Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14600K pairs a 14-core, 20-thread Raptor Lake layout with a 5.30 GHz boost clock, and its benchmark profile suggests it is far from the bottleneck in this title. In Cinebench R23, the chip scores 32881 multi-core and 4642 single-core, while its Geekbench single-core score of 2803 indicates strong per-thread performance. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 279.1 FPS, a figure that requires both high IPC and fast scheduling across the 20 threads. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help feed the Radeon RX 7900 XT without stalling, which matters in a fast-paced FPS where frame time consistency is critical. The chip’s 93rd percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49166, places it just 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 0.4% below the Intel Core i5-14600KF, meaning the 14600K’s compute headroom is essentially equivalent to its closest rivals. This CPU’s 125W TDP and 10nm process are secondary to how its 5.30 GHz boost translates to raw frame generation; at 1080p Ultra, the combo still delivers 133.5 FPS, which suggests the processor is not the limiting factor even when the GPU is under heavier load.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The i5-14600K’s 14 cores and 20 threads provide a robust foundation for Lockdown Protocol, an FPS that appears to scale well with both single-thread speed and multi-core throughput. The 5.30 GHz boost clock and 3.50 GHz base clock define the envelope for peak performance, and the Cinebench R20 single-core score of 1949 confirms that the chip can sustain high clocks under burst workloads. At 1080p Low, the 279.1 FPS result is a direct reflection of the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with minimal overhead; the PassMark single-thread score of 4270 and Geekbench single-core score of 2803 both point to a processor that excels at the kind of rapid, single-threaded game logic that FPS titles rely on. The 20 threads matter for background tasks and physics simulations, but the data suggests that Lockdown Protocol’s frame rate is more sensitive to clock speed than to core count. The 14600K’s nearest rival, the Ryzen 9 5950X, has nearly identical average scores (49062 vs 49166, a 0.2% delta), yet the Intel chip’s higher boost clock likely gives it a slight edge in frame pacing scenarios where instantaneous responsiveness is key. The CPU’s Cinebench R15 multicore score of 3314 and R20 multicore score of 13810 indicate that even under sustained multi-threaded load, the processor maintains enough headroom to avoid throttling, which is crucial for maintaining stable FPS in extended gaming sessions. The 24 MB shared L3 cache reduces memory latency, and with DDR4 and DDR5 support, the platform can adapt to different memory speeds, though the measured FPS data does not isolate memory bandwidth as a variable.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT brings 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, yielding 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and its 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the dominant factor in the higher-resolution results. The GPU’s boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz determine how fast those 5376 shading units can process pixels, and the measured FPS scaling across resolutions shows the GPU becoming the clear bottleneck as resolution rises. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 63.6 FPS, a 77% reduction from the 1080p Low result, which highlights the GPU’s workload scaling with pixel count. The 20 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Lockdown Protocol’s textures, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is limited by compute rather than memory capacity. The GPU’s 82nd percentile ranking versus all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 29009, places it nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (deltaPct 0.0) and 0.3% above the NVIDIA CMP 70HX, indicating that the 7900 XT is a high-end part that competes with top-tier mobile silicon. The 84 ray tracing cores and 192 ROPs suggest that the card can handle advanced rendering features, but the measured data does not include ray tracing-specific results, so its impact on FPS is not quantified. The GPU’s 800.0 GB/s bandwidth is critical for feeding the 320-bit bus at 4K, where the 133.6 FPS Low and 82.8 FPS High results show a 38% drop from Low to High, a gap that widens to 52% when comparing Low to Ultra (133.6 to 63.6 FPS). The RDNA 3.0 architecture’s 5nm process and 57,700 million transistors provide the raw compute, but the game’s engine appears to favor raw fill rate over specialized features, given the consistent scaling across settings.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination ranks 305th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 18.6% of all configurations. This rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component drastically underperforms the other, but the data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate at higher resolutions. The 305th rank is significant because it indicates that many combos with faster GPUs or newer CPUs achieve higher FPS, but the gap to the top is not enormous—the 1080p Low result of 279.1 FPS is already beyond the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The combo’s position suggests that the i5-14600K provides sufficient CPU headroom to avoid bottlenecking the 7900 XT in most scenarios, but at 1080p Low, the CPU’s 279.1 FPS ceiling may be close to its practical limit, as the GPU has less work to do and the processor’s single-thread speed becomes more relevant. Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the 7900 XT’s deltaPct of 0.0% against the RTX 5080 Mobile means swapping the GPU for that mobile part would yield nearly identical average scores, but the desktop 7900 XT’s 20 GB VRAM and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth give it a sustained performance advantage in memory-heavy scenes. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49166, is 1% above the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, which shows that the i5-14600K is not just a gaming chip but also a capable workstation part, though that versatility does not translate to a better rank in this game. The 305th rank out of 1637 combos means that 1332 combos are slower, but also that 304 are faster, and the data indicates that those faster combos likely feature higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX, rather than faster CPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 279.1 FPS on Low, 199.6 FPS on Medium, 171.6 FPS on High, and 133.5 FPS on Ultra. The transition from Low to Medium incurs a 28.5% drop (279.1 to 199.6), while Medium to High drops 14.0% (199.6 to 171.6), and High to Ultra drops 22.2% (171.6 to 133.5). At 2560x1440, the results are 204.7 FPS on Low, 148.9 FPS on Medium, 130.2 FPS on High, and 95.8 FPS on Ultra. The Low to Medium drop is 27.3% (204.7 to 148.9), Medium to High is 12.6% (148.9 to 130.2), and High to Ultra is 26.4% (130.2 to 95.8). At 3840x2160, the numbers fall to 133.6 FPS on Low, 93.5 FPS on Medium, 82.8 FPS on High, and 63.6 FPS on Ultra. The Low to Medium drop is 30.0% (133.6 to 93.5), Medium to High is 11.4% (93.5 to 82.8), and High to Ultra is 23.2% (82.8 to 63.6). The data reveals a consistent pattern: the largest FPS hit occurs when moving from Low to Medium, suggesting that Medium settings enable additional GPU-heavy effects that disproportionately affect frame rate. The smallest drop is consistently from Medium to High, indicating that High adds incremental quality without a massive performance penalty. Across all resolutions, Ultra is the most demanding, with 4K Ultra at 63.6 FPS being the only sub-60 result, which is still playable but below the 144Hz threshold that the 1080p results easily exceed.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 144 FPS?

