Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload that heavily taxes both the CPU and GPU. The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB produces a wide range of frame rates depending on the resolution and quality preset selected. Measured data indicates that this pairing, ranked 1897 out of 3714 tested combos, offers a playable experience at most settings, but requires specific adjustments to achieve a consistently smooth frame rate at higher resolutions. The data suggests a system that is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p, but which becomes increasingly GPU-limited as resolution scales upward.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve high frame rates?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds the 100 FPS mark across all tested settings. At this resolution, average frame rates range from 90 FPS on Ultra to 193 FPS on Low, making it the best choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The performance at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is the weakest point of the tested configuration, yielding an average FPS of 42. This is below the 57 FPS average achievable at 4K High settings, indicating that the Ultra preset is too demanding for this GPU at this resolution.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB a strong performer relative to other GPUs?

A: The GPU's percentile vs all GPUs is 24, and its average benchmark score of 4093 places it in close competition with the Intel HD Graphics 630 and the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M, among others. The nearest rival data shows a performance delta of only 0.4% compared to the Intel HD Graphics 630.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS on Low settings is 141, while High settings produce an average of 88 FPS. This represents a significant 53 FPS difference, suggesting that the Low preset offers a substantial performance advantage for competitive play.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-14600K have a high multi-core performance score?

A: Yes, in the Cinebench R23 multi-core test, the CPU scores 24491. This is a strong result, placing it in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 48618 is competitive with the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and AMD EPYC 4345P.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset across all resolutions?

A: The data shows minimum FPS values only for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum FPS is 116; at 2560x1440, it is 85; and at 3840x2160, it is 55. These figures provide insight into the consistency of frame pacing at this setting.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy of performance across the four quality presets. For users prioritizing the highest possible frame rates, particularly for competitive play, the Low preset is the most effective choice. At 1920x1080, this setting delivers an average of 193 FPS, which is more than double the frame rate of the Ultra preset at the same resolution. This advantage holds at higher resolutions as well, with the Low preset achieving 141 FPS and 91 FPS at 1440p and 4K, respectively, compared to 66 FPS and 42 FPS for Ultra.

For a balanced experience that maintains high visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness, the High preset is the recommended option. It provides an average of 120 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. While the Medium preset offers a middle ground with average frame rates of 137, 100, and 65 FPS across the three resolutions, the High preset's visual improvements likely justify the performance cost for most users. The Medium preset, however, is the only setting that provides a minimum FPS reading in the data, indicating a measured frame rate floor of 55 FPS at 4K, which may be a consideration for those sensitive to frame drops.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding and should be avoided at resolutions above 1080p. With an average of 90 FPS at 1080p, it is still playable, but the 66 FPS at 1440p and 42 FPS at 4K fall below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience. The data indicates that the best overall experience, balancing visual quality and performance, is achieved with the High preset at 1440p, where the 88 FPS average is close to the 90 FPS target for many high-refresh-rate monitors. This combination allows the game to look good while remaining fluid enough for most gameplay scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of Lockdown Protocol, this configuration of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB holds a rank of 1897 out of 3714 tested combinations. This places it in the 49th percentile of tested systems, indicating that it is an average performer for this specific game. The ranking suggests that while the system is capable, it does not deliver top-tier performance relative to other hardware pairings, likely due to the GPU being a limiting factor in a game that appears to be graphically intensive.

The CPU itself is a strong performer in general benchmarks, sitting in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 48618 is nearly identical to that of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, which has an average score of 48698 and a deltaPct of -0.2%. This indicates that the i5-14600K provides excellent processing power for the game's logic and physics calculations. However, the GPU's percentile of 24 is considerably lower, and its average benchmark score of 4093 is closely matched by the Intel HD Graphics 630, which shows a deltaPct of 0.4%. This disparity between the CPU and GPU performance tiers suggests that the overall combo ranking is dragged down by the graphics card, which is a mid-to-low-tier performer in the database's measurements.

