a 36% gain. The consistency of these percentages across presets suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting factor at 4K, but at 1080p Low, the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads are likely approaching their ceiling, as evidenced by the 331 FPS cap.

The Medium preset provides the only complete data with minimum and maximum values. At 4K, the range spans from 95 FPS to 128 FPS, with an average of 111 FPS. At 1440p, the range expands to 147–198 FPS, averaging 172 FPS. At 1080p, the range grows further to 200–270 FPS, averaging 235 FPS. The widening spread between min and max as resolution drops indicates that frame pacing becomes less consistent, a sign that the CPU is handling more of the workload at lower resolutions.

Ultra settings tell a similar story: 4K averages 73 FPS, 1440p averages 113 FPS, and 1080p averages 154 FPS. The percentage gains from 4K to 1440p (55%) and from 1440p to 1080p (36%) mirror the other presets exactly, reinforcing that the GPU dominates performance scaling across resolutions. The i5-14600K, with its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, provides ample headroom for the RTX 4080 SUPER at 1440p and 1080p, but at 4K, the GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becomes the clear bottleneck.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that still clears 60 FPS, with an average of 73 FPS. The data shows that all four presets are playable at 4K, but Ultra delivers the highest visual fidelity while maintaining 73 FPS, which is 13 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, Ultra remains the best choice, achieving an average of 113 FPS. This represents a 55% improvement over the 4K Ultra result, providing a comfortable margin above the playable threshold while keeping maximum settings enabled.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset reaches an average of 154 FPS, making it the optimal configuration for competitive play. The frame rate is nearly 2.6 times the 60 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 331 FPS, but the Ultra preset's 154 FPS is already far beyond what most displays can refresh, so the higher visual quality comes at no practical cost.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rival is the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, which scores 48,698 versus the i5-14600K's 48,618, a delta of -0.2%. In practical terms, these two processors deliver nearly identical compute performance, so systems built with the Xeon Gold 5318H would likely produce similar frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The AMD EPYC 4345P is also close, with a score of 48,470 and a delta of 0.3%, making it a viable alternative for this game. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX and Intel Core Ultra 5 245 round out the rival group, with deltas of 0.7% and -0.8% respectively, all within one percent of the i5-14600K.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the closest match, with an average score of 54,247 against the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209, a delta of -0.1%. This means the original RTX 4080 would perform virtually identically in this game. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828, which is 1.1% higher, so it would offer a marginal improvement. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S score 55,698 and 55,757 respectively, representing 2.7% and 2.8% higher scores. While these AMD options appear slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks, the differences are small enough that in-game performance would be within a few frames per second.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 241st out of 3,714 tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 6.5% of all systems tested, indicating that it is a high-end setup capable of running the game at maximum settings across all resolutions. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 90th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 86th percentile among all graphics cards.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is not the absolute fastest available, it outperforms 3,473 other tested configurations. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are well-suited to Lockdown Protocol's demands, while the i5-14600K's 14 cores and 20 threads prevent any CPU bottleneck at typical gaming resolutions.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Lockdown Protocol. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at every resolution tested, with average frame rates always exceeding 60 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 73 FPS, providing a playable experience with maximum visual quality. At 1440p, the Ultra preset reaches 113 FPS, offering a smooth and responsive experience. At 1080p, the Ultra preset achieves 154 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold.

The system is not merely playable; it excels. Even the most demanding configuration—4K Ultra—maintains an average above 60 FPS, and dropping to High at 4K increases the frame rate to 97 FPS. Players who prefer competitive settings can use 1080p Low to reach 331 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of nearly all monitors. The only compromise is that at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is 73 FPS, leaving a 13 FPS margin above the playable threshold, so highly demanding scenes might occasionally dip closer to 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 73 FPS. The High preset averages 97 FPS. The Medium preset averages 111 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. The Low preset averages 157 FPS. All four presets at 4K exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 113 FPS. The High preset averages 151 FPS. The Medium preset averages 172 FPS, with a minimum of 147 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS. The Low preset averages 243 FPS. The minimum recorded frame rate at Medium (147 FPS) is still more than 2.4 times the playable threshold.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 154 FPS. The High preset averages 205 FPS. The Medium preset averages 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. The Low preset averages 331 FPS. The minimum frame rate at 1080p Medium (200 FPS) is over three times the 60 FPS threshold, demonstrating that this combo provides a substantial performance cushion at the most common gaming resolution.