Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol places the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination in the 1647th position out of 2828 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This pairing of a high-core-count CPU with a mid-range GPU produces a system that is consistently GPU-limited, though the degree of that limitation shifts dramatically as resolution and settings change. The measured frames per second across the three tested resolutions reveal a component pairing that can handle competitive play at 1080p but begins to struggle as pixel count and visual fidelity increase.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline reveals the RX 9060 as the primary bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, average frame rate drops from 109 FPS to 80 FPS, a reduction of 29 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even steeper: 80 FPS at 2560x1440 falls to 51 FPS at 3840x2160, another 29 FPS loss. This linear degradation pattern indicates the GPU is being saturated at each step, with the Core i7-14700F providing ample headroom to feed frames.

At Low settings, the scaling behavior changes character. The 1080p Low result of 175 FPS drops to 128 FPS at 1440p, then to 83 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 26.9% and 35.2% respectively, showing that at lower settings the GPU work per pixel becomes the dominant factor. The gap between Low and High at 1080p is 66 FPS (175 vs 109), while at 4K the same settings gap narrows to 32 FPS (83 vs 51). This compression at higher resolutions confirms that the RX 9060's 8 GB frame buffer and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth become increasingly taxed as resolution climbs.

The Medium preset shows the most balanced scaling of all settings levels. From 124 FPS at 1080p to 91 FPS at 1440p to 59 FPS at 4K, the drops are 33 FPS and 32 FPS respectively. The 4K Medium result of 59 FPS is just 8 FPS above the 4K High result, suggesting that the GPU is approaching a performance floor where additional rendering features have diminishing impact on frame time. Meanwhile, the Ultra preset at 4K produces only 39 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset and indicates a scenario where the GPU is heavily overloaded.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears to be a limiting factor in Lockdown Protocol at higher resolutions. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2990 MHz with a game clock of 2400 MHz, and its 1792 shading units produce 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. These specifications place the card at the 59th percentile among all GPUs in the database.

Benchmark results for the RX 9060 show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 and a Passmark G3D score of 17631. The GPU's nearest rivals by average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129 (a 0.7% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 at 15852 (a 1% delta). This places the RX 9060 in direct competition with upper-mid-range cards from the previous generation, and the Lockdown Protocol results reflect this positioning.

In this game, the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity becomes a concern at 4K Ultra settings, where the 39 FPS average suggests texture and geometry data are exceeding the frame buffer's comfortable capacity. The 128-bit memory bus is narrow by modern standards, and the 288.0 GB/s bandwidth constrains fill-rate-heavy scenes. The pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p but insufficient for maintaining 60 FPS at 4K High, as evidenced by the 51 FPS result.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides 20 cores and 28 threads across its Raptor Lake-R architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This CPU has a 65 W TDP and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory on the Intel Socket 1700 platform. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache give it substantial data locality advantages for game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's 10 nm process node and 257 mm² die size are from Intel's foundry.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i7-14700F achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a single-core score of 4958. Its Geekbench scores are 19620 multi-core and 2429 single-core. The Passmark multi-thread score of 41317 and single-thread score of 4257 place it at the 91st percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals by average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which scores 53288 (a 0.6% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7313P at 53206 (a 0.8% delta). The i7-14700F's own average benchmark score is 53620.

For Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's high single-core performance is likely sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RX 9060 at any resolution. The measured FPS differences between 1080p and 4K are substantial, which would not be the case if the CPU were the limiting factor. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide more than enough parallel processing capability for this FPS title, and the 5.40 GHz boost clock ensures that per-thread performance is strong. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking versus the GPU's 59th percentile ranking confirms the asymmetrical relationship in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 1647th out of 2828 total combos in the database, placing it in the 58th percentile of all tested pairings. This rank reflects the imbalance between the high-performing CPU and the mid-range GPU. The i7-14700F sits at the 91st percentile among CPUs, while the RX 9060 sits at the 59th percentile among GPUs, creating a pairing where the CPU's potential is not fully realized in GPU-bound scenarios.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 175 FPS, which is competitive for high-refresh-rate displays. However, the rank suggests that many other combinations deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The combo's position in the lower-middle of the ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions and settings. The data shows that this pairing is better suited for 1080p gaming than for 4K, where the 39 FPS Ultra result places it well below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay.

