Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti produces a classic bottleneck scenario in Lockdown Protocol, where the GPU's Turing-based architecture (12 nm process, 6 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus) becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal a system that can deliver smooth esports-level performance at lower settings but struggles to maintain playable frames when pixel count and graphical fidelity increase simultaneously. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads, boosting to 5.40 GHz, remain largely underutilized in this title, as evidenced by the consistent scaling pattern that follows the GPU's workload curve rather than any CPU limitation.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate degradation from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent with a GPU-bound configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 122 at 1920x1080 to 90 at 2560x1440, a 26.2% reduction, and then further to 58 at 3840x2160, representing a 52.5% total drop from the baseline 1080p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that the GTX 1660 Ti's 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are being taxed heavily as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

At Medium settings, the same resolution progression yields 87 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 1440p is 23 FPS, while the delta between 1440p and 4K is also 23 FPS, showing a nearly linear relationship with pixel count. This linearity is a hallmark of a GPU that is compute-limited rather than bandwidth-limited, as the 192-bit memory interface provides sufficient throughput for the workload.

High settings present a similar story: 76 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 26.3% from 1080p to 1440p and 35.7% from 1440p to 4K. The slightly larger proportional drop at 4K under High settings suggests that the increasing shader complexity is compounding the pixel-count burden, pushing the GPU's streaming multiprocessors closer to their saturation point.

Ultra settings reveal the harshest scaling, with 57 FPS at 1080p collapsing to 42 FPS at 1440p and 27 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 26.3%, but the 1440p-to-4K drop is 35.7%, mirroring the High preset behavior. The 4K Ultra figure of 27 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimally playable, confirming that this resolution and settings combination is beyond the GPU's practical capability.

The data clearly indicates the limiting component is the GTX 1660 Ti. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions as the GPU's workload changed; instead, every settings tier shows substantial FPS losses with increasing resolution, a signature of GPU-bound rendering.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the measured data shows that Low settings deliver 122 FPS average, which is well above the 100 FPS mark favored by competitive FPS players. Medium settings still provide 87 FPS, a 28.7% reduction from Low, but with a minimum FPS of 74 that remains comfortably playable. High settings drop to 76 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 57 FPS. Given that the minimum FPS at Medium is 74, this preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame consistency for 1080p displays, particularly for players who prioritize smoothness over maximum detail.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. Low settings produce 90 FPS, which is excellent for a 1440p panel. Medium settings yield 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS, which is adequate for casual play but may feel sluggish in fast-paced encounters. High settings drop to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS. For 1440p, Low settings are the clear recommendation if competitive performance is the goal, as the 90 FPS average provides a significant margin over the 60 FPS threshold. Players willing to accept lower frame rates for better visuals might consider Medium, but the 54 FPS minimum could cause noticeable hitches.

At 3840x2160, no settings tier achieves 60 FPS. Low settings produce 58 FPS average, which is close to but not at the 60 FPS mark. Medium settings yield 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, High produces 36 FPS, and Ultra drops to 27 FPS. For 4K, Low settings are the only viable option, and even then, the 58 FPS average suggests that users should expect occasional dips below 60. The 35 FPS minimum at Medium makes that preset risky for competitive play, while the 27 FPS at Ultra is effectively unplayable for a fast-paced FPS.

The optimal experience across the board is 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers 87 FPS average and 74 FPS minimum, representing a 52.9% improvement over 4K Low and a 65.5% improvement over 4K Ultra. This configuration leverages the GPU's strengths without exposing its weaknesses.

FAQ

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

A: Only at Low settings, where the measured average FPS is 58. At Medium, the average drops to 41 FPS with a 35 FPS minimum, and at Ultra it falls to 27 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming is marginal with this GPU, as no preset achieves a stable 60 FPS average.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings combination for competitive play?

A: The measured data shows that 1080p with Medium settings provides 87 FPS average and 74 FPS minimum, which offers the best combination of frame consistency and visual quality. For maximum frame rate, 1080p Low delivers 122 FPS average.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti's 6 GB VRAM affect performance at high resolutions?

A: The 6 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient at 1080p, but the frame rate drops at 1440p and 4K suggest that memory capacity and bandwidth are being stressed. The Ultra preset at 4K only achieves 27 FPS, indicating that the GPU's memory subsystem cannot sustain the data throughput required.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-13700K limiting performance in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads with a 5.40 GHz boost clock are far more capable than the GTX 1660 Ti, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops with increasing resolution—a pattern that would not occur if the CPU were the constraint.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 90 FPS average while Ultra produces 42 FPS, a difference of 48 FPS or 53.3% lower performance. Medium sits at 64 FPS and High at 56 FPS, showing a steep drop from Low to Medium.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 7723, which places it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540 and 2.3% ahead of the Intel Arc A310. This marginal performance gap means that users should expect similar frame rates from these competing cards in Lockdown Protocol.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings spectrum was measured. Low settings deliver the highest average FPS at 122, representing the ceiling for this resolution. Medium settings produce 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS, showing a tight frame distribution. High settings drop to 76 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 57 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, a 53.3% reduction, which demonstrates the significant cost of maxing out graphical features at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 90 FPS average, which is still respectable for a 1440p panel. Medium settings yield 64 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS, providing a playable but not silky-smooth experience. High settings produce 56 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 48 FPS, a 53.3% reduction, consistent with the 1080p scaling pattern.

