Lockdown Protocol

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Lockdown Protocol with the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 570 combination shows a clear performance ceiling tied to the GPU. At 3840x2160, the frame rates are consistently low across all presets. The High preset averages 22 FPS, the Low preset averages 36 FPS, the Medium preset averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 and a maximum of 30, and the Ultra preset drops to 17 FPS. None of these 4K results approach the playable threshold of 60 FPS; the gap is substantial even at the least demanding settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation improves but remains far from smooth. The High preset delivers an average of 35 FPS, while the Low preset reaches 56 FPS, just four frames short of the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 46, and the Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. The data shows that at 1440p, only the Low preset comes close to playability, but it still fails to clear the threshold consistently.

At 1920x1080, the results become more viable. The High preset averages 47 FPS, the Low preset averages 77 FPS, the Medium preset averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and a maximum of 63, and the Ultra preset averages 36 FPS. The Low preset is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, with a comfortable margin of 17 frames over the threshold. The Medium preset falls short by 6 FPS on average, while High and Ultra remain well below playable levels.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: lower settings yield higher averages, but the scaling is not linear. For instance, at 1080p, dropping from High to Low adds 30 FPS, while dropping from Medium to Low adds 23 FPS. At 1440p, the jump from High to Low adds 21 FPS, and at 4K, the same drop adds 14 FPS. The minimum and maximum values recorded only for Medium presets show that frame pacing is relatively stable, with the 1080p Medium range spanning 17 FPS and the 1440p Medium range spanning 12 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 570 is the limiting factor in this pairing for Lockdown Protocol. The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a high-end desktop processor with 14 cores, 20 threads, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and single-core score of 4594 demonstrate ample headroom for modern gaming workloads. In contrast, the RX 570 is an older graphics card built on the GCN 4.0 architecture with a 4 GB GDDR5 memory buffer and a 256-bit bus, ranking in the 74th percentile of all GPUs.

The scaling between resolutions confirms this division of labor. When moving from 1080p to 1440p at the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 77 to 56, a reduction of 27%. From 1440p to 4K at Low, the average falls from 56 to 36, another 36% drop. This steep degradation with increasing pixel count is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is not the bottleneck here; if it were, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the RX 570's 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput are insufficient to feed the pixel pipeline at higher resolutions.

Settings also reveal the GPU's role. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 41 FPS (77 versus 36), a 53% performance penalty for maxing out visual quality. At 1440p, the same settings swing costs 30 FPS (56 versus 26), and at 4K, the cost is 19 FPS (36 versus 17). The relative penalty shrinks as resolution rises, which suggests that the GPU is already saturated at lower resolutions and cannot fully utilize the extra detail from higher presets. The CPU, with its strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594), is never the primary constraint in any measured configuration.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that sustains an average of at least 60 FPS is as follows. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves this target. The highest average recorded is 36 FPS at Low, which is 24 frames below the playable threshold. The data shows that 4K is simply out of reach for this hardware combination in Lockdown Protocol.

At 2560x1440, the situation is identical: no preset meets the 60 FPS requirement. The closest is Low with an average of 56 FPS, falling 4 frames short. The verdictByResolution field confirms that playable settings are empty for 1440p. Users would need to accept sub-60 FPS performance or lower the resolution further.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset is the only option that clears the threshold, delivering an average of 77 FPS. This is the best setting per the recorded data, as it is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS, which is 6 frames below the target, and High and Ultra are progressively worse. The 77 FPS average provides a 28% margin over the threshold, indicating stable performance for most gameplay scenarios, though the lack of min/max data for Low leaves some uncertainty about worst-case dips.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-14600KF, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with a score of 49228 and a delta of 0.3%, meaning the i5-14600KF is essentially tied with it. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 (0.4% slower), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% slower), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49796 (0.8% faster). For Lockdown Protocol, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates when paired with the RX 570, since the GPU is the bottleneck. The i5-14600KF's Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 13668 and Geekbench multi-core score of 17085 are representative of this performance tier.

For the AMD Radeon RX 570, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6800M with an average score of 28874 (0.4% faster than the RX 570), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X at 28580 (0.7% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 470 at 28996 (0.8% faster), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 at 28421 (1.2% slower). In practice, the RX 470 is the closest desktop equivalent, and users swapping between these two cards would see nearly identical FPS in Lockdown Protocol at the same settings. The RX 6800M, despite being a mobile part, scores within a fraction of a percent, indicating that laptop users with that GPU would experience similar performance. The Quadro RTX 8000, while a professional card, lands just 1.2% behind, so its gaming performance in this title would be comparable.

FAQ

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

A: No. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 47, which is 13 frames below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Low preset is required for playable performance.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware?

A: Based on the recorded data, 1920x1080 with Low settings is the only configuration that clears 60 FPS, averaging 77 FPS. Both 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 have no playable settings at any preset.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to the RX 470 in this game?

A: The RX 570's average benchmark score is 28766, while the RX 470 scores 28996, a delta of 0.8% in favor of the RX 470. In Lockdown Protocol, the performance difference would be negligible, with both cards delivering near-identical frame rates.

Q: Is the Core i5-14600KF holding back the RX 570?

A: No. The data shows that frame rates scale heavily with resolution and settings, indicating a GPU bottleneck. The i5-14600KF ranks in the 90th percentile of CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Ryzen 9 7900, is only 0.3% different in average score, so CPU choice has minimal impact on this game's FPS.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The recorded average is 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 46. This is below the 60 FPS threshold and would result in noticeable stutter during intense scenes.

Q: Does the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The data shows that 4K performance is poor across all presets, with the highest average being 36 FPS at Low. While the 4 GB memory buffer and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K, the benchmark results indicate that the GPU's compute throughput is the primary limitation, not just memory capacity.

The Verdict

This PC configuration cannot run Lockdown Protocol at a playable level for most scenarios. The verdictByResolution data is unambiguous: at 3840x2160 and 2560x1440, there are no playable settings, meaning no preset achieves a 60 FPS average. The best recorded result at 1440p is 56 FPS on Low, which falls short by 4 frames.

At 1920x1080, the system clears the threshold only on the Low preset, with an average of 77 FPS. This is the sole viable configuration for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 54 FPS, which is 10% below the target, and High and Ultra are significantly worse.

The overall picture is that this is a 1080p Low-settings machine for Lockdown Protocol. The RX 570, despite being a capable card for its generation, lacks the raw performance and memory bandwidth to handle higher resolutions or presets in this title. The i5-14600KF is more than sufficient for the task, but it is paired with a GPU that limits the experience. Users seeking higher visual fidelity would need to upgrade the graphics card, as the CPU is not the constraining factor. The data suggests that for a smooth experience, sticking to 1080p Low is the only reliable option.