Lockdown Protocol

# Lockdown Protocol: Intel Core i9-14900K + AMD Radeon RX 9070

The measured frame rates for Lockdown Protocol with the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 reveal a configuration that scales predictably across resolutions and settings, with the GPU emerging as the dominant performance constraint at higher fidelity levels. This pairing sits at rank 513 out of 1637 tested combinations, placing it in the upper third of all configs for this FPS title. The data set spans three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive view of how the system behaves under varying load conditions.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p to 4K produces a clear and consistent performance degradation across all settings, though the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the preset. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 153.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 112.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 41.5 FPS, and then further to 71.4 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a cumulative drop of 82.2 FPS, or roughly 53.5% of the 1080p figure, when moving to 4K.

The Low preset tells a different story regarding scaling efficiency. At 1080p Low, the system produces 246 FPS, which drops to 177.6 FPS at 1440p and 119.2 FPS at 4K. The relative decline from 1080p to 4K is larger in absolute terms at 126.8 FPS, but the percentage drop is similar to High. Interestingly, the gap between Low and High settings narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p the difference is 92.4 FPS, at 1440p it is 65.5 FPS, and at 4K it shrinks to 47.8 FPS. This converging pattern suggests that resolution scaling becomes the dominant factor at higher pixel counts, overwhelming the impact of quality settings.

Medium settings exhibit the most linear scaling behavior. The 175.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 126.3 FPS at 1440p (a 49.1 FPS reduction) and then to 85.3 FPS at 4K (a further 41.0 FPS reduction). The consistency of these drops indicates that Medium settings do not disproportionately stress either the CPU or GPU at any resolution. Ultra settings show the steepest absolute decline: 116.8 FPS at 1080p falls to 82.8 FPS at 1440p and then to 57 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure of 57 FPS is the only measured result below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this preset pushes the RX 9070 to its limits at maximum pixel density.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070, based on the Navi 48 chip with RDNA 4.0 architecture, carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 2518 MHz with 20.1 Gbps effective speed. These specifications directly inform the 4K performance profile, where the GPU's compute resources and memory subsystem are fully exercised. The card's boost clock of 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz, provides the raw throughput necessary for the higher frame rates observed at lower resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its gaming performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 places it in a specific performance tier, while the PassMark G3D score of 25381 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 165532 indicate strong DirectX and Vulkan capabilities. The card sits at the 79th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34780. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are the NVIDIA A2 (deltaPct -0.2%), NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (deltaPct 0.3%), AMD Radeon HD 7970 (deltaPct 0.7%), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (deltaPct 0.8%). These deltas are remarkably tight, suggesting that the RX 9070's overall compute performance is closely matched to those cards, though the gaming-specific results in Lockdown Protocol may diverge from aggregate scores.

The 4K Ultra result of 57 FPS highlights the GPU's limitation at maximum settings. With 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, the card's pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s are substantial but not unlimited. The FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS provides the compute headroom, yet the Ultra preset's additional rendering demands at 3840x2160 push the card below the ideal 60 FPS mark. The fact that 4K High achieves 71.4 FPS demonstrates that the gap between High and Ultra is where the GPU's performance headroom is exhausted.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K serves as the processing foundation for this configuration, bringing 24 cores and 32 threads from its Raptor Lake-R architecture on a 10 nm process. The base clock of 3.20 GHz boosts to 6.00 GHz, providing exceptional single-thread performance that benefits game logic and physics calculations. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache, alongside 2 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core, offers ample on-die storage for frequently accessed game data.

The CPU's benchmark results establish its capability relative to the GPU demands. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 49872 and single-core score of 7040 indicate strong overall throughput. Geekbench scores of 20370 multicore and 3064 single-core reinforce this picture. The PassMark multithread score of 58674 and single-thread score of 4697 demonstrate balanced performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. The CPU sits at the 97th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 79824.

The nearest CPU rivals show very small deltas: the AMD EPYC 7413 trails by 0.3%, while the Intel Core i9-14900KF (deltaPct 0.7%), Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (deltaPct 0.7%), and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (deltaPct 0.9%) all lead by less than one percent. This clustering indicates that the i9-14900K is positioned within a tightly competitive performance band, where no single processor in this group holds a decisive advantage in aggregate benchmarks.

In Lockdown Protocol specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, given the observed frame rate patterns. At 1080p Low, the 246 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently to reach very high frame rates, but the scaling behavior indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The 24-core, 32-thread configuration provides ample headroom for the game's thread utilization, and the 6.00 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded game logic does not bottleneck the rendering pipeline.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this configuration?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 246 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 177.6 FPS at 2560x1440 and 119.2 FPS at 3840x2160 on the same preset.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K on any preset?

A: Yes, 4K High achieves 71.4 FPS and 4K Medium achieves 85.3 FPS, both above 60 FPS. However, 4K Ultra falls to 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at the same resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 116.8 FPS versus 153.6 FPS for High, a difference of 36.8 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra achieves 82.8 FPS versus 112.1 FPS for High, a 29.3 FPS gap. At 4K, Ultra produces 57 FPS versus 71.4 FPS for High, a 14.4 FPS difference.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: Medium settings drop from 175.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 85.3 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a reduction of 90.1 FPS, or approximately 51.4% of the 1080p value.

Q: How does the GPU's performance rank among all tested graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 sits at the 79th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34780. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA A2, is 0.2% behind, while the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 leads by 0.3%.

Q: Does the CPU's 97th percentile ranking indicate it is the bottleneck in this game?

A: No, the frame rate scaling across resolutions suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher settings. The CPU's high percentile ranking and its ability to support 246 FPS at 1080p Low indicate it is not the primary constraint in Lockdown Protocol.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 153.6 FPS offers the best balance between visual quality and smoothness, as it provides a substantial 36.8 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining a frame rate well above display refresh rate capabilities. Players prioritizing maximum frame rates can use Low at 246 FPS, but the jump to Medium at 175.4 FPS adds significant visual fidelity for only a 70.6 FPS penalty.

At 1440p, High at 112.1 FPS emerges as the recommended preset, delivering a smooth experience with only a 29.3 FPS reduction compared to Ultra. Medium at 126.3 FPS is also viable for those who prefer even higher frame rates, but High offers the better quality-to-performance tradeoff given the 14.2 FPS difference between these two presets is relatively modest.

For 4K gaming, the analysis is more nuanced. Ultra at 57 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay despite offering the highest visual quality. High at 71.4 FPS is the recommended choice, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while maintaining substantial graphical fidelity. Medium at 85.3 FPS is the alternative for those who want additional headroom, sacrificing some visual quality for a 13.9 FPS improvement over High. The data clearly indicates that High is the optimal preset at 4K for this configuration, as it is the highest quality setting that maintains a consistent 60+ FPS experience.