Control

# Control with Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 570

This combination produces playable framerates only at 1080p with low settings, and the data clearly shows the AMD Radeon RX 570 as the primary limiting factor in Control. The GPU, which ranks in the 74th percentile among all GPUs, delivers 57 FPS at 1080p Low but falls to just 18 FPS at 4K High, revealing a system that can handle the game's logic easily but cannot push enough pixels at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 57 FPS, but at 1440p Low that drops to 43 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 29 FPS. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings—a substantial scaling penalty that points directly at the GPU as the bottleneck.

The pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. At High settings, the averages are 36 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K—exactly half the 1080p figure at 4K. This linear drop-off is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated even at the lowest resolution tested. The 4K Ultra result of 16 FPS confirms that the RX 570 cannot handle Control's visual workload at high pixel counts regardless of quality preset.

What the scaling data reveals about the limiting component is unambiguous. The Intel Core i7-14700K, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and its benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multi-core at 33440.5, single-core at 2160) place it far above what Control requires. When the GPU is the same model at different resolutions, the FPS drops by roughly half from 1080p to 4K—a pure GPU-bound pattern. The CPU's performance headroom is not the constraint here; the RX 570's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth simply cannot feed the framebuffer at higher resolutions.

The min FPS figures available for Medium settings reinforce this: at 1080p Medium, the combo produces a 34 FPS minimum against a 40 FPS average; at 1440p Medium, the minimum falls to 26 FPS against a 30 FPS average; and at 4K Medium, the minimum is 17 FPS against a 21 FPS average. These tight min-to-average gaps suggest consistent frame delivery rather than stutter—the GPU is working at its limit but not spiking unpredictably. The max FPS values (46, 35, and 24 respectively) show the ceiling is also low, indicating no hidden burst capability that could smooth out the experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a Raptor Lake Refresh part with 20 cores (8 performance and 12 efficiency cores), 28 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 33 MB shared L3. These specifications place it among the top-tier desktop processors, and its benchmark results confirm this: Geekbench multi-core score of 20767, single-core score of 2569, and PassMark multi-thread score of 52392.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is minimal because the game's performance is so heavily GPU-limited. The measured data shows no scenario where the CPU would be the constraint—even at 1080p Low, where the GPU workload is lightest, the combo only reaches 57 FPS. This is far below what the i7-14700K could support; the CPU's nearest rivals (AMD EPYC 9115 at 0.1% delta, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at -0.2% delta) all sit within 1% of its average benchmark score, indicating a mature, consistent performer that does not introduce frame pacing issues.

The CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R15 single-core at 313.5, R20 at 2617, R23 at 2160) is more than sufficient for Control's game logic and physics. PassMark physics score of 2964 and floating-point math score of 134222 further confirm that the CPU can handle complex simulation tasks without becoming a bottleneck. Even the data compression (695234) and encryption (40091) scores, while not directly gaming-relevant, show a processor with substantial compute headroom.

What the data does not show is any CPU-related scaling issue. There are no stutter markers, no min FPS anomalies that would indicate thread scheduling problems, and no resolution-independent performance cliffs. The 20-core configuration with 28 threads is overkill for a game like Control, which typically scales well to 8 cores but sees diminishing returns beyond that. The i7-14700K's 33 MB L3 cache helps maintain consistent frame times, but the measured FPS numbers are so consistently GPU-bound that the CPU's role is essentially to stay out of the way—which it does.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Low settings yield 57 FPS, Medium yields 40 FPS, High yields 36 FPS, and Ultra yields 31 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 17 FPS (a 30% reduction), while the jump from Medium to High costs only 4 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs another 5 FPS. This suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for visual fidelity per frame at 1080p, but the 57 FPS at Low is the only configuration that approaches a smooth 60 FPS experience.

At 1440p, the choices are more constrained. Low yields 43 FPS, Medium 30 FPS, High 27 FPS, and Ultra 24 FPS. The 1440p Low result is playable but not ideal, while Medium at 30 FPS is borderline. For 4K, no setting produces a playable framerate—Low is 29 FPS, Medium is 21 FPS, High is 18 FPS, and Ultra is 16 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 16 FPS is the lowest measured value across the entire dataset.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Low at 57 FPS. This is the only configuration that clears the 50 FPS threshold, and it does so with a comfortable margin. The min FPS data available for Medium settings (34 FPS at 1080p) suggests that even Medium at 1080p would dip below 30 FPS during demanding scenes, making Low the safer choice for consistent gameplay. At 1440p, Low at 43 FPS is the only option above 40 FPS, but it still falls short of the 1080p Low experience.

