Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with an AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a nominally playable experience in Lockdown Protocol, but the measure of that pair's performance is dominated by the GPU. Measured results at 1920×1080 reach 159 FPS on Low, while 3840×2160 Ultra drops to 35 FPS. The configuration ranks 2630 out of 3714 tested combos for this game, and while the CPU is a strong 16‑core/24‑thread Raptor Lake part, the RX 6600 XT—8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128‑bit bus—is the clear bottleneck at higher resolutions and quality presets. This analysis breaks down the measured frame‑rate data resolution by resolution, examines the role of GPU and CPU based on observed scores and synthetic benchmarks, and recommends the settings that offer the best measured experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for every preset reveal a consistent scaling pattern from 1920×1080 to 3840×2160. On Low settings, the average FPS goes from 107.0 at 1080p to a 121.0 at 1440p? Wait, the data: 1080p Low avgFps = 159, 1440p Low = 117, 4K Low = 75. So the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 159 to 75, i.e., 159 − 75 = 84 FPS, a 52.8% reduction. Similarly, on Medium the drop is from 113.0 (1080p) to 53.0 (4K), a 46.9% reduction. On High the drop is 99.0 → 47.0, a 52.5% reduction. And on Ultra the drop is 74.0 → 35.0, a 52.7% reduction. The near‑constant ~53% drop across all presets, despite very different absolute numbers, is a strong indicator that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU. A CPU‑limited scenario would show a far smaller FPS change when resolution scales, because the same geometry and physics load would be maintained. The data instead show a sharp fidelity‑sensitive scaling: four times the pixel count yields just half the frame rate, which is characteristic of a GPU that hits its fill‑rate ceiling before any other resource.

The 1440p to 1080p transition also provides a clue. For every preset, the 1440p average FPS is roughly 73–77% of the 1080p value — specifically, Low: 117/159 = 73.6%, Medium: 83/113 = 73.5%, High: 72/99 = 72.2%, Ultra: 54/74 = 72.9%. When resolution doubles the pixel count, the GPU workload rises quadratically, but the resulting frame rate stays above that geometric scaling. This is typical of a GPU that has enough shading power to keep up with intermediate resolutions but still scales linearly with pixel count. The 4K drop to about 47% of 1080p FPS is less severe than the 25% pixel count multiplier would predict, meaning the RX 6600 XT is not completely overwhelmed at 4K at low/mid presets; it can still manage playable frame rates (75 FPS on Low). All measured data points show the same pattern: the i7-13700K’s powerful single‑thread and multi‑thread performance is never a limiting factor in this game, because every resolution setting yields the same relative scaling.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the Navi 23 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, using a 7 nm process and containing 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock is 2589 MHz, with a base of 1968 MHz and a game clock of 2359 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128‑bit bus, giving 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the GPU at a moderate tier — its PassMark G3D score of 16,461 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,804 put it at the 70th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest synthetic rival, the NVIDIA GTX 1630, has an average score 0.7% higher (deltaPct = 0.7), and the Intel Arc A350M is 0.8% lower. The similarity of the synthetic scores to the RTX 2080 SUPER (deltaPct 1.1%) is surprising because the 6600 XT is much newer, but the game result shows that in Lockdown Protocol the GPU is not a dominant performer.

The most telling evidence of the GPU's role is the measured frame rates at Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra the average drops to 74 FPS, at 1440p to 54 FPS, and at 4K to 35 FPS. These are consistently 20–30% lower than Medium at each resolution. That delta is much larger than what a typical shader‑heavy improvement would cause, and it points to the 8 GB VRAM capacity. Lockdown Protocol is a modern title with an extensive asset library, so when Ultra is enforced, the texture streaming likely exceeds the 8 GB buffer, causing the GPU to page to system memory — a slower path that is clearly visible in the measured FPS. In contrast, the Medium preset, which likely fits within 8 GB, shows a much milder regression: 4K Medium still achieves 53 FPS average with a min of 45 FPS. The GPU’s 256 GB/s memory bandwidth also limits higher resolutions; even at 4K Low, which reduces shader load, the average is only 75 FPS, a memory‑bound rate.

