Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a mixed bag in Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title. At 1080p, the combo is highly playable across most presets, but the picture changes dramatically as resolution climbs. The RTX 2060 SUPER, an end-of-life Turing card with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, becomes the clear limiting factor at 1440p and 4K, while the 20-core, 28-thread i7-14700K sits firmly in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, ensuring it is rarely the bottleneck in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and predictable drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, revealing a GPU-bound system at higher settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 159.9 FPS at 1080p to 118.6 FPS at 1440p, a decline of roughly 26%, and then further to 76.6 FPS at 4K, another 35% drop. This scaling pattern indicates that even at the lowest preset, the RTX 2060 SUPER is working progressively harder to fill pixels, though the i7-14700K has ample headroom.

The gap between resolution tiers widens with more demanding presets. At Medium settings, the averages are 114.1 FPS at 1080p, 80.8 FPS at 1440p, and 54.4 FPS at 4K. The High preset tells a similar story: 101.6 FPS at 1080p, 70.1 FPS at 1440p, and 45.8 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, dropping from 74.1 FPS at 1080p to 54.9 FPS at 1440p and finally to 33.3 FPS at 4K.

What these numbers reveal is that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the dominant constraint once resolution exceeds 1080p. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra costs 19.2 FPS, while the move from 1440p to 4K costs another 21.6 FPS. At 4K, even the Low preset barely maintains 76.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls below 34 FPS, making it effectively unplayable for smooth competitive action. The data strongly suggests that 1080p is the sweet spot for this GPU, with 1440p viable only at Low or Medium settings, and 4K reserved for Low presets or those willing to accept sub-60 FPS averages.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the TU106 chip using TSMC's 12 nm process, with a die size of 445 mm² and 10,800 million transistors. It operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz or 14 Gbps effective. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is paired with a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. These specifications place the card in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient at 1080p and 1440p, but the card's raw compute power—7.181 TFLOPS FP32—becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (33.3 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (74.1 FPS) shows a 55% performance loss, which aligns with the pixel count increase. The card's 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs are simply overwhelmed at 4K with high-detail settings.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 SUPER sits within a tight performance cluster. It is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, and 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 in average benchmark scores. This indicates that in Lockdown Protocol, the RTX 2060 SUPER is delivering performance consistent with its synthetic benchmarks—strong for 1080p gaming but not designed for 4K Ultra. The card's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 ensures it can handle modern API features, but the hardware limits are evident in the measured frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this i7-14700K + RTX 2060 SUPER combination is the High preset at 1080p, delivering 101.6 FPS average. This provides a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining decent visual fidelity. For players seeking maximum smoothness, the Low preset at 1080p achieves 159.9 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play where frame rate trumps visuals.

At 1440p, the data shows that Medium settings provide 80.8 FPS, which is playable, while High drops to 70.1 FPS and Low jumps to 118.6 FPS. Given the diminishing returns, Medium at 1440p appears to be the sensible choice for most users, offering a 10.7 FPS improvement over High with only a moderate visual compromise. The Ultra preset at 1440p (54.9 FPS) is borderline, dipping below the 60 FPS mark, so it is not recommended for action-heavy sequences.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset yields 76.6 FPS, which is the only 4K option above 60 FPS. Medium at 54.4 FPS and High at 45.8 FPS are playable but not ideal, while Ultra at 33.3 FPS falls well below acceptable standards. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only recommended option, and even then, expect occasional dips in intense firefights. The data clearly indicates that this GPU is best utilized at 1080p High or 1440p Medium for Lockdown Protocol.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 as the strongest choice, with all presets except Ultra exceeding 100 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium presets stay above 80 FPS, while 4K requires Low settings to maintain 76.6 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to the RTX 2070 in this game?

A: Benchmark data indicates the RTX 2060 SUPER is 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 in average score. In Lockdown Protocol, this translates to nearly identical frame rates, meaning users should not expect a meaningful difference between these two cards.

Q: Can this setup handle Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1080p averages 74.1 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. However, it is 27.5 FPS slower than High settings at the same resolution, so competitive players may prefer High for the extra headroom.

Q: Is the i7-14700K bottlenecking the RTX 2060 SUPER in this game?

A: No. The i7-14700K ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern. The CPU is not the limiting factor at any measured resolution or preset.

Q: What is the 4K performance like on Low settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 76.6, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. This is the only 4K preset that stays above 60 FPS in the measured data.

Q: How does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM affect performance at higher resolutions?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. While the measured data does not show VRAM capacity as a direct limiter, the card's compute performance drops significantly at 4K, suggesting memory bandwidth is not the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake-R architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 per core. It supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory and has a TDP of 125 W. This CPU scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6287 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 70074.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough frames to avoid bottlenecking. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions—with the largest drops occurring at 4K—demonstrates that the i7-14700K is not the constraint. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 159.9 FPS, which is likely approaching the GPU's maximum output rather than a CPU limit. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a deltaPct of 0%, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X which is 0.5% ahead, indicating that this processor is competitive at the top tier.

The 28 threads provide ample multi-threading headroom for background tasks, and the 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance for game logic and physics. Given that the GPU is end-of-life and ranks in the 63rd percentile, the i7-14700K is overqualified for this pairing, meaning it will not be the limiting factor in Lockdown Protocol at any settings. Users upgrading their GPU in the future will find this CPU has significant headroom for more powerful graphics cards.