Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Lockdown Protocol shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivering 292.2 FPS at 1080p Low, 210.6 FPS at 1440p Low, and 134.9 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 53.9% drop from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset, indicating the GPU becomes increasingly load-bearing as pixel count rises. At the High preset, the scaling is steeper: 178.6 FPS at 1080p falls to 131.1 FPS at 1440p and then to 86.5 FPS at 4K, a 51.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The Ultra preset follows the same trajectory, with 133.4 FPS at 1080p, 99.8 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K.

The pattern across all settings suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are well-equipped to feed the GPU, but the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial: at 1080p, the difference is 158.8 FPS (292.2 vs. 133.4), while at 4K it narrows to 70.9 FPS (134.9 vs. 64). This compression at 4K indicates that the GPU is nearing its saturation point regardless of settings, whereas at 1080p, the CPU and memory subsystem have more headroom to exploit lower graphical demands.

How This Combo Ranks

In the full database of tested combinations, this CPU-GPU pairing ranks 266th out of 1,637 combos for Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the top 16.2% of all tested systems. This is a strong result for a mainstream desktop configuration, though the percentileVsAllGpus of 84 for the RTX 4070 SUPER and 94 for the i7-14700F suggest the CPU is contributing more to the overall ranking than the GPU. The combo's rank is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows the system capable of exceeding 200 FPS at 1440p Low and maintaining above 60 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (deltaPct -0.2%), AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (deltaPct -0.3%), and AMD Radeon Pro 580X (deltaPct 1.4%), indicating the RTX 4070 SUPER sits in a tightly contested performance band. The CPU's nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (deltaPct -0.6%), AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (deltaPct -1.1%), and Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (deltaPct 1.2%), showing the i7-14700F is within 1.2% of these alternatives in aggregate CPU benchmarks. For Lockdown Protocol specifically, the combination's rank of 266 suggests it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, but there is headroom above it in the rankings, likely occupied by higher-tier GPUs or more recent CPU generations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, built on the AD104 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture and a 5 nm process from TSMC, provides the graphical horsepower for this combination. Its 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs deliver a measured FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory runs at 21 Gbps effective across a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications translate into the measured FPS data, where the GPU's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs is reflected in its ability to maintain 86.5 FPS at 4K High.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 64 FPS, suggesting the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU's 94th percentile ranking indicates it is not likely to bottleneck at these settings. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores are present but their impact on Lockdown Protocol's measured FPS is not directly quantified in the data. The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class, and its 267 mm length allows compatibility with most mid-tower cases. The pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s provide context for how the GPU handles fill-rate-intensive scenes at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers 292.2 FPS on Low, 204 FPS on Medium, 178.6 FPS on High, and 133.4 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is 88.2 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 45.2 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase. At 2560x1440, the figures are 210.6 FPS on Low, 149.3 FPS on Medium, 131.1 FPS on High, and 99.8 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Low result is notable because it still exceeds 200 FPS, indicating the system can drive high-refresh-rate 1440p displays on lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 134.9 FPS on Low, 99.9 FPS on Medium, 86.5 FPS on High, and 64 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low result is above 120 FPS, which is impressive for a 4K resolution, but the Ultra preset drops to 64 FPS, which is exactly at the threshold for standard 60 Hz displays but below what competitive FPS players would prefer. Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently delivers roughly 2.1 to 2.2 times the FPS of the Ultra preset, suggesting the graphical settings have a multiplicative rather than additive effect on performance.

Settings Recommendations

For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 292.2 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. At 1440p, the Low preset still produces 210.6 FPS, making it the best choice for players with 144 Hz or 165 Hz displays who want to maximize responsiveness. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 149.3 FPS, which is a reasonable compromise for those who want improved visuals without sacrificing the 144 Hz experience.

For visual fidelity, the High preset at 1440p provides 131.1 FPS, which is suitable for 120 Hz displays and offers a significant improvement over Medium. At 4K, the High preset delivers 86.5 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and playable on most televisions and monitors, but the Ultra preset at 64 FPS is the maximum visual quality option for those with 60 Hz displays. The data suggests that the Medium preset is the best overall balance across all resolutions, as it maintains 99.9 FPS at 4K, 149.3 FPS at 1440p, and 204 FPS at 1080p, consistently delivering high frame rates while providing a visual upgrade over Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K 60 FPS?

A: Yes, the High preset at 3840x2160 delivers 86.5 FPS, and even the Ultra preset achieves 64 FPS, so 4K 60 FPS is attainable on High settings with headroom.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming?

A: At 1440p Low, the system produces 210.6 FPS, which is suitable for 200 Hz+ monitors. The 1080p Low preset reaches 292.2 FPS, but 1440p offers a better balance of visual clarity and speed.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset delivers 133.4 FPS compared to 178.6 FPS on High, a 45.2 FPS difference. This means High offers a 33.9% higher frame rate, making it the better choice for competitive play.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the RTX 4070 SUPER's 84th percentile GPU ranking is lower than the i7-14700F's 94th percentile CPU ranking, and the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial.

Q: What settings should I use for a 144 Hz 1440p monitor?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 149.3 FPS, which exceeds 144 Hz. The Low preset provides 210.6 FPS if you prefer maximum frame rate, but Medium offers a better visual experience.

Q: Does the Low preset provide a playable experience at 4K?

A: Yes, the Low preset at 3840x2160 produces 134.9 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS and suitable for high-refresh-rate 4K monitors, though visual quality is reduced.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F, a Raptor Lake Refresh part with 20 cores and 28 threads, provides substantial processing power for Lockdown Protocol. Its base clock of 2.10 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz, combined with 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core, allow it to handle the game's multi-threaded workloads efficiently. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,097, places it near the top of the desktop processor hierarchy, only 1.2% behind the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 and 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X in aggregate benchmarks.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 292.2 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound in some scenes, but the 20-core configuration ensures consistent frame delivery. The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2,711 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,003, is sufficient for the game's primary thread, while the multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R23 multicore of 35,443 and Geekbench multicore of 16,571) support background tasks and physics calculations. The CPU's 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility, though the measured FPS data does not specify which memory type was used. At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence diminishes, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck, but the i7-14700F's performance headroom ensures it does not hold back the RTX 4070 SUPER in any of the tested configurations.