Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-14700F + AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT

This combination of Intel's 20-core Core i7-14700F and AMD's Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a playable but inconsistent experience in Lockdown Protocol, with the data revealing a system that can comfortably handle 1080p competitive play yet struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at higher resolutions. The benchmark results show a clear pattern: this pairing is far more capable at lower settings and resolutions, where the CPU's strength can compensate for the GPU's aging architecture. The measured FPS across twelve configurations tells a story of a system whose ceiling is defined by the graphics card, not the processor.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings at 2560x1440 as the sweet spot for this combination, delivering an average of 82.5 FPS. This represents the best balance between visual fidelity and performance, sitting comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold that most competitive FPS players consider playable. At this setting, the frame rate is still 17% higher than the 70.4 FPS achieved at High settings at the same resolution, showing that the step down from High to Medium yields meaningful headroom.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1920x1080 with Low settings produces the highest measured average at 157.6 FPS, which is more than double the 71.7 FPS seen at Ultra settings at the same resolution. This configuration is clearly aimed at competitive play where reaction time matters more than visual polish. However, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs only 47 frames per second (from 157.6 to 110.4), suggesting that Medium offers a more balanced experience for those who want some visual quality without sacrificing too much speed.

At 4K resolution, the data shows that even Medium settings yield only 51.4 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS target. The 3840x2160 High configuration drops further to 48.1 FPS, while Ultra bottoms out at 35.1 FPS. Given these numbers, 4K gaming with this combination is only viable at Low settings, where the 72.2 FPS average makes it barely playable. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p or 1440p, with Medium settings being the optimal choice for most players who want a consistent experience without pushing the GPU to its limits.

FAQ

Q: Is this CPU-GPU combination capable of running Lockdown Protocol at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 72.2 FPS average. At Medium settings, performance drops to 51.4 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 35.1 FPS, making higher settings impractical for smooth gameplay at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for competitive play with this setup?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 at Low settings delivers the highest average frame rate at 157.6 FPS. This is nearly 37% higher than the next best configuration, which is 1440p at Low settings with 115.8 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra produces 55.4 FPS average, while High achieves 70.4 FPS. This represents a 27% performance drop when moving from High to Ultra, which may not justify the visual gains given that both fall below the 1440p High configuration's already modest performance.

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-14700F bottleneck the RX 5700 XT in this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU's strong multi-core performance (35,443 in Cinebench R23 multicore) and 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate it has ample headroom, while the GPU's 68th percentile ranking and the significant FPS drops at higher resolutions point to GPU limitations.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 95.8 FPS, which is respectably smooth for most players. This sits between the Low setting's 157.6 FPS and the Medium setting's 110.4 FPS, making High a viable option for those who prefer better visuals while maintaining playable performance.

Q: Is there a configuration that achieves over 100 FPS at 1440p?

A: Only the Low settings preset at 2560x1440 exceeds 100 FPS, with an average of 115.8 FPS. All other 1440p presets fall below 100 FPS, with Medium at 82.5 FPS, High at 70.4 FPS, and Ultra at 55.4 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1266 out of 1637 tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested combos. The percentile position is notable given the CPU's strong benchmark performance — the i7-14700F sits in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,097, placing it just 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 1.1% behind the Ryzen 9 9900X3D. In contrast, the RX 5700 XT's 68th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24,731, is the more limiting factor in this pairing.

