Control

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Remedy’s Control. The data reveals a system where the 20-core CPU provides ample headroom, allowing the GPU’s Turing architecture to become the definitive limiting factor as resolution climbs. This pairing, ranked 2152 out of 3720 tested combos, demonstrates that a strong modern processor can extend the viability of an older, high-end graphics card, though the experience is heavily dependent on the user's resolution and settings targets.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 130 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This suggests the system has significant performance headroom when graphical demands are minimized.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER's benchmark standing compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 20282 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. It is 1% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, 1.2% ahead of the RTX 3070 Mobile, and roughly 1.3-1.5% ahead of the Intel Arc B570 and Arc A750.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all other processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53620. This indicates it is a very high-performing processor in the database's broader context.

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

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The average FPS drops to 42 at High settings and 36 at Ultra, which is significantly lower than the 1080p results, showing the RTX 2070 SUPER is struggling to keep up with the increased pixel count.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 98 at Low settings to 54 at Ultra settings. This 44 FPS difference represents a 45% performance reduction when moving to the highest quality preset.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: The launch MSRP for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER was 499 USD. This information is provided for context on the card's original market positioning.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, based on the TU104 chip and Turing architecture, is the central figure in this combo's gaming performance. Its specifications—8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth—are crucial for handling the textures and effects in a game like Control. The card's compute power is rated at 9.062 TFLOPS for FP32, and it features 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, indicating an early attempt at hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS, features that would be stressed by this title.

The data's performance scaling is a direct reflection of the GPU's capabilities. At 1080p, the card shows its strength, delivering an average of 130 FPS on Low settings. However, as resolution increases, the raw fill-rate and memory bandwidth demands escalate. The pixel rate is 113.3 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 283.2 GTexel/s, which are pushed to their limits at higher resolutions. For instance, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 36, demonstrating that the 2070 SUPER’s architecture is not designed for such demanding workloads in this title.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 65% and its average score of 20282 confirm its position as a mid-to-high-end card from its generation. Its performance is closely matched by the RTX 3070 Mobile, which is only 1.2% faster, showing that this desktop card still holds its own against a newer mobile part. The data suggests that in Control, the RTX 2070 SUPER is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but it lacks the headroom for a smooth 4K experience, especially on higher presets where the 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth become constraining factors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F serves as a robust foundation for this system, and its specifications suggest it is far from being a bottleneck in Control. With 20 cores and 28 threads, it offers substantial multi-threading capability, which is reflected in its strong benchmark scores, such as 35122 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 41317 in Passmark multithread. Its high boost clock of 5.40 GHz and single-core scores, like 4958 in Cinebench R23, indicate excellent performance in tasks that rely on fewer threads, which is often the case for game logic and physics.

The CPU's performance percentile of 91% reinforces its status as a high-end processor. It outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X by 0.6% in the average benchmark score, showing it is a competitive part even against newer architectures. In the context of this game combo, the 14700F's capabilities are so far ahead of the GPU that it effectively removes CPU-side limitations. Evidence for this is seen in the FPS scaling; at 1080p Low, the system achieves 130 FPS, a number that is more than likely capped by the GPU's rendering speed rather than the CPU's ability to feed it frames.

The data implies that the 14700F provides a massive performance cushion. Even in high-FPS scenarios, the CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and high clock speeds ensure that frame times remain consistent, allowing the RTX 2070 SUPER to operate at its maximum potential. This is a classic pairing of a modern, powerful CPU with an older GPU, where the former ensures that the latter is the sole determinant of gaming performance, a conclusion strongly supported by the measured FPS across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the vast database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the i7-14700F and RTX 2070 SUPER achieves a rank of 2152 out of 3720 combos in Control. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, which is a logical outcome given the age of the graphics card. The CPU is a top-tier performer, but the GPU's 65th percentile standing pulls the overall combo rank down, as the game's performance is largely GPU-bound.

