Control

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers an exceptionally strong performance profile for Control, with benchmark data showing every tested resolution and preset combination clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold. The measured FPS results indicate that this hardware combination is not merely capable of running the game, but rather it provides substantial headroom across the board, with even the most demanding Ultra settings at 4K producing an average of 69 FPS. The data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution changes, maintaining high frame rates that suggest a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions and a more balanced workload at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with the Low preset reaching an average of 246 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution yields an average of 175 FPS, with a measured minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS, indicating a stable experience even during intense gameplay moments. High settings produce an average of 156 FPS, while the Ultra preset still maintains a robust 135 FPS average. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the system has considerable performance reserves, and the frame rate is likely limited more by the game engine's rendering pipeline than by the hardware itself.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains impressive but shows the expected scaling from the resolution increase. The Low preset delivers an average of 186 FPS, which is a 60 FPS drop from the 1080p result, demonstrating the additional pixel workload. Medium settings at 1440p produce an average of 132 FPS, with minimum and maximum values of 113 and 152 FPS respectively, showing a tighter frame time distribution than the 1080p Medium result. High settings average 118 FPS, and the Ultra preset still comfortably exceeds 100 FPS with an average of 102 FPS. The step from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra represents a 33 FPS decrease, which is proportionally similar to the increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains well above playable thresholds, though the scaling from lower resolutions becomes more pronounced. The Low preset at 4K achieves an average of 126 FPS, which is still over double the 60 FPS threshold and indicates that even at maximum resolution, the system is not struggling. Medium settings at 4K average 89 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, providing a smooth experience with acceptable frame time variance. High settings average 79 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces an average of 69 FPS. The progression from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra shows a 33 FPS drop, mirroring the 1080p to 1440p Ultra scaling, which suggests a consistent GPU workload scaling with resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases, which is typical for a game like Control with its demanding visual effects and particle systems. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction of roughly 24-31% across all presets, with the Low preset dropping from 246 to 186 FPS (24%), Medium from 175 to 132 (25%), High from 156 to 118 (24%), and Ultra from 135 to 102 (24%). This consistent percentage reduction indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at both resolutions, as the workload scales fairly linearly with pixel count.

The transition from 1440p to 4K shows a more aggressive performance drop, with Low settings falling from 186 to 126 FPS (32%), Medium from 132 to 89 (33%), High from 118 to 79 (33%), and Ultra from 102 to 69 (32%). The steeper decline at 4K suggests that the GPU is becoming more heavily saturated, with the memory bandwidth and shading capacity of the RTX 4080 being pushed closer to their limits. The Intel Core i7-14700K, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, appears to provide sufficient processing headroom at all resolutions, as the frame rate differences between presets remain consistent regardless of resolution.

At 1080p, the CPU's role is more significant, as the high frame rates (246 FPS on Low) approach the point where CPU frame submission can become a limiting factor. However, the consistent scaling between presets at this resolution indicates that the i7-14700K is not causing a bottleneck, as even the Low preset's 246 FPS is likely below the CPU's maximum frame generation capability. The data implies that this combination is well-balanced, with the GPU being the determining component for performance scaling across resolutions and the CPU providing ample support without becoming a constraint.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is clearly the best choice, delivering an average of 135 FPS. This is more than double the 60 FPS playability threshold, and the performance headroom suggests that players could potentially enable additional rendering features without experiencing noticeable slowdowns. The data shows all presets at this resolution are viable, but Ultra provides the maximum visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate that exceeds the requirements of high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset remains the optimal selection, with an average of 102 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, and the 102 FPS average indicates that even demanding scenes with heavy particle effects will remain smooth. The High preset at 118 FPS offers a modest 16 FPS improvement over Ultra, but the visual quality difference may not justify the performance trade-off for most users. The Medium preset at 132 FPS provides additional headroom for competitive play, but Ultra strikes the best balance between visual fidelity and performance.