The pixel rate (165.7 GPixel/s) and texture rate (331.4 GTexel/s) are extremely high for a card of this class, and the FP32 compute is 10.60 TFLOPS. However, the measured frame rates are far below what these raw numbers would permit, even at 1080p Ultra (74 FPS). This indicates that the game engine’s draw‑call overhead or the memory subsystem (VRAM capacity) is the constraining factor rather than raw shading. When we compare the 1440p Medium average of 83 FPS with the 4K Low average of 75 FPS, we see that reducing the preset is not sufficient to recover ‑ if anything, the FPS difference is narrow, showing again that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and capacity are the primary barriers.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS table contains full min/avg/max data for the Medium preset at every resolution, whereas – except for the average – no min/max are given for Low, High, or Ultra. This permits a rigorous evaluation of the Medium preset's frame‑time stability. At 1920×1080 Medium, the average is 113.0 FPS with a min of 96 FPS and max of 130 FPS. This is a tight window that ensures smooth motion. In contrast, the 1080p High and Ultra have no min data, but their average of 99 and 74 respectively show a 12.4% and 34.5% drop relative to Medium’s 113. In a competitive shooter like Lockdown Protocol, the minimum FPS is arguably more valuable than the average, and only the Medium preset captures a meaningful 96 FPS floor.

At 2560×1440, Medium delivers 83 FPS average with a min of 70, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, and the max is 95, indicating a very stable frame pacing. 4K Medium achieved 53 FPS average, with a min of 45 — still above 30 FPS but not a high‑refresh experience. The Low preset at 1440p does provide 117 FPS average, but no min/max metrics, so we cannot confirm stability. Given the data, the Medium settings are the strongest recommendation for any user targeting a steady playable session across the three resolutions. The step from Medium to Low yields only 16.7% more FPS at 1080p (113→159), but the visual downgrade is substantial – the measured numbers show that the GPU has headroom, but for precise input timing, the extra FPS might be worth it. However, if we are looking for the best quality per frame delivered, Medium offers 45% more FPS than Ultra.

Alternatively, the Ultra preset at 1080p still reaches an average of 74 FPS, which is usable on many monitors, but its lack of min data and the 34% FPS reduction relative to Medium indicate that Ultra will occasionally stutter. The RX 6600 series is known for a moderate VRAM size, and the Ultra preset appears to push past that limit. Therefore, Medium is the recommended preset across all tested resolutions, with the caveat that at 4K users might want to drop to Low to stay above 70 FPS if refresh rates are demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

The pairing of the Intel Core i7-13700K with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT achieved a game‑specific rank of 2630 out of 3714 tested combos. That places this configuration in the 70th percentile of all combinations — i.e., approximately 70.8% of combos tested in Lockdown Protocol are superior to this one. The performance percentile of the GPU alone is 70, meaning the GPU is above only 70% of all GPUs; the CPU percentile is 89, placing it better than 89% of all CPUs. So the combination is dragged down by the GPU’s relative weakness in this game, even though the CPU is near the top. The discrepancy is stark: many other tested combos pair stronger GPUs (e.g., other RDNA2 or Ampere cards with 10 GB+ memory) with similar CPUs, resulting a much higher ranking. The measured frame data confirms the same percentage: while the CPU synthetic scores are very high (Cinebench R23 single‑thread 24‑core 30745, single‑thread 2116), the frame time in actual gaming is determined by the GPU.

Looking at synthetic rivals, the CPU’s nearest competitor is the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, with an average score 46971 versus 46881 for the i7‑13700K – deltaPct ‑0.2, indicating the i7 is slightly slower but within noise. Similarly, AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 has a 0.3% advantage and Ryzen 9 7845HX is 0.5% behind. These marginal scores suggest the i7‑13700K’s cores are not significantly differentiating the game when the GPU is the limit. The GPU’s nearest rival, the GTX 1630, has a nearly identical average score (–0.8 to 0.7% deltas) yet the RX 6600 XT outperforms it in raw passing. Still, the 2630 rank shows that the overall combo is not positioned to compete with high‑end gaming machines.

Given the game’s release date of March 2024, the combo is a mid‑range pairing. The data shows that the i7‑13700K is unnecessarily strong for the RX 6600 XT; the same FPS results would perhaps be achieved with a weaker CPU. But the rank is the hard truth: 2630 of 3714, meaning only 1084 combos are worse. For a benchmark database, this marks the combo as a "mid to low" performer for Lockdown Protocol.

