Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol places measurable demands on both processor and graphics card, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 produces a distinct performance profile. The data shows a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s substantial headroom becomes apparent only when graphical load is reduced. This analysis walks through the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers reveal about each component’s role.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 90 FPS at 1920x1080 to 66 FPS at 2560x1440, a 26.7% reduction. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 43 FPS, which is 52.2% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is saturated by the increased pixel workload.

The Low settings row shows the same trend with even wider gaps. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 146 FPS average. At 2560x1440 Low, that falls to 107 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it reaches 69 FPS. The 4K Low result is only 47.3% of the 1080p Low figure, reinforcing that the RX 6600’s 8 GB frame buffer and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are stretched thin at UHD resolutions, regardless of how light the preset is.

Medium settings provide the only complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 103 FPS with a min of 88 and max of 119 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 76 FPS (min 64, max 87), and at 3840x2160 Medium, it bottoms out at 49 FPS (min 42, max 56). The delta between resolutions here — 26.2% from 1080p to 1440p, and 35.5% from 1440p to 4K — shows that scaling is not perfectly linear; the jump to 4K imposes a disproportionately heavy penalty.

Ultra settings produce the lowest averages across the board: 68 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure of 32 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth, and even the 1440p Ultra result at 50 FPS is marginal. The scaling here suggests that at Ultra, the GPU is fully saturated by 1440p, and the move to 4K yields only a 36% reduction because the workload is already near the hardware limit.

The data indicates that the limiting component at 1080p and above is the GPU. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is not the bottleneck in any measured configuration. The proof is that even at Low settings, where CPU-bound scenarios typically emerge, the FPS at 1080p (146) is high but not extreme, suggesting the RX 6600 still caps the output. If the processor were the constraint, the 4K to 1080p gap would be much narrower.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, featuring 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock reaches 2491 MHz, with a game clock of 2044 MHz, and it carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. The memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s is the key specification for understanding the 4K results, as the frame buffer and bus width govern how quickly texture data can be fed to the render output.

In Lockdown Protocol, the GPU’s role is evident in the resolution scaling. At 1080p High, the card produces 90 FPS average, which is respectable for a mid-range part. However, the percentileVsAllGpus score of 63 places it in the lower half of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 and the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile, with deltaPct values of 0.0% and -0.1% respectively. This means the RX 6600 is statistically indistinguishable from those parts in aggregate benchmark scores, though its game-specific results here show it can handle 1080p well.

The 4K numbers tell a different story. At 4K High, the average of 43 FPS is playable only on less demanding displays, and 4K Ultra at 32 FPS is not a viable experience. The GPU’s 8 GB memory is likely a contributing factor; at 4K, texture sets can exceed this capacity, forcing spills to system memory. The measured FPS at 4K Low (69 FPS) versus 4K High (43 FPS) shows a 37.7% improvement from dropping settings, which is a larger gain than the 1080p Low-to-High delta (146 vs 90 FPS, a 38.4% difference). This suggests that at 4K, the settings reduction relieves both memory pressure and shading load, whereas at 1080p, the GPU has more headroom.

The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and 28 ray tracing cores are present, but the benchmark rows do not include ray tracing-specific measurements. The passmark_directx_12 score of 51 is low relative to the directx_11 score of 152, which may indicate that the card’s DX12 path is not its strongest, but in Lockdown Protocol, the game appears to scale predictably with resolution and settings rather than hitting any API-specific wall.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake-R architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its L3 cache is 33 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus. The processor’s benchmarks are strong: it scores 44167 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6235 in single-core, with a percentileVsAllCpus score of 94.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as the resolution scaling demonstrates. The fact that 1080p Low produces 146 FPS average while 4K Low produces 69 FPS confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck in both cases. If the CPU were limiting, the 1080p figure would be much higher, potentially exceeding 200 FPS, and the 4K figure would be closer to it. The data instead shows a consistent GPU-bound pattern.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores are the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (deltaPct 0.2%), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.4%), and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.9%), with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K at -1.0%. This means the i7-14700KF is essentially on par with those parts, but in this game, none of them would change the outcome because the RX 6600 is the limiting factor. The processor’s 28 threads are far more than Lockdown Protocol likely utilizes, given that the game is an FPS with typical thread counts in the 4-8 range; the extra cores provide headroom for background tasks but do not improve FPS here.