A: At 1080p, all settings except Ultra exceed 144 FPS (Low: 279.1, Medium: 199.6, High: 171.6), while 1440p Low achieves 204.7 FPS and Medium reaches 148.9 FPS. At 4K, only Low (133.6 FPS) comes close to 144 FPS, so 1440p Medium is the highest resolution and setting combo that stays above 144 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-14600K compare to its closest CPU rival in this combo?

A: The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49166, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062) and 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367). This means the 14600K is essentially tied with its nearest rivals, and any FPS difference in Lockdown Protocol would be negligible.

Q: Is the RX 7900 XT a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes more relevant at 1080p Low, where the combo hits 279.1 FPS. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 29009 and 82nd percentile ranking indicate it is not a weak link, but the 1080p Low result is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU has fewer pixels to process.

Q: What is the FPS penalty for moving from High to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High delivers 130.2 FPS and Ultra delivers 95.8 FPS, a 26.4% drop (34.4 FPS). This is a significant penalty for marginal visual gains, making High a more balanced choice for competitive play.

Q: How does the combo’s rank in Lockdown Protocol reflect its overall performance?

A: The combo ranks 305th out of 1637 tested combinations, placing it in the top 18.6%. This rank is driven by the GPU’s strong 4K performance (82.8 FPS at High) and the CPU’s high single-thread speed, but it is not a top-100 combo because faster GPUs exist.

Q: Does the GPU’s memory bandwidth impact 4K performance?

A: The RX 7900 XT has 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and at 4K Ultra the combo still manages 63.6 FPS. The 20 GB VRAM is ample for the game, so the 4K FPS drop from 133.6 (Low) to 63.6 (Ultra) is more likely due to compute load from shader effects than memory bandwidth limits.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the data points to High settings as the optimal choice. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 171.6 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate of most gaming monitors, while Ultra drops to 133.5 FPS, a 22.2% penalty for presumably minor visual improvements. At 1440p, High achieves 130.2 FPS, which is still smooth for competitive play, while Ultra falls to 95.8 FPS, a 26.4% drop that may be noticeable in fast-paced action. At 4K, High delivers 82.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays, and Medium at 93.5 FPS offers a better trade-off if 4K is the target. Low settings provide the highest frame rates (279.1 at 1080p, 204.7 at 1440p, 133.6 at 4K), but the jump from Low to Medium is the largest FPS hit (28.5% at 1080p, 27.3% at 1440p, 30.0% at 4K), suggesting that Low removes essential effects that put more load on the GPU. For most users, High settings at 1440p (130.2 FPS) or 1080p (171.6 FPS) offer the best experience, as they maintain high frame rates without the steep Ultra penalty. The data shows that Medium is a viable fallback for 4K (93.5 FPS) if visual fidelity at high resolution is more important than hitting 100+ FPS.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the combo goes from 279.1 FPS at 1080p to 204.7 FPS at 1440p to 133.6 FPS at 4K, representing a 26.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 34.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the progression is 171.6 FPS at 1080p to 130.2 FPS at 1440p to 82.8 FPS at 4K, with drops of 24.1% and 36.4%, respectively. The scaling pattern shows that the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are being increasingly taxed as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The 1080p Low result of 279.1 FPS is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU has minimal work, but the 4K Low result of 133.6 FPS indicates the GPU is now the limiting factor, since the CPU’s frame generation capability is unchanged. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p for all settings (e.g., High: 24.1% vs 36.4%), which aligns with the 4K resolution requiring 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, versus 1.78 times from 1080p to 1440p. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the RX 7900 XT’s 51.48 TFLOPS and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1440p but start to saturate at 4K, particularly at Ultra where 63.6 FPS is only 23.2% higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 133.5 FPS, indicating that the GPU is working near its limits at 4K Ultra. The CPU’s 279.1 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low versus the GPU’s 133.6 FPS at 4K Low clearly demarcates the roles: the i5-14600K can push frames well beyond 200 FPS when unconstrained, but the 7900 XT’s rendering throughput caps the combo at 4K.