Lockdown Protocol

Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title, presents a demanding workload that stresses both the CPU and GPU. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, using only the provided benchmark data to interpret how this combination handles the game across various settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance this combo can achieve in Lockdown Protocol?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 369 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest performance point is 88 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the Core i9-14900K compare to its closest rivals in general processing power?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. It is 1.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, while it trails the Intel Core i9-14900KF by 0.3%, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus by 0.6%, and the AMD EPYC 7413 by 1.2%.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves an average benchmark score of 77712, which puts it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT but is 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, 2.1% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB, and 2.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 D have, and what type is it?

A: The graphics card is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The memory clock is listed as 1750 MHz with an effective rate of 28 Gbps.

Q: What is the core configuration of the Intel Core i9-14900K?

A: This processor features 24 cores and 32 threads. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP and 36 MB of shared L3 cache.

Q: Is there a significant frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, the difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 295 FPS on Low settings to 137 FPS on Ultra settings, a reduction of roughly 54%.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the primary driver of frame rates in Lockdown Protocol, especially as resolution and graphical demands increase. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is a standout feature, offering a 512-bit bus width that contributes to a 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. This massive memory pool ensures that even at 4K with Ultra settings, the game is unlikely to be constrained by VRAM capacity, allowing the GPU to focus on rendering geometry and effects rather than swapping data.

The GPU's clock speeds are substantial, with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz. These high clocks, combined with 21760 shading units and 170 RT cores, provide the raw compute power needed to push high frame rates. The measured data shows the GPU's performance ceiling is quite high. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 369 FPS, indicating that the GPU is processing frames extremely quickly when the graphical load is light. The GPU's role becomes more complex at higher settings; at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 88 FPS, showing that the card is being heavily tasked with rendering the game's full visual fidelity.

The benchmark results also reveal a distinct performance tier within the settings. At 4K, moving from Low to Medium yields a drop from 190 FPS to 135 FPS)Skip the High setting at 118 FPS, and finally Ultra at 88 FPS. This scaling suggests that the RTX 5090 D's architecture, with its specific transistor count of 92,200 million on a 5 nm process, is efficient but still subject to the laws of rendering complexity. The GPU is clearly the component that dictates the upper limits of performance in this title, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed it frames at lower resolutions, but the GPU's rendering workload becomes the bottleneck as settings and resolution are scaled up.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable trend: as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, average frame rates decrease. This indicates that the rendering load on the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. For example, with High settings, the average FPS drops from 249 at 1080p to 183 at 1440p, and further to 118 at 4K. This is a 47% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, showing how the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are increasingly taxed.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. On Low settings, the frame rate falls from 369 FPS at 1080p to 295 FPS at 1440p and 190 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is less severe than the jump to 4K, which suggests that 4K presents a significantly larger workload. The 4K data points are the most demanding, with the Ultra preset dropping to 88 FPSikuha. This scaling behavior strongly implies that the GPU is the limiting component in this configuration. At 1080p, the CPU is likely providing frames faster than the GPU can render them, but as resolution climbs, the GPU's rendering time per frame increases, and the system becomes firmly GPU-bound. The RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is clearly being utilized heavily at 4K, as the sheer number of pixels required to be processed and written to the frame buffer grows exponentially.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this hardware combination depend on the user's priority for frame rate versus visual fidelity. For competitive play where high refresh rates are paramount, the Low preset provides the highest performance. At 1080p, this yields an average of 369 FPS, and even at 1440p, it maintains a blistering 295 FPS. This setting will ensure the smoothest possible experience and is ideal for fast-paced FPS action.

For a balance between visual quality and performance, the Medium preset appears to be the most sensible choice for high-resolution gaming. It offers a significant step up in visual fidelity from Low while maintaining high frame rates. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 209 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth and well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. Even at 4K, Medium provides 135 FPS, which is a playable and smooth experience for most users. The High preset offers a middle ground, but the frame rate drops are more pronounced, especially at 4K where it falls to 118 FPS.

The Ultra preset is for those who prioritize maximum visual quality above all else. The data shows it is the most demanding, producing 187 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 88 FPS at 4K. While the 1440p number is still high, the 4K performance may not be ideal for users with 144Hz or higher refresh rate monitors. Therefore, the Medium preset appears to be the best overall recommendation, as it delivers a strong combination of high frame rates and improved graphical detail across all tested resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is derived directly from the benchmark results.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: The average frame rate is 369 FPS.
• Medium: The average frame rate is 285 FPS, with minimum and maximum readings of 243 and 328 FPS.
• High: The average frame rate is 249 FPS.
• Ultra: The average frame rate is 187 FPS.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: The average frame rate is 295 FPS.
• Medium: The average frame rate is 209 FPS, with minimum and maximum readings of 178 and 241 FPS.
• High: The average frame rate is 183 FPS.
• Ultra: The average frame rate is 137 FPS.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: The average frame rate is 190 FPS.
• Medium: The average frame rate is 135 FPS, with minimum and maximum readings of 115 and 155 FPS.
• High: The average frame rate is 118 FPS.
• Ultra: The average frame rate is 88 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K provides the processing foundation for this system. Its 24 cores and 32 threads, with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, ensure that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. This is evident from the 1080p results, where the frame rates are exceptionally high. For instance, the 369 FPS average on Low settings suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with a massive number of frames, far exceeding what most displays can show.

However, the CPU's role shifts as the resolution increases. At 4K, the frame rates are significantly lower, which indicates that the GPU's rendering workload is the limiting factor. The CPU's general benchmark performance places it in the 95th percentile, and its score of 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2262.5 in single-core shows it has immense processing power. This headroom is what allows for the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. In Lockdown Protocol, an FPS, the game is likely to have complex game logic and physics that the CPU must process. The data implies that the i9-14900K handles these tasks effectively, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p is largely consistent with what would be expected from a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's ability to maintain high minimum frame rates, as seen with the Medium preset (243 FPS minimum at 1080p), also points to its stability in demanding scenarios. This combination ensures that the system's performance is well-rounded, with the CPU providing the necessary throughput to avoid limiting the RTX 5090 D until the resolution and settings push the GPU to its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database for Lockdown Protocol, this specific combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is ranked 9th out of 3714 tested combos. This places it in the top 0.24% of all configurations, indicating that it is one of the highest-performing systems tested for this game. This high ranking is a direct result of the synergy between the top-tier CPU and GPU.

The ranking confirms that this is a flagship-level setup. The CPU's 95th percentile standing and the GPU's 92nd percentile standing in their respective categories are reflected in the overall system performance. While the GPU's average benchmark score is slightly lower than some of its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, the combination with the i9-14900K proves to be exceptionally effective in this specific game. The 9th place finish suggests that only a handful of other configurations, likely featuring similarly powerful components or perhaps even more specialized hardware, were able to achieve higher frame rates in this title. This data underscores that for Lockdown Protocol, the i9-14900K and RTX 5090 D pairing is a formidable choice that sits at the very top of the performance hierarchy.