The CPU's nearest rivals by score are all within 1% of its average benchmark score, indicating that swapping to a similar-tier CPU would not meaningfully change Lockdown Protocol performance. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals are also within 2.1% of its score, suggesting that the RX 9060 is fairly positioned in the market. The combo rank of 1647 out of 2828 implies that roughly 58% of tested combinations outperform this pairing in this game, which is consistent with the GPU's mid-range positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RX 9060 and i7-14700F produce the following average frame rates: Low settings deliver 83 FPS, Medium delivers 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS, High delivers 51 FPS, and Ultra delivers 39 FPS. The 4K Medium result is the only 4K measurement with min/max data, showing a 18 FPS spread that indicates some frame time variance in this preset.

At 2560x1440, performance improves substantially: Low settings reach 128 FPS, Medium delivers 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS and maximum of 105 FPS, High delivers 80 FPS, and Ultra delivers 60 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result exactly hits the 60 FPS mark, which is notable for a mid-range GPU at this resolution with maximum settings. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a 28 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, suggesting more consistent frame pacing than the 4K Medium result.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its strongest performance: Low settings achieve 175 FPS, Medium delivers 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and maximum of 143 FPS, High delivers 109 FPS, and Ultra delivers 81 FPS. The 1080p Medium result has a 37 FPS spread, which is the largest variance in the dataset, indicating that some scenes at this resolution and preset push both CPU and GPU harder. The 1080p Low result of 175 FPS is the highest measured average across all resolutions and settings.

FAQ

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

A: At 4K Medium settings, the system averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, which is marginally playable. At 4K High, the average drops to 51 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 39 FPS. For consistent 60+ FPS at 4K, Low settings are required, which deliver 83 FPS.

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

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 175 FPS average, which is the highest measured result. Even at Medium settings, 1080p delivers 124 FPS, providing plenty of headroom for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) and 1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852). The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862, a 1% delta.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700F bottlenecking the RX 9060 in this game?

A: The data indicates no CPU bottleneck. The 20-core processor with a 5.40 GHz boost clock sits at the 91st percentile among CPUs, while the GPU is at the 59th percentile. The large FPS drops from 1080p to 4K (e.g., 109 to 51 FPS at High) are characteristic of GPU-limited scenarios.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings average 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS, while High settings average 80 FPS. This 11 FPS difference suggests that the High preset adds significant visual features without a proportional performance cost at this resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 1647th out of 2828 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning (59th percentile) relative to the CPU's high-end positioning (91st percentile).

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high frame rates, the 1920x1080 Low preset delivers 175 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play on high-refresh-rate monitors. The 1080p Medium preset at 124 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, with a minimum of 106 FPS ensuring that frame rates rarely drop below the 100 FPS threshold. This is the recommended preset for most users, as it provides a 15 FPS improvement over High settings while maintaining smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 91 FPS is the best choice for quality-conscious players, as it stays above the 90 FPS mark while offering improved visual fidelity over Low. The 1440p Ultra preset at exactly 60 FPS is playable but leaves minimal headroom for demanding scenes, making it a less reliable option than Medium. For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 83 FPS is the only setting that provides comfortable frame rates, while Medium at 59 FPS approaches the 60 FPS target but may experience dips to 50 FPS in heavy scenes.

The Ultra preset is generally not recommended for this combination, as it produces 39 FPS at 4K, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 1080p. While the 1080p Ultra result is acceptable, the setting's performance at higher resolutions makes it a poor choice for this hardware. The data suggests that Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p provide the best overall experience, balancing visual quality with consistent frame rates above 90 FPS.