Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol with Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 570

This combo ranks 3544th out of 3714 tested configurations in Lockdown Protocol, placing it in the bottom 5% of all measured systems. The pairing of a high-end 20-core CPU with a legacy 4 GB GPU creates a stark performance imbalance, with the benchmark data showing that frame rates are almost entirely dictated by the graphics card's limitations rather than processor capability. The measured results across all resolutions and settings presets confirm that this system delivers playable performance only at 1080p with lower settings, while 4K remains largely out of reach.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position at 3544 of 3714 tested combinations places it firmly in the lower quartile of systems evaluated for Lockdown Protocol. This ranking reflects the GPU's age and memory constraints more than the CPU's capability, as the Intel Core i7-14700KF ranks in the 94th percentile against all CPUs. The disparity between the CPU's high percentile standing and the combo's low overall rank indicates that the Radeon RX 570 acts as the bottleneck in nearly every scenario.

Benchmark results for the CPU show an average score of 70163, placing it within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996) and 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875). It trails the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K by 1% (70879) while leading the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X by 0.9% (69515). These margins are negligible in gaming contexts, confirming that the processor contributes little to the combo's low standing.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 28766 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, yet its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28874, 0.4% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996, 0.8% faster), while the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28580) trails by 0.7% and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (28421) by 1.2%. These close margins suggest the RX 570 performs near the middle of its peer group, but that peer group itself is not competitive for modern FPS titles at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF provides 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture processor, built on a 10 nm process, includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, with ECC memory support and PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes from the CPU.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role is largely secondary given the GPU's constraints. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 77 FPS average, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. This figure suggests the CPU can feed frames at a moderate rate, but the GPU's ceiling prevents higher output. The processor's multi-core benchmark scores — Cinebench R23 multi-core at 44167 and Geekbench multi-core at 21462 — indicate substantial headroom that remains unused in this game.

The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier position this CPU for high-performance workloads, but the benchmark data shows no scenario where CPU capability limits Lockdown Protocol frame rates. Even at 4K Ultra, where the combo drops to 17 FPS, the bottleneck is clearly the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and GCN 4.0 architecture rather than any processor deficiency. The CPU's single-core performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2578 and PassMark single-thread score of 4480, is more than adequate for the game's logic and physics calculations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 features the Polaris 20 chip on a 14 nm process with 5,700 million transistors and a die size of 232 mm². Its base clock runs at 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, while memory operates at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes a critical limitation in Lockdown Protocol at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU's compute resources include 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units, producing a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s, texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s, and 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 150 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 6-pin power connector reflect its 2017-era design, and the suggested 450 W PSU indicates modest system requirements.

The 4 GB VRAM capacity is the defining constraint in this game. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 77 FPS, but increasing to Medium drops performance to 54 FPS, and High to 47 FPS. The step to Ultra at 1080p yields only 36 FPS. This progressive decline with each settings tier suggests memory bandwidth and capacity limits, as the game's texture and geometry demands exceed what 4 GB can comfortably handle. At 1440p, the pattern repeats with Low at 56 FPS, Medium at 40 FPS, High at 35 FPS, and Ultra at 26 FPS. The 4K results show the GPU's complete inability to handle high resolutions: Low manages 36 FPS, Medium 26 FPS, High 22 FPS, and Ultra drops to 17 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings produce an average of 77 FPS, which is the only measured result above 60 FPS across all configurations. Medium settings yield 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 63, providing a playable experience with occasional dips below 60. High settings average 47 FPS, while Ultra drops to 36 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear performance ceiling around 77 FPS, suggesting the GPU's fill rate limits output even at the lowest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, all results fall below 60 FPS. Low settings average 56 FPS, which remains playable but lacks headroom. Medium settings average 40 FPS with a range of 34 to 46, showing noticeable frame pacing variance. High settings drop to 35 FPS, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS. The 1440p results indicate the 4 GB VRAM buffer begins to be exceeded, as the gap between Low and Medium (16 FPS) is larger than the gap between Medium and High (5 FPS), suggesting a memory capacity cliff rather than a gradual compute scaling.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal at best. Low settings average 36 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth play. Medium settings average 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 and maximum of 30, showing tight but low frame delivery. High settings average 22 FPS, and Ultra drops to 17 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that this combo is not viable at this resolution for Lockdown Protocol, as even the lowest settings fail to reach 40 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At Low settings, 1080p yields 77 FPS, 1440p yields 56 FPS (a 27% reduction), and 4K yields 36 FPS (a 53% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is steeper than expected for resolution alone, indicating that the 4 GB memory buffer is being exceeded as pixel count increases, forcing additional data movement and reducing effective throughput.

At Medium settings, the progression is 54 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p (a 26% drop), and 26 FPS at 4K (a 52% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium settings suggests that memory bandwidth, rather than compute capability, is the limiting factor. The GPU's 224.0 GB/s bandwidth must service an increasing number of pixels, and the 4 GB capacity forces texture streaming that further taxes the memory subsystem.

High settings show a similar pattern: 47 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p (a 26% drop), and 22 FPS at 4K (a 53% drop). Ultra settings follow with 36 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p (a 28% drop), and 17 FPS at 4K (a 53% drop). The uniform ~53% reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings presets confirms that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, with the CPU introducing no measurable limitation at any resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data identifies 1080p Low as the only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 77 FPS. This setting provides the smoothest experience and is the recommended choice for competitive play where frame rate matters. The Large gap between Low and Medium at 1080p — a 23 FPS difference — suggests that the Medium preset imposes significant additional load that the GPU cannot sustain while maintaining high frame rates.

For players prioritizing visual quality over frame rate, 1080p Medium at 54 FPS represents the best balance. The minimum of 46 FPS indicates occasional dips below 60, but the average remains playable. This preset offers improved texture detail and effects without the severe penalty seen at High (47 FPS) or Ultra (36 FPS). The jump from Medium to High costs only 7 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 11 FPS, making Ultra the least efficient choice.

At 1440p, the data shows that Low settings at 56 FPS is the only viable option, and even this falls below 60 FPS. Medium at 40 FPS is playable for slower-paced content, but the minimum of 34 FPS introduces noticeable stutter. High and Ultra settings at 35 and 26 FPS respectively are not recommended for active gameplay. At 4K, all settings produce results below 40 FPS, with even Low at 36 FPS being borderline unplayable; the medium preset's 26 FPS average and 22 FPS minimum confirm that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo in this game.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Lockdown Protocol at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p with Low settings, where the measured average is 77 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 54 FPS, and no other resolution or settings combination reaches 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163 on average, which is 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996), 0.4% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875), 0.9% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515), and 1% below the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (70879).

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1440p?

A: Low settings at 1440p provides 56 FPS average, which is the only preset above 50 FPS at this resolution. Medium drops to 40 FPS, High to 35 FPS, and Ultra to 26 FPS.

Q: Why does performance drop so significantly from 1080p to 4K?

A: The average FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K is approximately 53% across all settings presets. This steep decline is attributable to the GPU's 4 GB VRAM capacity and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, which become insufficient as pixel count quadruples.

Q: How does the Radeon RX 570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 570's average benchmark score is 28766, placing it 0.4% below the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28874), 0.8% below the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996), 0.7% above the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28580), and 1.2% above the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (28421).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The benchmark data shows consistent performance scaling with resolution and settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's high benchmark scores — including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 — far exceed what Lockdown Protocol requires, and no scenario shows CPU-related frame drops.