Lockdown Protocol

Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B390 is a pairing that produces a very lopsided result in Lockdown Protocol. The processor is a high-end desktop part with strong compute results, while the graphics solution is an integrated-class unit that lands near the bottom of the database. Benchmark data for this combination shows that the Arc B390 becomes the decisive constraint at every resolution tested, with frame rates dropping below the playable threshold of 60 FPS in most configurations. The following analysis breaks down how this pairing behaves, which settings keep the game fluid, and what the numbers indicate about component roles.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-14700F sits in the 91st percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rivals in the recorded data are all within a narrow band. The Intel Xeon 6505P posts an average score of 53701, which is 0.2% higher than the i7-14700F. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, a 0.3% deficit relative to the i7-14700F. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X averages 53288, which is 0.6% lower. The AMD EPYC 7313P rounds out the group at 53206, a 0.8% gap. These four alternatives are effectively equivalent in overall compute performance, so any of them would behave similarly in CPU-bound scenarios. The i7-14700F itself is a 20-core, 28-thread Raptor Lake part with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, along with 33 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory and uses Intel Socket 1700.

The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 1482 from the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. Its nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, which is 1.3% below the Arc B390. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, a 1.5% gap. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, a 2.5% deficit. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, which is 2.7% lower. These deltas are small, meaning the Arc B390 and those four GPUs would be nearly interchangeable in terms of raw graphics throughput. The Arc B390 is built on Intel's Xe3-LPG architecture, uses a 3 nm process, and has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores. It runs at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with system-shared memory and system-dependent bandwidth. The 3DMark result is the only recorded graphics benchmark for this part, and it places the Arc B390 squarely in entry-level territory.

For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the recorded FPS data shows that the CPU is far ahead of what the GPU can deliver. The i7-14700F's nearest rivals would all produce similar CPU-side performance, but the Arc B390's nearest rivals would all land in the same low-FPS range. The bottleneck is unambiguous: the GPU's 9th percentile standing, combined with the CPU's 91st percentile standing, means the graphics solution limits the experience across all tested settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Lockdown Protocol at 1080p with playable frame rates?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080, the playable settings are Low and Medium. Low produces an average of 88 FPS, and Medium produces an average of 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. High drops to 55 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS average, both below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p for this pairing?

A: At 2560x1440, only Low is recorded as playable. It delivers an average of 65 FPS. Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS, High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS. Low is the only option that stays at or above 60 FPS.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: No. At 3840x2160, no settings preset reaches the playable threshold. Low averages 42 FPS, Medium averages 30 FPS with a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS, High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. The verdict data lists no playable settings at this resolution.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% lower at 1463, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M is 1.5% lower at 1460, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% lower at 1446, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% lower at 1443. These are all within a few percent of each other, so any of these GPUs would produce similar results in Lockdown Protocol.

Q: What is the overall ranking of this combo among tested systems?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 3302 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the bottom 12% of all recorded pairings for this game.

Q: Which component limits performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, while the i7-14700F sits at the 91st percentile among all CPUs. Frame rates scale directly with resolution and settings in a pattern consistent with a GPU-bound workload, and the CPU's compute scores are far above the GPU's, leaving no scenario where the processor becomes the constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The database places this exact combination at rank 3302 out of 3714 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. That is a low standing, with roughly 89% of recorded pairings outperforming it. The rank reflects the GPU's position in the graphics hierarchy more than the CPU's. The i7-14700F is a top-tier processor, but the Arc B390 is an integrated-class graphics solution with system-shared memory and a 9th percentile benchmark standing. In a game like Lockdown Protocol, which is an FPS title, the graphics pipeline determines the outcome.

The rank becomes more meaningful when compared against the component-level percentiles. The CPU's 91st percentile placement suggests that the processor is not the reason for this low combo ranking. The GPU's 9th percentile placement, on the other hand, is among the lowest in the database. The delta between these two percentiles is enormous, and the measured FPS reflects that imbalance. At 1080p Medium, the combo manages 63 FPS, which is barely playable. At 1440p Low, it manages 65 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS. These results are consistent with a system where the CPU has ample headroom and the GPU is saturated.

The ranking also indicates that most other tested combinations, even those with weaker CPUs, would beat this pairing in Lockdown Protocol if they had stronger GPUs. The recorded data shows no scenario where the i7-14700F's compute power translates into high frame rates when paired with the Arc B390. The combo rank of 3302 out of 3714 is a direct consequence of the GPU bottleneck, and it will not improve with any settings change because even the lowest preset at 4K only reaches 42 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets each: Ultra, High, Medium, and Low. Minimum and maximum values were only logged for the Medium preset at each resolution, so the other presets have only average FPS values.

