Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, an FPS released on 2024-03-11, presents a demanding workload for the tested combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by graphics settings and resolution, with the GPU acting as the primary performance gate in most scenarios. This analysis breaks down the 12 measured data points to understand where this combo excels and where it struggles.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is substantial and reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 124 at 1080p to 88.5 at 1440p, and finally to 61.7 at 4K. This represents a 50.2% reduction in performance from the lowest to the highest resolution tested. The trend is consistent across all presets, indicating that the Radeon RX 6750 XT's rendering capabilities are the limiting factor rather than the CPU.

Interestingly, the scaling is not perfectly linear. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings drops the average from 202.5 to 146.1, a 27.9% decrease. However, moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings only drops from 146.1 to 97, a 33.6% decrease. This suggests that at lower settings, the frame rate is high enough that other bottlenecks, possibly memory bandwidth or draw call processing, begin to emerge. At 4K Ultra, the system falls to a playable but modest 43.7 FPS, which strongly indicates the GPU is saturated. The data implies that for smooth 4K gameplay, users will need to rely on lower presets, while 1440p offers a much more comfortable performance envelope.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience. For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 142.6 FPS, which is 15% faster than High but still 30% slower than Low, showing that the preset scales smoothly. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 103.3 FPS, keeping gameplay well above the 60 FPS threshold on most displays. Even at 3840x2160, Medium manages 68.1 FPS, which is a significant jump over the 43.7 FPS seen at Ultra.

Ultra settings provide diminishing returns. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 19.5 FPS (from 88.5 to 69), while at 1080p the cost is 30.3 FPS (from 124 to 93.7). These figures suggest that High is the most demanding preset worth using for competitive play, but Medium offers the most consistent experience for high refresh rate monitors. For users with 60 Hz displays, High at 1440p is viable, but the data shows that Medium is the recommended default to avoid frame rate dips during intense firefights.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is clearly the dominant component in this pairing. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the texture-heavy environments of a modern FPS. The GPU's boost clock of 2600 MHz and game clock of 2495 MHz allow it to push significant pixel throughput, evidenced by its 166.4 GPixel/s pixel rate. The RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process, delivers 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which explains the large performance gap between Low and Ultra settings.

The data shows that the GPU's 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for this game, as even at 4K Ultra the system does not appear to hit a memory wall; the average FPS of 43.7 is more indicative of compute limitations than VRAM capacity. The card's 40 ray accelerators also support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), allowing for future-proofing, though the measured data does not include ray tracing performance. Given that the GPU sits in the 79th percentile of all GPUs and is within 1.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 in average benchmark score, its role as the primary driver of Lockdown Protocol's frame rate is expected.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo provides exceptional headroom. Low settings produce 202.5 FPS, which would satisfy even 240 Hz esports displays. Medium yields 142.6 FPS, High drops to 124, and Ultra falls to 93.7. The spread from Low to Ultra is 108.8 FPS, showing the massive impact of settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers become more balanced. Low hits 146.1 FPS, Medium 103.3, High 88.5, and Ultra 69. The 69 FPS at Ultra is the first point where the system dips below 70 FPS, indicating that 1440p Ultra is the edge of playable territory for this GPU. At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stressed. Low produces 97 FPS, Medium 68.1, High 61.7, and Ultra 43.7. The 4K results show that only Low settings can consistently push past 100 FPS, while Ultra is best reserved for cinematic, non-competitive play.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested combinations for Lockdown Protocol, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 805th out of 1637 tested combos. This places it in the middle of the pack, which is notable given the GPU's strong standalone benchmark position. The CPU itself is a high performer, ranking in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 49166, nearly matching the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (deltaPct of 0.2). The GPU's 79th percentile ranking suggests that the combo's mid-pack position is due to the game's specific engine demands, which may favor other architectures.

The rank of 805 implies that while this system is capable, there are 832 other tested combinations that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title. This is likely due to the RX 6750 XT being outperformed by more recent or higher-tier GPUs in the database. However, the data shows that this combo is far from a low-end option; it sits comfortably above the 50th percentile, making it a solid baseline for 1440p gaming.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS on High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 88.5, which comfortably exceeds 60. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average drops to 61.7, so 1440p is the recommended resolution for high fidelity.

Q: How much faster is Low settings compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 202.5 FPS while Ultra produces 93.7 FPS. Low is 108.8 FPS faster, representing a 116% performance increase.

Q: Does this system hit a CPU bottleneck in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The data does not support a CPU bottleneck. The Intel Core i5-14600K has 14 cores and 20 threads with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: Is 12 GB of VRAM on the RX 6750 XT enough for 4K gaming?

A: The measured data shows 43.7 FPS at 4K Ultra, suggesting that VRAM capacity is not the primary issue; compute performance is the limiting factor. The 12 GB frame buffer appears sufficient for the tested settings.

Q: How does the RX 6750 XT compare to the RTX 3080 in average benchmark score?

A: According to the nearest rivals data, the RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 35327, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has a score of 35787, making the RTX 3080 1.3% faster.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU?

A: The launch MSRP for the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is 549 USD.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K plays a supporting role in this title, but its specifications are far from weak. With 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficient) and 20 threads, it offers robust multi-threading for background tasks and game logic. The CPU's 3.50 GHz base clock and 5.30 GHz boost clock, combined with 24 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that it can feed the GPU with data without stalling. The Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2803 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642.

The CPU's benchmark scores show it is a top-tier processor. Its average benchmark score of 49166 places it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-14600KF. This level of performance means that in Lockdown Protocol, the CPU is unlikely to be a bottleneck at any of the tested settings. The fact that frame rates scale dramatically with resolution (e.g., 202.5 FPS at 1080p Low vs 97 at 4K Low) confirms that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the constraint. The CPU's 20 threads also handle the game's physics and AI calculations without impacting the measured frame rates, allowing the RX 6750 XT to operate at its full potential.