Control

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti presents a balanced mid-range configuration for playing Control. The benchmark data shows this combo achieves its best results at 1080p, where it can deliver high frame rates across all settings, but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K with higher presets. This analysis focuses on optimizing the experience based on the measured FPS data, the specific characteristics of the CPU and GPU, and how this combination ranks against other tested hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data clearly indicates that the optimal experience is found at 1920x1080 resolution. At this resolution, the Low preset delivers an average of 148.9 FPS, which is exceptionally high and provides a significant headroom for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 102.3 FPS, still a very smooth experience, while the High preset achieves 93.9 FPS. These three presets at 1080p all offer playable frame rates, so the choice depends on the user's preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate headroom.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. The Low preset remains fluid at 111.7 FPS, but the High and Medium presets drop to 71.5 FPS and 76.2 FPS respectively. While these are still playable, they represent a noticeable step down from 1080p. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 62.4 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay on a standard 60Hz monitor. For 4K (3840x2160), the data becomes less favorable. Only the Low preset at 76.6 FPS achieves a truly playable state. The Medium preset at 54.7 FPS and High at 46.2 FPS are below the ideal threshold for a fluid experience, and the Ultra preset at 40.2 FPS is not recommended.

The data suggests that the "best" experience, balancing visual quality and performance, is the High preset at 1920x1080. It provides a 93.9 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS standard, while offering a significant visual upgrade over the Low preset. For users with a high refresh rate monitor, the Low preset at 1080p is the only option that fully utilizes such a display, with its 148.9 FPS average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This configuration provides strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 25783. Its single-thread performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2333. This combination is important because Control is a game that can scale with both multiple cores and high single-thread performance.

In the context of this game, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The benchmark results show a clear trend: as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the average FPS drops significantly at any given settings preset. For instance, at High settings, the FPS goes from 93.9 at 1080p to 71.5 at 1440p and then to 46.2 at 4K. This pattern suggests that the rendering load is shifting more heavily onto the GPU. However, the 10-core processor ensures that the game's background tasks, physics, and AI calculations are handled without bottlenecking the GPU, even at the lower resolutions where the GPU can produce higher frame rates.

The CPU's strong multi-core performance, with a Passmark physics score of 1594, also indicates it can handle complex simulations within the game. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache is a healthy amount for a modern game. While the primary performance limiter in the higher resolution tests appears to be the GPU, the CPU's robust single and multi-threaded capabilities ensure that it does not hold back the RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p, where frame rates are highest. Data shows the CPU holds an 88th percentile rank against all CPUs, indicating it is a high-performing part that will not be the weak link in this system for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the primary driver of performance in this configuration. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its architecture is Ampere, built on an 8 nm process, with a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The GPU has 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. Its compute power is rated at 16.20 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

The GPU's role is clearly dominant when analyzing the FPS data. The performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at the same resolution shows a significant impact of the GPU's workload. At 1080p, the difference between Low (148.9 FPS) and Ultra (79.2 FPS) is 69.7 FPS, demonstrating the heavy toll that higher visual settings take. This gap widens at 4K, where the Low preset achieves 76.6 FPS but the Ultra preset falls to 40.2 FPS. This indicates that the 8 GB of VRAM and the GPU's raw compute power are sufficient for the game at lower settings across all resolutions.

The 8 GB of VRAM is likely a determining factor at 4K with higher settings, where the average FPS drops below 60. The GPU's 69th percentile rank against all GPUs shows it is a capable mid-range card. Its performance is closely matched with rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, which has a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Radeon RX 6600, with a deltaPct of -0.5. This means the RTX 3060 Ti is essentially on par with these GPUs, and the FPS differences in-game are likely due to specific driver optimizations or game engine quirks. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is a key asset for the high-resolution textures in Control, but it is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with the Ultra preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 823rd out of 1636 tested combos for this game. This places it in the middle of the pack, which is a reasonable position for a mid-range CPU and GPU pairing. The rank reflects that while this combo can play the game, many other combinations with more powerful components will achieve higher frame rates, especially at higher resolutions and settings.

This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the performance data. The combo's best results are at 1080p, where it can deliver excellent frame rates. However, at 4K, it falls behind more powerful configurations that can handle the Ultra preset smoothly. The rank suggests that this is a solid choice for a 1080p or 1440p gaming system, but it is not a top-tier performer for 4K gaming. The CPU's individual performance is high, but the GPU's mid-range position is the limiting factor for the overall combo rank. The data indicates that this pairing is balanced, with neither component severely bottlenecking the other, but the system as a whole is not optimized for maximum settings at 4K resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this hardware?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the best resolution. At this resolution, all settings presets achieve at least 79.2 FPS, with the Low preset reaching 148.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 62.4 FPS, and at 3840x2160, only the Low preset is fully playable.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 76.6 FPS, which is playable. However, the High preset averages 46.2 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 40.2 FPS, which are not smooth experiences.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its closest rivals in terms of raw compute?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 25120. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, has an average score of 25180, a deltaPct of -0.2. The AMD Radeon RX 6600 has a score of 25235, a deltaPct of -0.5. These are negligible differences.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a strong performer for gaming?

A: Yes, the data indicates strong performance. It scores 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3093 in single-core. It also holds an 88th percentile rank against all CPUs, indicating it is more powerful than most processors available.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 93.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 79.2 FPS. This is a difference of 14.7 FPS, meaning the Ultra preset offers a modest visual improvement at a cost to performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: This specific CPU and GPU combination ranks 823rd out of 1636 total combos for Control. This places it in the middle of the performance spectrum for all tested systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the exact measured average FPS for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in Control.

At 1920x1080:

• The Low preset achieves an average of 148.9 FPS.
• The Medium preset achieves an average of 102.3 FPS.
• The High preset achieves an average of 93.9 FPS.
• The Ultra preset achieves an average of 79.2 FPS.

At 2560x1440:

• The Low preset achieves an average of 111.7 FPS.
• The Medium preset achieves an average of 76.2 FPS.
• The High preset achieves an average of 71.5 FPS.
• The Ultra preset achieves an average of 62.4 FPS.

At 3840x2160:

• The Low preset achieves an average of 76.6 FPS.
• The Medium preset achieves an average of 54.7 FPS.
• The High preset achieves an average of 46.2 FPS.
• The Ultra preset achieves an average of 40.2 FPS.

The data shows a consistent performance scaling across resolutions. The most significant drop in performance occurs when moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, particularly at higher settings. The difference between Low and Ultra presets is more pronounced at higher resolutions, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The 1080p results demonstrate that this combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming, while the 4K results are only suitable for users willing to compromise heavily on visual settings.