Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a thoroughly playable Lockdown Protocol experience across every resolution and setting tier tested, with the data showing a clear pattern: this combo is built for high-refresh 1440p gaming, capable of 4K at reduced settings, and nearly unstoppable at 1080p. The measured results place this pairing at rank 178 out of 1637 tested combos, putting it comfortably in the top 11% of all configurations benchmarked for this FPS title. The combination of a 16-core Raptor Lake CPU with a 12 GB Ada Lovelace GPU produces frame rates that range from a floor of 66 FPS at 4K Ultra to a ceiling of 304.3 FPS at 1080p Low, making it a versatile option for competitive and visual fidelity alike.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 304.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 222.9 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 148.2 FPS at 3840x2160 — a 51.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern indicates the RTX 4070 Ti remains the primary limiter even at low settings, since the i7-13700K's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1136) is more than sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is 74.7 FPS, which is a steeper drop than the 81.4 FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p, showing that the GPU begins to saturate as resolution climbs.

Moving to High settings, the scaling changes character. The 1080p result of 187.8 FPS drops to 140.4 FPS at 1440p (a 25.2% reduction), then to 87.4 FPS at 4K (a 37.8% reduction from 1440p). The diminishing returns at higher resolutions are expected — each pixel costs more GPU throughput, and the 12 GB GDDR6X frame buffer with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth starts to feel constrained at 4K. At Ultra settings, the pattern is similar but more punishing: 142.5 FPS at 1080p, 104.2 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured point below 100 FPS, and it confirms that this combo is not a native 4K Ultra machine for Lockdown Protocol.

The resolution scaling data also suggests that the CPU headroom is substantial. The i7-13700K's 3DMark 2-thread score of 2262 and 4-thread score of 4469 indicate strong per-core performance, which is what an FPS title like Lockdown Protocol typically leverages. The fact that 1080p Low produces over 300 FPS without the CPU bottlenecking suggests the processor's 5.40 GHz boost clock is doing heavy lifting, but the GPU becomes the constraining factor well before the CPU runs out of steam.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti brings a 12 GB GDDR6X frame buffer on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. For Lockdown Protocol, this memory configuration is sufficient for 1440p and even 4K at medium settings, though the 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS hints that the frame buffer and bandwidth are being pushed near their limits. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz and base clock of 2310 MHz, combined with 7680 shading units and 240 texture mapping units, produce a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s. These specifications translate directly into the measured frame rates: at 1440p High, the combo hits 140.4 FPS, which is a strong result for a modern FPS with detailed environments.

The GPU's 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but not explicitly exercised in these benchmark rows — the measured FPS values come from standard rasterization settings. Still, the FP32 throughput of 40.09 TFLOPS gives the card ample compute headroom for particle effects and physics that Lockdown Protocol may employ. The 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs (avg benchmark score 44900) places it ahead of most competing cards, though the nearest rivals show tight competition: the RTX 5090 Mobile is 0.6% ahead, while the Intel Arc A730M is 1.5% ahead in aggregate scores. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 trails by 1.6%. These deltas are small, but in practice the 4070 Ti's driver maturity and 12 GB VRAM give it an edge in sustained gaming workloads.

At 4K, the GPU's role becomes dominant. The difference between 4K Low (148.2 FPS) and 4K High (87.4 FPS) is 60.8 FPS, a 41% performance hit from raising settings. This is a larger relative drop than the 1440p Low-to-High difference (222.9 to 140.4 FPS, a 37% reduction), indicating that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors at higher resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM size is adequate for this game, but the 192-bit bus width means the card cannot feed the shaders as efficiently at 4K compared to wider-bus competitors.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 178 out of 1637 tested configurations places this pairing in the 89th percentile of all CPU-GPU combinations benchmarked for Lockdown Protocol. This is a strong showing, but the data indicates that the i7-13700K and RTX 4070 Ti are not an absolute top-tier pairing — there are 177 combos that achieve higher average frame rates. The CPU's percentile ranking (93rd among all CPUs) and GPU's percentile ranking (85th among all GPUs) suggest that the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card in this pairing, which is consistent with the resolution scaling data showing GPU limitation at higher settings.

The nearest CPU rivals show how close the i7-13700K is to its direct competitors. The i7-13700KF averages 47334 (0.1% higher), the AMD EPYC 4364P averages 47131 (0.3% lower), and the Intel Core i9-12900F averages 47081 (0.4% lower). The AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 is 0.5% higher at 47527. These sub-1% deltas mean the choice between these CPUs would not meaningfully change Lockdown Protocol frame rates — the GPU remains the bottleneck in most scenarios. On the GPU side, the nearest rivals are similarly close: the RTX 5090 Mobile is 0.6% higher, the Arc A730M is 1.5% higher, and the Radeon Pro 5500 XT is 1.6% higher. The Radeon Pro 580 is 1.6% lower. These small deltas in synthetic benchmarks do not always translate to identical gaming performance, and the measured FPS rows here show the 4070 Ti delivering playable results across all settings.

