Control

# Control with Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a solid Control experience, with measured frame rates ranging from 44.8 FPS at 4K Ultra to 159.7 FPS at 1080p Low. The combo ranks 711th out of 1636 tested configurations in this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of systems. The data reveals a configuration that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong multi-core performance ensures headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of decline reveals important information about system balance. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 104.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 76 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 28.9 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average falls further to 51 FPS, representing a 53.9 FPS total drop from 1080p. This scaling pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 7700 XT becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the spread between Low (159.7 FPS) and Ultra (87.1 FPS) is 72.6 FPS. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 60.3 FPS (125.1 vs 64.8). At 4K, the spread compresses further to 35 FPS (79.8 vs 44.8). This compression suggests that at 4K, the GPU's raw throughput dominates the performance equation, and even dropping to Low settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel workload.

Interestingly, the transition from Medium to High yields smaller gains than from Low to Medium at all resolutions. At 1440p, Medium produces 89.7 FPS while High produces 76 FPS, a 13.7 FPS difference. The jump from Low to Medium at 1440p is 35.4 FPS. This indicates that Control's Medium preset captures most of the visual improvements while maintaining significantly higher frame rates, making it a practical choice for this combo at mid-range resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, all settings presets exceed 87 FPS, with Ultra reaching 87.1 FPS and Low hitting 159.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings produce 76 FPS, while Ultra drops to 64.8 FPS. For 3840x2160, only Low settings (79.8 FPS) and Medium (58.8 FPS) approach playable frame rates.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Control?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT ranks 711th out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU's 73rd percentile standing among all GPUs while the CPU sits in the 96th percentile.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU bottleneck this system in Control?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 35 FPS, while at 1080p the same comparison shows a 72.6 FPS gap. The CPU's high multi-core performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557) provides ample headroom.

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

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 76 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and represents a balanced visual quality-to-performance ratio for this resolution.

Q: Is the RX 7700 XT's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Control at 4K?

A: The measured data shows 4K performance ranging from 44.8 FPS at Ultra to 79.8 FPS at Low. While the 12 GB GDDR6 memory with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth handles the game's assets, the 4K Ultra preset only achieves 44.8 FPS, indicating memory bandwidth or compute limitations rather than capacity constraints.

Q: How does this combo compare to the CPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Core i7-14700KF's average benchmark score of 70104 is essentially tied with the Core i7-14700K (70074, 0% delta) and the Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, -0.4% delta). The EPYC 9115 trails by 0.3%, while the Xeon Platinum 8270 leads by 1.3%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 711 out of 1636 tested configurations places it in the middle of the distribution for Control. This positioning is somewhat surprising given the CPU's exceptional standing — the Core i7-14700KF outperforms 96% of all CPUs in general benchmarks. The RX 7700 XT, by contrast, outperforms only 73% of all GPUs, which explains why the combo does not crack the top 400.

The ranking suggests that Control's performance is heavily dependent on GPU throughput rather than CPU capabilities. The game was released in 2019, and its engine does not appear to leverage the 20 cores and 28 threads of the i7-14700KF to any significant degree. The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score — the Core i7-14700K, EPYC 9115, Ryzen 9 9950X, and Xeon Platinum 8270 — all fall within a 1.6% performance band, yet their gaming performance in Control would likely diverge more substantially due to clock speed and cache differences.

The gap between this combo's 711th rank and what the CPU's 96th percentile might suggest indicates a GPU-limited scenario. Users seeking higher rankings in Control would need to pair this CPU with a stronger GPU, as the measured FPS data shows the RX 7700 XT struggling to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Medium settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 159.7 FPS, Medium reaches 114.2 FPS, High achieves 104.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 87.1 FPS. All presets exceed 60 FPS, making 1080p a fully playable experience regardless of quality preference. The 72.6 FPS spread between Low and Ultra indicates that visual settings have a substantial impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages shift downward. Low settings produce 125.1 FPS, Medium delivers 89.7 FPS, High reaches 76 FPS, and Ultra drops to 64.8 FPS. The Ultra preset barely maintains 60 FPS, while High offers a comfortable margin. The 60.3 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is narrower than at 1080p, reflecting increased GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the GPU's limits. Low settings achieve 79.8 FPS, Medium falls to 58.8 FPS, High drops to 51 FPS, and Ultra produces only 44.8 FPS. Only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS at 4K. The 35 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is the smallest of any resolution, confirming that pixel fill rate dominates the performance equation at 4K.

The step from High to Ultra costs 17.8 FPS at 1080p, 11.2 FPS at 1440p, and 6.2 FPS at 4K. This diminishing penalty suggests that Ultra settings add effects that scale with resolution, but the absolute cost becomes less significant as the GPU becomes more constrained.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, brings 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 3456 shading units, 216 TMUs, and 96 ROPs produce a peak FP32 throughput of 35.17 TFLOPS. These specifications position the card to handle Control's demands, but the measured FPS data suggests the GPU's 73rd percentile standing among all GPUs is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The GPU's boost clock of 2544 MHz and game clock of 2171 MHz provide the compute headroom needed for 1080p gaming, where the combo exceeds 87 FPS at all settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the card's 44.8 FPS average indicates that its 96 ROPs and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle with the pixel and memory demands of Control at maximum quality.

The RX 7700 XT's nearest rivals in average benchmark score — the RTX 5060 (0% delta), RX 570 (-0.2% delta), Tesla M60 (0.4% delta), and RTX 5070 Mobile (0.6% delta) — all fall within a 0.8% performance band. This tight clustering suggests that the RX 7700 XT's raw compute capabilities are well-matched to its peers, yet Control's specific workload may favor different architectural strengths.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF provides substantial computational resources that Control does not fully utilize. With 20 cores, 28 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, this Raptor Lake Refresh processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and a single-core score of 6290. The CPU's 96th percentile standing among all CPUs indicates exceptional general-purpose performance, yet the measured FPS data shows that Control's frame rates are ultimately constrained by the GPU.

The CPU's L3 cache of 33 MB shared and per-core L2 cache of 2 MB provide ample data locality for game workloads. The 125 W TDP, while modest for a 20-core processor, allows sustained boost clocks that keep the CPU from becoming a bottleneck even at 1080p Low settings, where the GPU produces 159.7 FPS. The fact that frame rates scale up to this level suggests the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at lower resolutions.

The i7-14700KF's nearest rivals in average benchmark score — the i7-14700K (0% delta), EPYC 9115 (0.3% delta), Ryzen 9 9950X (-0.4% delta), and Xeon Platinum 8270 (-1.3% delta) — show that the CPU is well-positioned among high-end processors. However, in Control, the CPU's role is secondary; the 5.60 GHz boost clock and strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290) ensure that the CPU never limits the GPU's output, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's 4K limitations.