Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The measured data for Lockdown Protocol with this Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination reveals a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the GPU taking on increasing importance as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the system delivers exceptional frame rates that clearly outpace the 4K results, while the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows at lower resolutions — a pattern that points to the CPU's growing influence when the GPU has less work to do. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, the individual roles of the GPU and CPU, frequently asked questions, the exact measured FPS breakdown, settings recommendations, and how this combo ranks among the 3,714 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which indicates a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 333 FPS at 1920x1080 to 244 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 26.7% reduction — and then further to 157 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 52.9% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pronounced decline suggests that the RTX 4080 is the limiting component as resolution climbs, with the CPU's headroom being absorbed by the increased pixel workload.

At Medium settings, the scaling shows a similar trend: 236 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 112 FPS at 4K. The 1440p result is 26.7% lower than 1080p, while 4K is 52.5% lower. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium presets reinforces the idea that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, not the specific graphics settings. However, at High settings, the pattern shifts slightly: 206 FPS at 1080p, 151 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K. The 1440p drop is 26.7% again, but the 4K drop is 52.4%, nearly identical to the other presets.

Ultra settings tell a different story, with 155 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. Here, the 1440p result is 27.1% lower than 1080p, and 4K is 52.9% lower. The consistency across all four presets — roughly a 27% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 53% drop from 1080p to 4K — strongly implies that the RTX 4080's rendering throughput is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, rather than any CPU limitation. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to push very high frame rates, but the GPU's workload scales linearly with pixel count, making the 4080 the clear limiter at 1440p and especially at 4K.

The implication is that players targeting 4K will see frame rates that are roughly half of what they'd get at 1080p, regardless of settings. This is a classic GPU-bound signature, and it means that lowering settings at 4K won't recover the performance lost by the resolution increase — the 4K Low result of 157 FPS is still far below the 1080p Ultra result of 155 FPS, showing that resolution has a more significant impact than settings in this configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the workhorse of this setup, and its specifications align well with the measured performance. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is likely sufficient for Lockdown Protocol at all tested resolutions, as the FPS drops are more attributable to raw compute than memory capacity — the data doesn't show any sudden cliff that would indicate VRAM exhaustion.

The GPU's clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz. These clocks, combined with 9728 shading units and 304 texture mapping units, provide the compute horsepower needed for the high frame rates observed. The 112 ROPs and 76 RT cores further support the rendering pipeline, though the game's specific use of ray tracing isn't detailed in the measured data.

The RTX 4080's benchmark scores place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 — a mere 0.1% difference — which suggests that the 4080 is performing essentially at parity with its SUPER counterpart in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (1.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (2.6% higher), indicating that the 4080 sits in a competitive band where small differences in synthetic scores don't necessarily translate to meaningful FPS differences in actual gameplay.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role becomes clear when examining the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the 333 FPS result is likely near the CPU's limit, but at 4K Ultra, the 73 FPS result shows the GPU struggling under the combined load of high resolution and high settings. The 4080's Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, provides the efficiency to maintain these frame rates, but the data suggests that 4K Ultra is the most demanding scenario for this card, and the 73 FPS average is respectable but not stellar for a flagship-tier GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K plays a supporting role in this configuration, but its impact is most visible at lower resolutions where the GPU isn't the bottleneck. The CPU features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, offers strong single-threaded performance that's crucial for FPS games like Lockdown Protocol.

The CPU's benchmark results are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24,491 and a single-core score of 2,064. In Geekbench, it scores 16,673 multi-core and 2,491 single-core. These scores place the i5-14600K in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48,618. Its nearest rivals show tight competition: the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48,698 (0.2% higher), the AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48,470 (0.3% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48,287 (0.7% lower). This indicates that the i5-14600K is a top-tier performer, especially for gaming workloads that favor high single-core clocks.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is evident in the 1080p results. At 1080p Low, the 333 FPS average suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough frames to hit very high rates, but the fact that 1080p Ultra drops to 155 FPS — nearly identical to the 4K Low result of 157 FPS — indicates that the GPU is still the primary limiter even at 1080p. The CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock likely helps maintain high minimum frame rates, though the data only shows min FPS for Medium settings at each resolution: 201 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K.

The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to frequently used game data, which can reduce latency and improve frame pacing. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the measured data doesn't specify which memory type was used. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a mainstream choice, and its 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it's not a weak link in this system.

FAQ

Q: Why is the FPS at 1080p Low so much higher than at 4K Ultra?