The rank of 1266 out of 1637 suggests that while this combo is not among the worst performers, it significantly lags behind more balanced or higher-end configurations. The data implies that the GPU's age — released with a 225W TDP and 8GB of GDDR6 memory — holds back what would otherwise be a top-tier CPU. The gap between the CPU's strong showing and the GPU's mid-tier performance creates an imbalance that manifests in the measured FPS numbers, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance become the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings shows a wide spread. Low settings deliver 157.6 FPS, Medium drops to 110.4 FPS, High settles at 95.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 71.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 85.9 FPS, representing a 55% reduction in performance when maxing out all settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings produce 115.8 FPS, Medium achieves 82.5 FPS, High reaches 70.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.4 FPS. The proportional drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, averaging around 26% reduction in frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a dramatic decline. Low settings manage 72.2 FPS, Medium drops to 51.4 FPS, High falls to 48.1 FPS, and Ultra struggles at 35.1 FPS. The 4K Ultra configuration is less than half the frame rate of the 1080p Medium setting, highlighting the GPU's difficulty with high pixel counts. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 37.1 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the spread at lower resolutions but with all values pushed below the 60 FPS comfort threshold except for Low settings.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p reveals a consistent performance cost across settings. At Low settings, the drop is from 157.6 to 115.8 FPS, a 41.8 FPS decrease that represents a 27% reduction. Medium settings fall from 110.4 to 82.5 FPS, a 25% decrease. High settings drop from 95.8 to 70.4 FPS, a 27% reduction, and Ultra falls from 71.7 to 55.4 FPS, a 23% decrease. This consistency suggests the scaling penalty is largely resolution-driven rather than setting-driven.

The jump from 1440p to 4K is steeper. Low settings drop from 115.8 to 72.2 FPS, a 38% reduction. Medium falls from 82.5 to 51.4 FPS, a 38% decrease. High drops from 70.4 to 48.1 FPS, a 32% reduction, and Ultra falls from 55.4 to 35.1 FPS, a 37% decrease. The sharper decline at 4K indicates the GPU is hitting memory bandwidth or fill-rate limits, as the 8GB VRAM capacity and 256-bit bus become stressed with the four-fold increase in pixel count from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling pattern suggests the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's strong performance (20 cores, 28 threads, boosting to 5.40 GHz) can feed the GPU adequately, but at 4K the RX 5700 XT's pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s become the constraining factors. The diminishing returns from Lower settings at each resolution step indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F brings substantial processing power to this pairing, with 20 cores and 28 threads running at base 2.10 GHz and boosting up to 5.40 GHz. The Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 35,443 and a single-core score of 5,003. These numbers place the CPU in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,097 that rivals the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (54,450, only 0.6% higher) and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54,681, 1.1% higher).

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU's capability is sufficient to push frame rates higher than the GPU can render. The 157.6 FPS at Low settings suggests the CPU can handle the game's logic and draw calls efficiently, while the 71.7 FPS at Ultra settings shows the GPU becoming the limiting factor. The CPU's 33MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 2MB contribute to its strong performance in multi-threaded workloads, which likely benefits Lockdown Protocol's FPS gameplay where many objects and AI actors need processing.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 68th percentile creates a notable imbalance. This suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, such as 1080p with lower settings, the system can achieve very high frame rates, but the GPU holds back overall system performance. The PassMark multithread score of 41,765 and single-thread score of 4,261 confirm the CPU's strength in both multi-core and single-threaded tasks, which is important for a fast-paced FPS where frame pacing and consistency matter.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, based on the Navi 10 chip and RDNA 1.0 architecture, provides 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Its base clock of 1605 MHz boosts to 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. The GPU delivers 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 19.51 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1), with a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s. These specifications place the GPU in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24,731.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's limitations clearly at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 35.1 FPS average indicates the GPU is severely stressed, likely due to the combination of high pixel count and intensive shading work. The 8GB VRAM capacity may also be a factor at 4K with Ultra settings, potentially causing texture swapping or reduced LODs. The GPU's 225W TDP and 550W suggested PSU requirement suggest it is not power-limited in this configuration, but rather architecture-limited.

The GPU's nearest rival data shows the RX 5700 XT (24,731 average score) is nearly identical to the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24,763, 0.1% lower), Intel Arc A350M (24,647, 0.3% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (24,592, 0.6% higher). This clustering indicates the GPU sits in a performance tier that is competitive with mobile solutions but significantly below modern desktop GPUs. The 68th percentile ranking, while not poor, means the GPU is outclassed by roughly a third of all GPUs, which explains why the combo ranking in Lockdown Protocol is in the lower-middle tier despite the strong CPU.