Lockdown Protocol

# FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra for this combo?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers an average of 67 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings in Lockdown Protocol.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, placing it just 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon 680M and 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM. It sits essentially level with the GeForce GTX 580, which shows a delta of 0%.

Q: What is the best-performing settings preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields the highest average FPS at 106, followed by High at 66, Medium at 76, and Ultra at 49. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the CPU at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Low is 145, while at 3840x2160 Ultra it drops to 32. This represents a difference of 113 FPS between these two extremes.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2941 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol.

Q: Does the CPU's memory support impact game performance?

A: The i5-14600K supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel bus. The benchmark data does not isolate memory type as a variable, so its direct impact on Lockdown Protocol's FPS cannot be quantified from these measurements.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores and 20 threads to Lockdown Protocol, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz can boost up to 5.30 GHz, which matters for an FPS title where frame pacing often depends on single-thread responsiveness. The CPU's L3 cache totals 24 MB shared across the chip, while each core carries 80 KB of L1 and 2 MB of L2 cache.

Synthetic benchmarks position this CPU strongly. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and single-core score of 2064 indicate a processor that can handle both heavily threaded scenes and the lighter, latency-sensitive tasks common in competitive shooters. The Geekbench multi-core result of 16673 and single-core result of 2491 reinforce this picture. With a PassMark single-thread score of 4270 and a multithread score of 38682, the i5-14600K demonstrates balanced capability across workload types.

Against its nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 48618 sits 0.2% below the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) and 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 4345P (48470). It also trails the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.8% (48995) but leads the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX by 0.7% (48287). This places the i5-14600K in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that processor-side bottlenecks are unlikely to be the primary constraint in most gaming scenarios.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the measured FPS data shows that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU has headroom to push frames higher. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 145 FPS average, which suggests the engine can scale well when the GPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a straightforward desktop component, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking, though the benchmark data reflects stock performance only.

The architecture's 24 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps with game asset streaming and physics calculations common in FPS titles. The CPU's support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory provides flexibility, though the measured results do not distinguish between memory types. Overall, the data indicates that the i5-14600K provides ample compute headroom for the RTX 2060 in this game, with the GPU becoming the more probable bottleneck as resolution and settings increase.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 achieves a rank of 2941 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the pairing in the lower portion of the overall distribution, with roughly 79% of tested configurations performing better. The rank reflects the GPU's modest standing — the RTX 2060 sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, which tempers the strong CPU showing.

The CPU's 90th percentile standing contrasts sharply with the GPU's 58th percentile, creating an imbalance where the graphics card likely caps the system's ceiling in this game. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 145 FPS, which is respectable, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 32 FPS — a figure that suggests the RTX 2060's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are stretched thin at higher fidelity settings.

The rank of 2941 indicates that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver better frame rates in Lockdown Protocol. This is not surprising given the RTX 2060's position relative to its nearest rivals. The GPU's average benchmark score of 15290 is essentially tied with the GeForce GTX 580 (15283, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon 680M (15270, 0.1% delta). It edges out the RTX 3050 OEM by 0.6% (15199) and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 by 0.8% (15171). These margins are small enough that real-world game performance differences are likely minimal between these cards.

The combo's rank also reflects the game's demands. Lockdown Protocol, released in 2024, likely benefits from newer GPU features such as DirectX 12 Ultimate support, which the RTX 2060 provides. However, the 6 GB VRAM capacity may be a limiting factor at high resolutions and Ultra settings, where texture data can exceed available memory. The measured FPS drop from 145 at 1080p Low to 32 at 4K Ultra supports this interpretation, as the GPU becomes increasingly constrained.

For context, the CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the Xeon Gold 5318H, EPYC 4345P, and Core Ultra 5 variants — would likely produce similar or better game performance when paired with the same GPU, since the i5-14600K already provides substantial headroom. The bottleneck is clearly on the graphics side, and any upgrade path would prioritize a more capable GPU over a CPU change.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset achieves an average of 145 FPS, making it the only setting to cross the 144 Hz threshold commonly targeted by competitive players. Medium follows at 103 FPS average, with a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 119 FPS. High reaches 90 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 67 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 78 FPS, indicating that settings have a significant impact on the GPU's workload at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages step down noticeably. Low produces 106 FPS, which remains playable for most users. Medium delivers 76 FPS average, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS. High comes in at 66 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 57 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060's limitations become apparent. Low yields 69 FPS average, which is still usable, but Medium drops to 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. High falls to 43 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 32 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 37 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at lower resolutions, but the relative performance hit is severe — Ultra runs at less than half the FPS of Low.

The Medium preset is the only settings level where minimum and maximum FPS data was captured across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 88 to 119 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it spans 64 to 87 FPS; at 4K Medium, it spans 41 to 56 FPS. This reveals a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, both the average and the variance shrink, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios where frame times become more uniform under heavy load.