The combo's rank in the middle of the pack for Lockdown Protocol is a direct result of this imbalance. While the CPU is capable of feeding frames, the GPU struggles to render them at higher resolutions and settings. This is evident in the FPS data, where the system's performance drops significantly as resolution increases. The ranking implies that users with this CPU but a more powerful GPU would see a substantial improvement in their overall standing, whereas the current pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming where the GPU is less of a bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its strongest performance. The Low preset delivers an average FPS of 193, which is the highest recorded for this resolution. The Medium preset follows with an average of 137 FPS, and the data also shows a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS for this setting. High settings produce an average of 120 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields an average of 90 FPS. This progression shows a clear performance cost for increased visual fidelity, with a difference of 103 FPS between the Low and Ultra presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates decrease across all settings. The Low preset averages 141 FPS, while Medium averages 100 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS. High settings achieve an average of 88 FPS, and Ultra drops to 66 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p results in a performance reduction of approximately 27% for the Low preset, 27% for Medium, 27% for High, and 27% for Ultra, showing a consistent impact from the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance is notably lower. The Low preset is the only setting that remains above 60 FPS, with an average of 91 FPS. The Medium preset averages 65 FPS, and its minimum FPS is recorded at 55, with a maximum of 75. High settings average 57 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding an average of just 42 FPS. The data for 4K shows that the GPU is heavily taxed, with the Ultra preset delivering less than half the frame rate of the Low preset. The difference between the 1080p Low and 4K Low results is 102 FPS, highlighting the substantial performance hit at this resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is the primary bottleneck in this system for Lockdown Protocol. The GPU's benchmark data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4093, which places it in the 24th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel HD Graphics 630 and the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M, have similar scores, indicating that this card is not a high-end performer in raw compute tasks. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s, which is a modest figure for modern gaming.

The GPU's clock speeds include a base of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2530 MHz, and a boost clock of 3130 MHz. These clocks are relatively high, but the card's architecture, with 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, limits its fill rate and pixel throughput. The measured FPS data reflects this, as the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K resolution. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 49 FPS, which indicates that the GPU's compute and memory resources are insufficient for the higher workload of the Ultra preset.

The GPU's memory size of 8 GB may also be a factor at higher resolutions and settings. While the data does not include specific VRAM usage, the significant performance drop from Medium to High and Ultra at 1440p and 4K suggests that memory capacity or bandwidth could be limiting. The card's 322.3 GB/s bandwidth is lower than what is typically found on higher-tier cards, and this could cause the GPU to become a constraint in a fast-paced FPS game with large textures. The data underscores that this GPU is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where its performance is more competitive.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K provides a robust foundation for this gaming system. With 14 cores and 20 threads, it offers substantial multi-threaded capabilities, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491. This score places the CPU in the 90th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 48618 is competitive with high-end server and workstation processors. The CPU's high multi-core performance ensures that it can handle game logic, physics, and background tasks without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's clock speeds are also notable, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This high boost clock is beneficial for single-threaded performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064. In a game like Lockdown Protocol, which is an FPS title that may rely on a single main thread for rendering commands, this strong single-core performance helps to minimize CPU-related frame drops. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache is also a positive factor, as it allows for faster access to frequently used data, which can improve frame pacing.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. When comparing the FPS at 1080p Low (193 FPS) to 4K Low (91 FPS), the decline is significant, but this is expected due to the GPU's workload increase. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU's workload is largely independent of resolution. The fact that FPS scales down significantly with resolution indicates that the GPU is the constraining component, and the i5-14600K has ample headroom to support a more powerful graphics card in the future.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. For the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 193 at 1080p to 141 at 1440p and further to 91 at 4K. This represents a 53% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K. The Medium preset follows a similar trend, with averages of 137, 100, and 65 FPS across the three resolutions, a 53% decrease from 1080p to 4K. High settings show averages of 120, 88, and 57 FPS, a 52.5% decrease, and Ultra settings drop from 90 to 66 to 42 FPS, a 53% decrease.

This uniform decline of roughly 53% across all presets is a strong indicator that the system is GPU-bound. When the resolution increases, the GPU must render more pixels, and its workload scales accordingly. The CPU's performance is not significantly affected by resolution changes, as its tasks remain the same regardless of the output resolution. Therefore, the consistent FPS drop suggests that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is the primary factor limiting the system's performance at higher resolutions.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p results in an average FPS drop of about 27% for all settings. The scaling from 1440p to 4K results in a further drop of about 36%. This steeper decline from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing power become increasingly strained as the pixel count approaches 4K. The data clearly shows that 1080p is the resolution where this combo can fully utilize the CPU's potential, while 4K is only viable for the Low preset, and even then, it does not reach the 100 FPS mark. This analysis confirms that the limiting component in this system is the GPU, and users seeking better 4K performance would need to consider a more powerful graphics card.