A: The data shows 333 FPS at 1080p Low versus 73 FPS at 4K Ultra. This 78% reduction is primarily due to the GPU's workload scaling with resolution — the RTX 4080 must render four times more pixels at 4K, which overwhelms the GPU even with lower settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Lockdown Protocol?

A: Based on the resolution scaling, the GPU is the limiting component at all tested settings. The FPS drops by roughly 27% from 1080p to 1440p and 53% from 1080p to 4K across all presets, which is a classic GPU-bound pattern. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking and high single-core scores suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54,247 in average benchmarks, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, a delta of 0.1%. This means the two GPUs are effectively identical in synthetic performance, and the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol would be expected to be nearly the same.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: The data shows that 1440p offers a good balance: 151 FPS at High settings and 113 FPS at Ultra. This is significantly higher than 4K results (98 FPS High, 73 FPS Ultra) while still providing more detail than 1080p, which tops out at 206 FPS High.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM in the RTX 4080 cause any issues?

A: The measured data doesn't show any indication of VRAM limitations. The FPS declines are consistent with resolution scaling rather than sudden drops that would suggest memory exhaustion. The 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is likely sufficient for Lockdown Protocol's requirements.

Q: How does the i5-14600K's performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i5-14600K scores 48,618 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698) but 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4345P (48,470) and 0.7% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48,287). It ranks in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 333 FPS, while Medium settings yield 236 FPS with a minimum of 201 FPS and a maximum of 272 FPS. High settings average 206 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 155 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the capabilities of this hardware, even at the highest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance decreases noticeably. Low settings average 244 FPS, Medium settings average 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS and a maximum of 199 FPS, High settings average 151 FPS, and Ultra settings average 113 FPS. The 1440p results show that the RTX 4080 is still delivering high frame rates, but the drop from 1080p is evident across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the demands of 4K resolution become clear. Low settings average 157 FPS, Medium settings average 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS, High settings average 98 FPS, and Ultra settings average 73 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the dataset, and even the Low preset at 4K doesn't reach the 1080p High result, highlighting the significant impact of resolution on performance.

The measured data includes minimum and maximum FPS only for Medium settings across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 201-272 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it's 147-199 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it's 95-129 FPS. These ranges show consistent frame pacing, with the spread between minimum and maximum remaining relatively stable across resolutions, which suggests that the system doesn't suffer from severe frame time spikes.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the highest frame rates, Low settings at 1080p deliver 333 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play where responsiveness is paramount. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. For a balanced experience at 1080p, Medium settings at 236 FPS offer a significant improvement in visuals over Low while still maintaining frame rates well above the 144Hz refresh rate that many monitors support.

At 1440p, High settings at 151 FPS provide an excellent balance between image quality and performance. This result is close to the 1080p Ultra result of 155 FPS, meaning players can enjoy higher resolution without sacrificing frame rate. Ultra settings at 1440p drop to 113 FPS, which is still smooth but may not be ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. For 4K gaming, High settings at 98 FPS are the most reasonable choice, as they offer good visuals while staying above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings at 4K average 73 FPS, which is playable but pushes the GPU to its limits.

The data suggests that the best experience depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, Medium settings are recommended for the optimal balance, delivering 236 FPS with the only measured minimum FPS data showing 201 FPS. At 1440p, High settings at 151 FPS are the sweet spot, offering near-Ultra visuals with a comfortable margin above 144 FPS. At 4K, High settings at 98 FPS are preferable to Ultra, as the 25 FPS gain from dropping from Ultra to High is more significant than the visual difference in most titles.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 205th out of 3,714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 5.5% of all configurations. This ranking is consistent with the hardware's individual performance: the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the GPU's percentile suggests that the i5-14600K's strong single-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,064) is particularly well-suited to this FPS title, allowing the RTX 4080 to be fully utilized.

The rank of 205 out of 3,714 implies that a small fraction of tested combos outperform this setup. Given that the RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1% different in synthetic benchmarks, the difference in ranking is likely driven by CPU choice and other system factors rather than GPU alone. The i5-14600K's 90th percentile CPU ranking, combined with the GPU's 86th percentile, suggests that this is a well-matched pairing that doesn't leave significant performance on the table.

The data shows that this combo is capable of delivering competitive frame rates at all tested resolutions, with the 4K Ultra result of 73 FPS being the only scenario that might be considered marginal for high-refresh-rate gaming. The 205th rank out of 3,714 combos indicates that this system sits comfortably in the upper echelon of tested configurations, making it a strong choice for Lockdown Protocol players who want high frame rates without requiring the absolute top-tier hardware.