Lockdown Protocol

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-14700KF sits in a tightly contested performance band. The database shows its nearest CPU rivals are all within roughly one percent of its average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is essentially a dead heat, trailing by just 0.2 percent. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X are similarly close, with the 7940HX behind by 0.4 percent and the 7950X behind by 0.9 percent. Interestingly, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is the only nearby rival that scores higher, leading the i7-14700KF by 1 percent. For practical purposes, swapping between any of these four processors would yield nearly identical frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, since the delta between them is within measurement noise for most gaming workloads.

On the graphics side, the AMD Radeon RX 580 is a much older part, and its nearest rivals reflect that positioning. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the closest match, posting an average score just 0.1 percent higher. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER sits 0.4 percent ahead, while the AMD Radeon 740M is 0.5 percent behind and the AMD FirePro W5100 trails by 0.6 percent. The RX 580's percentile ranking of 53 among all GPUs indicates it sits near the middle of the pack. In Lockdown Protocol, users migrating from any of these four GPUs to the RX 580 would see no meaningful difference in performance. The GTX 1660 SUPER, in particular, stands out as a near-twin for this game, making it a viable drop-in alternative for someone planning around the RX 580's expected output.

What the data suggests is that the CPU is not the limiting factor here. The i7-14700KF ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 580 sits in the 53rd percentile among GPUs. That gap of 41 percentile points indicates the graphics card will dominate frame rate outcomes. Any of the four rival CPUs listed would behave identically when paired with this GPU, and any of the four rival GPUs would produce nearly identical results when paired with this CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3368 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places this pairing in the bottom 9.3 percent of all configurations in the database. The ranking is unsurprising given the GPU's age and mid-pack percentile standing. The CPU's high percentile cannot compensate for the RX 580's modest performance ceiling in this title.

This rank means that the overwhelming majority of tested systems will outperform this combo in Lockdown Protocol. Only 346 combinations in the database score worse. The i7-14700KF is clearly overkill for the RX 580 in this game, since the GPU will bottleneck long before the processor's 20 cores and 28 threads are fully utilized. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes the primary constraint at any tested resolution or preset.

For context, the combo's rank is driven almost entirely by GPU performance. The RX 580's average benchmark score of 12928 is only 53 percent of what a top-tier GPU would deliver, while the CPU's average score of 70163 is near the top of the distribution. This mismatch creates a system where frame rates scale very little with resolution changes at the same preset, a pattern consistent with GPU-bound rendering.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data for Lockdown Protocol covers three resolutions and four quality presets. All measurements are average frame rates, with no minimum or maximum values recorded in the database.

At 3840x2160, the RX 580 struggles across every preset. Low settings produce 42.9 FPS average, Medium drops to 28.6 FPS, High falls to 27.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 20.5 FPS. None of these figures approach the 60 FPS playability threshold. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial at 14.3 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is just 1.2 FPS. Ultra is only 6.9 FPS behind High, showing diminishing returns as settings climb.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance improves but remains limited. Low settings hit 62.8 FPS average, narrowly crossing the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 45.3 FPS, High to 37.1 FPS, and Ultra to 30.4 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 17.5 FPS, the largest single-step decline in the entire dataset. High and Ultra show smaller gaps, with High 8.2 FPS below Medium and Ultra 6.7 FPS below High.

At 1920x1080, the RX 580 finally finds traction. Low settings deliver 83 FPS average, which is the highest recorded figure for this combo. Medium produces 61.5 FPS, just clearing the 60 FPS line. High drops to 53.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 21.5 FPS penalty, while Medium to High costs 8.2 FPS and High to Ultra costs 10.4 FPS. Notably, the 1080p Low result is 20.2 FPS higher than the 1440p Low result, showing a strong resolution scaling effect at the lowest preset.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Lockdown Protocol? The answer depends entirely on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on both Low and Medium presets. Low averages 83 FPS, which is well above the playability threshold, and Medium averages 61.5 FPS, just barely crossing it. High and Ultra fall short at 53.3 FPS and 42.9 FPS respectively.

At 2560x1440, only the Low preset reaches 60 FPS, with an average of 62.8 FPS. Every other preset fails the threshold: Medium at 45.3 FPS, High at 37.1 FPS, and Ultra at 30.4 FPS. The verdict is clear that 1440p gaming requires the lowest quality settings to remain playable.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The best result is Low at 42.9 FPS, which is still 17.1 FPS short of the target. Ultra falls to 20.5 FPS, which is not a viable gaming experience for a fast-paced FPS title. The database records no playable settings at 4K for this combo.

The practical verdict is that this system is a 1080p machine for Lockdown Protocol, with the ability to handle Medium settings. At 1440p, it can manage only the lowest settings. At 4K, it is not playable under any tested configuration.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the i7-14700KF and RX 580 is heavily skewed toward the GPU in Lockdown Protocol. The evidence appears in the scaling patterns across resolutions. At Low settings, frame rates drop from 83 FPS at 1080p to 62.8 FPS at 1440p to 42.9 FPS at 4K. That is a 48.3 percent reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic GPU-bound signature. If the CPU were the constraint, resolution changes would produce much smaller frame rate differences.

The same pattern holds at Medium settings: 61.5 FPS at 1080p, 45.3 FPS at 1440p, and 28.6 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K drop is 53.5 percent. At High settings, the figures are 53.3, 37.1, and 27.4 FPS, a 48.6 percent decline from 1080p to 4K. Ultra shows 42.9, 30.4, and 20.5 FPS, a 52.2 percent drop.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing presets at the same resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 21.5 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 8.2 FPS. The CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at all settings, but the GPU's rendering load increases disproportionately with quality. The i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads are far beyond what this game demands, and the recorded data shows no scenario where the CPU limits performance.

At higher resolutions, the GPU's dominance grows. The 4K Low result of 42.9 FPS is exactly the same as the 1080p Ultra result of 42.9 FPS, which is a telling coincidence. The rendering pipeline is consistently the bottleneck, regardless of whether the burden comes from resolution or settings. Users should allocate any optimization effort toward GPU settings rather than CPU configuration, as the processor is not the constraint in any measured scenario.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best playable preset is Medium, which averages 61.5 FPS. This is the highest quality setting that remains at or above 60 FPS. Low is also playable at 83 FPS, but Medium offers a substantial visual upgrade for only a 21.5 FPS penalty. High and Ultra both miss the target, so they should be avoided if frame rate stability is the priority.

At 2560x1440, the only playable option is Low, averaging 62.8 FPS. This is a marginal pass, with just 2.8 FPS of headroom above the threshold. Medium drops to 45.3 FPS, which is a 17.5 FPS loss for the quality increase. Given the tight margin, users should expect occasional dips below 60 FPS even at Low, though the average remains above the line.

At 3840x2160, there is no playable preset. The best result is Low at 42.9 FPS, which is 17.1 FPS short of the target. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall further behind, with Ultra reaching only 20.5 FPS. The database records no best settings for this resolution, confirming that 4K is outside the capability of this combo.

The recommended configuration for Lockdown Protocol with this hardware is 1080p Medium for a balance of quality and performance. Users who prioritize frame rate above all else can run 1080p Low for 83 FPS, or 1440p Low for 62.8 FPS if they prefer the higher resolution. The data does not support any playable configuration at 4K, and the 60 FPS threshold cannot be met there under any tested settings.