Lockdown Protocol

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates place this combination firmly in high-refresh territory across every preset, but the optimal choice depends on resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 333.4 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset for this combo. However, the jump from Low to Medium costs 68.5 FPS (264.9), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 35.3 FPS (229.6). The Ultra preset still manages 171.1 FPS at 1080p, which remains comfortably above the 144 Hz threshold. For competitive play, Low is the clear choice at 1080p, but the data shows diminishing returns beyond Medium.

At 1440p, the picture shifts. Low produces 273.5 FPS, Medium drops to 191.6, High to 170.3, and Ultra to 128.9. The Medium preset offers the best balance for most players here, as it retains 191.6 FPS while adding visual fidelity over Low. High is also viable at 170.3 FPS, but Ultra dips below 130 FPS, which may be noticeable on high-refresh displays. At 4K, High delivers 107 FPS, Medium 123.4 FPS, Low 174.9 FPS, and Ultra 81.3 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure is the only measured average below 100 FPS across the entire matrix, suggesting that Ultra is only suitable for players prioritizing image quality over smoothness.

The data indicates that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot for this hardware, delivering 191.6 FPS while maintaining reasonable visual settings. For 4K users, Low at 174.9 FPS provides the best competitive experience, while High at 107 FPS remains acceptable for slower-paced play. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is only 16.4 FPS, making High the more sensible choice over Medium if visual quality matters, since the performance penalty is modest relative to the fidelity gain.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus, producing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is the primary enabler of the 4K performance observed in the data, as the high-bandwidth pool allows the GPU to feed its 16,384 shading units without stalling. The Ada Lovelace architecture runs at a 2235 MHz base clock and boosts to 2520 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores position this card as a top-tier compute device, reflected in its 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The passmark G3D score of 38,194 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 indicate strong raw rendering performance. However, the game-specific data shows that the RTX 4090 is rarely the limiting factor at 1080p, where the CPU becomes more relevant. At 4K, the GPU's role dominates, as evidenced by the 174.9 FPS Low result versus the 81.3 FPS Ultra result — a 93.6 FPS swing driven entirely by GPU workload. The 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler suggest this card is designed for sustained heavy loads, which the 4K Ultra preset would certainly provide.

The 24 GB VRAM capacity is excessive for Lockdown Protocol's current settings, as even the Ultra preset at 4K does not appear to exceed memory limits given the 81.3 FPS result is still solid. The data suggests the bottleneck at 4K Ultra is compute throughput rather than memory capacity, as the card's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance is being fully utilized. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and geometry processing at 4K resolution do not introduce memory-related frame hitches.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K features 14 cores (6 performance, 8 efficient) and 20 threads, running at a 3.50 GHz base clock with a 5.30 GHz boost. The 24 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide the memory hierarchy needed to feed the GPU at high frame rates. This processor achieves a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,881 and single-core score of 4,642. The Geekbench results show 15,846 multi-core and 2,803 single-core, indicating balanced performance across workloads.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p, where the frame rate ceilings are highest. The 333.4 FPS Low result at 1080p suggests the CPU can drive frame generation well beyond typical display refresh rates. The 14600K's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scores 49,062 versus the Intel's 49,166 average — a 0.2% edge for Intel. The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 49,367, which is 0.4% higher than the 14600K, but the K variant's unlocked multiplier allows overclocking potential that the data shows in its 5.30 GHz boost clock.

The 125 W TDP with DDR4/DDR5 memory support means the CPU can operate in either memory environment, though the game's performance at 1080p suggests memory bandwidth is not a primary constraint. The 14-core configuration with 20 threads handles the game's threading model effectively, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 1440p. The CPU's passmark multithread score of 38,682 and integer math score of 125,737 indicate strong general compute, which supports the high frame rates observed even at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more significant.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 25th out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 1.5% of all configurations, which aligns with the high FPS measurements across all resolutions. The rank reflects the synergy between the 14600K's strong single-thread performance and the RTX 4090's massive compute throughput, creating a system that handles both CPU-bound and GPU-bound scenarios effectively.

