Control

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 sits at rank 72 out of 3,720 tested combos for Control. That places this configuration in the top 2% of all tested hardware pairings, which is an exceptional position for a game released in 2019. The ranking reflects the raw muscle of both components, and the measured frame rates confirm this is not a combination that struggles at any resolution.

What makes this rank particularly interesting is the delta between the two primary components. The RTX 5090 holds a 92nd percentile position among all GPUs, while the i7-14700K sits at the 94th percentile among all CPUs. Neither component is the absolute fastest in its category, yet the combination outperforms 3,648 other tested pairings. This suggests that Control's engine, which is known for its physics-heavy combat and destructible environments, benefits from the balanced strengths of both the 20-core processor and the Blackwell-architecture graphics card.

The rank also implies headroom. At rank 72, there are 71 combinations that score higher, but the data does not indicate whether those combinations achieve their scores through superior GPUs, stronger CPUs, or a different balance entirely. What the measured FPS data shows is that this combo delivers playable performance at every tested preset and resolution, which is a rarity even among high-end pairings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the i7-14700K and the RTX 5090 shifts noticeably as resolution changes. At 1920x1080, the CPU has more influence relative to the GPU because the graphics card can render frames faster than the processor can feed it data. The evidence is in the scaling: moving from Low to Ultra at 1080p drops the average from 279 FPS to 153 FPS, a reduction of 126 FPS. This large spread indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher settings, but the CPU's 28 threads and 5.60 GHz boost clock are sufficient to push frame rates well beyond what most displays can show.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to assert dominance. The average FPS at Low is 211, dropping to 116 at Ultra. The percentage drop from Low to Ultra is roughly 45%, which is smaller than the 45% drop at 1080p but still substantial. The RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth become more relevant here, as the higher pixel count demands more memory throughput and shading power.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the primary determinant of performance. The average at Low is 142 FPS, falling to 78 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 64 FPS, and the Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration tested that approaches the 60 FPS playable threshold with less margin. The CPU's role diminishes because the GPU is now rendering over 8 million pixels per frame, and the i7-14700K's 3.40 GHz base clock is more than adequate to keep up. The data suggests that at 4K, even a significantly weaker CPU would produce nearly identical frame rates, whereas at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance contributes more meaningfully to the high refresh rate results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides exact average, minimum, and maximum frame rates for select presets. The minimum and maximum values are only available for the Medium preset at each resolution, which limits the analysis of frame time consistency but still offers insight into the combo's stability.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 279 FPS. The Medium preset averages 198 FPS, with a minimum of 168 FPS and a maximum of 228 FPS. The High preset averages 176 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 153 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 168 FPS is worth noting because it indicates that even in the most demanding scenes at 1080p, the frame rate never dips below what would be considered ultra-smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 211 FPS. The Medium preset averages 150 FPS, with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS. The High preset averages 133 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 116 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 127 FPS is still far above the 60 FPS playable threshold, and the 45 FPS spread between minimum and maximum suggests consistent frame pacing.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 142 FPS. The Medium preset averages 101 FPS, with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS. The High preset averages 90 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 78 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 86 FPS is notable because it remains above 60 FPS even during the most intense combat sequences, which often involve multiple physics objects and particle effects. The Ultra preset at 4K has no reported minimum or maximum, but the average of 78 FPS provides an 18 FPS margin above the playable threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 78 FPS, which is 18 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four presets at 4K are listed as playable.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 153 at 1920x1080 to 78 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 75 FPS. This represents a 49% decrease in average frame rate.

Q: What is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 averages 116 FPS, which is 56 FPS above the playable threshold. All tested presets at 1440p remain well above 60 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 5090's 32 GB of memory matter for Control?

A: The data does not include VRAM usage metrics, but the memory configuration is part of the GPU's overall specification. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking and its benchmark scores suggest it has ample resources for this game, which is from 2019 and does not have the VRAM demands of newer titles.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 72nd out of 3,720 tested combos, placing it in the top 2% of all pairings. The CPU holds a 94th percentile position among all CPUs, and the GPU holds a 92nd percentile position among all GPUs.

Q: Is the Medium preset's minimum FPS still playable at 4K?

A: Yes. The minimum FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 86 FPS, which is 26 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The maximum is 116 FPS, giving a 30 FPS range between minimum and maximum.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 78 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available in the benchmark, and it clears the playable threshold by 18 FPS. Players who prioritize visual fidelity can run the game at maximum settings without concern.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset is also the best choice, averaging 116 FPS. This provides a 56 FPS margin above the playable threshold, meaning there is substantial headroom for demanding scenes or future driver updates that might affect performance.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 153 FPS. This is 93 FPS above the playable threshold, and it is the best setting for high refresh rate displays. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 279 FPS, which could benefit monitors with refresh rates above 240 Hz, but the Ultra preset remains the most demanding that stays above 60 FPS.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: this combination can run Control at every tested resolution and preset. The verdict by resolution lists all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) as playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The best settings at each resolution are Ultra, with average FPS of 78, 116, and 153 respectively.

The weakest configuration is 4K Ultra, which still maintains an 18 FPS margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The strongest configuration is 1080p Low, which reaches 279 FPS and demonstrates that the combo is not bottlenecked by the CPU even at lower graphics settings. The i7-14700K's 20 cores and 28 threads, combined with the RTX 5090's 21,760 shading units, produce a system that never approaches the playable threshold from below.

For a game that launched in 2019, this hardware is overprovisioned by a significant margin. The RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and the i7-14700K's 33,440.5 Cinebench R23 multi-core score indicate that this pairing would likely run Control at frame rates far exceeding what the benchmark data captured, but the measured results are the definitive answer: 78 FPS at 4K Ultra is the floor, and it is comfortably above the 60 FPS target.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i7-14700K provide context for CPU performance. The AMD EPYC 9115 has an average benchmark score of 69,288, which is 0.1% lower than the i7-14700K's 69,355 average. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515, which is 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875, which is 0.7% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996, which is 0.9% higher. These deltas are minimal, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical performance in Control, since the game does not appear to be CPU-bound at higher resolutions.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, the nearest rivals are less conventional. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605, which is 0.3% lower than the RTX 5090's 79,842 average. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396, which is 0.6% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940, which is 1.1% lower, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959, which is 1.4% higher. These rivals are not direct consumer equivalents, but the data indicates that the RTX 5090's performance class includes both workstation and mobile GPUs with similar aggregate scores.

In practical terms, a system with a Ryzen 9 7950X instead of the i7-14700K would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in Control, given the 0.2% benchmark delta. Similarly, a GPU from the Tesla or Radeon Pro lineup with a comparable average score would approach the RTX 5090's performance, though the specific features like ray tracing cores and memory bandwidth would differ. The benchmark data does not include per-game scores for these rivals, so the measured FPS for this combo remains the most reliable indicator of actual performance.