Control

Control with the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is a study in balanced performance, but the data reveals that this pairing is more GPU-bound at higher resolutions and increasingly CPU-limited at 1080p. The measured frame rates show a steep but consistent scaling curve from 1080p to 4K, with the average FPS dropping from a high of 226 at 1080p Low to 63 at 4K Ultra. This 72% reduction in performance from the lowest to highest workload indicates that while the RTX 4070 Ti is the primary driver of frame rate at 4K, the Core i7-14700K's 20 cores and 28 threads are sufficient to keep up even at the most demanding settings, leaving the GPU as the definitive bottleneck in the 4K Ultra scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions follows a predictable pattern, but the magnitude of the drop reveals the system's architectural balance. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 226 FPS, which drops to 171 FPS at 1440p and further to 115 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, showing that the GPU is still the limiting factor even at lower resolutions where the CPU has more headroom.

When moving to High settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The average FPS at 1080p High is 143, which drops to 108 at 1440p and 73 at 4K. The percentage drops are 24% and 49% respectively, identical to the Low setting pattern, suggesting that the resolution scaling is independent of the quality preset. However, the absolute FPS numbers at 4K High (73) approach the threshold where gameplay smoothness starts to become a concern for high-refresh-rate displays, while the 1080p High result (143 FPS) comfortably exceeds 120 FPS.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest curve. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 124 FPS, which falls to 94 FPS at 1440p and then to 63 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly significant at 33%, indicating that the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus are being pushed to their limits. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as the CPU's 5.60 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of L3 cache are likely underutilized.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 496th out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This placement in the top 13.3% of all configurations demonstrates that this pairing is well above average for this game, though not at the very top tier where extreme enthusiast builds with flagship GPUs reside.

The CPU's individual performance metrics support this ranking. The Core i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69355. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which scores 69515 (a 0.2% difference), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX at 69875 (0.7% higher). This places the i7-14700K in a performance tier where it trades blows with top-tier AMD parts, though it edges out the AMD EPYC 9115 by only 0.1%.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 Ti ranks in the 84th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 44795. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152, which is 0.8% higher, showing that the 4070 Ti is competitive with newer mobile flagship parts despite being a desktop card. The combined rank of 496 out of 3720 suggests that this specific CPU-GPU pairing is well-optimized for Control, as the 20-core CPU provides enough compute headroom to keep the GPU fed across all tested settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K's specifications are central to understanding its role in this game's performance. With 20 cores and 28 threads, this Raptor Lake Refresh part offers substantial multi-threading capability, but Control is not a game that scales perfectly with core count. The data shows that the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p, where the lower GPU load allows the CPU to become more of a factor in determining frame rates.

The CPU's 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.60 GHz boost clock provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Control's game logic and physics calculations. In synthetic benchmarks, the i7-14700K scores 2160 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 4472 in Passmark single-thread, both of which are respectable figures that indicate strong per-core performance. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which can be beneficial in open-world game environments where data access patterns are less predictable.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 226 FPS, which is a clear indication that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates. However, the fact that the FPS does not scale linearly with resolution (as would be expected if the CPU were completely unconstrained) suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is still the primary contributor to the final frame rate. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces its capability, but in this specific game, the data shows that the 20 cores are more than sufficient, and the bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the measured results show a wide range of performance depending on settings. Low settings deliver 226 FPS average, while Medium produces 161 FPS with a minimum of 136 and maximum of 185. High settings yield 143 FPS, and Ultra drops to 124 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 102 FPS, indicating that the quality presets have a significant impact on frame rate even at this resolution.

The 1440p results show a similar pattern but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings produce 171 FPS, Medium averages 121 FPS with a range of 103-140, High delivers 108 FPS, and Ultra drops to 94 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 77 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p but represents a similar percentage reduction of 45%.

At 4K, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low settings still manage 115 FPS, but Medium drops to 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 94. High settings produce 73 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 52 FPS, showing that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as resolution increases. The minimum FPS numbers at 4K Medium (70 FPS) are particularly telling, as they show that even with some headroom, the system can dip below the 72 FPS threshold that is often considered the minimum for smooth 4K gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the defining component in this configuration for Control, particularly at higher resolutions. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, the GPU has a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is adequate for 1440p and even 4K gaming, but the data shows that it struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's specifications include 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2610 MHz. This translates to a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS. These numbers are competitive with the RTX 5090 Mobile, which scores 45152 in the benchmark database versus the 4070 Ti's 44795, a difference of 0.8%.

In practical terms for Control, the GPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the 4K Ultra result of 63 FPS. This is the lowest measured average across all settings, and it indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is at its limits when rendering at 4K with Ultra settings. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at 4K, as there is no evidence of texture streaming issues in the data, but the raw compute power is simply not enough to push beyond 63 FPS in this scenario. The GPU's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that it is a high-end part, but it is not the absolute fastest, which explains why 4K Ultra is the only setting where the system dips below 70 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this configuration depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1440p gaming, which is the sweet spot for this combo, the High preset delivers 108 FPS average, which is smooth for most displays. However, the Ultra preset at 1440p still manages 94 FPS, representing a only 13% reduction from High while likely providing improved visual fidelity. Given that the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 103, the High preset is likely to maintain minimums above 90 FPS, making it the best balance of performance and quality.

At 1080p, the High preset at 143 FPS is the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate displays, as it comfortably exceeds 120 FPS while offering better visuals than Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p (124 FPS) is also viable for 120 Hz monitors, but the 19 FPS drop from High to Ultra suggests diminishing returns. For competitive play where frame rate is paramount, the Low preset at 226 FPS is the clear choice, but this sacrifices too much visual quality for most players.

At 4K, the data shows that the High preset at 73 FPS is the highest quality setting that maintains playable frame rates. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is borderline, and the Medium preset at 82 FPS provides a safer margin above 60 FPS. The recommended approach for 4K would be to use the High preset as a starting point, as it offers the best balance of visual quality and performance without dipping below the 70 FPS threshold that can cause perceptible stutter on some displays. The Low preset at 4K (115 FPS) is overkill for most 4K displays, which typically max out at 60 Hz or 120 Hz, so the Medium or High preset is more appropriate for maintaining visual fidelity while ensuring smooth gameplay.