For 3840x2160, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 69 FPS, which just barely clears the 60 FPS threshold. This makes Ultra the most demanding preset that remains playable at 4K, though the margin is relatively slim. The High preset at 79 FPS provides more comfortable headroom for maintaining consistent frame times, especially during combat sequences with multiple enemies and destructible environments. Players prioritizing frame rate stability over maximum visual quality might prefer High settings at 4K, but the data confirms that Ultra is technically playable at this resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearestRivals data for the Intel Core i7-14700K shows that the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has an average benchmark score of 69515, which is 0.2% lower than the i7-14700K's score. This indicates that the Ryzen 9 7950X would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Control, with the 0.2% difference being imperceptible in real-world gameplay. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, representing a 0.7% advantage over the i7-14700K, while the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996, a 0.9% advantage. These differences are within the margin of error for benchmark testing and would not produce measurable FPS differences in this game.

For the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the closest rival, with an average benchmark score of 54209, just 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's score of 54247. This means that swapping to the RTX 4080 SUPER would result in essentially identical frame rates in Control. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, a 2.6% advantage, and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, a 2.7% advantage. While these GPUs score slightly higher in synthetic benchmarks, the performance difference would translate to only a few FPS in Control, likely not changing the playability verdict at any resolution.

When considering alternative combinations, pairing the i7-14700K with the RTX 4080 SUPER would produce effectively the same results as the tested configuration. A system with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the RTX 4080 would also behave nearly identically, since the CPU performance delta is negligible for this game. The benchmark data suggests that any of these rival components would maintain the same playability thresholds, with Ultra settings at 4K still averaging around 69 FPS and 1080p Low still reaching approximately 246 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 241st out of 3720 tested combinations for Control, placing it in the top 6.5% of all systems in the benchmark database. This ranking reflects the strong performance demonstrated in the measured FPS data, where even the most demanding preset at the highest resolution maintains playable frame rates. The percentileVsAllCpus score of 94 for the CPU and 86 for the GPU further contextualizes this ranking, showing that both components are in the upper echelon of their respective categories.

The rank of 241 out of 3720 means that the vast majority of tested systems (over 93%) perform worse than this combination in Control. This is consistent with the measured FPS results, which show that the system achieves 69 FPS at 4K Ultra, a setting that many systems cannot handle at playable frame rates. The rank also implies that there are 240 combinations that outperform this setup, which would likely include higher-end GPUs such as the RTX 4090 or potentially dual-GPU configurations. However, the data shows that for practical purposes, this combination provides excellent performance that exceeds the requirements of most players.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the benchmark data shows that all four tested presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at 3840x2160 achieve average frame rates above the 60 FPS threshold. The lowest performing preset, Ultra, averages 69 FPS, while Low settings reach 126 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 102 FPS, making it the most demanding setting that remains well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. This provides maximum visual quality while maintaining smooth gameplay.

Q: How much performance difference is there between 1080p and 1440p?

A: The data shows a consistent reduction of approximately 24-25% across all presets when moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440. For example, Ultra settings drop from 135 FPS to 102 FPS, and Low settings drop from 246 FPS to 186 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 the limiting factor at any resolution?

A: The benchmark results indicate that GPU scaling is consistent across resolutions, with frame rates dropping proportionally to pixel count increases. This suggests the RTX 4080 is the primary performance determinant, while the i7-14700K provides sufficient CPU headroom at all tested settings.

Q: What frame rates can be expected with Medium settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 89, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This provides a stable experience with minimal frame time variance.

Q: How does this system compare to the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score that is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080, meaning the two GPUs would deliver virtually identical frame rates in Control. The performance difference is within measurement error.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally confirms that the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination can run Control at playable frame rates across all tested resolutions and presets. According to the verdictByResolution data, every resolution from 1080p to 4K lists all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) as playable, with the best settings being Ultra at each resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings achieve an average of 135 FPS, providing exceptional smoothness for high-refresh-rate displays. At 2560x1440, Ultra settings deliver 102 FPS, offering excellent visual quality with substantial performance headroom. At 3840x2160, Ultra settings average 69 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold but with a narrower margin, making High settings at 79 FPS a more comfortable choice for players who prioritize consistent frame times. The system's 241st place ranking out of 3720 tested combinations further validates its strong performance, with the benchmark data showing that this hardware can handle Control's most demanding scenarios without dropping below playable thresholds. This combination represents a high-performance configuration that exceeds the requirements for a smooth Control experience at any resolution.