Lockdown Protocol

This PC configuration pairs a high-end 20-core Intel Core i7-14700F with an entry-level NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, creating a stark imbalance in Lockdown Protocol. The CPU sits in the 91st percentile among all processors tested, while the GPU languishes in the 25th percentile. The recorded frame rates confirm that the graphics card is the limiting factor at every resolution and preset combination.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 61.8 FPS, which just clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. At Medium settings the average drops to 42.3 FPS, and at High it falls to 36.1 FPS.

Q: Is the GTX 1050 Ti fast enough for 1440p gaming in this title?

A: No. The best measured result at 2560x1440 is 42.7 FPS on Low settings. All other presets at this resolution fall below 34 FPS, with Ultra producing only 21.3 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to similar processors?

A: The Core i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, placing it 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and 0.8% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313P. It trails the Intel Xeon 6505P by 0.2%, though that difference is effectively negligible.

Q: How does the GPU compare to similar graphics cards?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 4193. It sits 0.6% above the AMD Radeon R5 M330 and 1% above the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M, while trailing the AMD Radeon Vega 3 by 1.8% and the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M by 1.1%.

Q: What happens when raising settings from Low to Medium at 1080p?

A: The average frame rate drops from 61.8 FPS to 42.3 FPS, a loss of roughly 19.5 FPS. The GPU is fully saturated at this point, so the extra rendering work directly translates into lower performance.

Q: Is there any resolution where Ultra settings are playable?

A: No. The highest Ultra average across all three resolutions is 27.2 FPS at 1920x1080. At 2560x1440 Ultra averages 21.3 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Ultra averages 14.5 FPS. This GPU cannot handle the Ultra preset at any resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

The data records four presets per resolution: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS determines the recommendation.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The highest recorded average is 29.1 FPS on Low settings, followed by 21.1 FPS on Medium, 16 FPS on High, and 14.5 FPS on Ultra. Even the lightest preset leaves the system far below playable performance.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves but remains below the threshold. Low settings produce 42.7 FPS, Medium produces 33.8 FPS, High produces 30.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 21.3 FPS. No configuration at this resolution clears 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Low settings are the only playable option. The measured average is 61.8 FPS, which meets the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings drop to 42.3 FPS, High drops to 36.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 27.2 FPS. The recommendation is Low at 1080p.

CPU and GPU Roles

This combination shows a textbook case of GPU limitation. The Core i7-14700F is a top-tier processor with 20 cores and 28 threads, capable of handling far more demanding workloads than the GTX 1050 Ti can feed it. The benchmark data reflects this imbalance clearly.

Looking at resolution scaling at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 61.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 42.7 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 29.1 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the progression goes from 42.3 FPS at 1080p to 33.8 FPS at 1440p to 21.1 FPS at 4K. At High settings, the values are 36.1, 30.2, and 16 FPS respectively.

The pattern is consistent: frame rates scale almost linearly with pixel count, which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU is not the constraint here. If the processor were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller differences when raising resolution, but the data shows performance collapsing as resolution increases.

Preset scaling at a fixed resolution reinforces this conclusion. At 1920x1080, moving from Low to Medium costs 19.5 FPS, and moving from Medium to High costs another 6.2 FPS. Each step adds more shading work, more texture detail, and more geometry, all of which fall on the GPU.

The GTX 1050 Ti has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, with a memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s over a 128-bit bus. These are modest specifications by modern standards, and the measured performance reflects them. The CPU, by contrast, scores 35122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4958 in single-core, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs in the database. No amount of CPU headroom can compensate for the GPU's limits in this game.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are extremely close in average score. The Intel Xeon 6505P scores 53701, which is 0.2% higher than the Core i7-14700F. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, 0.3% lower. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53288, 0.6% lower. The AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53206, 0.8% lower. Any of these processors would deliver essentially identical CPU performance in Lockdown Protocol, meaning the GPU would still be the limiting factor.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are similarly clustered. The AMD Radeon R5 M330 scores 4170, 0.6% lower than the GTX 1050 Ti. The NVIDIA Quadro K2100M scores 4151, 1% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M scores 4241, 1.1% higher. The AMD Radeon Vega 3 scores 4268, 1.8% higher. Swapping the GTX 1050 Ti for any of these would produce nearly identical frame rates in this game, within the margin of measurement error.

The practical takeaway is that the GPU sits in a performance tier where all nearby options behave similarly. Upgrading to a significantly faster card would require moving well beyond this cluster of scores, not a small step to a neighboring part.

The Verdict

The verdict is straightforward: this PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The measured average at that configuration is 61.8 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 2560x1440, there are no playable settings; the best result is 42.7 FPS on Low. At 3840x2160, the situation is worse, with a maximum of 29.1 FPS on Low.

The database lists no playable settings at 1440p or 4K, and the best setting at 1080p is Low with an average of 61.8 FPS. Every other preset at every resolution falls below 60 FPS. High settings at 1080p manage only 36.1 FPS, which is playable in a loose sense but fails the stated threshold.

For a builder considering this pairing, the data says the CPU is not the problem. The Core i7-14700F has ample headroom for this game and many others. The GTX 1050 Ti is the constraint, and the recorded frame rates show it cannot push past Low settings at 1080p in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 3694 out of 3714 tested combos in the database for Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the bottom 0.5% of all configurations tested for this game.

This rank reflects the GPU's position more than the CPU's. The GTX 1050 Ti sits in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all low-end mobile or entry-level desktop parts. Pairing it with a 91st percentile CPU does not change the outcome, because the game is GPU-bound at every resolution and preset tested.

The recorded data shows a system that is severely mismatched for this title. The CPU is capable of much more, but the GPU cannot deliver the frame rates that the processor could easily support. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, this combo delivers playable performance only at the lowest settings and lowest resolution, and the overall ranking reflects that reality.