Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 7700

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a robust 1080p experience in Lockdown Protocol, with measured average frame rates ranging from 93 FPS at Ultra settings to 200 FPS at Low settings. The combination maintains playable performance through 1440p, but 4K results reveal a clear GPU-bound ceiling, with the highest preset dropping to 44 FPS. This analysis breaks down the measured data across resolutions, settings, and component roles to characterize the system's behavior in this FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the severity of the drop varies significantly by settings preset. At High settings, moving from 1920x1080 (124 FPS) to 2560x1440 (91 FPS) represents a 26.6% reduction, while the jump to 3840x2160 (59 FPS) cuts performance by another 35.2% relative to 1440p. This steepening curve indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count grows, with the RX 7700's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth being taxed heavily at higher resolutions.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the system reaches 200 FPS average, which drops to 147 FPS at 1440p (a 26.5% decline) and further to 95 FPS at 4K (a 35.4% decline from 1440p). The proportional drops are nearly identical to the High preset, suggesting that even at minimal graphical load, the scaling pattern is consistent. This consistency points to a balanced system where neither CPU nor GPU completely dominates the scaling behavior, though the absolute numbers at 4K Low (95 FPS) versus 4K High (59 FPS) indicate that settings still have a substantial impact on the GPU's workload.

Medium settings offer the only preset with full min/max FPS data across all resolutions, providing insight into frame time stability. At 1080p Medium, the average is 142 FPS with a range of 121 to 163 FPS, a spread of 42 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 104 FPS with an 88 to 120 FPS range (32 FPS spread), and at 4K Medium, the average is 67 FPS with a 57 to 77 FPS range (20 FPS spread). The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes more loaded, reducing the opportunity for CPU-driven spikes or dips to manifest.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic resolution scaling. From 1080p Ultra (93 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (68 FPS), the drop is 26.9%, and from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (44 FPS), the drop is 35.3%. These percentages mirror the other presets almost exactly, which is notable because it suggests that the scaling factor is largely independent of the specific settings configuration. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is the only measured average below 60 FPS across the entire dataset, marking it as the boundary where this combination ceases to deliver smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this CPU-GPU combination in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 200, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the ceiling for this combination in the measured scenarios.

Q: Does the system maintain 60+ FPS at 4K resolution across all settings?

A: No. At 4K, the system achieves 95 FPS on Low, 67 FPS on Medium, and 59 FPS on High, but drops to 44 FPS on Ultra. Only the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69,355, which places it 0.1% above the AMD EPYC 9115 (69,288) and 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69,515). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875) by 0.7% and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69,996) by 0.9%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 sits in the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15,852. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 370X, scores 15,862, a 0.1% difference.

Q: Which settings preset shows the largest gap between 1080p and 4K average FPS?

A: The Low preset shows the largest absolute gap, dropping from 200 FPS at 1080p to 95 FPS at 4K, a difference of 105 FPS. The Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute gap at 49 FPS (93 to 44).

Q: How many total combinations does this system rank against in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1,275th out of 2,828 tested combinations in Lockdown Protocol.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is the primary factor in the GPU's ability to handle higher resolutions in Lockdown Protocol. The measured data shows that at 4K, even the Low preset requires substantial memory throughput, and the GPU's bandwidth capacity becomes a determining factor in the 95 FPS result. The 2560 shading units and 96 ROPs contribute to the pixel throughput, rated at 236.1 GPixel/s, which supports the observed 4K frame rates.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable: a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The difference between game and boost clocks indicates that the card can sustain higher frequencies under load, which is reflected in the benchmark scores. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,865 and the Passmark G3D score of 20,974 place this GPU in the 58th percentile overall. In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the GPU's performance allows 1080p Medium to reach 142 FPS average, but the 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS shows the limits of its compute capacity when all graphical features are enabled.

The GPU's 5 nm process node from TSMC, with 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, provides the efficiency headroom for these clock speeds. The 40 ray tracing cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate features, but the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance. The texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s and FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS are directly relevant to Lockdown Protocol's rendering workload, as the game's FPS nature demands both texture throughput and shader compute. The RX 7700's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, scores 16,014 on average benchmarks, a 1% difference, indicating that small performance margins separate this card from other options in its class.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 142 FPS average with a minimum of 121 FPS and maximum of 163 FPS, providing smooth gameplay with headroom for frame time variations. At 1440p Medium, the 104 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS keeps the experience above common refresh rate targets, though users with 144 Hz displays may notice occasional dips. The 4K Medium result of 67 FPS average (57 min, 77 max) is the only 4K preset that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays.

