Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, presents a demanding environment with its physics-heavy telekinetic combat and destructible office spaces. The pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a dataset that clearly separates the responsibilities of the CPU and GPU across different resolutions and presets. The measured frames per second (FPS) reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but which also exposes the significant overhead the processor provides at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K creates a dramatic shift in performance, demonstrating how the system’s bottleneck moves from the graphics card to the processor. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 176 FPS at 1920x1080 to 129.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 26%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the High preset yields 89 FPS, which is a 49% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline is a classic indicator of GPU limitation; as pixel count increases, the rendering load on the RTX 4090 grows exponentially, while the CPU’s workload remains relatively static.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling at the Low preset. Here, the frame rate at 1080p is a massive 271.9 FPS, which drops to 205.5 FPS at 1440p and then to 141.5 FPS at 4K. The fact that Low settings at 1440p still achieves over 200 FPS suggests that the CPU is feeding the GPU enough data to maintain a high output, but the GPU is still the primary limiter. However, the spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is particularly interesting. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low (141.5 FPS) and Ultra (77 FPS) is 64.5 FPS, whereas at 1080p, the difference between Low (271.9 FPS) and Ultra (148.9 FPS) is 123 FPS. This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions proves that once the GPU is saturated with 4K pixel work, the impact of graphical presets diminishes, and the limiting component is unequivocally the graphics card.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF brings a substantial amount of processing power to the table, which is essential for maintaining high frame rates in Control’s chaotic scenes. With 14 cores and 20 threads, the processor is well-equipped to handle the game’s background simulations and AI routines. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide the high single-thread performance that many game engines prefer. The benchmark data for the CPU shows a strong Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and a single-core score of 4643, indicating a balanced capability for both multithreaded physics calculations and single-threaded game logic.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any tested setting, but its influence is most visible at 1080p. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 271.9 FPS. This high number is only achievable if the CPU can process the game’s frame commands faster than the GPU can render them. In comparison, the nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, has an average benchmark score of 49166, which is only 0.4% lower than the 14600KF’s 49367. This negligible difference implies that the unlocked multiplier and slightly different binning of the KF variant do not translate into a meaningful performance gap in this game. The processor’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing latency and ensuring a steady stream of instructions to the GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed performance driver in this configuration, and its specifications paint a picture of extreme rendering capability. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, the GPU features 16384 shading units and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is crucial for handling high-resolution textures and the game’s complex visual effects. The sheer compute power is evident in its FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS, allowing the card to brute-force through Control’s DirectX 12 workloads.

The GPU’s role as the primary limiter is confirmed by the FPS data. At 4K Ultra, the system manages 77 FPS, which is a demanding scenario for any card. The fact that the RTX 4090 only achieves this number at maximum settings shows that Control can still push the most powerful consumer graphics card to its limits. Interestingly, the GPU’s benchmark percentile versus all GPUs is 91, and its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla T4, which has an average score of 66733, a delta of -0.4%. This is a curious comparison, as the T4 is a data-center card, but it highlights that the RTX 4090’s raw compute score is in a league of its own, even if game-specific results vary. The 450 W TDP of the RTX 4090 confirms its performance ceiling, and the data shows that in this game, the card is consistently the component that determines the final frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the extensive database of tested combinations, this particular pairing of CPU and GPU achieves a combo rank of 31 out of 1636 tested combos. This placement in the top 1.9% of all configurations is a strong indicator of elite performance. The rank reflects the synergy between the high-end processor and the flagship graphics card, resulting in frame rates that are only surpassed by a select few other pairings, likely those with even more powerful CPUs or specialized hardware.

The data implies that while the RTX 4090 is the performance driver, it is not held back by the i5-14600KF. The combo’s high rank suggests that the CPU provides enough instruction throughput to allow the GPU to operate near its full potential. In a game like Control, where the action can become CPU-intensive during large-scale physics events, this balance is crucial. The rank of 31 out of 1636 means that 99% of tested configurations are slower, which validates the choice of this pairing for high-refresh-rate 4K gaming or competitive 1440p play. It also suggests that upgrading the CPU from this i5 to a higher-core-count part would likely yield diminishing returns, as the GPU is already the limiting factor at most settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 271.9 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only setting where the system approaches the 300 FPS mark, indicating a very high CPU ceiling.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1440p or 4K gaming in Control?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440 with High settings, the system achieves 129.7 FPS, while at 3840x2160 with High settings, it drops to 89 FPS. For a 60 FPS target, 4K is viable, but for high-refresh-rate monitors above 120 Hz, 1440p is the more appropriate resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49367, which is 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K’s score of 49166. This difference is within the margin of error and does not significantly affect Control’s frame rates.

Q: Does the GPU’s memory bandwidth matter for Control?

A: The RTX 4090 provides 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth, which is substantial. This is likely a key factor in maintaining stable frame rates at 4K Ultra, where large textures and high-resolution effects require rapid data access.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 271.9 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 148.9 FPS. This represents a performance cost of 123 FPS for the highest visual quality, showing a significant GPU workload increase.

Q: Is the RTX 4090’s performance in Control considered average for the card?

A: The GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 91, and its average benchmark score is 66473. In Control specifically, the frame rates are consistently high, suggesting that the game scales well with the card’s raw power.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the High preset at 2560x1440 emerges as the optimal choice from the measured data. At this setting, the system achieves 129.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and close to the 144 Hz refresh rate that many modern monitors support. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 14.9 FPS (from 129.7 to 114.8), a minor reduction that may not justify the extra graphical features for competitive play.

At 4K, the High preset is the recommended target for a console-like 60 FPS experience, as it delivers 89 FPS. Moving to Ultra at 4K drops the frame rate to 77 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. For users with high-refresh-rate 4K monitors, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 provides 101.2 FPS, offering a better compromise between the visual quality of High and the performance of Low. The data clearly shows that the Medium preset at 4K is the sweet spot for exceeding 100 FPS, while High is the best quality setting that remains comfortably above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system’s performance reflects the CPU’s strength. Low settings produce a massive 271.9 FPS, while Medium yields 194.1 FPS and High delivers 176 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still manages 148.9 FPS, ensuring a high-refresh-rate experience even at maximum quality. The scaling from Low to Ultra here shows a total drop of 123 FPS, indicating that the GPU is doing more work, but the CPU is still keeping up.

At 2560x1440, the resolution stress begins to show. Low settings still produce an excellent 205.5 FPS, but the gap to Medium closes to 149.5 FPS. High settings follow at 129.7 FPS, and Ultra trails with 114.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 90.7 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090 is clearly the dominant constraint. Low settings drop to 141.5 FPS, which is still very high, but Medium falls to 101.2 FPS. High settings produce 89 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 77 FPS. The performance range at 4K is compressed to 64.5 FPS between Low and Ultra, proving that the GPU’s rendering capability is the primary determinant of frame rate at this resolution. The data confirms that this combo is powerful enough for 4K Ultra at playable frame rates, but it is most at home at 1440p with high refresh rates.