Control

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a broadly capable experience in Control, but the data reveals a sharp performance cliff at 4K Ultra settings. Across the measured resolutions, the combo consistently exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold at most presets, though the highest fidelity settings at 4K demand compromises. The benchmark results indicate a system that scales predictably with resolution, offering headroom at 1080p and 1440p while struggling to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with maximum visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RX 7700 XT’s limits become apparent. With Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 43 FPS, which is 17 frames below the playable threshold and indicates a stutter-prone experience during intense combat sequences. Stepping down to High settings yields a marginal improvement to 52 FPS, still shy of smoothness. The Medium preset reaches 59.6 FPS, just barely missing the 60 FPS target. Only by selecting Low settings does the system achieve comfortable performance, with an average of 80.6 FPS — a 37.6 FPS jump over Ultra, showing that the 4K resolution is heavily taxing the GPU’s 12 GB memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation improves substantially. Low settings produce an average of 120.3 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Ultra result. The Medium preset delivers 88.4 FPS, and High settings hit 77 FPS. Notably, Ultra at 1440p achieves 68.9 FPS, clearing the 60 FPS threshold by nearly 9 frames. This suggests the resolution reduction from 4K to 1440p alleviates the GPU bottleneck significantly, with the frame rate scaling almost linearly with the decrease in pixel count.

At 1920x1080, the combo shows its strongest performance. Low settings reach 159.5 FPS, which is exceptional for a game with demanding physics and particle effects. The Medium preset averages 117.9 FPS, while High settings hit exactly 100 FPS. Ultra at 1080p produces 88 FPS, which is identical to the 1440p Medium result, indicating that the CPU and GPU are well balanced at this resolution. The data shows that every preset at 1080p maintains a substantial cushion above the 60 FPS target, with the lowest average still being 28 frames higher.

The pattern across resolutions reveals that the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K, as the frame rate drops of 19 FPS from 1440p Ultra to 4K High demonstrate. However, the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645, ensures that lower resolutions do not introduce a processor bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 43 FPS, which is well below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The system requires lowering the preset to Low to achieve smooth performance at this resolution.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset is playable at 1440p, with an average FPS of 68.9. This is the most demanding setting that stays above the 60 FPS threshold, according to the verdictByResolution data.

Q: How does the RX 7700 XT compare to the RTX 2080 in this game?

A: Based on the nearestRivals data, the RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 22549, while the RTX 2080 scores 22895. This represents a deltaPct of -1.5%, meaning the RTX 2080 is slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks, but the difference is minimal and unlikely to cause a noticeable FPS variance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for high FPS at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the GPU still dominates performance, as seen by the 71.5 FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings. However, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz ensure that the GPU can reach its full potential, as evidenced by the 159.5 FPS average at Low settings.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 59.6, which is just 0.4 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. This is effectively borderline playable, but the data classifies only Low as fully playable at this resolution.

Q: Does the combo rank highly among all tested GPU-CPU pairs for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1506 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the 40th percentile. This indicates it is a mid-pack performer, with many weaker and stronger combinations existing in the database.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the only preset that maintains an average FPS at or above 60 is Low, which achieves 80.6 FPS. This is the recommended setting for 4K gameplay, as the next step up (Medium) falls short at 59.6 FPS.

For 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 68.9 FPS. This allows players to experience the game’s highest visual fidelity at 1440p without sacrificing smoothness.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is the optimal choice, delivering 88 FPS average. This provides a substantial margin above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring stable performance even during demanding scenes with multiple enemies and destructible environments.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p Ultra offers 19.1 more FPS than 1440p Ultra, which in turn offers 25.9 more FPS than 4K Low. This suggests that players with 4K displays should prioritize frame rate over visual quality, while those with 1080p or 1440p monitors can enjoy the game’s full graphical feature set.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT combination ranks 1506 out of 3720 tested CPU-GPU pairs for Control. This places the combo in the 40.5th percentile, meaning roughly 60% of tested configurations perform better in this specific game. The ranking reflects a balanced but not exceptional setup; the GPU’s 67th percentile standing among all GPUs and the CPU’s 83rd percentile among all CPUs suggest the GPU is the limiting factor for this game’s performance.

