Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The recorded data shows 1920x1080 Low produces an average of 77.2 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Every other preset at 1080p falls below 60 FPS, with Medium at 54.1 FPS, High at 48.9 FPS, and Ultra at 36.6 FPS.

Q: What is the best playable resolution and settings combination?

A: According to the database, the only configuration that reaches the playable threshold of 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, delivering 77.2 FPS on average. No settings at 2560x1440 or 3840x2160 achieve 60 FPS, so 1080p Low is the sole playable option.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900KF, scores 79371, which is 0.3% higher. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574 (0.6% higher), the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041 (1.2% higher), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740 (1.7% lower). The i9-14900K ranks in the 95th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 28766. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, scores 28874 (0.4% higher), while the AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580 (0.7% lower). The AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996 (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 28421 (1.2% lower). The RX 570 sits in the 74th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: What is the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Low delivers 77.2 FPS while Ultra drops to 36.6 FPS, a difference of 40.6 FPS. At 1440p, Low gives 55.4 FPS versus Ultra at 23.9 FPS, a gap of 31.5 FPS. At 4K, Low reaches 34.7 FPS while Ultra falls to 20 FPS, a difference of 14.7 FPS. The relative penalty for Ultra grows as resolution decreases.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This Intel Core i9-14900K plus AMD Radeon RX 570 combination ranks 3576 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. That places it in the lower portion of the database, which aligns with the limited playability results.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database records average FPS for four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at three resolutions. The playable threshold is 60 FPS, and the most demanding preset that stays at or above that level defines the best settings.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The highest average is 34.7 FPS at Low, while Medium scores 23.6, High scores 22.9, and Ultra scores 20. None of these clear the threshold, so there is no playable setting at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the situation is similar. Low produces 55.4 FPS, which is the closest to 60 FPS but still below it. Medium reaches 40.1 FPS, High drops to 34.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 23.9 FPS. Again, no preset is playable.

At 1920x1080, Low is the only preset that meets the threshold, delivering 77.2 FPS. Medium comes close at 54.1 FPS but misses the mark, High gives 48.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 36.6 FPS. Therefore, the best settings at 1080p are Low with an average of 77.2 FPS.

The data suggests that this system can only deliver a smooth experience at the lowest visual quality and the most common resolution. Users wanting higher fidelity would need to accept frame rates well below the 60 FPS target.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern: the GPU is the dominant constraint in Lockdown Protocol for this combination. The Intel Core i9-14900K is a top-tier processor with a 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz across 24 cores. Meanwhile, the AMD Radeon RX 570 is a much older graphics card from 2017 with a 74th percentile GPU ranking and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.

When comparing resolution scaling, the performance drops sharply as pixel count increases. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average from 77.2 FPS to 55.4 FPS, a 28% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K further reduces it to 34.7 FPS, another 37% drop. These steep declines point to the GPU being unable to keep up with the increasing pixel workload, despite the CPU having ample headroom.

The preset scaling within each resolution reinforces this. At 1080p, going from Low to Medium drops from 77.2 to 54.1 FPS, and from Medium to High it falls to 48.9 FPS. The CPU handles the game logic and physics without issue, but the RX 570's limited shading units, texture units, and memory bandwidth cause the framerate to plummet as visual complexity rises.

At 4K, even Low settings only reach 34.7 FPS. This is far below the 60 FPS threshold, and no CPU upgrade would help because the bottleneck lies in the GPU's raw fill rate and compute capacity. The i9-14900K's strong single-core and multi-core performance cannot compensate for the RX 570's 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 compute when rendering at high resolutions.

In summary, the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. The RX 570 is the component that determines playability, and its capabilities cap out at 1080p Low. The benchmark results show that this game is heavily GPU-bound for this pairing.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals from the database, both the CPU and GPU have close performance neighbors that would behave similarly in Lockdown Protocol.

