Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with both resolution and graphics presets. With the Intel Core i9-14900K driving the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, the benchmark data reveals a configuration that is potent but not immune to the game's escalating requirements. The measured FPS across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions shows a clear narrative about where the performance ceiling lies under different settings.

Resolution Scaling

The data demonstrates a predictable yet significant drop in frame rates as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop is heavily influenced by the graphics settings. At High settings, moving from 1920x1080 (207.3 FPS) to 2560x1440 (153.9 FPS) results in a 25.8% reduction in average FPS. The jump from 1440p to 3840x2160 (100 FPS) is even more severe, a 35% decrease, indicating that the GPU is working considerably harder at 4K. This trend is consistent across all presets, but the raw numbers tell different stories about the system's limits.

At the Low preset, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with 329.9 FPS at 1080p and 241.3 FPS at 1440p. Even at 4K Low, the system manages 159.7 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows a 51.6% performance drop, which is a massive hit but leaves the gameplay well above the 144Hz threshold for most monitors. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to maintain very high frame rates, and the GPU is still the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but the game is not fully GPU-bound until the resolution is high.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 235.4 FPS at 1080p, 172.3 FPS at 1440p, and 113.5 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, however, shows the most dramatic scaling and the lowest absolute numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 153.3 FPS, which is still smooth. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 110.7 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 74.7 FPS. This final figure is the only one in the entire dataset that dips below the 100 FPS mark, indicating that Ultra settings at 4K are the true stress test for this combination. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra represents a 51.3% decrease in performance, mirroring the Low preset's relative drop but at a much lower absolute baseline.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Lockdown Protocol at 4K with high refresh rates?

A: At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 100.0, which is suitable for a 100Hz or lower refresh rate monitor. For 144Hz or higher, you would need to use the Low preset (159.7 FPS) or Medium preset (113.5 FPS).

Q: What is the best settings preset for competitive play at 1080p?

A: For maximum frame rates, the Low preset yields 329.9 FPS. The Medium preset provides 235.4 FPS, which is still exceptionally high and offers better visual fidelity. Even the Ultra preset at 1080p produces 153.3 FPS, which is well above the threshold for competitive play.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest rival in general compute performance?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 53610 is slightly higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT's score of 53489, a 0.2% delta. It is also ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, which has an average score of 52086, a 2.9% delta.

Q: What kind of performance uplift does the Low preset offer over Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset (241.3 FPS) is more than double the frame rate of the Ultra preset (110.7 FPS). This represents a 118% increase in average FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes more relevant at 1080p, where frame rates are extremely high. The jump from 1080p High (207.3 FPS) to 1080p Low (329.9 FPS) shows a 59% performance increase, which is a large gain that indicates the GPU is not the sole limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER a top-tier GPU in the database?

A: It ranks in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, placing it in the upper echelon of graphics cards. Its average benchmark score of 53610 places it near the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414), which is a 0.4% delta.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a flagship 24-core processor with 32 threads, capable of boosting up to 6.00 GHz. This high core count and clock speed are crucial for maintaining high frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU has to work harder to feed the GPU. The benchmark results support this, showing that at 1080p Low, the system achieves a staggering 329.9 FPS, a figure that requires an extremely capable CPU to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The processor's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872, ensures that background tasks do not interfere with game performance. Its single-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040, is equally important, as many game engines rely heavily on a few fast cores for main thread logic and physics. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache also provides a large pool of fast memory for game data, reducing latency.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 97 among all CPUs confirms its top-tier status. It outperforms the Intel Core i9-14900KF by a 0.7% delta in average benchmark score, a negligible margin that places them on equal footing. Its position near the AMD EPYC 7413, which scores 0.3% higher, shows that its overall compute capability is competitive with enterprise-level parts, though the EPYC's architecture is different. For Lockdown Protocol, the i9-14900K's balance of high single-threaded speed and massive multi-core throughput provides the foundation for the high frame rates seen in the data.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is ranked 89th out of 1637 combos for Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 5.4% of all tested systems, a strong showing that underscores the high level of performance this hardware combination provides. The ranking reflects that while there are many systems with more specialized or higher-end parts, this particular pairing is a very capable enthusiast-level setup.

The rank is a result of the combination of the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's strong performance. The i9-14900K's 97th percentile ranking is complemented by the RTX 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile ranking. This synergy is evident in the measured FPS, which rarely dips below 100 FPS except at the most demanding 4K Ultra setting. The 89th rank out of 1637 combos suggests that a vast majority of tested systems will deliver lower frame rates in this game, making this a high-tier performer.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a powerful graphics card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This large memory capacity is particularly relevant for Lockdown Protocol at 4K Ultra, where high-resolution textures can quickly consume VRAM. The card's 10240 shading units and boost clock of 2550 MHz are key to its raw compute power.

The GPU's role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 74.7, indicating that the GPU is heavily loaded and is the primary limiting factor. The card's FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS is substantial, but the game's Ultra preset clearly demands even more from the hardware. In contrast, at 1080p Low, the card's performance is so high (329.9 FPS) that the CPU's ability to submit draw calls becomes a more significant factor.

The RTX 4080 SUPER's general compute performance, as measured by its average benchmark score of 53610, is just 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, indicating that the two cards are very closely matched in synthetic tests. However, in Lockdown Protocol, the NVIDIA card's specific feature set and drivers likely contribute to the high frame rates observed. Its 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that it is a high-end part, but not the absolute fastest available.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all main resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance. The Low preset averages 329.9 FPS, while Medium averages 235.4 FPS. High settings produce 207.3 FPS, and even the demanding Ultra preset maintains an average of 153.3 FPS. This means that at 1080p, every preset is capable of driving a 144Hz monitor, and the Low and Medium presets are suitable for 240Hz or higher displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains very high. The Low preset averages 241.3 FPS, which is an excellent result. The Medium preset follows with 172.3 FPS, and High settings produce 153.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 110.7 FPS, which is still above the 100 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a noticeable hit, but the frame rates are so high at 1080p that the system has plenty of headroom.

At 3840x2160, the demands of 4K are clear. The Low preset averages 159.7 FPS, which is a strong result and allows for high-refresh-rate gameplay even at 4K with reduced visuals. The Medium preset averages 113.5 FPS, and High settings produce 100.0 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 74.7 FPS. This is the only configuration that drops below 100 FPS, and it shows that for a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K Ultra, this system is sufficient, but for 120 FPS or higher, lower settings are required.