Control

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B570 presents a fascinating case study in Control, a game known for its physics-heavy environments and demanding rendering. The measured data reveals a system that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions but hits a definitive wall at 4K. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a smooth experience across most presets, with Low settings hitting an average of 101 FPS, Medium at 71 FPS, and High at 63 FPS. The only 1080p preset that fails to clear the 60 FPS threshold is Ultra, which averages 55 FPS. Moving up to 2560x1440, the performance gap becomes more pronounced: Low settings still provide a comfortable 76 FPS average, but Medium drops to 54 FPS and High to 48 FPS, with Ultra falling further to 42 FPS. At 3840x2160, the system struggles universally; even Low settings only muster a 51 FPS average, while Medium, High, and Ultra produce 36, 32, and 28 FPS respectively. The frame time data for Medium settings at each resolution shows a consistent pattern: at 1080p the minimum is 61 FPS, at 1440p it falls to 46 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 31 FPS, indicating that the Arc B570's memory bandwidth and compute resources are progressively overwhelmed as pixel count rises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide a clear, resolution-by-resolution picture of how this hardware combination handles Control. Starting at the most demanding setting, 3840x2160 Ultra, the system averages just 28 FPS, which is far below the 60 FPS playability threshold. Dropping to High at 4K only recovers 4 FPS, reaching 32 FPS. Medium settings at 4K show a slight improvement to 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS, highlighting significant frame time inconsistency. The most notable 4K result is on Low, where the average jumps to 51 FPS, but this still falls short of playable. The data indicates that the Arc B570, with its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, simply cannot sustain the rendering load at this resolution, regardless of the CPU's capability.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves considerably, though it remains a mixed bag. Low settings deliver a solid 76 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings drop to 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, creating a borderline experience where frame pacing could be noticeable. High settings average 48 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a performance cost of roughly 34 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The 1080p results are where this combo shines. Low settings achieve a very high 101 FPS average, Medium hits 71 FPS, and High reaches 63 FPS, all clearing the 60 FPS target. Ultra at 1080p averages 55 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution that fails. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a tight frame time range of 61 to 82 FPS, suggesting a stable experience under typical gameplay.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Control at 4K with a smooth framerate?*

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves an average of 51 FPS. High settings produce 32 FPS, Medium 36 FPS, and Ultra 28 FPS. None of these results reach the 60 FPS playability threshold, making 4K unplayable for this combination.

Q: What is the best setting for 1080p gaming with this hardware?

A: According to the verdict data, the best playable setting at 1920x1080 is High, which averages 63 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS. While Low and Medium also clear the threshold, High offers the best visual quality among the playable options.

Q: How does the performance scale from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a steep decline. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average FPS is 71. At 2560x1440 Medium, it drops to 54 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Medium, it falls to 36 FPS. This represents a 49% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU's rendering capacity is the limiting factor.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F holding back the Intel Arc B570 in this game?

A: The data does not suggest a CPU bottleneck. The i7-14700F has 20 cores and 28 threads, and its benchmark scores (e.g., Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122) place it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. The large FPS drops at higher resolutions strongly indicate the Arc B570 is the performance ceiling.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset?

A: The measured FPS data includes min/max values only for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 61 FPS. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 46 FPS. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 31 FPS. These values show that frame dips are more severe at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the system meet the 60 FPS playability threshold at 1440p?

A: Only with the Low preset. The verdict data lists Low as the only playable setting at 2560x1440, with an average of 76 FPS. Medium (54 FPS), High (48 FPS), and Ultra (42 FPS) all fail to reach 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2995 out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This places it in the lower half of all systems tested, which is notable given the CPU's high individual standing. The i7-14700F alone performs in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, but the Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The combination's rank suggests that the GPU's performance class significantly drags down the overall system score in this particular title. The ranking implies that while the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic and physics, the graphics card is the primary determinant of the frame rate, and its mid-range positioning limits the system's overall capability. For context, the CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (with a delta of 0.6% in average benchmark score), which is a similarly strong processor, yet this combo still ranks below the median. The data indicates that for Control, the GPU choice matters far more than the CPU, as the game's rendering demands are intense and scale heavily with resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the Intel Arc B570, the data shows that the GPU's average benchmark score of 20556 is closely matched by several other graphics cards. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile has a score of 20534, a delta of 0.1%, meaning it would likely produce very similar frame rates in Control. Similarly, the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, a delta of -0.1%, indicating nearly identical performance. The AMD Radeon R9 M390X (score 20662, delta -0.5%) and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (score 20480, delta 0.4%) are also within a 0.5% performance envelope. For a user seeking a similar experience, swapping the Arc B570 for an Arc A750 or an RTX 3070 Mobile would likely yield almost indistinguishable FPS numbers in this game. On the CPU side, the i7-14700F's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (delta 0.6%) and the AMD EPYC 7313P (delta 0.8%). While these processors have different architectures and core counts, their average benchmark scores are within 1% of the i7-14700F, meaning they would not meaningfully change the frame rates in Control when paired with the same GPU. The bottleneck is clearly the graphics card, so any of these CPU alternatives would maintain the same performance profile.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data across resolutions and presets reveals a clear division of labor. The Intel Core i7-14700F, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, provides ample processing power for Control's physics simulation and game logic. Its high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958) ensures that the game's main thread is not a limiting factor. This is evidenced by the fact that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 101 FPS, a high enough number that a weaker CPU would likely cap the frame rate. However, as resolution increases, the performance drops dramatically, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The Arc B570's compute resources (11.52 TFLOPS FP32) and memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s) are the deciding factors. At 1080p, the GPU can keep up with the CPU, but at 1440p and 4K, the pixel fill rate and memory pressure become too high. The scaling from 1080p Medium (71 FPS) to 1440p Medium (54 FPS) is a 24% drop, and from 1440p to 4K Medium (36 FPS) is a 33% drop. This non-linear decline indicates that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling, while the CPU has headroom to spare. The data strongly suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield significant FPS gains, while upgrading the CPU would not.

The Verdict

Based on the verdictByResolution data, this PC can run Control at playable frame rates, but only at specific resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold with the High, Medium, and Low presets, making 1080p the most versatile resolution for this setup. The best playable setting at 1080p is High, with an average of 63 FPS. At 2560x1440, the only playable setting is Low, which averages 76 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, there are no playable settings; every preset fails to reach 60 FPS, with the best result being 51 FPS on Low. For a smooth experience, users should stick to 1080p with High settings or 1440p with Low settings. The system is not suitable for 4K gaming in Control.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is as follows:

• 3840x2160: No preset achieves 60 FPS. The highest average FPS is 51 on Low, which is not playable.
• 2560x1440: The best playable setting is Low, which delivers an average of 76 FPS. This is the only preset at this resolution that clears the threshold.
• 1920x1080: The best playable setting is High, which delivers an average of 63 FPS. This provides a good balance of visual fidelity and performance, as Medium (71 FPS) and Low (101 FPS) are also playable but offer lower graphical quality.