Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a top-tier experience in Lockdown Protocol, with benchmark results showing a clear progression from GPU-bound at 4K to CPU-limited at 1080p. The data indicates that this combination is in the 97th percentile of all tested combos, making it one of the most capable configurations for this title. This analysis breaks down how the system scales across resolutions, the specific roles of the CPU and GPU, and the optimal settings for the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates demonstrate a significant and predictable drop as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 335 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, that figure falls to 270 FPS, a decrease of 65 FPS. At 4K Low, the average drops further to 174 FPS, another 96 FPS reduction from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern, a 19% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 36% drop from 1440p to 4K, is typical of a system where the CPU is the primary limiter at lower resolutions, and the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count rises.

The High settings row tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the average is 228 FPS. This falls to 167 FPS at 1440p High, a 61 FPS loss, and then to 108 FPS at 4K High, a further 59 FPS loss. The consistency of the frame rate drop between 1440p and 4K across both Low and High presets suggests that the GPU is being fully utilized at 4K, with its performance ceiling determining the output. In contrast, the relatively smaller gap between 1080p and 1440p, where the frame rate drops by roughly 27% for High, indicates that the CPU's architecture is still able to feed the GPU adequately at 1440p, but the GPU's workload is becoming more demanding.

Ultra settings amplify this trend. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 171 FPS, which is only 57 FPS lower than 1080p High. However, at 1440p Ultra, the average plummets to 125 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it reaches just 81 FPS. The difference between 1440p Ultra (125 FPS) and 4K Ultra (81 FPS) is a 44 FPS drop, which is proportionally larger than the drop seen at High settings. This indicates that at Ultra, the GPU is the definitive limiting component, as the increased shading and texture loads at higher resolutions have a compounding effect. The data shows that for a 4K experience, users will need to dial back settings to maintain fluid motion, as the 4K Ultra result of 81 FPS is the lowest measured average in the dataset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant force in this configuration, and its specifications directly correlate with the high frame rates observed. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a massive 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. This is crucial for a fast-paced FPS like Lockdown Protocol, where high-resolution textures and effects can quickly consume VRAM. The ample memory capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU is unlikely to be constrained by memory capacity, allowing the core to focus on rendering.

The GPU's clock behavior also supports its performance. With a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, the Ada Lovelace architecture (built on a 5 nm process) is able to sustain high throughput. The 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the raw compute power that drives the high average frame rates. The benchmark results for the GPU itself, such as a Passmark G3D score of 38194 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, but those are workstation parts; in this gaming context, the RTX 4090's lead is decisive.

Looking at the measured data, the GPU's role becomes apparent when comparing the Low and Ultra presets at 4K. The difference between 4K Low (174 FPS) and 4K Ultra (81 FPS) is a 93 FPS gap. This shows that the GPU's shading units, ROPs, and texture units are heavily taxed by the Ultra preset's higher-quality shadows, post-processing, and texture filtering. While the CPU is capable of delivering high frame rates, the GPU is the component that dictates the ceiling for visual quality at high resolutions. The 4K Medium preset, with an average of 124 FPS and a minimum of 105 FPS, demonstrates that a balanced setting allows the GPU to maintain a playable frame rate without being overwhelmed, whereas Ultra pushes it to the brink.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F serves as a robust foundation, but its role is secondary to the GPU in this specific game. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU provides ample parallel processing power, which is reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122. Its single-core performance is equally strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958, ensuring that the game's primary game logic thread is handled efficiently. The CPU's boost clock of 5.40 GHz is high enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 at most settings, but the data shows that at 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-bound.

