Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the data reveals a distinct performance ceiling transition between 1440p and 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 307.6 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 65.4 FPS, a reduction of roughly 79%. This scaling pattern indicates that while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower resolutions, the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor as pixel count and visual fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable yet significant performance degradation as resolution increases. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 192.7 FPS at 1080p to 141.6 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 90.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 26.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 36.4% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are fully engaged.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is even more pronounced. The system achieves 307.6 FPS at 1080p, drops to 227.7 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 144.9 FPS at 4K. The 1080p result strongly suggests a CPU bottleneck, as the frame rate is extraordinarily high and would likely exceed the display capability of most monitors. The 4K Low result, at 144.9 FPS, still provides a smooth experience but shows that the GPU’s raw throughput is the limiting factor at that resolution.

Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario. The average FPS at 1080p is 145.5, which drops to 107.2 at 1440p and 65.4 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the 70 FPS threshold that many competitive players consider ideal, indicating that this combination is better suited for 1440p Ultra or 4K with reduced settings. The data shows that the CPU’s 14 cores and 20 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions, as the frame rate drops consistently with increased pixel workload.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 1440p offers the best balance, delivering 227.7 FPS while still maintaining a high enough resolution for target acquisition. At 1080p, the Low preset’s 307.6 FPS is excessive for most displays and may introduce unnecessary CPU overhead. For a more balanced visual experience, the Medium preset at 1440p yields 162.2 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of common gaming monitors.

At 4K, the Medium preset provides 106.7 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. The High preset at 4K offers 90.1 FPS, a solid result that balances visual quality with responsiveness. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 65.4 FPS, is best reserved for slower-paced gameplay or single-player experiences where visual fidelity takes precedence. The data suggests that the High preset at 1440p, with 141.6 FPS, is the sweet spot for most users, offering a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a frame rate that exceeds 140 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary performance driver in this configuration. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for handling the texture and geometry loads at 4K resolution. The GPU’s boost clock of 2610 MHz and 8448 shading units allow it to process the rendering workload efficiently, as evidenced by the 90.1 FPS result at 4K High.

The GPU’s 66 RT cores and 264 tensor cores are relevant for games that utilize ray tracing or DLSS, though the measured data does not specify whether these features are active. The 44.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is substantial, and the benchmark results show that the GPU is capable of maintaining high frame rates even at 4K. The percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs indicates that this card sits in the upper tier of performance, and the nearest rival data shows it is within 2% of the NVIDIA CMP 50HX and RTX A2000 in average benchmark scores.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Lockdown Protocol?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 307.6, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, at 4K High settings the system averages 90.1 FPS, and at Medium settings it averages 106.7 FPS, both of which are playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: The extremely high frame rate of 307.6 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU is not fully saturated.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 141.6 at 1440p to 90.1 at 4K, representing a 36.4% reduction in performance.

Q: What is the best setting for a 240 Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset at 307.6 FPS exceeds 240 Hz, while at 1440p, the Low preset at 227.7 FPS does not quite reach it. The Medium preset at 1080p, at 218.8 FPS, also falls short of 240 Hz.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 148th out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 9% of all systems tested, a strong result that confirms the hardware pairing is well-suited for this game. The CPU’s percentile rank of 93 against all CPUs and the GPU’s percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs both contribute to this high placement.

The rank indicates that while this is not the absolute top-tier configuration, it outperforms the vast majority of systems in the database. The combination of the i5-14600K’s 14 cores and 20 threads with the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s 16 GB of VRAM provides a balanced platform that excels in high-refresh-rate scenarios. The data shows that the system is more likely to be GPU-bound at higher resolutions, which is typical for a mid-to-high-end pairing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K plays a supporting role in Lockdown Protocol, ensuring that the GPU is never starved of data. With 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficiency) and 20 threads, the CPU provides ample processing power for game logic, physics, and AI. Its boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures high single-thread performance, which is crucial for FPS games that often rely on a primary game thread.

The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as 32881 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4642 in single-core, place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival data shows it is nearly identical in performance to the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with a delta of 0.2%, and the Intel Core i5-14600KF, with a delta of -0.4%. This indicates that the CPU provides consistent performance that does not bottleneck the GPU at any tested resolution, as evidenced by the smooth frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 307.6 FPS, Medium averages 218.8 FPS, High averages 192.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 145.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 227.7 FPS, Medium averages 162.2 FPS, High averages 141.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 107.2 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 144.9 FPS, Medium averages 106.7 FPS, High averages 90.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 65.4 FPS.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in settings from Low to Ultra reduces the average FPS by roughly 15-20% at any given resolution. The largest single drop occurs between Low and Medium at 1080p, where the frame rate falls from 307.6 to 218.8 FPS, a 28.9% reduction. The smallest drop is between Medium and High at 1440p, where the frame rate falls from 162.2 to 141.6 FPS, an 12.7% reduction. This suggests that the Medium to High transition is the most efficient in terms of visual quality per frame rate cost, while the Low to Medium transition is the most demanding relative to its visual benefit.