Lockdown Protocol

Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER in Lockdown Protocol: the data shows a system that can hold 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p with the right settings, but 4K is out of reach. The following analysis walks through the measured results, component roles, and how this pairing compares to other tested configurations.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the highest preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High. The recorded average is 76 FPS. This leaves headroom above the 60 FPS threshold, so High is the recommended setting for smooth gameplay at this resolution. Medium also clears the bar with an average of 87 FPS, and Low reaches 123 FPS, but High is the most demanding preset that remains playable.

At 2560x1440, the best settings that hold 60 FPS or more is Medium. The average at Medium is 64 FPS, which is just above the threshold. Low averages 90 FPS, but Medium is the highest preset that stays playable. High drops to 56 FPS, so it misses the mark.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest is Low with an average of 58 FPS, which falls short. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The verdict data confirms this: there are no playable settings at 4K for this combo.

The pattern is clear. The system scales down as resolution increases, and the 60 FPS line moves from High at 1080p to Medium at 1440p to nothing at 4K. For users targeting 60 FPS, 1080p High and 1440p Medium are the practical limits.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured frame rates reveal how the balance shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the GPU is the primary constraint. The jump from Low to High reduces the average from 123 FPS to 76 FPS, a 47 FPS drop. This shows that the graphics card is doing most of the work, and raising settings directly lowers output. The CPU, an Intel Core i7-14700F with 20 cores and 28 threads, has ample headroom at this resolution, as the framerate is tied to GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the same trend continues but with a steeper curve. Low averages 90 FPS, Medium drops to 64 FPS, and High falls to 56 FPS. The gap between Low and High is 34 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU is becoming more saturated, and the CPU's role is diminishing. The i7-14700F, which sits in the 91st percentile among all CPUs in the database, is not the limiting factor here.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully maxed out. Low averages 58 FPS, Medium drops to 41 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 36 FPS and 27 FPS respectively. The scaling between presets is severe, indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 336 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed. The CPU has no measurable influence at this resolution; the framerate is entirely dictated by the GPU's pixel throughput.

The recorded data shows that the CPU matters most at lower resolutions where the GPU can keep up, but at 4K the GPU dominates completely. For this game, the i7-14700F is never the bottleneck, even at 1080p Low where the framerate reaches 123 FPS. The GTX 1660 SUPER is the deciding factor across all tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database contains exact measurements for each resolution and preset combination. At 1920x1080, Low runs at an average of 123 FPS. Medium averages 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High averages 76 FPS. Ultra averages 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The min and max values are only recorded for Medium, so the spread there is 26 FPS between the lowest and highest frames.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 90 FPS. Medium averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. High drops to 56 FPS. Ultra averages 42 FPS. The Medium preset shows a 19 FPS range, which is tighter than at 1080p, indicating more consistent frame pacing under load.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 58 FPS. Medium averages 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. High averages 36 FPS. Ultra averages 27 FPS. The Medium spread is 12 FPS, which is the smallest range recorded in the entire dataset. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that frametimes become more uniform, even if the average is low.

Looking at the progression across resolutions for a single preset, Medium at 1080p averages 87 FPS, at 1440p it averages 64 FPS, and at 4K it averages 41 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 23 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is another 23 FPS. This linear decline matches the pixel count increase, which is roughly 1.78 times from 1080p to 1440p and 2.25 times from 1440p to 4K. The framerate does not scale linearly with pixel count, but the trend is consistent.

High settings show a different pattern: 76 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The relative drops are larger, confirming that higher presets amplify the GPU load more steeply as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER across all tested configurations. It sits at position 3166 out of 3714 combos. This means it is in the lower portion of the ranking, with about 85 percent of tested combos performing better in Lockdown Protocol.

The rank reflects the GPU's age and position. The GTX 1660 SUPER has a percentile of 53 among all GPUs in the database, meaning it sits near the midpoint. The CPU, by contrast, is in the 91st percentile. The pairing of a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU creates an imbalance, and the game's performance is limited by the weaker component. The rank of 3166 out of 3714 is consistent with this bottleneck.

The data does not list specific scores for other combos in this game, so the rank is the only comparative metric available. A rank near the bottom quarter indicates that most other hardware pairings deliver higher frame rates, likely because they feature more recent or more powerful graphics cards.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 1920x1080?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at High settings is 76, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium and Low also clear the bar, with averages of 87 and 123 FPS respectively. Ultra averages 57 FPS, so it falls short.

Q: What is the best preset at 2560x1440?

A: Medium is the highest preset that stays at or above 60 FPS. It averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. Low averages 90 FPS, but High drops to 56 FPS and is not playable.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: No. The highest average at 3840x2160 is 58 FPS on Low settings, which is below 60 FPS. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The verdict data lists no playable settings at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the GPU in terms of bottleneck?

A: The CPU is not the limiting factor. The Intel Core i7-14700F has a percentile of 91 among all CPUs, while the GTX 1660 SUPER has a percentile of 53. The framerate scales heavily with resolution and settings, which points to the GPU as the primary constraint.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 74 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 54 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 35 FPS. The min and max values are only recorded for Medium presets in the dataset.

Q: Where does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 3166 out of 3714 combos. This places it in the lower portion of the database, consistent with a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU.

The Verdict

The data is clear on whether this PC can run Lockdown Protocol. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on High, Medium, and Low settings. The best playable preset is High with an average of 76 FPS. At 2560x1440, the system clears 60 FPS on Medium and Low, with Medium being the best playable preset at 64 FPS average. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, so the system cannot run the game at 4K with playable performance.

The verdict by resolution confirms this: 1080p lists High, Low, and Medium as playable; 1440p lists Low and Medium as playable; 4K lists no playable settings. For users who prioritize visual quality, 1080p High is the sweet spot. For those on a 1440p monitor, Medium is the maximum setting that keeps the framerate above 60 FPS. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for this game at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K.

The system is capable of running the game, but with clear limitations. It is not a high-framerate or high-resolution machine for this title, but it meets the playable threshold at the two most common gaming resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context for what other processors would behave similarly. The Intel Xeon 6505P has an average score that is 0.2 percent lower than the i7-14700F. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 is 0.3 percent higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is 0.6 percent higher, and the AMD EPYC 7313P is 0.8 percent higher. These differences are negligible, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical performance in Lockdown Protocol, assuming the same GPU.

For the GPU, the closest matches are more relevant. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 0.4 percent higher than the GTX 1660 SUPER. The AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 0.4 percent higher. The NVIDIA Tesla M2090 scores 0.7 percent lower, and the AMD Radeon 740M scores 0.9 percent higher. These deltas are small, so swapping the GTX 1660 SUPER for any of these cards would produce similar frame rates in this game.

The practical takeaway is that the CPU has multiple viable alternatives that would not change the outcome, but the GPU's nearest rivals are all within a single percentage point of performance. This means the observed FPS numbers for this combo would be approximately the same with any of these adjacent GPUs. The bottleneck remains the graphics card, and none of the nearby alternatives would push the framerate into a different playability tier at any resolution.