At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 58 FPS average, which is the only preset above 50 FPS. Medium settings yield 41 FPS average with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS, indicating that frame times are inconsistent and prone to stutter. High settings drop to 36 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure is 22.4% below the 4K Medium minimum, showing how severely the GPU is overloaded at maximum settings.

The 1080p Medium minimum of 74 FPS is higher than the 4K Low average of 58 FPS, illustrating the resolution penalty. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently shows a minimum FPS that is roughly 85% of the average (74/87 at 1080p, 54/64 at 1440p, 35/41 at 4K), suggesting a stable frame pacing profile for this settings tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the decisive component in this configuration. Its Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC with 6,600 million transistors, provides 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The GPU operates at a 1500 MHz base clock and 1770 MHz boost clock, with memory running at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The 6 GB GDDR6 memory capacity is a critical factor at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show that 4K Ultra (27 FPS) is nearly half of 1080p Ultra (57 FPS), which suggests that the GPU is not only compute-bound but also potentially memory-bound as texture data exceeds the 6 GB capacity. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while adequate for 1080p, becomes a limiting factor when the pixel workload quadruples at 4K.

The GPU's compute throughput of 5.437 TFLOPS FP32 and pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s are modest by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect this. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1061 and Passmark G3D score of 12871 place the GPU in the 41st percentile of all GPUs, meaning it outperforms only 41% of the tested database. The nearest rivals—AMD Radeon 540 (0.7% lower score), AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (1.9% lower), AMD Radeon R7 250 (2.2% lower), and Intel Arc A310 (2.3% lower)—are all within a narrow band, confirming that the GTX 1660 Ti sits at the lower end of the performance spectrum.

The GPU's 120 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU indicate a power-efficient design, but this efficiency comes at the cost of raw performance headroom. In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's role is to render frames as quickly as possible, and the data shows it reaches its limit at 4K Ultra where the 27 FPS average is a clear indication of overcommitment.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a high-end desktop processor that far exceeds the demands of Lockdown Protocol. With 16 cores (8 performance and 8 efficiency, though the FACT PACK does not specify the split), 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, this CPU has substantial compute resources. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data locality for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive: Cinebench R23 multicore at 30745 and single-core at 2116, Geekbench multicore at 19429 and single-core at 2529, and Passmark multithread at 45887. These figures place the CPU in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (0.2% lower score), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (0.3% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (0.5% higher), and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (0.5% higher), all clustered within a 1% band.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, handle game physics, and manage AI. The measured frame rates show no evidence of CPU limitation: if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see similar FPS across all resolutions because the CPU workload is resolution-independent. Instead, FPS drops consistently with increasing resolution, proving the GTX 1660 Ti is the limiting factor.

The CPU's 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock provide excellent single-threaded performance, which is critical for FPS games that often rely on a single main thread. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 2299 indicate strong per-core performance. The 89th percentile ranking means this CPU outperforms 89% of all tested CPUs, making it an unlikely bottleneck in any scenario.

The 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory (dual-channel) give this CPU flexibility, but in this configuration, its primary role is to ensure that the GPU is always fed with data. The data suggests that the i7-13700K is effectively idle in many frames, waiting for the GPU to complete its rendering work.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination ranks 3199 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 13.9th percentile (calculated as 1 - 3199/3714). This low ranking reflects the GPU's limited capability relative to the CPU's high-end status. The combo sits in the bottom 14% of all tested systems, indicating that most other configurations deliver better frame rates in this game.

This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's 41st percentile standing versus the CPU's 89th percentile. The mismatch between these two components creates a significant bottleneck that prevents the system from achieving its potential. The 3199th rank means that 515 other combos perform worse, but the vast majority (3714 total) outperform this pairing.

The GPU's nearest rivals—AMD Radeon 540, Radeon Pro WX 3100, Radeon R7 250, and Intel Arc A310—are all lower-performing cards, yet the combo rank suggests that even these modest GPUs, when paired with weaker CPUs, might achieve better overall scores in this game's specific workload. The 13.9th percentile ranking is particularly telling for a CPU that ranks in the 89th percentile, as it highlights the extreme imbalance of this pairing.

In practical terms, this combo rank means that users seeking high frame rates in Lockdown Protocol would be better served by a more balanced pairing, such as a mid-range CPU with a stronger GPU. However, for users who already own this combination, the measured FPS data provides clear guidance: stick to 1080p Medium or Low settings to achieve the best experience, as the CPU will never be the limiting factor, but the GPU will cap performance at every resolution.