At 3840x2160, the results are consistently below the playable threshold. Ultra averages 19 FPS. High averages 26 FPS. Medium averages 30 FPS, with a minimum of 25 FPS and a maximum of 34 FPS. Low averages 42 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 23 FPS, which shows that settings have a moderate impact at 4K, but even the lowest preset cannot reach 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results improve but remain limited. Ultra averages 30 FPS. High averages 40 FPS. Medium averages 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. Low averages 65 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution that clears the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra is 35 FPS, indicating that settings scaling is more pronounced at 1440p than at 4K.

At 1920x1080, the results show the most playable configurations. Ultra averages 41 FPS. High averages 55 FPS. Medium averages 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. Low averages 88 FPS. The Low preset is well above the playable threshold, and Medium also stays above it. High and Ultra fall short. The difference between Low and Ultra is 47 FPS, the largest spread of any resolution, which suggests the GPU is heavily stressed by higher presets even at 1080p.

The Medium preset data is the only set with full min/max information. At 1080p Medium, the range is 53 to 72 FPS, a 19 FPS variance. At 1440p Medium, the range is 39 to 53 FPS, a 14 FPS variance. At 4K Medium, the range is 25 to 34 FPS, a 9 FPS variance. The variance shrinks as resolution increases, which indicates that the GPU is more consistently saturated at higher resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear division of labor in this pairing. The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, and it scores in the 91st percentile among all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 35122, and its single-core score is 4958. The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, is an integrated graphics solution with a 9th percentile standing and an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482. When these two are paired in Lockdown Protocol, the GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution.

The FPS scaling between resolutions confirms this. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 88 FPS. At 1440p Low, it averages 65 FPS. At 4K Low, it averages 42 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is a 26% reduction in FPS, and the drop from 1440p to 4K is a 35% reduction. These are GPU-bound scaling patterns. If the CPU were the bottleneck, resolution changes would have a much smaller effect on frame rates. The fact that FPS falls sharply as pixel count increases shows that the Arc B390's fill rate and shading capacity are the constraints.

Settings scaling tells the same story. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 47 FPS. At 1440p, the spread is 35 FPS. At 4K, the spread is 23 FPS. The diminishing impact of settings at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU saturation. At 4K, even Low settings cannot push the GPU past 42 FPS, meaning the hardware is already at its limit regardless of graphical complexity. The CPU's role, meanwhile, is effectively neutral. Its compute scores are far above what Lockdown Protocol requires, and there is no resolution or preset where the recorded FPS suggests a CPU limitation.

The verdict data reinforces this. At 1080p, the playable settings are Low and Medium. At 1440p, the only playable setting is Low. At 4K, there are no playable settings. This progression is entirely dependent on the GPU. A stronger GPU would shift all of these thresholds upward, but the i7-14700F would not need to change. The recorded data indicates that the processor is never the bottleneck in this configuration.

Best Settings per Resolution

The playable threshold for Lockdown Protocol is 60 FPS, and the verdict data identifies the most demanding preset that stays at or above that mark for each resolution.

At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Medium, which averages 63 FPS. The Medium preset has a recorded minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, so while the average clears the threshold, there are frames that dip below 60 FPS. Low averages 88 FPS and is the safer choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate, but Medium is the most demanding preset that meets the 60 FPS average requirement. High averages 55 FPS and Ultra averages 41 FPS, both below the threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Low, which averages 65 FPS. Medium averages 46 FPS, High averages 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS, all below the playable threshold. Low is the only preset at this resolution that stays at or above 60 FPS on average. There is no min/max data for Low at 1440p, so the frame time consistency cannot be assessed, but the average is sufficient for playability.

At 3840x2160, there are no playable settings. The verdict data lists an empty set for playable settings and no best setting. The closest preset is Low at 42 FPS, followed by Medium at 30 FPS, High at 26 FPS, and Ultra at 19 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS threshold, so 4K is not a viable resolution for this pairing in Lockdown Protocol.

In summary, the Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B390 combination is playable at 1080p with Medium or Low settings, and at 1440p with Low settings only. 4K remains out of reach regardless of settings. The CPU has ample headroom, but the GPU's 9th percentile performance places a hard ceiling on the experience, and users seeking higher frame rates would need a more capable graphics solution.