The evidence for this lies in the frame rate scaling. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 335. At 1440p Low, it drops to 270, and at 4K Low, it is 174. If the CPU were the sole bottleneck, the frame rate would remain nearly constant across resolutions, as the GPU would have spare capacity. Instead, the frame rate drops, indicating that the GPU is still the primary limiter. However, the fact that 1080p Low (335 FPS) is nearly double the 4K High (108 FPS) suggests that the CPU is capable of producing frame rates well above what the GPU can render at higher settings. The CPU is not holding the system back; it has headroom to spare.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores place it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (with a deltaPct of 0.6) and the AMD EPYC 7313P (deltaPct of 0.8), indicating that it is a top-tier consumer processor. In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores. The 65W TDP is modest for a 20-core part, but the measured performance shows that power efficiency does not come at the cost of gaming capability. The data indicates that the CPU will not be the limiting factor in most scenarios, and users should focus on GPU settings to maximize performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve the highest frame rate?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings yields the highest average frame rate at 335 FPS. For higher visual quality, 2560x1440 High provides a still excellent 167 FPS average.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 4K?

A: At 4K, the GPU is the definitive limiting component. The average frame rates drop significantly across all presets at 4K (from 174 FPS on Low to 81 FPS on Ultra), indicating the RTX 4090's rendering workload is the primary constraint, not the CPU.

Q: How does the i7-14700F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620. It is 0.2% slower than the Intel Xeon 6505P, 0.3% faster than the Intel Xeon Phi 7290, 0.6% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, and 0.8% faster than the AMD EPYC 7313P.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings across resolutions?

A: The minimum FPS for Medium settings are as follows: 1920x1080 has a minimum of 222 FPS, 2560x1440 has a minimum of 163 FPS, and 3840x2160 has a minimum of 105 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth support 4K gaming?

A: Yes. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, the GPU has more than enough memory throughput and capacity to handle 4K textures without becoming a bottleneck in this game.

Q: How does this combination rank against all other tested combos?

A: This Intel Core i7-14700F and RTX 4090 combination ranks 97th out of 3714 total tested combos, placing it in the top 2.6% of all configurations for Lockdown Protocol.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 97 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places the configuration in the 97th percentile, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of other CPU-GPU pairings tested for this game. This high rank is consistent with the component-level statistics: the CPU is in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. When paired, their combined capabilities push the system to the top echelon of performance.

The rank indicates that this system is not just capable of playing the game, but is optimized to deliver near-maximum performance. The data suggests that very few other combinations, likely involving more exotic or higher-binned parts, would yield meaningfully higher frame rates. For context, the CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, has a similar average benchmark score, but the GPU's massive performance lead over its rivals ensures that this specific pairing is exceptionally well-balanced for a graphics-intensive title like Lockdown Protocol. Users with this combo can expect a smooth experience at high refresh rates on any resolution, though the 4K Ultra preset will dip below the 100 FPS threshold, as evidenced by the 81 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's display resolution and refresh rate goals. For users with a 1080p monitor, the High preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 228 FPS. This is more than sufficient for even the fastest 240Hz displays, and it provides a substantial visual improvement over the Low preset's 335 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p also offers excellent performance at 261 FPS, but the High preset's visual fidelity is worth the slight frame rate trade-off. The Ultra preset, at 171 FPS, is also viable for 1440p-class monitors but is less necessary at 1080p.

For 1440p displays, which are the sweet spot for this combination, the High preset is strongly recommended. It achieves an average of 167 FPS and a maximum of 220 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Medium preset offers a higher average of 192 FPS, but the difference in visual quality between Medium and High is often significant in modern FPS titles. The Ultra preset at 1440p, with an average of 125 FPS, is still very playable and is the best choice for users who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate, provided their monitor's refresh rate is 120Hz or lower.

At 4K, the trade-offs become more pronounced. The High preset, with an average of 108 FPS, is the recommended choice for a balanced experience. It provides a playable frame rate for most users while retaining good visual fidelity. The Medium preset, at 124 FPS, offers a faster and more fluid experience, but the drop in texture and shadow quality may be noticeable. The Ultra preset, at 81 FPS, is only recommended for users with a 60Hz or 75Hz monitor who prioritize maximum visual quality, and even then, the minimum FPS data is not available, suggesting it may fluctuate. The Low preset at 4K (174 FPS) is not recommended, as the visual compromise is too great for a marginal frame rate increase over High. The data clearly shows that High is the most efficient preset for this system across all resolutions, providing the best balance of performance and image quality.