For players who prioritize visual quality over framerate, 1080p Medium at 40 FPS is the highest setting that maintains an average above 30 FPS. The 1440p Medium at 30 FPS exactly meets that threshold but leaves no headroom for frame drops, and the min FPS of 26 FPS at that setting confirms the risk. The data does not support any 4K configuration as viable—even Low at 29 FPS is below the 30 FPS playability bar, and the lack of min FPS data for that setting means the actual experience could be worse.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 3549 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 5% of all configurations. The rank reflects the GPU's age and tier: the RX 570 is an end-of-life product from 2017, and its average benchmark score of 28766 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, but that percentile is misleading for modern games. The GPU's nearest rivals (AMD Radeon RX 6800M at -0.4% delta, AMD Radeon R9 M295X at 0.7% delta, AMD Radeon RX 470 at -0.8% delta, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 at 1.2% delta) all show similar average scores, confirming that the RX 570 is competing with mid-range GPUs from several generations ago.

The CPU's rank among all CPUs is far more favorable—94th percentile—but this does not translate into a good combo rank because the GPU dominates the gaming experience. The i7-14700K's nearest CPU rivals (AMD EPYC 9115 at 0.1% delta, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at -0.2% delta, AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX at -0.7% delta, AMD Ryzen 7 9700F at -0.9% delta) all represent high-end processors, and the CPU's average benchmark score of 69355 is competitive with those parts. However, pairing a top-6% CPU with a bottom-26% GPU creates a massive imbalance that the combo rank captures.

The 3549 rank out of 3720 means that 95.4% of tested combos perform better in Control. This is not a surprise given the measured FPS data—even at the best settings, this combo only achieves 57 FPS at 1080p Low, which is below what most modern gaming systems deliver. The rank also reflects that Control is a demanding game from 2019 that pushes GPU resources heavily, and the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply insufficient for high-resolution play.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a Polaris 20 chip built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. Its 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs deliver a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s, with FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS. The GPU's clocks are modest—1168 MHz base and 1244 MHz boost—and its memory subsystem consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective).

In Control, these specifications produce the measured framerates, and the GPU's limitations are evident across every resolution. The 4 GB VRAM is particularly problematic at 4K, where the 18 FPS High result indicates the GPU is likely hitting memory capacity limits. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for 4K texture streaming, which explains why the 4K Low result (29 FPS) is still far below the 1080p Low result (57 FPS)—the memory subsystem cannot scale with resolution demands.

The GPU's benchmark scores (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 880, Geekbench Metal at 39349, OpenCL at 32084, Vulkan at 42752) place it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, but this percentile reflects its standing among a broad range of hardware, not its modern gaming capability. The RX 570's nearest rivals include the RX 470 at -0.8% delta, which is essentially the same performance tier, and the R9 M295X at 0.7% delta, which is a mobile part from the same era. This confirms the RX 570 is a mid-range GPU from its generation, and Control's demands exceed its capabilities at higher resolutions.

The GPU's TDP of 150 W and suggested PSU of 450 W indicate it was designed for mainstream systems, and its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface is now two generations old. The DirectX 12 (12_0) support and Vulkan 1.3 API compatibility mean the GPU can run modern games, but with the performance ceiling shown here. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck in this combo, and no CPU upgrade—even from the already-powerful i7-14700K—would improve Control's performance without also upgrading the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in Control?

A: The measured data shows 1080p Low at 57 FPS is the highest framerate achievable. 1080p Medium at 40 FPS is the highest setting that stays above 30 FPS, while 1440p Low at 43 FPS is the only 1440p option above 40 FPS. No 4K setting reaches 30 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Control?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting component. The RX 570 ranks in the 74th percentile of GPUs with an average benchmark score of 28766, while the i7-14700K ranks in the 94th percentile of CPUs with an average score of 69355. The FPS drops by about half from 1080p to 4K at every settings level, which is a GPU-bound pattern.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 3549 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 5.4% of all configurations. The rank reflects the GPU's age and performance tier rather than the CPU, which is a top-tier part.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The min FPS data shows consistent frame delivery: 34 FPS min at 1080p Medium (40 FPS avg), 26 FPS min at 1440p Medium (30 FPS avg), and 17 FPS min at 4K Medium (21 FPS avg). The min-to-average gaps are narrow, indicating the GPU maintains steady output without major stutters.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not playably. The best 4K result is 29 FPS at Low settings, with Medium at 21 FPS, High at 18 FPS, and Ultra at 16 FPS. All 4K configurations fall below the 30 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 28766, which is 0.4% below the RX 6800M, 0.7% above the R9 M295X, 0.8% below the RX 470, and 1.2% above the Quadro RTX 8000. These deltas are all within 1.2%, confirming the RX 570 performs at a similar level to these mid-range parts.