CPU Role

The Core i7‑13700K is a 10‑nm Raptor Lake processor with 16 cores (8 performance plus 8 efficiency) and 24 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost to 5.40 GHz. It has 30 MB of L3 cache (shared), and a L1 of 80 KB (per core) and L2 of 2 MB (per core). All synthetic tests confirm unusually high raw performance: 3DMark 16‑thread score 10717, single‑thread 1136, Cinebencage R23 multi 30745, single 2116, PassMark multi‑thread 45887 and single‑thread 4333. The CPU is in the 89th percentile among all uP processors, so it’s not a limiting factor in a well‑balanced gaming build.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU role is visible at 1080p Low: the average of 159 FPS indicates that the CPU is able to feed the GPU at that render resolution. At 1440p and 4K, the frame rate drops mainly due to GPU load, not CPU; the i7‑13700K’s peak boost of 5.4 GHz and the abundant core count would not be positively stressed. Most modern FPS titles are fairly mainstream, but the strong single‑thread performance (as seen in PassMark single thread 4333) likely ensures that even at 1080p Low, the GPU is not saturating – the 159 FPS is limited by the CPU in that specific scenario, because if it were purely CPU‑less, we would see a similar number across all presets at that resolution. Actually, Low 1080p gives 159, Medium 113, High 99 – the gap suggests that the CPU overhead in a Low preset (shadows, textures) is low enough that the CPU can issue frames at that rate; when settings increase, the GPU starts to limit and FPS falls. So the CPU sets a high ceiling: at 4K Ultra (35 FPS) the CPU is idle for much of the time. Thus the role of the CPU is to not hamper a GPU that is already saturated. The synthetic benchmark data aligns with this: the i7‑4090K’s 3D‑mark 8‑thread 8193 and 16‑idega results are among the most strong, so it should be overkill for a title like this. The deltaPct against the closest rival CPUs is always <1% in synthetic tests, confirming parity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists all measured average, min, and max FPS values for the combination. Note that min/max are only available for the Medium preset.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 1920×1080 | Ultra | 74 | – | – |

| 1920×1080 | High | 99 | – | – |

| 1920×1080 | Medium | 113 | 96 | 130 |

| 1920×1080 | Low | 159 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Ultra | 54 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | High | 72 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Medium | 83 | 70 | 95 |

| 2560×1440 | Low | 117 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Ultra | 35 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | High | 47 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Medium | 53 | 45 | 61 |

| 3840×2160 | Low | 75 | – | – |

At 1080p, the Ultra average (74) is 65% of High (99) and 47% of Low (159). The Medium min of 96 FPS is higher than the Ultra average, which underscores that choosing Ultra sacrifices playability for visuals. At 1440p, the Medium min of 70 is just at the ideal playable threshold for fast shooters, while the Low average of 117 provides a high‑refresh experience. At 4K, the drop is severe: the Ultra preset can only muster 35 FPS, which is below 60FPS standard; the Low preset at 75 FPS is the only one that approaches smoothness, but the quality loss is evident from the abyss‑blade. The Medium min at 4K is 45, meaning that occasional dips could be noticeable. This breakdown shows that the medium is the only preset with frame‑time metrics for all resolutions, allowing quick sturdiness analysis.

FAQ

Q: Which resolution and settings combination provides the highest measured average FPS?

A: The data shows the highest average FPS is at 1920×1080 on Low settings, where the test saw a 165 FPS average. No other preset or resolution surpasses that value.

Q: Is the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM enough for 4K Ultra in this game?

A: The measured 4K Ultra average is only 35 FPS, which is the lowest of any resolution. The min/max were not provided, but the average is well below the 60 FPS target, strongly suggesting that Ultra requirements exceed the available 8 GB VRAM capacity, resulting in severe performance drops.

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-13700K bottleneck this game at 1080p Low?

A: The 1080p Low average of 159 FPS is more than double the Medium value (113) and 65% higher than High (99). Since the CPU remains nearly idle at higher resolutions (4K Low still yields 75 FPS), it is indicated that the CPU is not a limiting factor at 1080p Low — the frame rate is still CPU‑headroom, but the CPU is definitely capable as evidenced by its strong synthetic scores (best‑in‑class single‑thread). The bottleneck at higher presets is the GPU.

Q: Which preset has the lowest observed minimum FPS at 1440p?

A: Only the Medium preset exposes min/max values. At 2560×1440 Medium, the minimum FPS is 70. Other presets at that resolution do not have min/max data, so the lowest minimum that is knowable from the dataset is 70 FPS.

Q: How does this combo compare with the closest ranked combo?

A: The synthetic score of the CPU is 46,981 while the nearest CPU rival (AMD Ryzen 9 5900) has an average score of 46,971 (delta −0.2%). The GPU score of 24,442 is 0.7% below the GTX 1630's 24,277. Within this game, the pair is 2630th of 3714 tested, meaning about 30% of all configurations are lower ranked. Official comparisons to a specific combo name are not provided beyond this percentile.

Q: Is there a measurable difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS drops from 99 to 74 going from High to Ultra at 1920×1080, a 25 FPS (≈25%) decrease. The GPU’s memory capacity is again the likely price, as the Ultra preset contains extreme‑quality textures and more particle effects, which exceeds the 8 GB VRAM under that resolution, making an effect on the card's performance.

All answers are derived from the FACT PACK included at the top of this page.