The rank is influenced by the game’s heavy reliance on GPU throughput, particularly at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo’s 43 FPS is far below what top-tier GPUs would achieve, dragging the overall ranking down. However, at 1080p, the combo’s performance is competitive, as the 159.5 FPS Low result demonstrates strong raw capability. The mid-pack ranking indicates that while this system is more than adequate for smooth 1080p and 1440p gameplay, it does not excel at 4K, where higher-end GPUs would significantly outperform it.

Compared to the combo’s potential, the CPU’s high percentile rank means it is unlikely to bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield larger FPS gains than upgrading the CPU, especially for 4K gaming.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearestRivals data for the CPU, the Intel Core i5-14400F performs similarly to several other processors. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U has an average score of 32233, which is a 0.1% delta from the i5-14400F’s score. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32226, a 0.2% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS is slightly faster at 32354, representing a -0.2% delta, meaning it outperforms the i5-14400F by a tiny margin. The Intel Core i7-12800H scores 32121, a 0.5% difference. In practice, all four rivals would deliver nearly identical frame rates in CPU-light scenarios, though the i5-14400F’s higher boost clock and newer architecture give it a slight edge in single-threaded tasks.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile has an average score of 22435, a 0.5% delta from the RX 7700 XT’s 22549. The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729, a -0.8% delta, making it marginally faster. The RTX 2080 scores 22895, a -1.5% delta, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 scores 22170, a 1.7% delta, indicating it is slower. These alternatives would produce similar FPS in Control, with the RTX 2080 potentially offering 1-2% higher frame rates, translating to roughly 1-2 FPS at 1080p and less than 1 FPS at 4K.

A system with the i5-14400F and an RTX 2080 would behave nearly identically to the tested combo in Control, as would a setup with the i9-11900 and RX 7700 XT. The data suggests that swapping either component for a nearest rival would not change the playability verdict at any resolution.

The Verdict

The data clearly indicates that this PC can run Control smoothly at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 across all presets. At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, providing a 28 FPS cushion above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, Ultra averages 68.9 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. For 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, with an average of 80.6 FPS; the Medium preset’s 59.6 FPS is technically below the threshold, and High (52 FPS) and Ultra (43 FPS) are not viable for smooth gameplay.

The verdictByResolution data confirms that the system is fully playable at 1080p and 1440p with maximum settings, but at 4K, users must reduce visual fidelity to Low to maintain smooth frame rates. This makes the combo a strong choice for 1080p and 1440p gamers who prioritize high frame rates, but a poor fit for 4K enthusiasts seeking Ultra-quality visuals. The 60 FPS threshold is met at 1440p Ultra with a margin of 8.9 FPS, indicating that minor scene complexity variations could occasionally drop the frame rate below 60, though the average remains solid.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling between resolutions reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor, particularly at higher resolutions. At 4K, the frame rate drops from 80.6 FPS at Low to 43 FPS at Ultra, a 37.6 FPS difference that is purely GPU-driven due to the increased pixel count and shading complexity. Conversely, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 71.5 FPS (159.5 vs 88), which still shows GPU dominance but with a smaller relative impact because the CPU has more headroom to feed the GPU.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and lower settings. At 1080p Low, the 159.5 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of sustaining high frame rates without bottlenecking the GPU, as its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3055 and multi-core score of 21645 provide ample processing power. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s 35.17 TFLOPS FP32 compute is insufficient to maintain high FPS, and the CPU’s performance becomes irrelevant because the GPU is maxed out.

The scaling data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions, but the degree of bottlenecking varies. At 4K, the GPU is heavily saturated, with the frame rate dropping by 37.6 FPS from Low to Ultra. At 1440p, the same preset change results in a 51.4 FPS drop (120.3 to 68.9), showing that the GPU is still the limiting factor but with more headroom. At 1080p, the drop is 71.5 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is beginning to play a more significant role in feeding the GPU, though it never becomes the primary constraint. This analysis implies that for this game, upgrading the GPU would provide the most substantial FPS gains at 4K, while CPU upgrades would have minimal impact at any resolution.