This rank is a quantitative measure of the system's overall capability in this specific title. It is not a reflection of the CPU or GPU's individual merits, but rather their combined output. The data suggests that while the CPU is capable of supporting much higher-end graphics cards, the RTX 2070 SUPER limits the system to a performance tier that is below the majority of other tested configs. The fact that it is not in the bottom quarter of rankings confirms the CPU's ability to extract the maximum possible performance from the GPU.

The combination's rank highlights a key principle in system building: balance. A top-tier CPU paired with a mid-range, older GPU will not yield top-tier gaming results in a GPU-intensive title like Control. The system's position at 2152nd place indicates that many other combinations, likely featuring newer or higher-tier GPUs, can achieve better frame rates, even if their CPUs are less powerful. This serves as a clear example that for gaming, the graphics card is often the primary driver of the overall experience.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS data reveals a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and performance for this combo. The most balanced experience appears to be at 1440p with High settings, which yields an average of 62 FPS. This resolution and preset combination provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is smooth and playable for most users. The 1080p High setting is also viable at 82 FPS, but it does not take full advantage of higher-resolution displays.

For users with 1080p monitors, the Medium preset at 92 FPS offers a great balance, but the High preset at 82 FPS is recommended for a better visual experience without a major performance hit. At 1440p, the High preset is the sweet spot; the Low preset at 98 FPS is unnecessarily fast and sacrifices too much visual quality, while the Ultra preset at 54 FPS begins to dip below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 70 FPS is a good alternative if a higher frame rate is preferred.

At 4K, the data suggests that this combo is not well-suited for high-fidelity gaming. The Ultra preset at 36 FPS is not a playable experience for most. The Low preset at 66 FPS is the only preset that consistently hits a playable frame rate, but it does so by significantly reducing graphical details. The Medium preset at 47 FPS is a compromise, but it is still below the ideal 60 FPS target. Therefore, the recommendation is clear: stick to 1440p for the best combination of image quality and performance, or use 1080p for the highest frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a comprehensive look at performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its strength, starting at 130 FPS on Low, dropping to 92 FPS on Medium, 82 FPS on High, and 71 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has recorded min and max values of 78 and 106 FPS, respectively, indicating some frame time variance but generally stable performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance impact of the increased resolution is immediate. The average FPS figures are 98 (Low), 70 (Medium), 62 (High), and 54 (Ultra). The Medium preset shows a min of 59 FPS and a max of 80 FPS, suggesting that while the average is decent, there are moments where the frame rate can dip close to the 60 FPS threshold. This resolution is where the RTX 2070 SUPER starts to feel its age, but it remains a viable option for High settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The average FPS figures are 66 (Low), 47 (Medium), 42 (High), and 36 (Ultra). The Medium preset has a min of 40 FPS and a max of 54 FPS, showing that even the mid-range preset struggles to maintain a consistent frame rate. The data here is a clear indicator that 4K gaming is not within this combo's comfortable reach. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, with the High preset falling from 82 FPS to 42 FPS, a 49% reduction.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K provides critical insight into the system's limiting component. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 82 FPS. When moving to 1440p High, the frame rate falls to 62 FPS, a 24% decrease. This is a significant drop, but the system remains playable. However, the transition to 4K High is far more punishing, with the average FPS plummeting to 42, a 49% decrease from the 1080p figure and a 32% decrease from the 1440p figure.

This pattern of scaling strongly indicates that the system is GPU-bound. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU's workload would not change as drastically. The fact that FPS scales inversely with resolution is a classic sign of a graphics card being pushed to its limits. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 9.062 TFLOPS of compute power are simply insufficient to maintain higher frame rates at 4K, where the pixel count is over four times that of 1080p.

The data reveals that the i7-14700F is not a constraint in this scenario. The CPU has enough headroom to handle the game's logic at all resolutions, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's lack of raw rendering power. This is a textbook example of a CPU that is "future-proof" in its capabilities, while the GPU is the component that defines the system's performance ceiling. The scaling suggests that to improve 4K performance, the user would need to upgrade the graphics card, as the current one is the primary bottleneck in this configuration.