The High preset is a reasonable alternative for users prioritizing visual quality over frame rate consistency. At 1080p High, the 124 FPS average is still highly playable, and 1440p High at 91 FPS remains fluid. However, 4K High drops to 59 FPS average, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may introduce perceptible stutter on standard 60 Hz displays. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest visual fidelity, produces 93 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the playable threshold for most users, and even 1440p Ultra's 68 FPS may not satisfy competitive FPS players.

The Low preset maximizes frame rate at the expense of visual quality, achieving 200 FPS at 1080p and 147 FPS at 1440p. This configuration is suitable for competitive play where high refresh rates take precedence over graphical detail. The 95 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that even with reduced settings, the GPU can handle 4K output, though users would likely prefer Medium for a better visual-to-performance trade-off. Overall, Medium is the recommended starting point, with adjustments based on display refresh rate and personal sensitivity to frame drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings yield 200 FPS average, Medium delivers 142 FPS (121 min, 163 max), High achieves 124 FPS, and Ultra reaches 93 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 53.5% reduction in average FPS, indicating that each settings tier adds meaningful GPU workload. The Medium preset's min/max range of 42 FPS suggests some frame time variability, but the 121 FPS minimum remains well above playability thresholds.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings produce 147 FPS, Medium delivers 104 FPS (88 min, 120 max), High achieves 91 FPS, and Ultra reaches 68 FPS. The Medium preset's range narrows to 32 FPS, indicating improved frame pacing compared to 1080p. The drop from 1080p to 1440p averages 26.5% across presets, consistent with the increased pixel count requiring more GPU processing per frame.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits. Low settings produce 95 FPS, Medium delivers 67 FPS (57 min, 77 max), High achieves 59 FPS, and Ultra drops to 44 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 57 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS minimum in the entire dataset, highlighting the strain that 4K places on the GPU. The relative performance hierarchy remains consistent across resolutions, with Low always outperforming Medium, Medium outperforming High, and High outperforming Ultra, confirming that the settings scaling works as intended.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This configuration, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process, provides substantial multi-threaded performance for Lockdown Protocol's game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33,440.5 and single-core score of 2,160, placing it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core reduce memory latency, which is critical for maintaining consistent frame delivery in FPS titles.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 69,355 places it within 0.9% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69,515) and AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875). This tight clustering indicates that the i7-14700K is competitive with top-tier alternatives in synthetic workloads. In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is not the bottleneck. The 1080p Low result of 200 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed frames quickly enough to saturate the GPU's output capacity, while the 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is clearly GPU-limited.

The CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 52,392 and single-thread score of 4,472 provide additional context for its gaming performance. The single-thread performance is particularly important for FPS games that rely on a primary game thread. The 125 W TDP, with support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel bus, gives system builders flexibility in memory configuration. The CPU's PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes ensures that the GPU has adequate bandwidth for data transfer, though the RX 7700 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, which is fully compatible.

How This Combo Ranks

In Lockdown Protocol, the Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1,275th out of 2,828 tested combinations, placing it in the 54.9th percentile of all tested systems. This mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU's 58th percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU's 94th percentile ranking is somewhat higher. The discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that the RX 7700 is the limiting factor in this pairing, as the CPU has more headroom than the GPU for handling the game's workload.

The combination's rank is influenced by the GPU's benchmark position relative to its nearest rivals. The RX 7700's average benchmark score of 15,852 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15,862, 0.1% difference) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, 1.1% difference). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16,129, which is 1.7% higher, indicating that the RX 7700 sits in a competitive segment where small performance differences separate cards. These margins translate directly to the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol, where the system's 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS might be marginally higher or lower with a rival GPU.

The CPU's position among its rivals reinforces the GPU-limited nature of this combination. The i7-14700K's 69,355 average score is within 0.9% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, yet the measured FPS in Lockdown Protocol would not improve meaningfully with a CPU swap because the GPU constrains performance at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, where the CPU has more influence, the 200 FPS result demonstrates that the i7-14700K can drive high frame rates, but the overall ranking reflects the GPU's mid-tier position. For users of this combination, the data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield larger FPS gains than upgrading the CPU, particularly at 1440p and 4K resolutions.