Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

Lockdown Protocol shows a classic GPU-bound scaling curve when moving from 1080p to 4K, though the shape of that curve shifts dramatically depending on the quality preset. At Low settings, the RTX 4070 SUPER delivers 290 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 212 FPS at 1440p and 137 FPS at 4K. That represents a 53% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low, a steep drop that indicates the GPU is being pushed hard even at the lowest quality tier — the card is producing so many frames that resolution scaling becomes the dominant factor.

The High preset tells a similar story but with a smoother overall trajectory. From 180 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 132 FPS at 1440p and 85 FPS at 4K. That is a 53% decrease from 1080p to 4K as well, nearly identical to Low. The consistency of that percentage across presets suggests Lockdown Protocol's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count, with no sudden bottlenecks appearing at specific resolutions.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p the combo hits 135 FPS, at 1440p it drops to 99 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 64 FPS. The 1080p-to-4K reduction here is 53% as well, matching the other presets almost exactly. This uniformity across all four quality levels is notable: it means the limiting component remains the same regardless of how much graphical work is being thrown at the system.

The Medium preset, which includes min and max frame data, offers additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 and maximum of 237. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 151 FPS with a spread of 128 to 173. At 4K Medium, the average is 97 FPS with a range of 83 to 112. The frame-time consistency, measured by the gap between min and max, stays proportionally similar across resolutions — roughly a 50-60 FPS spread in each case. That suggests no resolution introduces stutter or frame-pacing anomalies.

The data points to the GPU as the primary scaling bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect the 1080p numbers to plateau regardless of resolution, but instead every resolution change produces a meaningful FPS shift. A CPU-bound scenario would show 1080p and 1440p results clustering closer together, with only 4K pulling ahead as GPU load increases. Here, the step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 80 FPS at Low, 48 FPS at High, 55 FPS at Medium, and 36 FPS at Ultra — all substantial drops that confirm the graphics card is doing the heavy lifting.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data offers a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets. At 1080p, Low produces 290 FPS, Medium 206 FPS, High 180 FPS, and Ultra 135 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 84 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 26 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 45 FPS. The largest single-step penalty comes from moving off Low, which makes sense because Low disables many effects that Medium re-enables.

For players targeting high refresh rates at 1080p, Medium is the sweet spot. The 206 FPS average with a 175 FPS minimum keeps the experience above typical 144Hz displays without sacrificing the visual improvements that Medium brings over Low. The 84 FPS cost of moving from Low to Medium is steep, but the 26 FPS cost from Medium to High is modest by comparison — however, High at 180 FPS still comfortably clears 144Hz, making it a viable alternative for those who want better image quality without dropping below high-refresh territory.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. Low hits 212 FPS, Medium 151 FPS, High 132 FPS, and Ultra 99 FPS. Medium is again the standout choice: it delivers 151 FPS, which is enough for 144Hz monitors, while High drops to 132 FPS — still playable but below the 144Hz threshold. Ultra at 99 FPS is suitable for 100Hz displays but not for competitive play at higher refresh rates. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, with a 128 FPS minimum that ensures smoothness even in demanding scenes.

At 4K, the options narrow considerably. Low produces 137 FPS, Medium 97 FPS, High 85 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. For 60Hz displays, every preset except Ultra clears the bar comfortably. Ultra at 64 FPS sits right at the edge — playable but with no headroom for drops. Medium at 97 FPS is the strongest recommendation for 4K: it provides nearly 100 FPS, which smooths out motion significantly compared to the 60 FPS baseline, and the 83 FPS minimum still holds above 60. High at 85 FPS is also acceptable, but the 12 FPS gain from moving to Medium is worth the visual trade-off for most players.

The measured data suggests that Medium is the default recommendation across all three resolutions. It consistently delivers the best frame-rate-per-quality ratio, with the 1440p result of 151 FPS being particularly strong. Players with 240Hz displays at 1080p may prefer Low for its 290 FPS ceiling, but for the majority of use cases, Medium provides the most headroom while retaining enough graphical fidelity to appreciate the game's visual design.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER pairs 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. That memory configuration proves sufficient at 4K Ultra, where the combo still manages 64 FPS — a result that would be impossible if VRAM capacity or bandwidth were choking. The 12 GB allocation is adequate for Lockdown Protocol's current settings, though the 4K High result of 85 FPS suggests the card is approaching the point where memory pressure could become a factor if future updates add higher-resolution textures.

The GPU's clock behavior is straightforward. Base clock sits at 1980 MHz with a boost of 2475 MHz, and the memory runs at 1313 MHz for 21 Gbps effective. These clocks are consistent with the Ada Lovelace architecture's design goals — high boost frequencies that sustain performance under sustained gaming loads. The 220 W TDP gives the card ample power headroom to maintain those clocks, and the 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput provides the raw compute needed for Lockdown Protocol's rendering.

