Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure title, presents a demanding mix of physics-based combat and destructible environments that stress both the CPU and GPU. The data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti shows a configuration that is capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p, but requires careful settings management at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, while the 14-core processor provides ample headroom to avoid frame pacing issues.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep and consistent, confirming that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component in this pairing. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 92 FPS at 1080p to 69 FPS at 1440p, a 25% reduction, and then to 47 FPS at 4K, a further 32% drop from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated as the resolution increases, with the CPU's performance remaining sufficient to feed the graphics card.

The Low preset shows a similar trend, starting at 145 FPS at 1080p and declining to 110 FPS at 1440p and 74 FPS at 4K. The delta between Low and High settings at the same resolution is notable; at 1080p, the gap is 53 FPS (145 vs 92), but at 4K, the gap narrows to 27 FPS (74 vs 47). This compression of the performance gap at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU limitation, where the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become the dominant constraints, diminishing the impact of reduced shading complexity.

At Medium settings, the measured minimum and maximum frame rates provide additional insight. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 119 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 78 FPS with a spread of 66 to 90 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the average is 53 FPS with a spread of 45 to 61 FPS. The increasing variance at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is spending more time on individual frames, leading to more pronounced frame pacing fluctuations.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding 80 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many users target for smooth gameplay, indicating that the RTX 3060 Ti is not adequate for maximum quality at this resolution without significant compromises. The data shows that the transition from 1080p to 1440p is more forgiving than the jump to 4K, with the latter requiring a substantial reduction in settings to maintain playable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for this combination, particularly at 1440p and 4K. At 1440p Medium, the average of 78 FPS provides a smooth experience on standard 60 Hz displays and is within reach of 144 Hz monitors with adaptive sync. The minimum of 66 FPS recorded at this setting ensures that most scenes remain fluid, though heavy combat with multiple physics objects may briefly dip below this figure.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual detail, the Low preset is a viable option, delivering 110 FPS at 1440p and 74 FPS at 4K. This setting removes many of the game's graphical effects, such as volumetric lighting and advanced reflections, which are core to Control's atmosphere, but the performance headroom is substantial. At 1080p, Low achieves 145 FPS, which is sufficient for high refresh rate displays, though the visual compromise is significant.

The High preset is recommended for 1080p gaming, where it achieves an average of 92 FPS. This setting provides a good balance of the game's visual effects without the performance penalty of Ultra. At 1440p, High drops to 69 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat sequences that require quick camera movements. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays with 60 Hz refresh rates, as the 80 FPS average provides enough headroom, but at 1440p and above, the 60 FPS and 41 FPS results respectively are marginal for this action-oriented title.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, as it provides a substantial improvement over Low in visual quality while maintaining a 19% higher frame rate than High at 1440p (78 vs 69 FPS). At 4K, Medium's 53 FPS is 13% faster than High's 47 FPS, making the difference between a choppy and a somewhat playable experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, based on the Ampere architecture and GA104 chip, is the primary determinant of frame rates in this test. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical factor at 4K resolution where the frame buffer demands are highest. The GPU's 4864 shading units and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s, and the measured performance scaling across resolutions aligns with these specifications.

The boost clock of 1665 MHz is relatively modest for the 30-series, but the card's 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for Control's DirectX 12 rendering path. The RTX 3060 Ti's ray tracing capabilities, while present with 38 RT cores, are not fully utilized in this benchmark data, as the measured results likely reflect the game's standard rendering mode rather than RT-enhanced settings.

The GPU's 8 GB memory capacity is sufficient for Control at the tested settings and resolutions, as none of the measured runs indicate memory-related stuttering or crashes. However, the large frame rate drops at 4K suggest that the memory bandwidth, rather than capacity, is the limiting factor. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth must feed textures, geometry, and post-processing effects, and at 3840x2160, the pixel count quadruples compared to 1080p, straining the memory subsystem.

The GPU's performance percentile of 59 places it in the mid-range of all graphics cards, and its average benchmark score of 16129 is competitive with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 and Radeon RX 5700 XT, as shown by the nearestRivals data. The RTX 3060 Ti's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2626 and PassMark G3D score of 20349 provide context for its capabilities, but the in-game results are the most relevant measure of its suitability for Control.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with the High preset?

A: The measured average frame rate is 92 FPS, which provides a smooth experience for most displays. The minimum frame rate was not recorded for this setting, but the Medium preset's minimum of 88 FPS at 1080p suggests that High would stay above 80 FPS in most scenes.

