Control

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a strong performance profile for Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title. Benchmark data shows this combination is measured, not estimated, and it comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold at most settings, with the only exception being 4K Ultra. The CPU sits in the 90th percentile among all tested processors, while the GPU is in the 55th percentile, indicating a processor-heavy pairing that still yields excellent frame rates across the board.

FAQ

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

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 56.8, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best playable 4K preset is High, which averages 68.9 FPS.

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 average 86.2 FPS, making it fully playable. This is the most demanding preset tested, and it still leaves a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target.

Q: How much performance difference is there between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 206.2 FPS, while Ultra settings average 117.1 FPS. This represents a performance drop of roughly 89 FPS when moving from the lowest to the highest preset, yet both remain far above playable levels.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to bottleneck this game at lower resolutions?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the stronger component relative to its peers. The i5-14600KF ranks in the 90th percentile for all CPUs, while the RX 7900 XT ranks in the 55th percentile for all GPUs. At 1080p, where the CPU workload is relatively higher, this imbalance is less likely to cause issues given the high frame rates.

Q: Does the system support modern graphics APIs required by Control?

A: Yes. The RX 7900 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers the API requirements for a game released in 2019.

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 73.7. This is slightly higher than High settings at the same resolution (68.9 FPS), but both are playable.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49394. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228, a negligible 0.3% difference, meaning either processor would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Control. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G is similarly close at 49196 (0.4% delta), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% delta). On the higher side, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49796, which is 0.8% faster. None of these differences would produce a perceptible change in gameplay performance.

For the GPU, the situation is more unusual. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 13745, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 660M (13812, -0.5% delta), NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13821, -0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871, -0.9% delta). These are substantially less powerful cards in real-world gaming, so the synthetic benchmark scores are not representative of their relative performance in Control. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT scores 13543 (1.5% delta) and would be a closer match in practice. For this game, the RX 7900 XT’s 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom, so users with any of these rival GPUs would see similar frame rates only if those cards also had comparable memory and compute resources.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the balance between the i5-14600KF and RX 7900 XT shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the CPU has a more pronounced role because the GPU can render frames quickly, and the processor must feed it data fast enough. The jump from Low (206.2 FPS) to Ultra (117.1 FPS) at 1080p shows a 89.1 FPS drop, indicating that the GPU is still the limiting factor when settings increase, but the CPU’s 20 threads and 5.30 GHz boost clock keep the minimum frame delivery high.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU workload increases, and the performance gap between presets narrows slightly. Low settings average 156 FPS, while Ultra averages 86.2 FPS, a difference of 69.8 FPS. The CPU remains strong enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that even the most demanding preset stays well above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. The RX 7900 XT’s 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance is pushed hard, and the gap between Low (104.5 FPS) and Ultra (56.8 FPS) is 47.7 FPS. The CPU’s influence diminishes because the GPU is spending more time on pixel shading and memory bandwidth (800.0 GB/s), making the processor’s 3.50 GHz base clock less critical. In short, the CPU matters most at 1080p to sustain high refresh rates, while the GPU dictates playability at 4K.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control, and it does so with significant headroom at most settings. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 117.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same is true: every preset is playable, and Ultra averages 86.2 FPS. At 3840x2160, three of the four presets are playable: Low (104.5 FPS), Medium (73.7 FPS), and High (68.9 FPS). The only failure point is 4K Ultra, which averages 56.8 FPS and falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

For users targeting 1080p or 1440p, this system offers a flawless experience with no need to compromise on visual quality. At 4K, dropping from Ultra to High costs some visual fidelity but secures a playable 68.9 FPS average. The data indicates that the RX 7900 XT, despite ranking in the 55th percentile among GPUs, is more than sufficient for a 2019 title like Control, and the i5-14600KF’s 90th percentile CPU ranking ensures no processor-related stutters.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 117.1 FPS. This is the highest quality option and still leaves a 57.1 FPS margin above the playable threshold, making it the clear choice for 1080p displays.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings also remain the best option, averaging 86.2 FPS. This is 26.2 FPS above the 60 FPS target, so there is no need to reduce quality. The next step down, High, averages 101.6 FPS, but Ultra provides a richer visual experience without sacrificing smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding playable preset is High, which averages 68.9 FPS. Ultra is not viable at 56.8 FPS, so High is the recommended choice. Medium averages 73.7 FPS and Low averages 104.5 FPS, but High offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for 4K gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3720 tested CPU and GPU combinations for Control, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 722nd. This places it in the top 19.4% of all tested combos, which is a strong showing for a system built around a 90th percentile CPU and a 55th percentile GPU.

The high rank relative to the GPU’s lower percentile suggests that the i5-14600KF’s excellent single-thread performance (4594 in Cinebench R23 single-core) compensates for the RX 7900 XT’s mid-tier standing among all GPUs. The combination’s 722nd rank out of 3720 means that roughly 2998 other combos perform worse, while 721 perform better. For a game like Control, which benefits from high clock speeds and strong multi-threading (the CPU scores 32544 in Cinebench R23 multi-core), this pairing is well optimized. The data shows that this system is not just playable but also competitive with a wide range of other hardware configurations, making it a reliable choice for this title.