Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, presents a demanding environment for the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing. The measured data indicates a configuration where the GPU is the primary constraint across all tested resolutions, with the CPU’s substantial headroom going largely unused. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, component roles, and optimal settings based solely on the provided benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 clearly illustrates a system heavily limited by the graphics card. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 57 at 1080p to 43 at 1440p, and finally to 29 at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction in average frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic symptom of GPU-bound performance, as the pixel count quadruples while the CPU workload remains relatively static.

The scaling pattern at Low settings is even more pronounced. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 91 FPS, dropping to 69 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 46 FPS at 3840x2160. The 4K result is exactly half of the 1080p number, indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER’s rendering capabilities are being saturated. This steep decline suggests that the game’s visual effects at 4K, even on Low, require more memory bandwidth and fill rate than the GPU can provide, making the resolution scaling almost purely a function of GPU throughput.

Data for Ultra settings shows the least playable results, with 50 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and only 25 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling, as it falls below the 30 FPS threshold generally considered the minimum for acceptable gameplay. The consistent ~30% reduction in FPS when moving from 1440p to 4K across all settings (High: 43→29, Medium: 49→33, Low: 69→46) reinforces that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU. The Intel Core i7-14700KF, with its high single-thread performance, is not the bottleneck here; the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 6 GB of VRAM and 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are the decisive factors.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 3176 out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This places it in the lower 15% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the significant imbalance between the high-end CPU and the mid-range GPU, which ultimately drags the overall gaming performance down to that of much more modest pairings.

The CPU itself is a top-tier performer, holding the 94th percentile among all tested CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which scores 0.9% higher, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, which scores 1% lower in average benchmarks. This shows the 14700KF is well within the performance envelope of the fastest consumer processors available. However, this strength is irrelevant in this gaming context because the GPU is the limiting factor.

Conversely, the GTX 1660 SUPER sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, placing it squarely in the middle of the pack. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 580 with a 0.4% higher score against the 1660 SUPER’s average, show that it is a competent but not exceptional 1080p-class card. The combination rank of 3176 is a direct consequence of pairing a 94th-percentile CPU with a 53rd-percentile GPU. The data suggests that the combo’s in-game performance is almost entirely dictated by the GPU’s capability, leading to a ranking that fails to reflect the CPU’s processing power.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the decisive component in this configuration for Control. Its specifications—6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth—are adequate for 1080p gaming but become strained at higher resolutions. The 12 nm Turing chip, with 1408 shading units, operates at a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, providing a peak FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPSays.

These numbers explain the measured FPS scaling. At 1920x1080, the GPU has enough pixel throughput and memory bandwidth to maintain playable frame rates, from 91 FPS on Low to 50 FPS on Ultra. However, the 4K results, where even Low settings only yield 46 FPS, demonstrate that the 1660 SUPER is overwhelmed by the pixel count. The GPU’s 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate and 157.1 GTexel/s texture rate are simply insufficient for 4K’s 8.3 million pixels per frame.

The memory configuration is also a limiting factor. With 6 GB of VRAM, the card may hit capacity limits at 4K with higher detail settings, potentially causing texture streaming issues. The measured data shows a 13 FPS difference between Low and High settings at 1080p (91 vs 57), but a smaller 10 FPS difference at 4K (46 vs 29 in the other direction, where High is lower). This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is not just fill-rate bound but may also be constrained by the memory subsystem, as the performance gap between settings narrows when the render resolution is the dominant workload. The GPU’s 53rd percentile ranking and its position relative to the AMD Radeon RX 580 (0.4% higher score) confirm it is a solid entry-level performer for 1080p, not a high-resolution card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration shows a workable range of performance. Low settings deliver an average of 91 FPS, Medium drops to 64 FPS (with a minimum of 55 and maximum of 74), High comes in at 57 FPS, and Ultra produces 50 FPS. The 41 FPS spread between Low and Ultra indicates that the GPU has headroom to handle the game’s physics and particle effects at lower resolutions, but the CPU is never a bottleneck.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 69 on Low, 49 on Medium (min 41, max 56), 43 on High, and 38 on Ultra. The transition from 1080p to 1440p causes a 22-24% performance drop across all settings, which aligns with the 1.78x increase in pixel count. This is a typical GPU-bound scaling scenario where the frame rate is directly proportional to the render resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes largely unplayable for smooth action. Medium settings produce an average of 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS, which is below the threshold for consistent gameplay. High settings drop to 29 FPS, while Ultra falls to 25 FPS. Only Low settings, at 46 FPS, approach a playable state. The minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium (28 FPS) highlights the instability when the GPU is under maximum load. The data shows that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Control, as even the lowest settings yield a frame rate that is only marginally acceptable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is, by all measured metrics, an exceptionally powerful processor that is vastly underutilized in this gaming configuration. With 20 cores and 28 threads, a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, it provides more than enough computational power for Control. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and single-core score of 6235 place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is one of the fastest processors available.

In the context of Control, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s physics simulation, AI routines, and draw call management. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limiting, as the frame rates scale down consistently with resolution increases secret. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers across 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a clear drop, proving the GPU is the constraining factor.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.9% higher average score) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (1% lower), further emphasize that the 14700KF is not the performance ceiling here. Its 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node allow for high sustained clocks, but this headroom is not translated into higher frame rates in Control. The benchmark results indicate that even a much weaker CPU, such as one with half the cores, would likely produce identical FPS in this game with the same GPU, as the GTX 1660 SUPER is the singular limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Control?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 91, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combination suitable for 4K gaming in Control?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 46 on Low settings. High settings only yield 29 FPS, and Ultra produces 25 FPS, all of which are below acceptable playability standards.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-14700KF compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X?

A: In average benchmark scores, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 0.9% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700KF formula, placing them in a very close performance tier.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average FPS of 49, while High settings produce an average of 43 FPS. This represents a 6 FPS difference in favor of Medium.

Q: Given the GPU’s limitations, what resolution provides the most balanced experience?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most balanced, as it is the only resolution where all settings, including Ultra at 50 FPS, reach playable frame rates above 30 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU show any signs of being a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The consistent FPS drop with each resolution increase indicates the GPU is the sole bottleneck. The CPU’s high benchmark scores and 94th percentile ranking show it has significant unused headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 resolution. At this resolution, even Ultra settings achieve an average of 50 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 1080p is the clear choice, as it delivers a 50 FPS average while showcasing the game’s full effects.

For those seeking a higher frame rate, High settings at 1080p provide 57 FPS, a 14% improvement over Ultra with a noticeable but not severe reduction in visual quality. Medium settings at 1080p yield 64 FPS, which is a better balance for fast-paced combat, as it maintains a higher minimum frame rate (55 FPS) compared to the other presets.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation is to use Low settings, which produce 69 FPS, or Medium settings at 49 FPS. High and Ultra at 1440p (43 and 38 FPS, respectively) are playable but may feel less consistent during intense action sequences. 4K resolution is not recommended for gameplay, as the best setting, Low, only achieves 46 FPS, and any higher settings drop to 33 FPS or below, which is suboptimal for Control’s demanding combat scenarios. The data conclusively shows that 1080p is the intended resolution for this hardware combination.