The data shows that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, with all presets except Ultra exceeding 90 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium manage to stay above 60 FPS. At 4K, all presets fall below 70 FPS, making it a poor choice for smooth gameplay. The measured rows suggest that users targeting high refresh rates should stick to 1080p, while those prioritizing visual fidelity at 1440p can still achieve acceptable frame rates with Medium settings.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory operates across a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz, and memory operates at 1750 MHz or 14 Gbps effective.

The RTX 2060 includes 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. It also features 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, which enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features. The pixel rate is 80.64 GPixel/s, and the texture rate reaches 201.6 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance is rated at 6.451 TFLOPS for FP32 and 12.90 TFLOPS for FP16 with a 2:1 ratio.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 14111 in PassMark G3D and 5488 in PassMark GPU Compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1242, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores reach 65014 and 65846, respectively. The GPU's percentile ranking of 58 places it in the mid-range of all graphics cards, and its average benchmark score of 15290 is nearly identical to several competitors.

The RTX 2060's nearest rivals in benchmark performance are the GTX 580, Radeon 680M, RTX 3050 OEM, and Radeon RX 7600, all within 0.8% of its score. This tight grouping suggests that the RTX 2060 delivers performance that is well understood and predictable. In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM is a potential concern at higher settings and resolutions, where texture-heavy scenes may exceed this capacity.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's influence clearly. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 78 FPS, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory resources are heavily taxed by higher quality settings. At 4K, the same comparison yields a 37 FPS difference, but the absolute values are much lower, suggesting that the GPU is overwhelmed regardless of preset. The 160 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class, and the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface is sufficient for the bandwidth the card can utilize.

The RTX 2060's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 ensures compatibility with modern game engines. However, its end-of-life production status and 2019 release date mean it lacks the architectural efficiencies of newer GPUs. In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is to provide playable frame rates at 1080p and moderate settings at 1440p, but it cannot sustain high refresh rates or high resolutions without significant compromises.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 103, with a minimum of 88 FPS ensuring that frame drops remain above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 76 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS, which is still playable on most displays. Even at 4K Medium, the average of 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS is marginally playable, though not ideal.

The Low preset provides the highest frame rates at every resolution, making it the choice for competitive play or high refresh rate monitors. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 145 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz mark. At 1440p Low, it reaches 106 FPS, and at 4K Low, it still manages 69 FPS. However, Low settings typically reduce visual fidelity, and the data does not capture image quality differences.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this GPU. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 67 FPS, which is borderline for smooth play. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 49 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 32 FPS, which is below the threshold for acceptable frame pacing. The High preset sits between Medium and Ultra, offering 90 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K.

For most users, the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, delivering frame rates that exceed the minimum requirements for smooth gameplay while retaining moderate visual quality. At 1440p, Medium remains the best choice, as it is the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS average. The data suggests that anything above Medium at 1440p, or any preset at 4K, will result in a suboptimal experience with this GPU.

Players with high refresh rate (144 Hz or higher) monitors should consider the Low preset at 1080p to fully utilize their display. Those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate can experiment with High at 1080p, but the 90 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The Minimum FPS data for Medium at all resolutions indicates that this preset provides the most consistent frame pacing, making it the safest recommendation for a smooth experience.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 145 at 1080p to 106 at 1440p, a 27% decrease, and then to 69 at 4K, a further 35% decrease from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 76 FPS, representing a 52% reduction in average frame rate.

At Medium settings, the averages are 103 at 1080p, 76 at 1440p, and 49 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 26%, and from 1440p to 4K is 36%, with an overall reduction of 52% from 1080p to 4K. The High preset shows averages of 90 at 1080p, 66 at 1440p, and 43 at 4K, corresponding to a 27% drop and then a 35% drop, totaling a 52% reduction overall.

Ultra settings exhibit a steeper relative decline. The averages are 67 at 1080p, 49 at 1440p, and 32 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27%, and from 1440p to 4K is 35%, yielding a 52% total reduction. Across all presets, the relative scaling from 1080p to 4K is remarkably consistent at approximately 52%, regardless of settings level.

This consistency suggests that the GPU is the limiting component throughout the resolution range. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU workload is largely independent of pixel count. Instead, the proportional FPS drops align with the increasing pixel throughput required at higher resolutions, which is a classic GPU-bound signature.

The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely contributing factors to this scaling behavior. At 4K, the higher pixel count demands more memory bandwidth and capacity, and the GPU's resources are insufficient to maintain frame rates comparable to lower resolutions. The fact that even Low settings at 4K only achieve 69 FPS underscores the GPU's limitations at this resolution.

The data implies that for this combo, resolution scaling is dominated by GPU performance. The i5-14600K provides sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops and the absence of a plateau. Users seeking higher frame rates at 1440p or 4K would need a more powerful GPU, as the current pairing cannot overcome the rendering demands of higher resolutions.