Lockdown Protocol

Resolution Scaling

Lockdown Protocol shows pronounced resolution sensitivity with this configuration. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB produces 193 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops that to 141 FPS, a 27% reduction. At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 91 FPS, which is 53% below the 1080p result. The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises, since the CPU has substantial headroom at lower resolutions.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory. At 1080p, the average is 137 FPS. At 1440p, it falls to 100 FPS, a 27% decline. At 4K, the average settles at 65 FPS, which is 53% lower than the 1080p figure. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium settings suggests a linear relationship between pixel throughput and frame rate, a hallmark of GPU-bound operation.

High settings amplify the resolution penalty. The 1080p average of 120 FPS drops to 88 FPS at 1440p, a 27% reduction, and then to 57 FPS at 4K, a 53% drop from 1080p. Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates overall: 90 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset's 4K result represents a 53% decline from 1080p, matching the pattern seen across other presets.

The uniform 27% and 53% scaling factors across all four settings presets indicate that Lockdown Protocol's rendering pipeline scales predictably with resolution. The game does not exhibit unusual behavior where higher settings alter the resolution scaling curve. This consistency points to the Radeon RX 9060 XT's 128-bit memory interface and 322.3 GB/s bandwidth as the bottleneck at higher resolutions, rather than any software inefficiency.

At 1080p, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads can feed frames fast enough that the GPU's 2048 shading units become the constraining factor. The 193 FPS Low result at 1080p shows the GPU can handle low-complexity scenes quickly, but the 4K Low result of 91 FPS reveals that fill rate and memory bandwidth limit throughput when pixel count quadruples.

The measured data shows that 1440p sits in a practical middle ground. The 100 FPS Medium result at 1440p remains playable, while 4K Ultra at 42 FPS falls below smooth gameplay thresholds. The 4K Medium result of 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 75 FPS shows real variability, indicating that certain scenes push the GPU harder than others.

Settings Recommendations

The recorded FPS rows provide clear guidance for each resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings produce 90 FPS average, which is fully playable. The step from High to Ultra costs 30 FPS (from 120 to 90), a 25% reduction for the visual upgrade. Medium delivers 137 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors, while Low at 193 FPS suits competitive play where maximum frame rate matters more than visual fidelity.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 88 FPS offer the best balance between visual quality and smoothness. Ultra drops to 66 FPS, which remains acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but may feel less responsive in fast encounters. Medium at 100 FPS provides a substantial margin above 60 FPS, making it the safer choice for maintaining consistent frame pacing. Low at 141 FPS gives competitive players headroom, though the visual downgrade may hinder target acquisition in dark areas.

At 3840x2160, the situation tightens. High settings produce 57 FPS, which hovers near the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS shows that some scenes will dip below 60, but the average remains playable. Low at 91 FPS is the only 4K preset that provides comfortable headroom above 60 FPS. Ultra at 42 FPS falls below the playability threshold for a fast-paced FPS, so it should be reserved for screenshots or cinematic viewing rather than active play.

The data suggests that the optimal preset depends on the target display. For 1080p displays with 144 Hz refresh rates, Medium or High settings provide the best experience. For 1440p displays, Medium at 100 FPS or High at 88 FPS both work well. For 4K displays, Low at 91 FPS is the recommended preset, with Medium as a compromise if visual quality takes priority over frame rate consistency.

The measured minimum frame rates for Medium settings across all resolutions show the game's frame time variance. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 116 to 158 FPS, a 42 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 85 to 116 FPS, a 31 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 55 to 75 FPS, a 20 FPS spread. This tightening at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated, reducing the impact of scene complexity on frame rate volatility.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB uses the Navi 44 chip built on TSMC's 4 nm process. The GPU contains 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, with a transistor density of 149.2 million per square millimeter. The RDNA 4.0 architecture provides 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The 32 ray tracing cores handle hardware-accelerated ray tracing workloads, though Lockdown Protocol's measured performance suggests the game relies primarily on traditional rasterization.

The GPU clocks operate at a 1700 MHz base, a 2530 MHz game clock, and a 3130 MHz boost clock. The memory runs at 2518 MHz, translating to 20.1 Gbps effective data rate across the 128-bit bus. This configuration yields 322.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which the resolution scaling analysis identifies as a limiting factor at 4K. The 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer proves sufficient for the tested settings, as no out-of-memory failures appear in the recorded data.

The pixel rate of 200.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 400.6 GTexel/s provide context for the frame rates. At 1080p, the GPU can fill pixels quickly enough to exceed 190 FPS on Low settings. At 4K, the same fill rate must cover four times the pixels, explaining the 53% reduction in frame rate across all presets. The FP32 compute throughput of 25.64 TFLOPS matches the FP16 figure at a 1:1 ratio, indicating that the GPU does not specialize in reduced-precision workloads.

The GPU's benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 4093, placing it in the 24th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The nearest rivals show close clustering: Intel HD Graphics 630 scores 4075 (0.4% higher), NVIDIA Quadro K2100M scores 4151 (1.4% lower), NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M scores 4033 (1.5% higher), and AMD Radeon R5 M330 scores 4170 (1.8% lower). This tight grouping indicates that the RX 9060 XT's synthetic benchmark position does not reflect its gaming performance in Lockdown Protocol, where it delivers playable frame rates across most tested configurations.

