Lockdown Protocol

FAQ

Q: How does this specific CPU+GPU combination rank for Lockdown Protocol?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 205th out of 3714 tested combinations for this game. That places the combo in the top 5.5% of all tested configurations, indicating a very high-performing setup for this title.

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate measured is 333 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. Dropping to Medium still delivers a very high 236 FPS average, while High produces 206 FPS and Ultra yields 155 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data shows no VRAM-related stalling or performance collapse at any resolution, including 4K Ultra where the average FPS is 73. The 16 GB GDDR6X memory with a 716.8 GB/s bandwidth appears more than adequate for Lockdown Protocol's demands at all tested settings.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its closest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355, putting it at the 94th percentile of all CPUs. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115, 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, 0.7% behind the Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% behind the Ryzen 7 9700F.

Q: What is the performance difference between the RTX 4080 and its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, placing it at the 86th percentile of all GPUs. It is essentially tied with the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% ahead), and it trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% and the Radeon RX 6750 GRE by 2.6%.

Q: What resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate for this title?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 on High settings is a sweet spot, delivering 151 FPS average. This provides a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p while still maintaining frame rates well above 144 Hz, which suits high-refresh-rate monitors.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings preset for this hardware combo. At every resolution, the Low preset produces the highest frame rates, but the diminishing returns from Medium to Low are not worth the visual sacrifice. The jump from Low to Medium shows a significant FPS cost: at 1080p, frame rates drop from 333 FPS to 236 FPS (a 29% reduction), and at 4K, the drop is from 157 FPS to 112 FPS (a 29% reduction as well).

The Medium preset offers the best experience for most users. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 173 FPS average with a minimum of 147 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. The gap between Medium and High is consistent across resolutions: at 1440p, High yields 151 FPS (down 13% from Medium), and at 4K, High yields 98 FPS (down 12.5% from Medium).

For competitive play where maximum frame rate matters, the Low preset at 1440p provides 244 FPS, which is likely beyond the refresh rate of most monitors and offers minimal visual penalty in a fast-paced FPS. However, for those with 144 Hz displays, Medium at 1440p is the recommended choice because it maintains a comfortable margin above the refresh rate while offering noticeably better visuals than Low.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this title. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 113 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 35% reduction from Medium. At 4K, Ultra falls to 73 FPS, which may feel less responsive for a competitive FPS. The visual gains from Ultra over High are typically modest, and the performance cost is substantial. For 4K users, High at 98 FPS is the better choice, as it keeps frame rates near 100 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how Lockdown Protocol scales across resolutions. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average frame rate across all settings drops by approximately 27%. For instance, at High settings, the drop is from 206 FPS to 151 FPS (a 26.7% reduction), and at Low settings, from 333 FPS to 244 FPS (a 26.7% reduction). This consistent scaling suggests the game is largely GPU-bound at these resolutions.

The jump from 1440p to 4K shows a more dramatic performance hit. At High settings, frame rates fall from 151 FPS to 98 FPS, a 35% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 244 FPS to 157 FPS, a 35.7% reduction. This steeper decline at 4K indicates that pixel throughput becomes the primary bottleneck, which is typical for a GPU-heavy title.

The data points to the GPU as the limiting component at higher resolutions. The RTX 4080's raw compute power (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) and memory bandwidth (716.8 GB/s) are being fully utilized as resolution increases. At 1080p, the extremely high frame rates (333 FPS at Low) suggest the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than it can render at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern indicates that 1440p is the sweet spot for this hardware. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p is manageable and keeps all settings above 113 FPS, while the drop to 4K is more severe, particularly at Ultra where the average falls to 73 FPS. The RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM does not appear to be a factor in the scaling, as the performance degradation is proportional across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 333 FPS average
• Medium: 236 FPS average (minimum 201 FPS, maximum 272 FPS)
• High: 206 FPS average
• Ultra: 155 FPS average

At 1080p, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Even at Ultra, the 155 FPS average is well above standard 144 Hz monitor refresh rates. The Medium preset shows a tight FPS range (201-272 FPS), indicating consistent frame pacing.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 244 FPS average
• Medium: 173 FPS average (minimum 147 FPS, maximum 199 FPS)
• High: 151 FPS average
• Ultra: 113 FPS average

At 1440p, the performance remains strong for competitive play. Low and Medium both exceed 144 Hz, while High stays above 150 FPS. Ultra dips to 113 FPS, which is still smooth but may be below the refresh rate of high-end 1440p monitors.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 157 FPS average
• Medium: 112 FPS average (minimum 95 FPS, maximum 129 FPS)
• High: 98 FPS average
• Ultra: 73 FPS average

At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly. Low still delivers a very playable 157 FPS, but Medium and High fall below 120 FPS. Ultra at 73 FPS is the only setting that approaches console-like performance levels, which may not be ideal for a competitive FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary performance driver in this combination. Its Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves sufficient for Lockdown Protocol at all tested settings, as no VRAM-related performance cliffs appear in the data.

The RTX 4080's clock speeds are 2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost. These clocks, combined with 9728 shading units, produce 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power. The GPU also includes 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, though the measured FPS data does not indicate whether ray tracing or DLSS is enabled in this title's benchmarks.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows it at the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209 (0.1% lower), indicating that the non-SUPER variant is essentially equivalent in general performance. The RTX 4080 trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% and the Radeon RX 6750 GRE by 2.6% in synthetic benchmarks.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. The 4K data shows the RTX 4080 is the limiting factor, as frame rates scale down proportionally with pixel count. The 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU indicate this is a power-hungry card, but the measured performance justifies the power draw for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K provides the processing foundation for this combo. This 20-core, 28-thread processor is based on Raptor Lake-R architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core, with base and boost clocks of 3.40 GHz and 5.60 GHz respectively.

The CPU's benchmark performance is strong, placing it at the 94th percentile of all CPUs with an average score of 69355. In multi-threaded workloads, it scores 33440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 18544 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Single-thread performance is also competitive, with scores of 2160 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2569 in Geekbench single-core.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can feed it. The 333 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as the frame rate is extremely high. However, the consistent scaling pattern from 1080p to 1440p (approximately 27% drop across all settings) indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

The i7-14700K's nearest rivals show how competitive this chip is. It is 0.1% faster than the AMD EPYC 9115, 0.2% slower than the Ryzen 9 7950X, 0.7% slower than the Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% slower than the Ryzen 7 9700F in average benchmark scores. These small deltas indicate that any of these CPUs would perform similarly in Lockdown Protocol, as the game's frame rates at 1440p and above are primarily GPU-limited.

The CPU's 125 W TDP, combined with the GPU's 320 W TDP, means the total system power draw is substantial, but the measured performance shows this hardware is well-matched for this title. The 20 cores and 28 threads are likely more than sufficient for Lockdown Protocol, as the game appears to scale primarily with GPU performance based on the resolution scaling data.