Control

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a highly capable Control experience, but the results are heavily dependent on resolution. At 1920x1080, this combination is overwhelmingly powerful, pushing frame rates well beyond the 60 FPS threshold at every preset. Moving to 2560x1440, the system remains comfortably playable, even at the highest settings. However, 4K resolution presents a significant challenge, as only the Low preset maintains a playable frame rate, with higher settings dipping below the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data paints a clear picture of performance scaling across the three primary resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system starts with a 148 FPS average on Low settings, demonstrating a massive performance headroom. The Medium preset yields 105 FPS on average, with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS, showing excellent consistency. High settings produce 93 FPS average, while the demanding Ultra preset still delivers a very smooth 81 FPS average.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain robust but show the expected decline from the 1080p results. Low settings produce 112 FPS average, a strong figure that retains most of the 1080p performance. Medium settings deliver 80 FPS average, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. High settings are still very playable at 71 FPS average, and the Ultra preset manages to stay above the playability threshold with a 61 FPS average.

The 4K results are where the system's limitations become apparent. At 3840x2160, Low settings produce a playable 76 FPS average. The Medium preset drops to 54 FPS average, with a concerning minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS. High settings yield just 48 FPS average, and Ultra is the most demanding, resulting in a 41 FPS average. The data indicates a clear pattern: the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings widens substantially as resolution increases, with the 4K Ultra preset representing a 46% reduction in average FPS compared to 4K Low.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The benchmark data places the Intel Core i7-14700KF in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating exceptional processing power. Its nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance: the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996, just 0.2% lower; the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875, 0.4% lower; and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515, 0.9% lower. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 70,879, which is 1% higher. These differences are minimal, meaning any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control when paired with the same GPU.

On the graphics side, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a score of 15,862 (0.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with 16,014 (1% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 with 15,679 (1.1% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with 16,129 (1.7% higher). These small deltas suggest that swapping the RX 7700 for any of these cards would result in nearly identical performance in Control. For example, the RTX 3060 Ti, being only 1.7% faster on average, would likely produce frame rates within a couple of FPS of the RX 7700 across all tested settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

Analyzing the scaling between resolutions reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor in this pairing for Control. The CPU remains largely static in its workload across different resolutions, while the GPU's rendering load increases significantly with pixel count. This is evident when comparing the 1080p and 4K results at the same settings. For instance, at Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 81 at 1080p to 61 at 1440p and finally to 41 at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance.

The CPU's role is more apparent in the frame rate ceilings at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the 148 FPS average suggests the system is approaching the CPU's ability to feed frames to the GPU. The i7-14700KF, with its high single-thread performance, is well-suited for this task, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,235 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,578. However, the GPU's performance ceiling becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The data shows that the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more severe than from 1440p to 4K, which is typical for a GPU with this level of compute throughput.

The preset scaling further supports this analysis. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 67 FPS (from 148 to 81). At 1440p, this gap narrows to 51 FPS (from 112 to 61). At 4K, the gap is just 35 FPS (from 76 to 41). This shrinking delta at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated, leaving less headroom for quality settings to impact performance.

The Verdict

The data confirms that this PC can run Control, but the playable experience is strictly limited by resolution. According to the verdict data, at 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, achieving an average of 76 FPS. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets all fall below the 60 FPS threshold, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440, the system clears the 60 FPS bar at every preset, with the Ultra setting achieving 61 FPS average. This makes 1440p the sweet spot for this hardware combination, allowing players to experience the game at maximum visual quality while maintaining playability.

At 1920x1080, the system has no issues whatsoever. All four presets are playable, with even the most demanding Ultra preset delivering a comfortable 81 FPS average. The data shows that this resolution offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with the Low preset pushing the frame rate to 148 FPS for high-refresh-rate displays. For users with 1080p monitors, this system is more than capable of running Control at maximum settings without any performance concerns.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, which achieves an average of 76 FPS. This is the only playable option at 4K, as the next step up, Medium, drops to 54 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering 61 FPS average, which clears the playability threshold by a narrow margin. This allows for full visual fidelity at 1440p. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is also the recommended choice, achieving an impressive 81 FPS average, providing a high-quality experience with ample performance headroom for demanding scenes.

FAQ

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

A: No. The measured data shows an average of 41 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is well below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combo for this system?

A: The data indicates that 2560x1440 with Ultra settings is the optimal choice, delivering 61 FPS average. Alternatively, 1920x1080 with Ultra settings provides a more comfortable 81 FPS average.

Q: How does the AMD Radeon RX 7700 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15,852, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16,129. This makes the RTX 3060 Ti 1.7% faster on average, which would translate to a negligible difference in Control's frame rates.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700KF a bottleneck for this game?

A: No. The CPU is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, is only 1% faster. The performance scaling at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. This is well above the playability threshold.

Q: Are there any settings at 4K that maintain 60 FPS?

A: Yes, the Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves 76 FPS average. However, the Medium preset drops to 54 FPS average, so Low is the only playable option at 4K.