Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol is a fast-paced FPS that stresses both CPU and GPU, and the pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700K with the AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a specific, data-defined performance profile. This combination ranks at 3384 out of 3714 tested combos in the game, placing it in the lower percentile of systems, largely due to the GPU’s age and the high demands of the title at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 3384 out of 3714 tested combinations places it firmly in the lower third of all systems evaluated for Lockdown Protocol. This is a modest standing, indicating that while the system is fully capable of running the game, it does so with significant compromises at higher resolutions and quality presets. The ranking reflects the aggregate performance across all tested settings, and the primary constraint is the graphics card. The Intel Core i7-14700K is a high-end processor, as evidenced by its own benchmark scores, but it is paired with a GPU that limits the overall experience in this specific title.

Looking at the CPU’s individual standing, the Core i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, which is a very strong result. Its average benchmark score of 69355 places it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals. For instance, it is a mere 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115, which scores 69288, and 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which scores 69515. The data shows a negligible performance gap between these processors, suggesting that the i7-14700K is trading blows with the best CPUs available. However, this CPU strength does not translate into a high rank for the full combo, because the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The GPU’s own percentile ranking is 53rd against all GPUs, which is a middling result. Its average benchmark score of 12928 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which is only 0.1% faster, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, which is 0.4% faster. This confirms that the RX 580 is performing at a level consistent with a mid-range GPU from its era, which is insufficient to push the high-end CPU to its limits in a demanding FPS like Lockdown Protocol.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the definitive performance limiter in this combo. Its specifications, while once considered robust, are outdated for a modern FPS title. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2000 MHz, or 8 Gbps effective, and the core has a base clock of 1257 MHz with a boost clock of 1340 MHz. These clocks are low by modern standards, and the chip’s GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process, lacks the efficiency of newer designs. The 2304 shading units and 32 ROPs are also a limiting factor, as the GPU’s pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s.

In the context of Lockdown Protocol, the RX 580’s performance is directly tied to its memory bandwidth and fillrate capabilities. The game’s high-resolution textures and geometry demand more than this GPU can deliver. The benchmark results show a clear pattern: as resolution and settings increase, the frame rate drops precipitously. The GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the card’s raw compute power, listed as 6.175 TFLOPS FP32, is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with high detail levels. The data indicates that the GPU is the component that determines the playable settings, not the CPU. For example, at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves an average of 40 FPS, while at 1080p Low, it jumps to 85 FPS. This variance is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where reducing graphical load directly translates to higher performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions in Lockdown Protocol clearly illustrates the GPU bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 85 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 62 FPS, a reduction of 23 FPS or roughly 27%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 40 FPS, which is a 45 FPS drop from 1080p Low, representing a 53% decrease. This steep decline is typical of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as the render resolution increases.

The pattern holds for High settings, though the starting point is lower. At 1080p High, the combo averages 53 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 39 FPS, and at 4K High, it reaches just 25 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings shows a 28 FPS drop, which is a 53% reduction, nearly identical to the percentage drop seen at Low settings. This consistency suggests that the GPU is the sole limiting factor at all resolutions; the CPU is not contributing to frame rate variation because it is never the bottleneck in this scenario. The data shows that the i7-14700K has ample headroom, as evidenced by its 94th percentile CPU ranking, but the RX 580 cannot leverage that headroom. The frame rate is dictated entirely by the GPU’s ability to render each frame, which degrades predictably as the pixel count increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo provides a detailed view of its capabilities. At 1920x1080, the lowest tested resolution, the system performs best. On Low settings, the average FPS is 85, which is a smooth experience for a fast-paced FPS. Medium settings reduce the average to 60 FPS, with minimum and maximum readings of 51 and 69 FPS, respectively, indicating a fairly stable frame time. High settings bring the average down to 53 FPS, and Ultra settings push it further to 40 FPS. The data shows a clear 45 FPS difference between the lowest and highest quality presets at 1080p, underscoring the GPU’s sensitivity to graphical load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings yield an average of 62 FPS, which is still playable but a significant drop from the 85 FPS seen at 1080p. Medium settings average 44 FPS, with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 51 FPS. High settings drop to 39 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 29 FPS. At this resolution, the combo is only comfortably playable on Low or Medium settings, as the higher presets push the average below the 40 FPS threshold, which can feel stuttery in a competitive shooter.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 40 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that reaches this mark. Medium settings average 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33 FPS. High settings drop to 25 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 19 FPS. The data indicates that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo in Lockdown Protocol, as even the lowest quality settings barely achieve a playable frame rate, and the higher presets are effectively unplayable. The 4K Medium data point, with a minimum FPS of 24, suggests significant frame pacing issues, as the GPU is consistently overwhelmed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a powerhouse processor that is vastly underutilized in this pairing. It features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The processor is built on Intel’s 10 nm process and uses the Raptor Lake architecture. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a substantial 33 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications contribute to outstanding synthetic benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 20767. The CPU’s performance is further validated by its PassMark multithread score of 52392 and its single-thread score of 4472.

In Lockdown Protocol, however, the CPU’s role is diminished because the GPU is the bottleneck. The game is an FPS, which typically relies on single-core performance for game logic and physics, but the i7-14700K’s single-core capabilities are more than sufficient. The data shows that the CPU is not causing frame rate limits; instead, the RX 580 is. The i7-14700K’s average benchmark score of 69355 places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, are within a 1% performance delta. This means that swapping the CPU for another top-tier chip would have no measurable impact on the frame rates seen in this test, as the GPU would still be the limiting factor.

The CPU’s memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, along with its dual-channel memory bus, provides ample bandwidth for the GPU to feed on, but the GPU’s own 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are the constraining factors. The i7-14700K has a TDP of 125 W and uses the Intel Socket 1700, and its integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present, but it is not used for gaming. The data confirms that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for a high-end desktop processor, but its performance is irrelevant to the final frame rates in this specific game when paired with the RX 580.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 580 combo good for Lockdown Protocol at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 85 FPS on Low settings and 53 FPS on High settings. For a fast-paced FPS, the Low setting result is very good, while the High setting result is playable, though not ideal for competitive play. The Ultra setting yields 40 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the most viable resolution. At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 62 on Low and 39 on High, which is a significant compromise. At 3840x2160, the system only achieves 40 FPS on Low, making it unsuitable for playable frame rates on higher presets.

Q: Why does the combo rank so low at 3384 out of 3714 combos if the CPU is in the 94th percentile?

A: The rank is determined by the combined performance of both components. While the Intel Core i7-14700K is a top-tier CPU, the AMD Radeon RX 580 is in the 53rd percentile for GPUs. The GPU becomes the bottleneck in Lockdown Protocol, limiting the overall system performance and resulting in a low combined rank.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928, which is 0.1% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and 0.4% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER. It is 0.5% faster than the AMD Radeon 740M and 0.6% faster than the AMD FirePro W5100. This indicates it performs at a level similar to these mid-range GPUs.

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-14700K bottleneck the RX 580 in this game?

A: No, the data suggests the opposite. The CPU’s high benchmark scores, such as a 94th percentile ranking and an average score of 69355, indicate it has far more performance headroom than the GPU can utilize. The frame rates in Lockdown Protocol are primarily limited by the RX 580’s rendering capabilities, not the CPU.

Q: What settings are recommended for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: To achieve an average of 60 FPS or higher, the data shows that you must use 1920x1080 with Low settings, which yields 85 FPS, or 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which yields exactly 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, even Low settings only produce 62 FPS, which is close to 60 but not consistently above it. Higher settings at any resolution will result in average frame rates below 60 FPS.