The rank of 178 suggests that while this combo is excellent, it is not the final word for Lockdown Protocol. Higher-tier GPUs with more VRAM or wider memory buses would likely push frame rates higher at 4K, and CPUs with higher single-thread scores could squeeze out more FPS at 1080p Low. But for the vast majority of players, this pairing sits in the top tier of what is practical for a gaming PC.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 304.3 FPS, which is a remarkable figure for a modern FPS and indicates the GPU is barely stressed at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 219.7 FPS, still well above any high-refresh display's capability. High settings yield 187.8 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 142.5 FPS — all four settings tiers remain above 140 FPS, meaning a 144 Hz monitor can be fully utilized even at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 161.8 FPS, a 53% reduction, showing that the visual quality settings have a significant impact on performance but the absolute floor remains high.

At 2560x1440, the results are still excellent but show more variation. Low settings hit 222.9 FPS, Medium reaches 161.5 FPS, High achieves 140.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 104.2 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is the first measured point below 120 FPS, but 104.2 FPS is still smooth on a 100 Hz or 120 Hz panel. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 118.7 FPS, a 53% reduction, which mirrors the 1080p scaling. This consistency suggests the GPU is handling the resolution increase proportionally, without hitting any memory or bandwidth walls.

At 3840x2160, the performance profile changes dramatically. Low settings produce 148.2 FPS, which is still very playable, but Medium drops to 103.3 FPS, High falls to 87.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 66 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured frame rate below 70 FPS in the entire dataset, and it would be marginal for competitive play but acceptable for single-player or co-op sessions. The difference between 4K Low and 4K Ultra is 82.2 FPS, a 55% reduction — slightly steeper than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are becoming more constrained. The 12 GB VRAM is likely a contributing factor at 4K Ultra, as texture-heavy scenes can approach the frame buffer limit.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz, combined with 30 MB of shared L3 cache, make it a formidable gaming CPU. The 3DMark scores tell the story: single-thread score of 1136, 2-thread score of 2262, and 4-thread score of 4469. These numbers indicate strong per-core performance that is critical for FPS games, which often rely on a few heavily loaded threads. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5505 and multi-core score of 39000 further confirm that the CPU has both excellent single-threaded and multi-threaded capability.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (304.3 FPS) is a direct testament to the CPU's ability to keep up with the GPU at high frame rates. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect the 1080p Low result to plateau regardless of GPU capability, but the data shows the frame rate dropping as resolution increases, which is a GPU-bound signature. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs (avg benchmark score 47282) places it near the top of the heap, and the nearest rivals show that it is virtually tied with the i7-13700KF, EPYC 4364P, and i9-12900F.

The 24 threads and 16 cores (8 performance and 8 efficiency cores) provide ample headroom for background tasks while gaming, and the 125 W TDP means the CPU can sustain boost clocks without excessive thermal throttling in a capable air cooler or liquid cooler setup. The L2 cache of 2 MB per core is generous, and the 30 MB shared L3 cache helps with game data locality. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU's performance is more than sufficient — the bottleneck at 4K Ultra is clearly the GPU, as evidenced by the 66 FPS result being the only sub-70 FPS measurement in the entire dataset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 142.5 FPS is the best choice for players with 144 Hz monitors — the visual fidelity improvement over High (187.8 FPS) is substantial, and the frame rate remains above 140 FPS, which is smooth for most players. For 144 Hz panels, even High at 187.8 FPS is viable, but Ultra offers the full experience without dropping below the refresh rate threshold. Medium at 219.7 FPS and Low at 304.3 FPS are only necessary for 240 Hz or 360 Hz displays, where maximum frame rates matter more than visual quality.

For 1440p, the High preset at 140.4 FPS is the sweet spot. It delivers a 34.8% improvement over Ultra (104.2 FPS) while maintaining a high level of visual quality. Players with 144 Hz monitors will find High to be the best balance, as it stays above the refresh rate. Medium at 161.5 FPS is a good alternative for those who prefer higher frame rates over fidelity, and Low at 222.9 FPS is reserved for competitive play on 240 Hz panels. The Ultra preset at 104.2 FPS is acceptable for 100 Hz monitors or players who prioritize visuals over smoothness, but the drop from High to Ultra is not worth the frame rate loss for most users.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 103.3 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a 18.2% improvement over High (87.4 FPS) and a 56.5% improvement over Ultra (66 FPS), while still looking noticeably better than Low (148.2 FPS). The 4K Medium result is above 100 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios. High at 87.4 FPS is playable on 60 Hz displays but will show judder on 120 Hz panels, and Ultra at 66 FPS should be avoided unless the player is using a 60 Hz monitor and values maximum visual fidelity over all else. Low at 148.2 FPS is the only 4K setting that fully utilizes high-refresh displays, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. The data supports Medium as the default for 4K, with High as a fallback for slower displays and Low for competitive play.