Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a mid-range 1080p experience in Lockdown Protocol, with performance that scales predictably across resolutions and settings. This combination ranks in the 34th percentile of tested configurations, indicating that while it handles competitive frame rates at lower resolutions, it struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K with higher quality presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 165 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all tested configurations in this dataset.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium preset compare to the 1080p Medium preset?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 86, while at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average is 117 FPS. The 1440p result represents a 26.5% reduction in frame rate compared to 1080p at the same settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The lowest average FPS is 36, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that drops below 40 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU rank higher or lower than its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6650 XT has an average benchmark score of 19765, which places it 0.7% above the AMD FirePro D300 (19637) and 0.8% above the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602), but 0.6% below the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885) and 0.7% below the AMD FirePro W7000 (19905).

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol?

A: This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 2439 out of 3714 tested combos, placing it in the lower 34% of configurations tested for this game.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking compared to all CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355 across all tested workloads.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip fabricated on a 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 280.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. With 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, the card delivers a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gameplay, as evidenced by the measured frame rates. However, at 4K resolution, the card begins to show its limitations. The 280.3 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck when pushing higher resolutions, particularly with Ultra settings where the average FPS drops to 36. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB may also constrain texture loading at 4K, though the dataset does not provide direct VRAM usage metrics.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS provides a baseline for understanding its compute capabilities. This translates to measurable performance in Lockdown Protocol, where the card achieves 165 FPS at 1080p Low but only 49 FPS at 4K High. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1859 places the GPU in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer relative to the broader market.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS decreases from 165 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p (a 26.7% drop) and further to 78 at 4K (a 52.7% drop from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

At Medium settings, the frame rates scale from 117 FPS at 1080p to 86 FPS at 1440p and 56 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops between consecutive resolutions are 26.5% (1080p to 1440p) and 34.9% (1440p to 4K), showing that the performance penalty accelerates at higher resolutions. This is consistent with the GPU's memory bandwidth constraint becoming more pronounced as the rendering load increases.

High settings show a similar trend: 103 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K. The 4K result represents a 52.4% reduction from the 1080p figure. Ultra settings produce the steepest curve, with 77 FPS at 1080p dropping to 56 FPS at 1440p and 36 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is only 46.8% of the 1080p Ultra frame rate, demonstrating that the combination of high resolution and maximum quality settings overwhelms the GPU.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU may be the limiting factor at Low settings, given that the 165 FPS result likely approaches the CPU's frame delivery ceiling. At 4K, however, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck across all settings, with even Low settings producing only 78 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT combination ranks 2439 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the 34th percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than the CPU's high-end capabilities. The CPU itself ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355, while the GPU ranks in the 65th percentile with an average score of 19765.

The discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that this pairing is CPU-heavy, meaning the processor has more headroom than the graphics card can utilize. In Lockdown Protocol, the combo's rank is likely dragged down by the GPU's performance ceiling at higher resolutions. The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 9115 (0.1% higher score), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.2% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.7% lower), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.9% lower), all of which are within 1% of the i7-14700K's average score.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (0.6% higher), AMD FirePro D300 (0.7% lower), AMD FirePro W7000 (0.7% higher), and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (0.8% lower). These rivals are all professional or workstation cards, indicating that the RX 6650 XT sits in a performance tier where consumer gaming cards of similar capability are not closely matched in the benchmark database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 165 FPS, the highest measurement in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 117 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and maximum of 135 FPS. High settings average 103 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 77 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 88 FPS, showing significant headroom for quality adjustments.

At 2560x1440, the performance tier shifts downward. Low settings average 121 FPS, representing a 26.7% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 86 FPS with a range of 73 to 99 FPS. High settings produce 75 FPS on average, and Ultra settings drop to 56 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p narrows to 65 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling compresses the performance difference between quality presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes severely constrained. Low settings average 78 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 35.5% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 56 FPS with a minimum of 47 FPS and maximum of 64 FPS. High settings produce 49 FPS on average, while Ultra settings fall to 36 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measurement below 40 FPS in the entire dataset, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The Medium settings at each resolution provide the only min/max FPS data in the dataset. At 1080p Medium, the range from 100 to 135 FPS shows relatively consistent frame delivery. At 1440p Medium, the 73 to 99 FPS range exhibits slightly more variance proportionally. At 4K Medium, the 47 to 64 FPS range shows a 26.6% variance from minimum to maximum, indicating less stable frame pacing at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 103 FPS average provides a balanced experience, offering substantial visual quality improvements over Low settings while maintaining well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 77 FPS remains playable and may be preferred for users prioritizing image quality, but the 26 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests diminishing returns. The Medium preset at 117 FPS offers the best combination of smoothness and quality if frame rate consistency is the priority, given its documented 100-135 FPS range.

At 1440p, the High preset at 75 FPS is the recommended choice for maintaining a competitive frame rate. The Medium preset at 86 FPS provides additional headroom, though the visual difference between Medium and High may justify the 11 FPS trade-off. Ultra settings at 56 FPS dip below the 60 FPS threshold, making them less desirable for fast-paced FPS gameplay. Low settings at 121 FPS are viable for esports-style play where maximum frame rate is prioritized over visuals.

For 4K, only the Low preset at 78 FPS delivers a consistently smooth experience. Medium settings at 56 FPS are borderline, with the 47 FPS minimum potentially causing noticeable stutter in action sequences. High settings at 49 FPS and Ultra at 36 FPS are not recommended for competitive play, as frame rates below 50 FPS can impair aiming precision and reaction time in an FPS title.

The data suggests that this configuration is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming. At 1080p, all settings are playable, with High and Medium offering the best balance. At 1440p, users should stick to Medium or High presets to stay above 70 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings are recommended, and users seeking higher quality at this resolution would need a more powerful GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It is built on the Raptor Lake architecture using a 10 nm process, with a 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with ECC memory support available. Its average benchmark score of 69355 places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160 and Geekbench single-core score of 2569, likely ensures that frame delivery at 1080p is not CPU-limited. The 165 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions. The PassMark single-thread score of 4472 and multi-thread score of 52392 further indicate strong per-core performance.

The CPU's multi-core capabilities, demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and Geekbench multi-core score of 20767, may benefit Lockdown Protocol's background processing and physics calculations. However, the game's FPS results show that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions, indicating that the CPU's substantial headroom is not fully utilized in GPU-bound scenarios.

The i7-14700K's 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample parallel processing capability for modern game engines, though Lockdown Protocol appears to rely more heavily on single-thread performance given the 1080p scaling pattern. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 65th percentile confirms that this pairing is imbalanced, with the processor capable of supporting a more powerful graphics card. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes entirely, as the GPU's rendering limitations dictate the frame rates across all settings.