Lockdown Protocol

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Lockdown Protocol with the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 570 shows a clear performance ceiling tied to resolution and preset selection. At 3840x2160, the combination produces an average of 22 FPS on High settings, 26 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 22 and maximum of 30), 36 FPS on Low, and 17 FPS on Ultra. These numbers place the system firmly below the 60 FPS playable threshold at 4K, with even the least demanding preset delivering less than half of that target.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages improve but remain insufficient for smooth gameplay. High settings yield 35 FPS, Medium produces 40 FPS (minimum 34, maximum 46), Low reaches 56 FPS, and Ultra drops to 26 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 30 FPS, which highlights how dramatically the preset slider impacts the GPU workload. The 56 FPS on Low is the closest this combo comes to the 60 FPS target at 1440p, yet it still falls short.

At 1920x1080, the picture changes significantly. Low settings achieve an average of 77 FPS, which clears the playable threshold with a 17 FPS margin. Medium settings land at 54 FPS (minimum 46, maximum 63), High settings produce 47 FPS, and Ultra drops to 36 FPS. The minimum frame rate on Medium, 46 FPS, is below the threshold, meaning even the average does not guarantee a consistent experience. Only Low settings at 1080p provide both an average above 60 FPS and a plausible frame-time buffer.

The data also shows that the RX 570's 4 GB GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth become a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 256-bit bus width helps at 1080p, but the 3840x2160 results reveal a steep performance cliff, likely due to memory pressure and the Polaris architecture's compute limits.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset in the database achieves the 60 FPS threshold. The best recorded average is 36 FPS on Low settings, which is only 60% of the playable target. The verdict field confirms this: the playable settings list is empty for 4K, and the best settings entry is null. Users must accept a sub-60 FPS experience or lower the resolution.

At 2560x1440, the same conclusion applies. The playable settings list is empty, and the best settings entry is null. The highest average is 56 FPS on Low, which is 4 FPS short of the threshold. Medium and High presets produce 40 and 35 FPS respectively, while Ultra falls to 26 FPS. The database records no configuration at 1440p that reaches 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the situation reverses. The best settings entry is Low, with an average of 77 FPS. This is the only preset across all resolutions that the database marks as playable. Low settings at 1080p deliver a 28% margin above the 60 FPS target, making it the definitive recommendation for this combo. Medium settings, while averaging 54 FPS, do not meet the threshold and should be avoided if frame rate consistency is the priority.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz and a 33 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core reaches 35122, single-core 4958, and Geekbench multi-core 19620. The CPU percentile against all processors is 91, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of tested chips. However, in Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at every resolution.

Evidence comes from the scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the average is 77 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces that to 56 FPS, a 27% decline. At 4K Low, the average falls to 36 FPS, another 36% drop. This steep decline with resolution is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios, where the RX 570's 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 39.81 GPixel/s pixel rate cannot keep pace with increasing pixel counts.

Conversely, the CPU's role is minimal even at 1080p. The i7-14700F's single-thread performance, measured at 499 in Cinebench R15 and 4257 in PassMark, is more than sufficient for the game's logic. The fact that Ultra settings at 1080p only reach 36 FPS, while Low reaches 77 FPS, confirms that the GPU's shading units (2048) and texture units (128) are the limiting factor. The CPU is never the constraint here; its 91st percentile ranking and 20 cores provide ample headroom.

The 4 GB memory capacity also amplifies GPU pressure. At 1440p and 4K, the 224.0 GB/s bandwidth and 4 GB frame buffer likely force texture streaming and memory swapping, which explains why Medium and High presets at 4K produce averages in the 20s. The CPU's dual-channel memory support and DDR4/DDR5 compatibility are irrelevant to this bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's aggregate ranking for Lockdown Protocol, this specific CPU-GPU pair places 3544th out of 3714 tested combinations. That places it in the bottom 5% of all recorded systems, a reflection of the RX 570's age and the game's demands at higher settings.

The GPU's own percentile versus all GPUs is 74, which sounds respectable until considering that the RX 570's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (average score 28874, delta -0.4%), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28580, delta 0.7%), the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996, delta -0.8%), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (28421, delta 1.2%). These scores are within 1.2% of each other, meaning the RX 570 is effectively in a dead heat with mid-range parts from several generations ago.

The CPU, by contrast, punches far above its weight. The i7-14700F's nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6505P (average score 53701, delta -0.2%), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469, delta 0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (53288, delta 0.6%), and the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206, delta 0.8%). The CPU's average benchmark score of 53620 places it in the top 9% of all processors. This mismatch explains the combo's low ranking: a top-tier CPU paired with a mid-tier GPU creates a system that fails exactly where the game demands the most.

The database's measured FPS data confirms this asymmetry. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect similar FPS across resolutions. Instead, the 1080p to 4K drop from 77 to 36 FPS on Low settings shows the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS on a 4K monitor?

A: No. The best recorded average at 3840x2160 is 36 FPS on Low settings. Medium settings average 26 FPS, High averages 22 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. The database lists no playable settings for 4K.

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 2560x1440?

A: None. The closest is Low settings with an average of 56 FPS, which is 4 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra produce 40, 35, and 26 FPS respectively. The verdict field confirms an empty playable settings list for 1440p.

Q: Which preset should I use at 1920x1080?

A: Low settings is the only playable option, with an average of 77 FPS. Medium settings average 54 FPS (minimum 46, maximum 63), which does not meet the threshold. High and Ultra average 47 and 36 FPS respectively.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F or the AMD Radeon RX 570 the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 91st percentile with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122, while the GPU ranks in the 74th percentile. The FPS drops by 41 FPS from 1080p Low to 4K Low, proving resolution-dependent GPU limits.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 3544th out of 3714 combinations, placing it in the bottom 5%. The GPU's average benchmark score of 28766 is within 1.2% of rivals like the RX 470 and R9 M295X, while the CPU's score of 53620 is within 0.8% of the Ryzen 9 7900X.

Q: Does the RX 570's 4 GB memory affect performance?

A: Yes. The 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth appears to limit higher resolutions. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS drops to 22 and the maximum to 30, indicating frame time spikes consistent with memory pressure.

The Verdict

The Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 570 can run Lockdown Protocol, but only under strict conditions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 77 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold with a comfortable margin. This is the only configuration in the database marked as playable.

At 2560x1440, the system fails to reach 60 FPS on any preset. The best case, Low settings at 56 FPS, is playable in a loose sense but misses the database's defined threshold. Users should expect stutter and frame drops during intense scenes, as the 1440p Medium minimum of 34 FPS illustrates.

At 3840x2160, the combination is not viable for this game. Even Low settings average 36 FPS, which is below 60% of the target. Ultra settings produce a slideshow-like 17 FPS.

The verdict is unambiguous: this PC can run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p with Low settings, and nothing more. The CPU is overqualified for the task, but the GPU's Polaris architecture and 4 GB memory limit the experience to the lowest preset. For players willing to accept visual compromises, the 77 FPS average at 1080p Low offers a smooth gameplay experience. For anyone expecting Medium or High presets at modern resolutions, this combo falls short.