The top 24 combos ahead of this one likely include newer or higher-end parts, but the data shows this pairing remains elite for this game. The 14600K's 0.2% advantage over the Ryzen 9 5950X in synthetic benchmarks translates to tangible frame rate benefits in CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p, while the RTX 4090's 91st percentile GPU ranking ensures no GPU-side bottlenecks at higher resolutions. The 25th rank out of 1,637 indicates that while there are faster configurations, this combo delivers a level of performance that few systems can match.

The combination's strength lies in its balance — the CPU can generate frames fast enough at 1080p to fully utilize the GPU, while the GPU's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth prevent memory-related stutters at 4K. The benchmark data shows consistent performance scaling, with no anomalous drops that would suggest component mismatches or driver inefficiencies.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck. At Low settings, the average drops from 333.4 FPS at 1080p to 273.5 FPS at 1440p (a 18% reduction) and then to 174.9 FPS at 4K (a 36% reduction from 1440p). This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the system remains partially CPU-bound at 1080p, as the GPU has plenty of headroom. The 4K Low figure of 174.9 FPS shows the GPU is still not fully saturated, suggesting the CPU continues to play a role even at higher resolutions with minimal graphics load.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is steeper: 171.1 FPS at 1080p, 128.9 FPS at 1440p (a 24.7% drop), and 81.3 FPS at 4K (a 36.9% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset is clearly GPU-bound across all resolutions, with the 4K result representing a 52.5% reduction from the 1080p figure. This confirms that the RTX 4090's compute limits are reached at 4K Ultra, while the CPU has more than enough headroom to keep up.

The Medium preset shows intermediate scaling: 264.9 FPS at 1080p, 191.6 FPS at 1440p (a 27.7% drop), and 123.4 FPS at 4K (a 35.6% drop from 1440p). The High preset follows a similar trajectory: 229.6 to 170.3 (a 25.8% drop) to 107 (a 37.2% drop). Across all settings, the 1080p to 1440p drop averages around 24-28%, while the 1440p to 4K drop averages 36-37%, indicating that the GPU workload scales super-linearly with pixel count at higher resolutions. The data clearly shows that Lockdown Protocol becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution increases, with the CPU's influence diminishing accordingly.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for competitive play at 1440p?

A: The Low preset delivers 273.5 FPS at 1440p, which is the highest measured value at that resolution. Medium follows at 191.6 FPS, offering a solid balance if visual fidelity is preferred over maximum frame rate.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The 24 GB GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity and throughput for 4K rendering, as evidenced by the 107 FPS High and 81.3 FPS Ultra results at 3840x2160.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for high frame rates at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU plays a larger role, as shown by the 333.4 FPS Low result. The 14600K's 5.30 GHz boost clock and 14-core configuration allow it to drive frame generation effectively, while the GPU has more headroom at this resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra at 4K?

A: High averages 107 FPS while Ultra averages 81.3 FPS at 4K, representing a 25.7 FPS difference. This 24% performance penalty for Ultra suggests it may not be worth the visual gain for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 25th out of 1,637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 1.5% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Does the CPU's benchmark performance align with its in-game results?

A: Yes — the 14600K's 93rd percentile CPU ranking and 0.2% advantage over the Ryzen 9 5950X in synthetic benchmarks correlate with its ability to sustain high frame rates at 1080p and above.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are: Low at 333.4 FPS, Medium at 264.9 FPS, High at 229.6 FPS, and Ultra at 171.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra spans 162.3 FPS, representing a 48.7% performance drop when moving to the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 273.5 FPS, Medium at 191.6 FPS, High at 170.3 FPS, and Ultra at 128.9 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread here is 144.6 FPS, a 52.9% reduction, showing a slightly steeper penalty than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low at 174.9 FPS, Medium at 123.4 FPS, High at 107 FPS, and Ultra at 81.3 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 93.6 FPS, a 53.5% reduction, continuing the trend of increasing performance penalties at higher resolutions.

The complete dataset shows that the Low preset at 1080p (333.4 FPS) is the single highest measured value, while the Ultra preset at 4K (81.3 FPS) is the lowest. The Medium preset at 1440p (191.6 FPS) represents the best compromise between resolution and settings, as it remains above 144 Hz while offering more visual detail than Low. The High preset at 4K (107 FPS) is the most notable result for 4K users, as it stays above 100 FPS while providing solid visual quality.