Control

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a formidable performance profile in Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title. The measured frame rates indicate that this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming and provides a solid 4K experience, though the data reveals a clear scaling pattern tied to both resolution and graphical presets. The benchmark results show a system that is heavily GPU-bound in almost every scenario, with the CPU's substantial 20 cores and 28 threads providing ample headroom to feed the Radeon RX 9070 XT.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and significant drop in performance as resolution increases, confirming that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the primary limiting component in this configuration. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 123.6 FPS, but this falls to 91 FPS at 1440p and further to 63.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 26.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a subsequent 29.8% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating a heavy pixel-throughput dependency. The pattern is consistent across all settings; for example, the Low preset yields 194.8 FPS at 1080p, 143.3 FPS at 1440p, and 98.3 FPS at 4K. The consistent scaling suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the frame rate declines are directly proportional to the increase in pixel count, a hallmark of GPU-limited performance.

The most demanding scenario, 4K Ultra, produces an average of 56.3 FPS, which is a substantial 71.1% reduction from the 1080p Low result. This steep decline underscores that the RX 9070 XT's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed to their limits at higher resolutions with maximum detail. The data implies that while the card is capable of handling 4K, it cannot maintain the high refresh rates that are achievable at lower resolutions. The scaling between Medium and High settings is also telling; at 1440p, the drop from 105.6 FPS to 91 FPS is a 13.8% decrease, showing that even moderate settings changes have a noticeable impact on the GPU workload. This behavior is typical for a game like Control, which features complex particle effects and physics that scale with both resolution and detail level.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For players prioritizing smooth gameplay at 1080p, the High preset at 123.6 FPS offers an excellent balance, while the Ultra preset at 105.4 FPS still provides a very playable experience with enhanced visual fidelity. The data suggests that at 1080p, the system has enough performance headroom to run Ultra with only a 14.7% performance penalty compared to High, making it the recommended choice for maximum visual quality without sacrificing responsiveness. At 1440p, the High preset at 91 FPS is the sweet spot for 60Hz displays, but for high-refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset at 105.6 FPS is a better choice, as it sacrifices some visual detail for a 16% frame rate increase. Choosing Low at 1440p yields 143.3 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too steep for most players.

For 4K gaming, the data indicates that the Medium preset at 70.6 FPS is the most viable option, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while the High preset at 63.9 FPS barely crosses it. The Ultra preset at 56.3 FPS falls below 60 FPS, which may be undesirable for those seeking a consistently smooth experience. The Low preset at 98.3 FPS is a possibility for competitive play, but it undermines the visual quality of Control's atmospheric environments. The benchmark results imply that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, and players should be prepared to dial back settings from Ultra to Medium to maintain a stable frame rate. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is likely sufficient for the textures at these settings, but the raw compute power of the GPU becomes the constraint.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured FPS results. The GPU operates with a boost clock of 2970 MHz and a game clock of 2400 MHz, which, combined with its 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs, allows it to render complex scenes efficiently. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s, which is a critical resource for Control at higher resolutions and detail settings. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution, indicating that the memory subsystem and compute units are being fully utilized. The card's 48.66 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is a strong indicator of its ability to handle the game's physics and particle effects, but the frame rate drops at 4K Ultra suggest that even this level of compute is insufficient for maxed-out settings at that resolution.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database, such as the AMD Radeon Pro 575 and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, have significantly lower average benchmark scores, with delta percentages of -0.1% and 0.2% respectively. This indicates that the RX 9070 XT is in a distinct performance class, and its measured FPS in Control reflects that positioning. The VRAM capacity is likely not the bottleneck, as the 16 GB buffer is generous for a 2019 title, but the memory bandwidth is crucial for the game's high-resolution textures. The data suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of the FPS differences between settings, as the CPU has ample performance headroom to keep up with the GPU's output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across 12 distinct scenarios. At 1920x1080, the results are excellent, with the Low preset hitting 194.8 FPS, Medium at 137.5 FPS, High at 123.6 FPS, and Ultra at 105.4 FPS. These figures indicate that the combo is more than capable of driving high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, even with the most demanding settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable: Low at 143.3 FPS, Medium at 105.6 FPS, High at 91 FPS, and Ultra at 82.5 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is particularly notable, as it shows that the system can handle maximum detail at a resolution that is becoming the standard for modern gaming.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly, with Low at 98.3 FPS, Medium at 70.6 FPS, High at 63.9 FPS, and Ultra at 56.3 FPS. The 4K results show a clear hierarchy, with the Low preset being the only one that allows for a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 6.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 7.6 FPS, showing that each step up in settings has a similar cost. The data also reveals that the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more severe than from 1440p to 4K in percentage terms for the High preset, suggesting a potential efficiency sweet spot at 1440p. The min and max FPS values are not provided, but the average FPS figures are consistent enough to infer stable performance across all tested scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT achieves a rank of 385 out of 1636 tested combos for Control. This places the combo in the top 23.5% of all tested configurations, indicating a strong overall performance level. The rank is a composite measure that likely weighs the performance across all resolutions and settings, and the data suggests that this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p while being merely respectable at 4K. The high rank reflects the RX 9070 XT's raw power, but it also reflects the CPU's ability to avoid bottlenecking the GPU.

The combo's rank of 385 out of 1636 suggests that there are a significant number of configurations that outperform it, which is expected given that the RX 9070 XT, while powerful, is not the absolute top-tier GPU. The percentile ranking of the GPU itself is 82, meaning it performs better than 82% of all GPUs in the database, which aligns with the combo's overall in-game rank. The CPU's percentile of 96 is higher, indicating that the processor is a less limiting factor than the graphics card. This data implies that to improve the combo's rank in Control, a user would need to focus on upgrading the GPU rather than the CPU, as the i7-14700K is already performing at a near-elite level.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing the computational foundation for the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. With 20 cores and 28 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, the CPU offers massive parallel processing power that is rarely fully utilized in Control. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as frame rates scale smoothly with resolution changes, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 2 MB provide low-latency access to frequently used data, which is beneficial for game logic and physics calculations.

The i7-14700K's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 demonstrate its formidable processing capability. In Control, which is a game that relies heavily on GPU rendering, the CPU's single-threaded performance is more important for maintaining high frame rates, and the 6287 score suggests it is more than capable. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a deltaPct of 0 and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X with a deltaPct of -0.5%, show that the i7-14700K is in a competitive tier. The data confirms that the CPU's role is to ensure the GPU is fed with data, and its high benchmark scores indicate it does this without becoming a bottleneck, even at the high frame rates seen at 1080p Low.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Control?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 194.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, at 4K with Medium settings the average FPS is 70.6, and with High settings it is 63.9. However, the Ultra preset drops to 56.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 123.6 FPS at 1080p to 91 FPS at 1440p, which is a 26.4% decrease in performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 385th out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the top 23.5% of all configurations in the database.

Q: Which component is the primary limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The data indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the limiting factor, as the frame rate drops to 56.3 FPS, suggesting the GPU's compute resources are saturated.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No, the benchmark results show that frame rates scale proportionally with resolution, indicating that the Intel Core i7-14700K has sufficient headroom and is not the bottleneck.