Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a playable, though not exceptional, experience in Lockdown Protocol. The benchmark data shows a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The measured FPS figures indicate that users must prioritize either visual fidelity or frame rate, as the combo cannot simultaneously deliver both at the higher end of the spectrum.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows for this combo reveal a clear trade-off between visual quality and performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 123.2 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this configuration. This setting provides the smoothest experience and is the only preset at this resolution that significantly exceeds the 100 FPS threshold. For competitive play in an FPS title, this is the recommended starting point, as the data shows a substantial drop when moving to Medium, which averages 87 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset again offers the best performance, with an average of 90.2 FPS. This is a more demanding resolution, but the result remains fluid and suitable for fast-paced gameplay. The High preset at this resolution drops to 54.3 FPS, which is a noticeable reduction and may be less ideal for aiming. The Medium preset provides a middle ground at 65 FPS, but the data suggests that the jump from Low to Medium costs over 25 FPS, a significant penalty for modest visual gains.

The 3840x2160 resolution is not well-suited for this combo. Even the Low preset only achieves 57 FPS, and the High and Ultra settings fall to 37.5 and 26.6 FPS respectively. These figures are below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience in a fast-paced FPS. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor here, as reducing settings from High to Low yields a 19.5 FPS improvement, but the absolute numbers remain low. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p is a viable option, but for maximizing frame rate, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice based on the measured results.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 123.2, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this combination capable of 4K gaming?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 57 on Low settings. The Ultra preset only manages 26.6 FPS, indicating that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark compare to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49367, which is 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K, its nearest rival.

Q: What is the performance delta between the GTX 1660 Ti and its nearest competitor?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of 13925, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 570X, its closest rival.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p on High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 76.3 at 1920x1080 to 54.3 at 2560x1440 on High settings, a reduction of 22 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU have a high core count?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this combination at rank 1454 out of 1637 tested combos for Lockdown Protocol. This ranking indicates that the pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is in the lower 11% of all tested configurations. While the CPU itself is a high performer, ranking in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, the GPU's performance is the bottleneck. The GTX 1660 Ti sits in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, which is a middling position. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU results in a system that is not well-balanced for this specific game, as the graphics card cannot fully utilize the processing power available. The rank of 1454 reflects this imbalance, showing that most other tested combinations, likely with more balanced or more powerful GPUs, achieve better results in Lockdown Protocol. The data suggests that the CPU's potential is largely untapped in this scenario, as the frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU's capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the scores are as follows: Low averages 123.2 FPS, Medium averages 87 FPS, High averages 76.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 59.4 FPS. This shows a clear linear progression where each step up in settings reduces performance by a significant margin, with the largest gap being 36.2 FPS between Low and Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops across the board. The Low preset averages 90.2 FPS, which is a 33 FPS decrease compared to the same setting at 1080p. Medium follows at 65 FPS, High at 54.3 FPS, and Ultra at 42.5 FPS. The pattern remains consistent, with Low being the only preset that stays above the 90 FPS mark.

At 3840x2160, the results are substantially lower. The Low preset averages 57 FPS, which is a 66.2 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium averages 40.9 FPS, High averages 37.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 26.6 FPS. The data shows that the gap between Low and Medium narrows at 4K, with only a 16.1 FPS difference, compared to the 36.2 FPS difference at 1080p. This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that settings changes have a relatively smaller impact on absolute frame rates. The Ultra preset at 4K is the lowest recorded score, confirming that this resolution is not practical for this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a steep performance penalty as resolution increases, which points directly to the GPU as the primary limiting component. When comparing the Low preset across all resolutions, the average FPS drops from 123.2 at 1080p to 90.2 at 1440p, a 26.8% decrease. The jump from 1440p to 4K is even more severe, with the average FPS falling from 90.2 to 57, a 36.8% decrease. This pattern indicates that the rendering workload is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario.

At the High preset, the scaling is similar. The average FPS drops from 76.3 at 1080p to 54.3 at 1440p, a 28.8% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the score falls from 54.3 to 37.5, a 30.9% reduction. The consistent percentage drops across different settings confirm that the frame rate is directly tied to the GPU's ability to process pixels. The CPU, which is a high-end model with 14 cores and a 5.30 GHz boost clock, is not the bottleneck in these scenarios, as its performance would not degrade with resolution changes. The data shows that the GTX 1660 Ti, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, is simply overwhelmed at higher resolutions, leading to the observed frame rate collapse.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a powerful processor that is not a limiting factor in this game. It features 14 cores and 20 threads, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its benchmark scores are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and a single-core score of 4643. The processor is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating that its raw compute capability is far above average. However, in the context of Lockdown Protocol with the GTX 1660 Ti, the data shows that this CPU's potential is largely untapped.

The game's frame rates are consistently lower than what the CPU could theoretically support. For example, at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 123.2 FPS, but the CPU's high single-core performance suggests it could handle much higher frame rates if the GPU were not the bottleneck. The fact that frame rates drop so significantly with resolution increases, while the CPU's workload remains constant, is definitive proof that the graphics card is the limiting component. The CPU is responsible for game logic and physics, and its 14 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for an FPS title like Lockdown Protocol. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz also ensures that single-threaded tasks are handled efficiently. In this pairing, the CPU is essentially waiting on the GPU, meaning that any upgrade to the graphics card would likely yield a substantial improvement in frame rates across all settings and resolutions.