Control

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Control across all tested resolutions. The benchmark data shows this combination consistently exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold, even at the most demanding settings, making it a formidable setup for this title.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which achieves an average of 80 FPS. This is a significant margin above the playability threshold, indicating the GPU has ample headroom even at maximum settings. The data shows High settings produce 92.2 FPS, Medium reaches 105.3 FPS, and Low peaks at 144.3 FPS at this resolution.

For 2560x1440 (1440p), the Ultra preset again qualifies as the best playable setting, delivering an average of 115.8 FPS. This represents a substantial improvement over the 4K result, with a 44.75% increase in average frame rate when moving from 3840x2160 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings. High settings at this resolution produce 134.9 FPS, Medium reaches 154.7 FPS, and Low achieves 213.2 FPS.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Ultra preset delivers 158.6 FPS on average, which is the highest frame rate among all Ultra settings across the three resolutions. The scaling from 1440p to 1080p at Ultra shows a 36.96% improvement. Low settings at 1080p push the average to 247.4 FPS, Medium reaches 200.8 FPS, and High produces 181 FPS. In every case, the combination of the i5-14400F and RTX 5090 maintains performance well above 60 FPS, allowing users to select the highest visual quality preset without compromising playability.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the dominant performance factor as resolution increases, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with Low settings producing 247.4 FPS. This suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to sustain very high frame rates, though the GPU still plays a primary role in determining output.

When comparing scaling between resolutions, the RTX 5090 shows typical GPU-bound behavior. Moving from 1080p Low (247.4 FPS) to 1440p Low (213.2 FPS) results in a 13.82% drop, while the transition from 1440p Low to 4K Low (144.3 FPS) causes a 32.32% decrease. Similarly, at Ultra settings, the frame rates scale from 158.6 FPS at 1080p to 115.8 FPS at 1440p (a 26.99% reduction) and then to 80 FPS at 4K (a 30.92% reduction from 1440p). These consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU's rendering load is the primary constraint as resolution increases.

The i5-14400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, appears well-matched to this workload. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055, suggest strong processing capability. However, the fact that frame rates scale so predictably with resolution changes indicates the GPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios. At lower resolutions like 1080p, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS on Low settings, the CPU's role becomes more prominent, but the data does not show any signs of CPU-induced performance caps, as the frame rates continue to scale with settings changes.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals to the Intel Core i5-14400F provide context for its performance tier. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U shows an average benchmark score of 32233, which is 0.1% lower than the i5-14400F's 32279 average. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32226, a 0.2% difference, while the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS achieves 32354, putting it 0.2% ahead. The Intel Core i7-12800H rounds out the group with a score of 32121, representing a 0.5% deficit. These small deltas suggest that any of these processors would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control, as the differences are within a fraction of a percent.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090's nearest rivals show a similar pattern of close performance. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605, a 0.3% difference from the RTX 5090's 79842 average. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB achieves 79396, representing a 0.6% gap. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940, which is 1.1% lower, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X reaches 80959, putting it 1.4% ahead. These comparisons indicate that users with any of these GPUs would experience nearly indistinguishable performance in Control, with frame rate differences likely falling within measurement variance.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K resolution with maximum settings?

A: Yes. The benchmark data shows the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 80 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold by a substantial margin.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate is 247.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the performance at 1440p Ultra compare to 4K Ultra?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 115.8 FPS, which is 44.75% higher than the 80 FPS recorded at 3840x2160 with the same preset.

Q: Is there any resolution where this combo fails to reach 60 FPS?

A: No. Across all three tested resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160) and all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), the average frame rate never drops below 80 FPS.

Q: Which component is more important for performance at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary factor at 3840x2160, as frame rates scale consistently with settings changes, from 80 FPS at Ultra to 144.3 FPS at Low, demonstrating GPU-bound behavior.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, while the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U scores 32233, representing a negligible 0.1% difference in favor of the Intel processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates show consistent scaling across presets. Low settings produce 247.4 FPS, Medium reaches 200.8 FPS, High achieves 181 FPS, and Ultra delivers 158.6 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 18.84% decrease, while the transition from Medium to High is a 9.86% reduction, and High to Ultra is a 12.38% drop.

For 2560x1440, the averages are 213.2 FPS at Low, 154.7 FPS at Medium, 134.9 FPS at High, and 115.8 FPS at Ultra. The percentage decreases between successive presets are 27.44% from Low to Medium, 12.80% from Medium to High, and 14.16% from High to Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are 144.3 FPS at Low, 105.3 FPS at Medium, 92.2 FPS at High, and 80 FPS at Ultra. The scaling shows a 27.03% reduction from Low to Medium, a 12.44% reduction from Medium to High, and a 13.23% reduction from High to Ultra. Across all resolutions, the relative performance gap between presets remains fairly consistent, with Low to Medium being the largest single-step decrease and Medium to High being the smallest.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 71st out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places the system in the top 1.91% of all configurations tested, indicating exceptional performance relative to the broader benchmark database. The high ranking is consistent with the measured frame rates, which show the combo delivering smooth gameplay at all resolutions and settings. The combination of a mid-range CPU and flagship GPU proves effective for this title, as the RTX 5090's immense rendering power compensates for any potential CPU limitations, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU workload dominates.

The Verdict

This PC can definitively run Control, and it does so with substantial performance headroom at every resolution and setting combination tested. The verdict data confirms that all four settings presets are playable at each resolution, with the best settings being Ultra at all three resolutions. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset maintains an average of 80 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra achieves 115.8 FPS, and at 1920x1080, Ultra delivers 158.6 FPS. The lowest recorded average across the entire test matrix is 80 FPS, which occurs at 4K Ultra, meaning users never have to compromise on visual quality to maintain playability. The data shows this combination is not merely capable of running Control but is overqualified for it, delivering performance that exceeds the requirements of the most demanding settings by at least 33.3% at every resolution.