The 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested power supply requirement indicate an efficient design. The dual-slot cooler with a single 8-pin power connector keeps installation simple. Display outputs include one HDMI 2.1b port and two DisplayPort 2.1a ports, supporting modern monitors with high refresh rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range shows clear separation. Low settings produce 193 FPS average, the highest recorded result for this configuration. Medium settings deliver 137 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 158 FPS. High settings produce 120 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 90 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 53% reduction in frame rate, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High (17 FPS) and between High and Ultra (30 FPS).

The 2560x1440 results follow a similar pattern with lower absolute values. Low settings produce 141 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 100 FPS with a range of 85 to 116 FPS. High settings produce 88 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 66 FPS average. The step from High to Ultra costs 22 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 12 FPS. The Low to Medium step costs 41 FPS, reflecting the significant increase in shader complexity between those presets.

At 3840x2160, the results compress into a narrower band. Low settings produce 91 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 65 FPS with a range of 55 to 75 FPS. High settings produce 57 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 42 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 49 FPS, smaller than the 103 FPS spread at 1080p. This compression occurs because the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck at 4K, reducing the relative impact of settings changes.

The Medium preset's measured minimum and maximum values provide the only frame time data in the database. At 1080p, the 116 to 158 FPS range shows that the GPU can burst above the average during simple scenes. At 1440p, the 85 to 116 FPS range shows less burst capability. At 4K, the 55 to 75 FPS range shows the GPU operating near its sustained limit, with the minimum falling below 60 FPS.

The combo rank of 1897 out of 3714 combinations places this CPU and GPU pairing in the 51st percentile for Lockdown Protocol. This middle-of-the-pack ranking reflects the GPU's modest synthetic benchmark position relative to other graphics cards, while the CPU's strong multicore performance provides adequate support. The rank suggests that many other hardware combinations achieve higher frame rates, but this pairing remains viable for the tested settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved at 1080p with this hardware?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 produces 193 FPS average, the highest recorded result in the database for this configuration.

Q: Can this hardware maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only with certain settings. The Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 91 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS. The High preset drops to 57 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Radeon RX 9060 XT scores 4093 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The Intel HD Graphics 630 scores 4075 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M scores 4151 (1.4% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M scores 4033 (1.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon R5 M330 scores 4170 (1.8% lower).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 100 FPS, while Ultra averages 66 FPS. The difference is 34 FPS, representing a 34% reduction in frame rate for the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any tested resolution?

A: The data does not show evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the 193 FPS result indicates the GPU can process frames quickly, and the uniform 53% frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K across all presets suggests the GPU remains the limiting factor at every resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 4K?

A: The 3840x2160 Medium preset shows a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS, with an average of 65 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF provides the processing foundation for this configuration. The Raptor Lake Refresh architecture uses 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The 125 W TDP reflects the high core count and clock speeds. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with ECC memory support available. The PCI Express Gen 5 interface provides 16 lanes for the GPU, matching the Radeon RX 9060 XT's PCIe 5.0 x16 bus interface.

The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. This substantial cache capacity helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory latency in game workloads. The 10 nm process node from Intel produces a die size of 257 mm², with the processor fitting into the Intel Socket 1700.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multicore performance. In Cinebench R23, the multicore score reaches 44167, while the single-core score is 6235. Cinebench R20 shows 18550 multicore and 2618 single-core. Cinebench R15 produces 4452 multicore and 628 single-core. Geekbench reports 21462 multicore and 2578 single-core. These scores place the CPU in the 94th percentile among all CPUs in the database.

The Passmark suite provides additional insight. The multithread score is 52425, with single-thread at 4480. Integer math reaches 183056, floating point math reaches 134393, and extended instructions score 40660. Data compression scores 694963, while data encryption scores 40046. Random string sorting scores 74723, and physics scores 2961. The find prime numbers test produces 212.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 70163 places it among the top performers. The nearest rivals show minimal separation: the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 (0.4% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515 (0.9% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 70879 (1.0% higher). This tight clustering indicates that the i7-14700KF delivers performance comparable to the best available desktop and mobile processors.

In Lockdown Protocol, the CPU's role becomes evident at lower resolutions. The 193 FPS result at 1080p Low demonstrates that the processor can sustain high frame rates without becoming a limiting factor. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample headroom for game logic, physics, and background processes, even with the GPU pushing over 190 FPS. The single-core performance, as shown by the Cinebench R23 score of 6235, ensures that the game's main thread receives sufficient processing power.

The memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 gives system builders flexibility. The dual-channel memory bus with 33 MB of L3 cache helps maintain consistent performance in memory-intensive scenes. The 5.60 GHz boost clock provides high single-thread throughput, which remains important for FPS games that often have a primary game thread.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking across all CPUs indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general benchmarks. In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the combo rank of 1897 out of 3714 suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU's 24th percentile ranking among GPUs is the more constraining component. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU can feed frames fast enough to reach 193 FPS, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth cap the performance at higher resolutions.

The release date of October 2023 and the $384 launch MSRP position this CPU as a high-end desktop part. The unlocked multiplier allows overclocking, though the recorded data reflects stock performance. The production status remains active, and the processor uses the LGA 1700 socket, which supports a wide range of motherboards.