Control

Control is a 2019 action-adventure title that stresses both the CPU and GPU depending on the resolution and settings selected. The data for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination provides a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie, with the measured frames per second (FPS) showing a predictable shift from processor-bound at 1080p to graphics-card-bound at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured results across three resolutions and four quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the rate of decline is not uniform across all settings. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 232 FPS at 1920x1080 to 176 FPS at 2560x1440, a 24.1% reduction, and then further to 119 FPS at 3840x2160, a 32.4% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep scaling at Low settings indicates that the GPU is not the primary limiting factor at lower resolutions; the processor is capable of feeding the graphics card with enough data, and the frame rate is largely dictated by the CPU's ability to process the game's logic.

At the High preset, the scaling is more moderate but still significant. The average FPS drops from 146 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p (a 24.0% reduction) and then to 75 at 4K (a 32.4% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern, with averages of 127, 96, and 65 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The consistent percentage drops across these presets suggest that while the GPU is becoming more involved, the CPU's performance ceiling is still being approached at 1080p, and the scaling to higher resolutions is primarily a function of increased pixel count and shading work.

The Medium preset, which has the only complete set of min and max FPS data, shows a slightly different scaling curve. From 165 FPS at 1080p, the average drops to 125 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2% reduction) and then to 84 FPS at 4K (a 32.8% reduction from 1440p). This indicates that the game is well-optimized for resolution scaling, with the performance penalty being roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the RTX 5070 Ti, as the frame rates at this resolution are far below what the CPU is capable of supporting, evidenced by the high 1080p numbers.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience per the data depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 127 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the Low preset achieves 232 FPS, and the Medium preset reaches 165 FPS. For most users, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a strong balance, with an average of 165 FPS and a minimum of 140 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without significant frame drops. The High preset at 1080p is also viable at 146 FPS average, but the Medium preset provides a larger headroom above the minimum.

Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 111 FPS, which is suitable for 120Hz displays. The Medium preset provides a more comfortable margin with 125 FPS average and a minimum of 106 FPS. The Ultra preset is still playable at 96 FPS average, but the data shows that dropping to High or Medium will provide a more consistent experience if frame pacing is a concern. At 4K, the High preset averages 75 FPS, which is just on the edge of 60 FPS-plus gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K offers 84 FPS average with a minimum of 72 FPS, making it the recommended choice for a smooth 4K experience. The Ultra preset at 4K averages 65 FPS, which is acceptable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055. In Control, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 232 is far above what the GPU can typically produce in more demanding titles, indicating that the processor is efficiently feeding the graphics card. The CPU's single-thread performance is particularly important for this game's directx 12 rendering path, and the 4.70 GHz boost clock helps maintain high frame rates in scenes with complex physics or AI.

The data shows that the i5-14400F is not a bottleneck at 1080p for any preset, as even the Ultra preset achieves 127 FPS. However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the CPU's influence diminishes as the resolution increases. The 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game's background tasks, but the game is not heavily multi-threaded, as evidenced by the fact that the performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 105 FPS (from 232 to 127). This implies that the GPU is already being utilized well at 1080p, and the CPU has enough headroom to handle the higher settings without a major frame rate penalty. The processor's 65W TDP and 20 MB of shared L3 cache contribute to its efficiency, but the primary factor in Control is the high boost clock for single-threaded tasks.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 127.

Q: How does the 4K Medium preset compare to the 1440p Medium preset?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 84, while at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, it is 125. This represents a 32.8% reduction in average frame rate when moving from 1440p to 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The average FPS at 4K Low is 119, while at 1080p Low it is 232, showing that the GPU cannot maintain the same frame rate at higher pixel counts, despite the CPU's capability to produce higher numbers at 1080p.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 106.

Q: Does the i5-14400F support ECC memory?

A: Yes, the Intel Core i5-14400F has ECC memory support enabled.

Q: What is the boost clock speed of the CPU in this combination?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has a boost clock of 4.70 GHz.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this combination when playing at higher resolutions. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, the memory bandwidth is 896.0 GB/s, which is ample for Control's textures and effects at 4K. The GPU's boost clock is 2452 MHz, and it has 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The measured results show that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, where the average FPS ranges from 65 at Ultra to 119 at Low. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 45.4% reduction in average FPS (from 119 to 65), which highlights the impact of the game's graphical settings on the rendering load.

The RTX 5070 Ti's performance at 1440p is strong, with the Ultra preset achieving 96 FPS and the High preset at 111 FPS. The GPU's 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is well-suited for the game's directx 12 rendering, and the 70 RT cores provide support for any ray-traced effects, though the measured data does not specify whether these are enabled. The memory capacity of 16 GB ensures that there is no VRAM limitation at 4K Ultra, as the game's textures and buffers fit comfortably within this allocation. The GPU's 300W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface are consistent with its positioning as a high-end card, and the benchmark results show it is capable of delivering smooth frame rates at 1440p and playable rates at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across all settings is as follows: Low achieves 232 FPS, Medium achieves 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 and maximum of 190, High achieves 146 FPS, and Ultra achieves 127 FPS. This shows a clear hierarchy, with the Low preset providing the highest frame rate and the Ultra preset the lowest. The difference between Medium and High is 19 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is also 19 FPS, indicating a linear scaling of performance with preset quality.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops across the board. The Low preset averages 176 FPS, the Medium preset averages 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143, the High preset averages 111 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 96 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 51 FPS, which is larger than the 19 FPS gap at 1080p, showing that the GPU is starting to feel the load at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the averages are 119 FPS for Low, 84 FPS for Medium with a minimum of 72 and maximum of 97, 75 FPS for High, and 65 FPS for Ultra. The scaling from Low to Medium is 35 FPS, and from Medium to High is 9 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 10 FPS. The data shows that the Medium preset at 4K provides the best balance of average FPS and minimum FPS, ensuring a stable experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 389th out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 10.5% of all combinations. This high ranking is driven by the strong performance of both components, with the CPU's single-thread capability and the GPU's raw rasterization power. The CPU is ranked in the 83rd percentile against all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U with a delta of 0.1% and the Intel Core i9-11900 with a delta of 0.2%, indicating that the i5-14400F is competitive with older high-end processors. The GPU is in the 86th percentile against all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 at a delta of -0.1%, showing that the RTX 5070 Ti is slightly below that card in average benchmark score.

Given the measured FPS, this combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, as well as for 4K at Medium or High settings. The rank of 389 out of 3720 suggests that there are many faster combinations, but the vast majority of tested configurations are slower. The data confirms that this pairing is balanced, with neither component severely bottlenecking the other at typical gaming resolutions. The high FPS at 1080p Low (232) demonstrates that the CPU can push beyond 200 FPS, and the 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS shows that the GPU is capable of handling the most demanding settings, albeit with some compromise. Overall, this is a high-performing combination for Control, with the ranking reflecting its position among the top tier of tested hardware.