The GPU's benchmark profile reinforces its position. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627, combined with a PassMark G3D score of 29995, places the card in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals by average benchmark score are the Quadro M6000 24 GB at -0.1% delta, the RTX 5050 Mobile at -0.1%, the Quadro M6000 at -0.2%, and the RTX 4090 Mobile at -1%. This clustering shows the RTX 4070 SUPER sits in a competitive band where small percentage differences separate cards — the delta to the nearest rival is just -0.1%, while the farthest listed rival is only 1% behind.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the GPU's role is dominant. The scaling analysis shows resolution changes produce consistent FPS shifts, and the 4K Ultra result of 64 FPS demonstrates that the card can handle maximum settings at 4K, albeit at frame rates better suited to 60Hz displays. The 1080p Low result of 290 FPS highlights the card's ceiling, showing it can push well beyond typical high-refresh requirements when settings are reduced.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces a wide spread of results. Low delivers 290 FPS average, Medium 206 FPS with a minimum of 175 and maximum of 237, High 180 FPS, and Ultra 135 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 155 FPS, giving players enormous flexibility depending on their display's refresh rate and their preference for visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers compress but retain the same ordering. Low produces 212 FPS, Medium 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 and maximum of 173, High 132 FPS, and Ultra 99 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra narrows to 113 FPS, reflecting the increased pixel count's impact on the GPU. The Medium preset's minimum of 128 FPS is notable — it stays above the 120Hz threshold, making it a reliable choice for high-refresh 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the results show the card's limits. Low averages 137 FPS, Medium 97 FPS with a minimum of 83 and maximum of 112, High 85 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra is 73 FPS, the smallest spread of any resolution. Even at Low, the 137 FPS result is a significant drop from the 290 FPS seen at 1080p, confirming that 4K substantially increases the GPU's workload. The Medium preset's 83 FPS minimum remains above 60 FPS, but just barely — players on 4K 144Hz displays will need to accept either lower settings or lower frame rates.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions, providing the clearest picture of frame-time consistency. At 1080p, the spread between min and max is 62 FPS; at 1440p it is 45 FPS; at 4K it is 29 FPS. The narrowing spread at higher resolutions is unusual — typically frame-time variance increases with resolution. This suggests Lockdown Protocol's engine maintains stable frame pacing even under heavy GPU load, with the absolute frame-rate ceiling becoming lower and the minimum holding proportionally steadier.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 582nd out of 3714 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol. That places this combo in the top 15.7% of all systems tested, a strong showing that reflects both components' capabilities. The rank is driven primarily by the GPU, given the resolution scaling analysis above, but the CPU's contribution cannot be ignored — a weaker processor would likely drag the combo lower in the rankings, especially at 1080p where the 290 FPS Low result demands significant single-thread performance.

The CPU's benchmark standing provides context for this rank. The i7-13700K sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 at -0.2% delta, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 at -0.3%, the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX at +0.5%, and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 at +0.5%. These deltas are tiny — the largest is just half a percent — indicating the i7-13700K is positioned in a dense cluster of high-performance processors where ranking differences are marginal.

The GPU's percentile ranking is lower at 83%, but its nearest rivals show even tighter clustering. The Quadro M6000 24 GB, RTX 5050 Mobile, Quadro M6000, and RTX 4090 Mobile all fall within 1% of the RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score. This tight grouping means the GPU's specific position in Lockdown Protocol's rankings is more likely determined by driver optimization and game-specific factors than by raw compute differences.

The combo's 582nd rank out of 3714 places it well within the top tier of tested systems. For a game like Lockdown Protocol, which appears to be GPU-bound based on the scaling data, the RTX 4070 SUPER's performance is the primary driver of this ranking. The i7-13700K ensures the GPU is never starved for data, allowing the card to reach its full potential across all resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K brings 16 cores and 24 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost of 5.40 GHz. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache, combined with 2 MB L2 and 80 KB L1 per core, provides the memory hierarchy needed to feed a high-end GPU in a fast-paced FPS. The CPU's 125 W TDP is modest for a 16-core part, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking headroom, though the measured results reflect stock performance.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions where GPU load is lighter. The 1080p Low result of 290 FPS demonstrates that the i7-13700K can sustain frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and multi-thread score of 12412 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for games that rely on a few heavily loaded threads for game logic and physics.

The CPU's benchmark results reinforce its capability. Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 30745 and single-core 2116, while Geekbench multi-core hits 19429 and single-core 2529. PassMark multi-thread reaches 45887 with a single-thread score of 4333. These numbers place the CPU firmly in the 89th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 46881 puts it within 0.5% of its nearest rivals — a statistical dead heat with the Ryzen 9 5900, Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, Ryzen 9 7845HX, and Xeon w3-2535.

The architecture details matter for gaming performance. Raptor Lake's 10 nm process (Intel's naming) and 257 mm² die size house the 16-core configuration. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, with PCIe Gen 5 providing 20 lanes for the GPU and other devices. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present but irrelevant in a system with a discrete RTX 4070 SUPER.

For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are less critical than its single-thread performance. The game's scaling behavior — consistent FPS drops across resolutions regardless of preset — indicates the GPU is the bottleneck in nearly all scenarios. However, the 1080p Low result of 290 FPS would be unattainable with a weaker CPU, as frame rates that high require the processor to submit draw calls and update game state faster than most CPUs can manage. The i7-13700K's 5.40 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance make it well-suited to this task, ensuring the GPU never idles waiting for instructions.