Control

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Control with the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER covers three resolutions and four quality presets. All figures are average FPS; the database did not record separate minimum or maximum frame times for this configuration.

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers its strongest results. The Low preset averages 117.4 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across the entire test matrix. Medium follows at 83.9 FPS, High at 77.7 FPS, and Ultra at 67.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 49.6 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant load relative to the minimum settings. Even at Ultra, the average remains above the 60 FPS playability threshold, which is notable for a GPU in this class.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute values. Low averages 90.9 FPS, Medium drops to 65.7 FPS, High to 57.6 FPS, and Ultra to 48.9 FPS. The step from Medium to High costs 8.1 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs another 8.7 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at this resolution that clears the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so with a margin of 5.7 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the configuration struggles to maintain playable frame rates on any preset. Low averages 58.4 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS mark. Medium drops to 44.5 FPS, High to 40.0 FPS, and Ultra to 33.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 24.9 FPS, showing that the GPU is the limiting factor when pixel count rises. No preset at this resolution reaches the playable threshold.

The data shows a consistent scaling pattern: each resolution increase reduces average FPS across all presets, and each preset increase within a resolution reduces FPS as well. The largest single step in the entire dataset is from Low to Medium at 3840x2160, which costs 13.9 FPS. The smallest step is from Medium to High at 1920x1080, which costs 6.2 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on Raptor Lake architecture with a 125 W TDP. Its benchmark scores place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, by contrast, sits in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 18093. This is a substantial imbalance: the CPU is a high-end desktop part, while the GPU is a mid-range Turing card from the GeForce 20-series.

The measured FPS scaling across resolutions reveals which component dominates. At 1920x1080, the GPU still has enough headroom to push frame rates well above 60 FPS on all presets. The CPU is not the bottleneck here, as even the Ultra preset averages 67.8 FPS. However, the relatively modest spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p, 49.6 FPS, suggests that the GPU is already being stressed by the higher presets.

At 2560x1440, the GPU load increases as expected. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is 26.5 FPS, while the drop from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra is 18.9 FPS. This disproportionate scaling indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint. The CPU's high single-thread and multi-thread performance, reflected in its Cinebench R23 scores of 2160 single-core and 33440.5 multi-core, is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant component. The frame rates collapse to a range between 33.5 FPS and 58.4 FPS across presets, which is consistent with a GPU that is saturated by pixel throughput. The CPU contribution becomes negligible at 4K; the differences between presets are driven almost entirely by GPU shader and memory bandwidth limits. The RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, and its FP32 performance is 7.181 TFLOPS. These specifications are far below what the i7-14700K can feed at lower resolutions, confirming that the GPU role scales inversely with resolution while the CPU role diminishes.

In summary, the i7-14700K provides ample compute for Control at any resolution, but the RTX 2060 SUPER cannot translate that CPU headroom into playable 4K performance. The bottleneck shifts from balanced at 1080p to entirely GPU-bound at 4K.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals in the database provide context for both components. For the CPU, the Intel Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355. The AMD EPYC 9115 scores 69288, which is 0.1% lower, making it nearly identical in overall performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, 0.2% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, 0.7% higher. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996, 0.9% higher. These deltas are all within a single percentage point, meaning any of these CPUs would behave essentially the same as the i7-14700K in Control. None of them would change the FPS results in a meaningful way.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile scores 18159, which is 0.4% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 scores 18189, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 460 scores 18373, 1.5% higher, and the Intel Arc A770M scores 18383, 1.6% higher. These are all close matches, though the RX 460 and Arc A770M are somewhat surprising entries given their different market positions. In practice, swapping the RTX 2060 SUPER for any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control, with differences of at most a few FPS.

The practical takeaway is that this system is a balanced pairing in terms of raw benchmark scores, but the GPU's 62nd percentile ranking means it is the weaker link for gaming. A user with a stronger GPU from the nearest rivals list would see similar Control performance; a user with a stronger CPU would not see any improvement because the CPU is never the bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Control at 1920x1080 on Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 67.8 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

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

A: The Medium preset is the best setting that stays at or above 60 FPS at 1440p, with an average of 65.7 FPS. High and Ultra fall below the threshold at 57.6 FPS and 48.9 FPS respectively.

Q: Is 4K playable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 58.4 FPS on the Low preset, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium is 44.5 FPS, High is 40.0 FPS, and Ultra is 33.5 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 117.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 67.8 FPS, a difference of 49.6 FPS.

Q: Which component limits performance at 4K?

A: The GPU. The RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck, as frame rates at 3840x2160 stay below 60 FPS even on Low, while the CPU has ample headroom with a 94th percentile ranking.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2502nd out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the lower third of the database.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 67.8 FPS. This is the best visual quality available while maintaining playability.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the most demanding option that clears the threshold, averaging 65.7 FPS. High and Ultra both fall short, so Medium is the recommended choice for 1440p.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The Low preset comes closest at 58.4 FPS, but it still does not meet the playability threshold. There is no recommended best setting at 4K for this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this CPU and GPU combination at 2502 out of 3720 tested combinations for Control. This places the system in the lower third of all tested hardware configurations. The ranking reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's strengths; the i7-14700K is a top-tier processor, but the RTX 2060 SUPER's 62nd percentile GPU ranking drags the overall gaming performance down. The rank of 2502 means that roughly two-thirds of tested combinations deliver higher frame rates in Control, while one-third deliver lower performance. For a game released in 2019, this system can still handle 1080p and 1440p at moderate settings, but it is not a high-end Control machine by current database standards.

The Verdict

This system can run Control, but the experience depends heavily on resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, and the Ultra preset averages 67.8 FPS, providing smooth performance with maximum visual quality. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium are playable, with Medium being the best option at 65.7 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold; the Low preset averages 58.4 FPS, which is close but not sufficient.

The verdict is clear: this is a capable 1080p and 1440p configuration for Control, but not a 4K machine. The CPU is never the limiting factor, and the GPU determines the playable settings. For users targeting 1080p, the system delivers excellent performance across all presets. For 1440p, medium settings are required for a stable 60 FPS experience. For 4K, the frame rates are below the playability threshold on every preset, so a more powerful GPU would be necessary for that resolution.