Control

The Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 pairing delivers a highly playable Control experience at 1080p, but the data shows a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combo achieves an average of 106 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 62.2 FPS on Ultra, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary constraint when graphical load increases. The overall rank of 1336 out of 1636 tested combos places this system in the lower half of the database, yet the measured frame rates prove it is more than capable of handling this title at mainstream resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, running on a 10 nm process. With a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, this chip provides strong single-thread performance that is critical for game logic and physics. Its benchmark results support this: the Cinebench R23 single-core score is 3093, while the multi-core score reaches 21914, showing a balanced profile. The processor’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB of L1 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which benefits frame pacing in action-adventure titles.

In Control, the CPU’s role is less about pushing maximum frame rates and more about maintaining consistent minimums during physics-heavy combat sequences. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 106 FPS, which is well above the display refresh rate of most monitors. However, when settings are increased to Ultra at 1080p, the average falls to 62.2 FPS, a drop of 41.3% from Low. This suggests that while the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings, the GPU begins to struggle as shader complexity and texture detail increase. The processor’s Passmark multithread score of 25783 and single-thread score of 3723 place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, confirming it has ample headroom for this game’s demands.

The 65 W TDP and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 make this a power-efficient choice, but the data indicates that the i5-14400F is unlikely to bottleneck the RX 6600 at any resolution tested. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 27.7, which is only 55.8% of the 1080p Ultra result, demonstrating that the GPU is the dominant constraint at higher resolutions. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-12800H with an average score of 32513 and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446, show delta percentages of 0% and 0.2%, respectively, meaning the i5-14400F performs within a tight margin of these alternatives.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process, features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz allow it to reach 8.928 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is sufficient for 1080p gaming with high settings. The GPU’s 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s, making it well-suited for the particle effects and destructible environments in Control.

The measured FPS data shows that the RX 6600’s performance scales predictably with resolution. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 70 FPS, but this drops to 51.4 FPS at 1440p High and 33.3 FPS at 4K High. This represents a 52.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings, which is consistent with a GPU that has a 128-bit memory interface. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 27.7 indicates that the memory bandwidth and capacity are stretched thin. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 69th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25235, places it slightly behind the AMD Radeon 890M (delta 0%) and AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (delta -0.2%), but ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti by 0.5%.

The RX 6600’s 132 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are modest, but the data shows that it is the limiting component in this pairing at resolutions above 1080p. At 1440p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 46.9, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This indicates that players seeking higher resolutions will need to reduce settings, as the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates with maximum detail.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the optimal resolution, with average FPS ranging from 62.2 on Ultra to 106 on Low. At 1440p, the average FPS drops to 46.9 on Ultra, and at 4K, it falls to 27.7 on Ultra.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, delta 0%) and only 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446).

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 27.7, while the CPU’s strong single-thread score of 3093 in Cinebench R23 suggests it has headroom to spare.

Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, at 1080p with Medium settings, the average FPS is 76.5, and at High settings it is 70. At 1440p, only Low settings (83.6 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while Medium (59.8 FPS) is just below the threshold.

Q: How does the RX 6600 perform relative to other GPUs?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 25235, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. It is within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180) and 0.5% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120).

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has a launch MSRP of $196.

How This Combo Ranks

This pairing ranks 1336 out of 1636 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the lower 18.3% of the database. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the RX 6600 is in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 88th percentile. The discrepancy between the two components’ percentiles indicates that the GPU is the weaker link in this system, preventing the combo from achieving a higher overall rank.

The measured FPS data supports this assessment: at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 62.2 FPS, which is below the 70 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. In contrast, the CPU’s benchmark scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 21914, are competitive with processors that pair with much stronger GPUs. The combo’s rank of 1336 suggests that while it is capable of playing Control, it does so with compromises in visual fidelity or resolution compared to higher-ranked systems.

The delta percentages from the CPU’s nearest rivals show that the i5-14400F is not a performance outlier, with all rivals within 0.2% of its average score. Similarly, the GPU’s nearest rivals are within 0.5% of its score, meaning that swapping either component for a similar-tier alternative would likely produce comparable results in Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. Low settings yield an average of 106 FPS, which drops to 76.5 FPS on Medium, 70 FPS on High, and 62.2 FPS on Ultra. This represents a 41.3% reduction from Low to Ultra, showing that the GPU handles the increased graphical load with a predictable performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 83.6 (Low), 59.8 (Medium), 51.4 (High), and 46.9 (Ultra). The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in an average reduction of 21.1% across all settings, with the largest drop occurring on High settings (from 70 to 51.4 FPS, a 26.6% decrease). This indicates that the GPU’s 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly lower. Low settings produce 54.2 FPS, Medium yields 38.7 FPS, High drops to 33.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27.7 FPS. The jump from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings results in a 55.4% reduction in average FPS, confirming that the RX 6600 is not designed for 4K gaming in this title. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is also a concern at this resolution, as the higher texture detail required by Ultra settings likely exceeds the available memory.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows that the High preset at 1080p, with an average of 70 FPS, offers the best balance between visual quality and performance. This provides a smooth experience for most players, and the 20 MB L3 cache on the CPU helps maintain consistent frame delivery. For players prioritizing higher frame rates, the Medium preset at 1080p delivers 76.5 FPS, which is 9.3% faster than High while still offering acceptable visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the only configuration that maintains an average above 60 FPS, hitting 83.6 FPS. The Medium preset at 59.8 FPS is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold, and the High preset at 51.4 FPS may result in noticeable stutter during intense combat scenes. For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 54.2 FPS is the only viable option, but this requires significant visual compromises.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as it produces 46.9 FPS at 1440p and 27.7 FPS at 4K. These frame rates are below the playable threshold for most users, and the data suggests that the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are insufficient for maximum settings at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 106 at 1080p to 54.2 at 4K, a 48.9% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is even steeper, from 62.2 FPS to 27.7 FPS, a 55.5% reduction. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is limited by its memory bandwidth, as the 224.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the increased pixel count at 4K.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts from the CPU to the GPU as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the CPU’s strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 score of 3093) allows the GPU to reach 106 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS is insufficient to maintain playable frame rates, with the average dropping to 27.7 FPS. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 88th among all CPUs further confirms that it is not the bottleneck in this scenario.

The midpoint resolution of 1440p shows a balanced compromise, with average FPS values that are roughly 20% lower than 1080p across all settings. This suggests that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates with medium-to-high settings, and can handle 1440p with reduced settings. The 4K results are only playable on Low settings, and even then, the average FPS of 54.2 is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.