Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B580 combination delivers a thoroughly playable Lockdown Protocol experience at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K requiring a significant settings compromise. Measured data shows this pairing is well-balanced for the game's demands, though the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and quality presets. The Arc B580’s 12 GB memory buffer and Xe2-HPG architecture handle the FPS title adequately, while the 20-core processor provides ample headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its strongest performance across all presets. The Low preset produces an average of 153.8 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS playability threshold. Moving to Medium yields 109.2 FPS, still a substantial margin. The High preset delivers 96.5 FPS, and even the demanding Ultra preset maintains a robust 72.2 FPS average. The scaling from Medium to High shows a 12.7 FPS drop, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 24.3 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects place a significant load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but the curve steepens. The Low preset reaches 111.3 FPS, which is 42.5 FPS lower than the 1080p result, showing a clear resolution penalty. Medium follows at 80.3 FPS, while High drops to 71.6 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 53.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and represents the first major failure point in the resolution ladder. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 58.2 FPS, nearly double the 42.5 FPS gap observed at 1080p between the same presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. The Low preset averages 72.9 FPS, the only setting that clears the playability bar. Medium drops to 50.2 FPS, High falls to 43.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 32 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is 40.9 FPS, showing that even the least demanding preset struggles less than the most demanding one, but the overall headroom is minimal. The data reveals that each resolution step roughly halves the performance ceiling when comparing the best-case presets: 153.8 FPS at 1080p Low, 111.3 FPS at 1440p Low, and 72.9 FPS at 4K Low.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the highest quality option that maintains playability, with an average of 72.2 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold by 12.2 FPS, providing a comfortable margin for typical gameplay fluctuations. The data indicates that all four presets are viable at this resolution, so users seeking maximum fidelity can select Ultra without concern.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 71.6 FPS. This represents a 11.6 FPS buffer over the threshold. The Medium preset offers 80.3 FPS for those who prefer extra headroom, but High is the ceiling for quality without compromises. The Ultra preset, at 53.1 FPS, must be avoided if smooth frame pacing is the priority.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves playable performance, with an average of 72.9 FPS. This is the sole option that clears the threshold, and it does so with a 12.9 FPS margin. The Medium preset at 50.2 FPS and High at 43.1 FPS are both below the playability line, requiring users to sacrifice visual fidelity for frame rate. The verdict data confirms this: Low is the designated best setting at 4K, with no other preset reaching the 60 FPS target.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck for this game, with the CPU exhibiting minimal influence on the measured frame rates. The scaling between resolutions provides evidence: at 1080p, the Low preset yields 153.8 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 72.2 FPS. This 81.6 FPS spread is entirely attributable to GPU workload, as the resolution and settings changes do not alter CPU thread utilization significantly. The Core i7-14700K, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is unlikely to be saturated by a single-threaded or lightly-threaded FPS title like Lockdown Protocol.

When moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same High preset, the average FPS drops from 96.5 to 71.6, a 24.9 FPS reduction. From 1440p to 4K High, the drop is from 71.6 to 43.1, a 28.5 FPS reduction. These consistent penalties across resolution steps suggest that the Arc B580's fill rate and memory bandwidth—456.0 GB/s on a 192-bit bus—are the determining factors. The GPU's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the specs that govern these scaling behaviors.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent only at the lowest resolution and preset combination. At 1080p Low, the 153.8 FPS result approaches the upper range where even strong processors can create a bottleneck, but the i7-14700K’s PassMark single-thread score of 4472 and Geekbench single-core score of 2569 indicate it has substantial headroom. The data does not show any anomaly where CPU limits would be suspected, such as identical FPS across different resolutions at the same preset. Instead, every resolution change produces a measurable FPS shift, confirming the GPU is the active constraint throughout the tested range.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Arc B580’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP with a delta of -0.2%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 0.6%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at -0.7%. The RTX 3080 is the most interesting comparison, as its 0.7% lower average score suggests the B580 trades blows with a card from a higher tier, though the RTX 2080’s 0.6% higher score means the B580 sits within a narrow performance band. The RX 580 2048SP is an older, lower-end part that happens to align closely in aggregate benchmarks, but real-world gaming differences may be more pronounced due to driver maturity and feature support.

On the CPU side, the Intel Core i7-14700K’s nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9115 with a 0.1% delta, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at -0.2%, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX at -0.7%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F at -0.9%. The Ryzen 9 7950X is the most direct consumer comparison, with a near-identical average score that indicates users of either processor would see essentially the same frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. The EPYC 9115 is a server part, but its 0.1% delta suggests the i7-14700K’s multi-threaded performance is on par with enterprise silicon. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with 0.9% lower score, represents a slightly slower but still comparable alternative for gaming workloads.

For a user considering this specific combination, the data implies that swapping the GPU to an RTX 3080 or RTX 2080 would yield nearly identical FPS in this game, while the CPU could be exchanged for a Ryzen 9 7950X without meaningful performance change. The B580’s 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the i7-14700K’s 94th percentile among all CPUs show that this combo pairs a top-tier processor with a mid-range graphics card, which aligns with the observed GPU-bound behavior.

The Verdict

This PC can run Lockdown Protocol at all three tested resolutions, but not at all quality settings. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with Ultra averaging 72.2 FPS and Low reaching 153.8 FPS. At 2560x1440, the playable settings are High, Medium, and Low, with High delivering 71.6 FPS as the best quality option; Ultra at 53.1 FPS is not viable. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset clears the 60 FPS bar, averaging 72.9 FPS, while Medium at 50.2 FPS, High at 43.1 FPS, and Ultra at 32 FPS all fall short.

The 60 FPS playability threshold is met with comfortable margins at 1080p and 1440p High, but 4K users must accept significant visual compromises. The data shows that the Arc B580 is the limiting component, as the CPU’s strong benchmark scores and high percentile ranking leave no indication of processor-related frame drops. For competitive play, the 1080p Low preset’s 153.8 FPS offers the smoothest experience, while single-player or casual sessions can leverage the Ultra preset’s 72.2 FPS without dropping below the threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

Among all tested combinations in the database, the Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B580 pairing ranks 2828 out of 3714 total combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, which is consistent with the GPU’s 68th percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU’s 94th percentile ranking does not lift the overall combo rank because the game is GPU-bound, as evidenced by the FPS scaling data. The rank suggests that while this system is fully capable of running the game at playable frame rates across most resolutions and presets, many other combinations—particularly those with higher-tier GPUs—deliver superior performance. The 886 positions separating this combo from the top quartile indicate that users seeking the highest frame rates at 4K Ultra would need to consider a more powerful graphics card, while those satisfied with 1080p or 1440p gaming will find this setup more than adequate.