Control

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT delivers a playable, if not spectacular, experience in Control. The benchmark data shows a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck, with the CPU’s substantial core count providing ample headroom. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, contextualizes the component roles, and explains how this pairing ranks among the 1,636 tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable and steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 125.9 FPS, indicating a fluid experience. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 93.3 FPS, a 26% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 62.2 FPS, which is roughly a 51% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario; as the pixel count rises, the rendering load on the Radeon RX 6650 XT increases proportionally.

The trend is even more pronounced when examining higher settings. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 71.0 at 1080p to 53.4 at 1440p and further to 35.7 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the dataset, representing a 50% decrease from the 1080p Ultra score. The data indicates that the RX 6650 XT’s 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory interface are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but are overwhelmed by the demands of 4K, especially on higher presets. The system is clearly limited by the graphics card, not the processor, at every resolution tested.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is a mid-range graphics card built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, featuring 2048 shading units and a 128-bit memory bus with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. Its boost clock is rated at 2635 MHz, and the memory operates at an effective speed of 17.5 Gbps, yielding a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. These specifications position the card to handle 1080p gaming comfortably, which is reflected in the fact that it achieves over 60 FPS at 1440p High settings.

However, the card’s limitations become clear at higher resolutions. At 4K High, the average FPS is 40.4, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 35.7. The data suggests that the GPU’s 8 GB frame buffer and 64 ROPs are insufficient for the texture and shading demands of Control at 4K. The benchmark results show a consistent pattern: the RX 6650 XT provides playable frame rates up to 1440p but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K on anything but Low settings. The card’s PassMark G3D score of 17166 and its 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs align with this mid-range performance profile.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It features 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 35443 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5003 in single-core, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This level of performance is far beyond what Control requires.

The FPS data confirms that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this configuration. The difference between 1080p Low (125.9 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (71.0 FPS) is substantial, which would not be the case if the CPU were the bottleneck. Typically, a CPU bottleneck would show similar FPS across different graphics settings. Here, the FPS scales directly with the GPU load, indicating that the i7-14700F has enough computational headroom to feed the RX 6650 XT effectively at all times. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003, is particularly beneficial for the game’s physics and logic updates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of 1,636 tested CPU and GPU combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks at position 1013. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, which is consistent with the GPU’s mid-range status despite the high-end CPU. The combo’s ranking is primarily determined by the GPU’s performance ceiling, as the CPU is more than capable of supporting a faster graphics card.

The data shows that the RX 6650 XT is closely matched with several other GPUs in aggregate benchmarks. Its average benchmark score of 29024 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (29011, 0.0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996, 0.1% delta). It is also within 0.6% of the Intel Arc A370M and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH. This indicates that in this system, the GPU is the performance anchor. The i7-14700F, meanwhile, is a top-tier processor, ranking just behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X by 0.6% and ahead of the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 by 1.2% in average benchmark scores. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming but leaves significant untapped CPU potential on the table.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p is the ideal resolution, with an average of 71.0 FPS at Ultra settings and 125.9 FPS at Low settings. At 1440p, the system remains playable, achieving 61.3 FPS on High and 53.4 FPS on Ultra. The 4K resolution is only viable on Low settings, where it hits 62.2 FPS.

*Q: How does the CPU affect performance in Control?*

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F does not bottleneck the system. The FPS scales significantly with graphics settings and resolution, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s high single-core score of 5003 in Cinebench R23 ensures it can handle the game’s processing demands without issue.

*Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM on the RX 6650 XT enough for Control?*

A: The measured results suggest that 8 GB is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the system achieves playable frame rates. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 35.7, likely due to the GPU’s memory capacity and bandwidth being overwhelmed by the higher resolution’s demands.

Q: How does this combo compare to others in the database?

A: This pairing ranks 1013 out of 1636 tested combinations. The ranking is driven by the GPU’s mid-range performance, as the RX 6650 XT is closely matched with the RX 6800M and RX 470 in aggregate scores, while the CPU is a top performer in the 94th percentile.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 61.3. This is the most balanced setting for a 60 FPS experience at this resolution, as Medium yields 68.1 FPS and Ultra drops to 53.4 FPS.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 125.9 on Low to 71.0 on Ultra. This represents a 43.6% decrease in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest settings, highlighting the GPU’s workload increase.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measurements for this CPU and GPU combination in Control.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS |

|:-----------|:---------|:------------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 40.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 62.2 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 46.0 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 35.7 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 61.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 93.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 68.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 53.4 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 79.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 125.9 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 85.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 71.0 |

The data illustrates a clear performance hierarchy. At 1080p, the system achieves its best results, with all settings producing playable frame rates. The step to 1440p introduces a significant cost, with the average FPS dropping by roughly 20-25% across all settings. The jump to 4K is the most demanding, with the system only managing 62.2 FPS on Low and falling below 40 FPS on High and Ultra. These results confirm that the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but the Intel Core i7-14700F’s performance is largely left unused at 4K due to the GPU’s limitations. The system is a strong choice for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, offering 125.9 FPS on Low settings, and remains competent for a 60 FPS 1440p experience on High settings.