Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-14600K + AMD Radeon RX 6600

The Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 6600 pairing lands in the 1312th position out of 1637 tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower third of the database. This is a combination where the CPU's considerable compute headroom—it sits in the 93rd percentile among all processors—cannot overcome the GPU's more modest positioning in the 69th percentile of graphics cards. The measured frame rates confirm a system that delivers playable 1080p performance but struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking for Lockdown Protocol?

A: This pairing ranks 1312th out of 1637 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 20% of all recorded system configurations for this game.

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

A: The Core i5-14600K scores 49166 on average, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062) and 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367). It also trails the AMD EPYC 4345P (49595) by 0.9% while leading the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) by 1%.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to its closest competitors?

A: The Radeon RX 6600 scores 25235 on average, essentially tied with the AMD Radeon 890M (25246, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (25287, -0.2%). It edges out the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180, 0.2%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120, 0.5%).

Q: What is the best measured performance for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 147.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 33.4 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective.

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the system achieves 68.9 FPS on High, 76.4 FPS on Medium, and 105.7 FPS on Low settings. It only falls below 60 FPS at Ultra, where it drops to 48.1 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The 1312th rank out of 1637 combinations places this system firmly in the lower quartile of tested hardware pairings for Lockdown Protocol. This ranking reflects a substantial imbalance between the two components: the Core i5-14600K is a top-tier processor by any measure, while the Radeon RX 6600 sits near the middle of the GPU performance distribution. The CPU's 93rd percentile standing among all processors suggests it is not the limiting factor in this configuration. The GPU's 69th percentile ranking tells a different story—it is the bottleneck that constrains the entire system's gaming performance.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark results reinforce this interpretation. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881 and single-core score of 4642 demonstrate exceptional processing capability. PassMark multi-thread results of 38682 and single-thread results of 4270 further confirm this. The GPU, by contrast, posts a PassMark G3D score of 15096 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492, figures that place it in the mid-range of the graphics card hierarchy. When these two components are paired in a frame rate-limited scenario like Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's output ceiling becomes the system's practical performance limit.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It contains 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, with a transistor density of 46.7M per mm². The GPU operates with a base clock of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a figure that becomes increasingly strained as resolution increases.

The GPU's compute resources include 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, 64 raster output units, and 28 ray tracing cores. It achieves a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS. These specifications position the GPU as a capable 1080p performer, but the measured frame rates show how quickly performance degrades when resolution demands increase. The 190 mm card length and dual-slot width indicate a compact design, while the 1x 8-pin power connector and 300 W suggested PSU rating define its power requirements.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 147.2 FPS, Medium reaches 106.6 FPS, High achieves 89.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 70.7 FPS. All four settings remain above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1080p a fully playable resolution for this combination.

Moving to 2560x1440 shows a noticeable step down. Low settings still deliver 105.7 FPS, maintaining excellent fluidity. Medium produces 76.4 FPS, and High reaches 68.9 FPS, both remaining above 60 FPS. Ultra falls to 48.1 FPS, crossing below the playability threshold for many users.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become evident. Low settings yield 68.6 FPS, which is still respectable. Medium drops to 48.1 FPS, High falls to 45.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 33.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 35.2 FPS, representing a 51% reduction in performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions. At Low settings, performance drops from 147.2 FPS at 1080p to 105.7 FPS at 1440p and 68.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU that has sufficient bandwidth for 1080p but becomes progressively constrained as pixel count increases.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but more severe. The system delivers 89.6 FPS at 1080p, 68.9 FPS at 1440p, and 45.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure represents a 49% drop from 1080p performance. Medium settings follow the same trajectory: 106.6 FPS at 1080p, 76.4 FPS at 1440p, and 48.1 FPS at 4K, a 55% overall reduction. Ultra settings show the steepest decline, falling from 70.7 FPS at 1080p to 48.1 FPS at 1440p and 33.4 FPS at 4K, a 53% total drop.

The fact that the CPU maintains its high benchmark scores regardless of resolution, while the GPU's performance degrades predictably with increasing pixel counts, confirms that the Radeon RX 6600 is the limiting component. The Core i5-14600K's 14 cores and 20 threads, with boost clocks reaching 5.30 GHz, provide far more processing headroom than this GPU can utilize in Lockdown Protocol. Players seeking higher frame rates at 1440p or 4K would need to consider a more powerful GPU, while those content with 1080p gaming will find this combination delivers consistently smooth performance across all quality settings.