For the Intel Core i9-14900K, the closest alternative is the Intel Core i9-14900KF with an average score of 79371, just 0.3% higher. This chip would essentially perform identically in this game, since the only difference is the integrated graphics, which are not relevant for gaming with a discrete GPU. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574 (0.6% higher), and the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041 (1.2% higher), both of which would also deliver nearly the same CPU-side performance. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, which is 1.7% lower, still well within a margin that would not change the game's outcome.

For the AMD Radeon RX 570, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6800M with an average score of 28874, only 0.4% higher. Despite being a mobile GPU, its benchmark score is almost identical, so it would likely produce the same FPS results in Lockdown Protocol. The AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580 (0.7% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996 (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 28421 (1.2% lower). These alternatives all fall within a narrow band of plus or minus 1.2% of the RX 570's score, meaning they would yield very similar framerates at the same settings and resolutions.

The practical takeaway is that swapping the CPU for any of its listed rivals would not change the playability verdict, since the GPU remains the bottleneck. Similarly, swapping the GPU for any of its listed rivals would keep the system in the same performance tier: capable of 1080p Low but not higher presets or resolutions.

The Verdict

The recorded data answers the question directly: this PC can run Lockdown Protocol, but only under specific conditions. The verdict by resolution shows 1920x1080 as the sole playable resolution, with Low settings being the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 77.2, which provides a comfortable margin above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, no settings achieve 60 FPS. The best case is Low at 55.4 FPS, which is 4.6 FPS short of the target. Medium at 40.1 FPS, High at 34.5 FPS, and Ultra at 23.9 FPS are all substantially below the threshold. At 3840x2160, the situation is worse, with even Low settings only reaching 34.7 FPS, and Ultra dropping to 20 FPS.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the system works at 1080p Low. However, anyone expecting to play at higher resolutions or with medium or higher settings will be disappointed. The GPU's age and 4 GB memory capacity are clear limiting factors, while the CPU has no trouble keeping pace.

The verdict is straightforward: yes, it can run the game, but only at the lowest settings and at 1080p. Higher quality presets are not viable, and neither is 1440p or 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing of Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3576 out of 3714 total combos. That places it in the bottom 4% of all tested systems, which is a poor showing.

This low ranking is notable because the CPU is exceptional. The i9-14900K sits in the 95th percentile of all CPUs and has an average benchmark score of 79097, which is higher than 95% of processors. Yet the RX 570, with its 74th percentile ranking and 28766 average score, drags the overall gaming performance down substantially.

The combination rank reflects the weakest link, and the data makes it clear that the GPU is that weak link. Compared to other tested combos, this system sits near the bottom because the GPU cannot deliver playable framerates at most settings and resolutions. The CPU's strength does little to help when the graphics card is the primary constraint.

The rank also implies that many other combinations, even those with weaker CPUs, would outperform this pairing in Lockdown Protocol simply because they pair better with a more capable GPU. The i9-14900K is overqualified for the RX 570, and the imbalance shows in the final ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database records average FPS for each resolution and preset combination, with no minimum or maximum values available. The full breakdown is as follows.

At 3840x2160, the results are consistently below playable levels. Low settings produce an average of 34.7 FPS. Medium drops to 23.6 FPS. High reaches 22.9 FPS. Ultra bottoms out at 20 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 14.7 FPS, and even the best case is barely half of the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440, performance improves but still misses the threshold. Low averages 55.4 FPS, which is tantalizingly close to 60 FPS but not enough. Medium averages 40.1 FPS. High averages 34.5 FPS. Ultra averages 23.9 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 31.5 FPS, showing that preset choice has a significant impact at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the only playable result appears. Low averages 77.2 FPS, comfortably above the threshold. Medium averages 54.1 FPS, just below the target. High averages 48.9 FPS. Ultra averages 36.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 40.6 FPS, the largest preset spread of any resolution.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low is always the best performing preset, and Ultra is always the worst. The relative penalty for Ultra increases as resolution decreases, which suggests that the RX 570 has limited headroom for visual effects that scale with pixel count.

No minimum or maximum FPS values were recorded, so the analysis relies solely on averages. Still, the averages alone are sufficient to determine playability at each setting and resolution.