The single-core performance is relevant for game logic and frame pacing. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235 and Geekbench single-core score of 2578 indicate strong per-thread performance, which helps maintain consistent frame times, but the measured min FPS values (only available for Medium settings) show the 1% lows are not dramatically lower than averages. At 1080p Medium, min is 88 FPS against an average of 103, and at 4K Medium, min is 42 against an average of 49. These ratios suggest the CPU is delivering frames steadily without stutter, even when the GPU is struggling at UHD.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Lockdown Protocol with this combo?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where average frame rates stay above 60 FPS across all settings. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium settings exceed 60 FPS, and at 3840x2160, no setting reaches 60 FPS average.

Q: How much FPS does dropping from High to Low settings gain at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High runs at 90 FPS average, while Low runs at 146 FPS average. This is a 62.2% increase in frame rate from lowering the preset.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck at 4K. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 32, and at 4K Low it is 69, while the CPU is capable of much higher frame rates based on its benchmark scores. The processor is not the limiting factor at any measured resolution.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM of the RX 6600 affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB memory size is likely a factor in the 4K results, where average FPS ranges from 32 to 69 depending on settings. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are also constraints at UHD, as shown by the steep drop from 1440p to 4K.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves?

A: The highest measured average is 146 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the i7-14700KF compare to its closest rival in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700KF scores 70163 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996) and 0.9% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515). It is 1.0% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (70879).

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 6600 combination ranks 2901 out of 3714 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the 21.9th percentile of all combo results, meaning roughly 78% of tested systems perform better in this game. The low rank is primarily due to the GPU, which sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

The rank disparity highlights the imbalance: the processor is top-tier, but the graphics card holds the combo back. In the context of Lockdown Protocol, which scales heavily with GPU load, the RX 6600’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are the weak links. The measured FPS at 1080p High (90 FPS) is respectable, but the combo’s overall rank suffers because many other tested combinations include higher-end GPUs paired with similar or weaker CPUs.

The rank of 2901 out of 3714 means that for competitive play at high refresh rates, this combo would be at a disadvantage. However, the data also shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 146 FPS, which is above the 144 Hz threshold for many monitors. The rank is a global measure across all settings and resolutions, so it reflects the average experience, but the user can mitigate the low rank by choosing appropriate settings, as detailed below.

Settings Recommendations

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the target refresh rate. For 60 FPS gaming, the data supports 1920x1080 Ultra, which averages 68 FPS, or 2560x1440 High, which averages 66 FPS. Both options stay above 60 FPS average, but the 1080p Ultra result has a higher margin (68 vs 66 FPS). For 144 Hz displays, 1920x1080 Medium (103 FPS) is the highest stable option, as Low (146 FPS) may exceed the monitor’s capability but leaves headroom.

For 2560x1440, the only settings that exceed 60 FPS are Low (107 FPS) and Medium (76 FPS). High at 66 FPS is marginal, and Ultra at 50 FPS is below the threshold. The recommendation for 1440p is Medium, as it provides the best balance with a min FPS of 64, which is above 60. At 4K, no setting achieves 60 FPS; the best is Low at 69 FPS, but this is still below 60 on average, so 4K is not recommended for smooth play.

The data also shows that the jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 13 FPS (103 to 90), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 22 FPS (90 to 68). This suggests that High is the sweet spot for visual quality at 1080p, as the Ultra preset delivers diminishing returns for a significant FPS loss. At 1440p, the Medium preset’s min FPS of 64 makes it the safest choice for maintaining smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Ultra averages 68 FPS, High averages 90 FPS, Medium averages 103 FPS (min 88, max 119), and Low averages 146 FPS. The spread from Ultra to Low is 78 FPS, showing that settings have a major impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 50 FPS, High averages 66 FPS, Medium averages 76 FPS (min 64, max 87), and Low averages 107 FPS. The spread is 57 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a constraint.

At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 32 FPS, High averages 43 FPS, Medium averages 49 FPS (min 42, max 56), and Low averages 69 FPS. The spread is 37 FPS, the smallest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is saturated even at Low settings.

The only complete min/max data is for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p, the min is 88 FPS (85.4% of average); at 1440p, the min is 64 FPS (84.2% of average); and at 4K, the min is 42 FPS (85.7% of average). This consistency suggests that frame pacing is stable regardless of resolution, which points to the CPU maintaining a steady workload, while the average FPS is determined by the GPU’s pixel throughput. The 4K Low result of 69 FPS is the highest UHD average, but it still falls short of 60 FPS, making 1080p the only fully playable resolution for this combo.