Q: Is this GPU capable of 4K gaming in Control?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti can run Control at 4K, but only with significant settings compromises. The Low preset achieves 74 FPS on average, while the Medium preset drops to 53 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets fall to 47 FPS and 41 FPS respectively. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, the Low preset is the only viable option.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 60 FPS, which is 9 FPS lower than the High preset's 69 FPS. The difference in visual quality is subtle, but the performance cost is a 13% reduction in frame rate, making High the more efficient choice.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 145 FPS, which is just above the 144 Hz refresh rate. At 1440p, the Low preset reaches 110 FPS, which is below the 144 Hz target but still high enough for a responsive experience. No preset at 4K comes close to 144 FPS, with the maximum being 74 FPS on Low.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU limitation, and the Intel Core i5-14600K's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064, is more than sufficient for Control's physics-based gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti's performance in Control compare to its overall benchmark standing?

A: The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 20349 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2626 place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. In Control, the 1080p High result of 92 FPS is a solid showing, but the 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS highlights its limitations at extreme resolutions, aligning with its mid-range standing.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1848 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 50.3rd percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects a balanced pairing where the CPU's strength is not fully utilized at higher resolutions, but the GPU is capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 48618 places it in the 90th percentile of all processors, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 16673. In contrast, the GPU's average score of 16129 places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. This discrepancy in percentile rankings suggests that the CPU has more headroom than the GPU, and the combo's mid-pack rank is primarily determined by the graphics card's limitations.

The rank of 1848 out of 3720 indicates that there are many combinations that perform better, likely those with more powerful GPUs such as the RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT, but also many that perform worse, particularly those with older or lower-end graphics cards. The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals—such as the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at -0.2% and the AMD EPYC 4345P at 0.3%—show that the i5-14600K is closely matched with other high-end processors, meaning the GPU is the differentiating factor in this combo's ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, provides substantial processing power that is more than adequate for Control. The CPU's base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, combined with 24 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that the game's AI, physics calculations, and scene management are handled without becoming a bottleneck. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064 and multi-core score of 24491 demonstrate strong performance in both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads.

In Control, the CPU's role is primarily to manage the game's physics simulation, which is a hallmark of the game's combat and environmental interactions. The measured frame rates show that the CPU does not limit performance, as the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p Low, the 145 FPS average is close to the limit of what the GPU can produce, and the CPU's fast single-thread performance ensures that frame times remain consistent.

The CPU's Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process, offers high instruction throughput, which benefits the game's DirectX 12 implementation. The PassMark single-thread score of 4270 and PassMark physics score of 2473 indicate that the CPU can handle the game's complex physics interactions, which are frequent during combat with destructible objects and telekinetic abilities. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility for system builders, though the memory type's impact on game performance is not directly measured in this data.

The i5-14600K's performance relative to its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX and Intel Core Ultra 5 245, with deltaPct values of 0.7% and -0.8% respectively, shows that it is competitively positioned. In the context of this game, the CPU has no trouble keeping up with the RTX 3060 Ti, and any frame rate improvements would require a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU upgrade.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 145 FPS, followed by Medium at 103 FPS, High at 92 FPS, and Ultra at 80 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum frame rate of 88 FPS and maximum of 119 FPS show a reasonable spread, indicating that the GPU can sometimes deliver bursts of higher performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p, with an average of 80 FPS, is the only setting at this resolution that falls below the 100 FPS mark, but it remains playable on standard displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all presets. Low achieves 110 FPS, Medium averages 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and maximum of 90 FPS, High averages 69 FPS, and Ultra averages 60 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is notable for its consistency, with the minimum frame rate only 12 FPS below the average, suggesting that the GPU handles this workload without major spikes in rendering time.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low averages 74 FPS, Medium averages 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS, High averages 47 FPS, and Ultra averages 41 FPS. The 4K Medium result shows a wider variance than at lower resolutions, with the minimum frame rate 8 FPS below the average, which could be perceptible in fast-paced scenes. The 4K Ultra result of 41 FPS is the lowest recorded in the entire dataset, and it falls below the 45 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable console-like performance.

The data reveals that the step from Medium to High costs approximately 11-13% of frame rate at each resolution, while the step from High to Ultra costs 13-15%. The step from Low to Medium is more expensive, costing 29-31% of frame rate, which reflects the significant increase in graphical effects such as shadows and reflections. For users seeking the highest frame rates, the Low preset is the only option that exceeds 100 FPS at 1440p, while the Medium preset is the highest quality setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 4K.