Control

Control pairs a flagship 24-core Intel Core i9-14900K with an entry-level Radeon RX 6600, and the measured frame rates in this title show a predictable but important split: the CPU is never the bottleneck, while the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus define the experience. The data indicates that this combo sits near the bottom of the database, ranked 1314 out of 1636 tested combinations, but the raw numbers reveal a playable setup at 1080p and a struggling one at 4K. The i9-14900K’s benchmark percentile of 97 versus all CPUs confirms its headroom, while the RX 6600’s 69th percentile GPU ranking highlights the imbalance in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, which points directly at the GPU as the limiting component. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 60.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 47.8 FPS at 2560x1440, then collapses to 31.2 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 48% reduction in average FPS between 1080p and 4K Ultra, a pattern that indicates the RX 6600’s 8 GB frame buffer and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated long before the i9-14900K’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache or 6.00 GHz boost clock become relevant.

The scaling curve is not linear, and that is informative. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings costs 12.8 FPS (67.9 to 55.1), while moving from 1440p to 4K at High costs another 20.4 FPS (55.1 to 34.7). The 4K hit is disproportionately larger, which suggests the render target exceeds the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory capacity simultaneously. At Low settings, the pattern repeats: 107 FPS at 1080p, 80.8 FPS at 1440p, and 56.8 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest settings, 4K cannot reach 60 FPS, confirming that the RX 6600’s 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 compute are hard ceilings.

What the scaling does not show is any CPU limitation. The i9-14900K’s 32 threads and 24 cores (with 8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores) are far beyond what this game needs, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed. The 107 FPS at 1080p Low is the highest measured result, and it is still well below what the CPU could theoretically deliver. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU alone would yield substantial gains across all resolutions, while swapping the CPU would produce no measurable improvement in this title.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS?

A: Only at 1080p. At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 60.4 on Ultra, 67.9 on High, 74.6 on Medium, and 107 on Low. At 2560x1440, no preset reaches 60 FPS (the best is Low at 80.8 FPS, but High and Medium sit at 55.1 and 58.1 FPS). At 3840x2160, the maximum average is 56.8 FPS on Low, so 60 FPS is out of reach at 4K entirely.

Q: Which resolution is best for this hardware?

A: The data supports 1920x1080 as the target. Every settings preset at 1080p averages above 60 FPS, with Ultra at 60.4 FPS and Medium at 74.6 FPS. At 1440p, only Low exceeds 60 FPS, and at 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The RX 6600’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are suited to 1080p in this title.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: The i9-14900K is not a limiting factor. Its benchmark scores (49,872 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 7,040 in single-core) and 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate massive headroom. The FPS differences across resolutions and settings are entirely attributable to GPU scaling, not CPU throughput.

Q: Is the RX 6600 a weak link in this pairing?

A: Compared to the CPU, yes. The GPU’s 69th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 25,235 place it far below the CPU’s capability. The measured FPS at 4K (31.2 on Ultra, 34.7 on High) shows the GPU running out of compute and memory bandwidth, while the CPU idles.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: Medium is the highest preset that stays close to 60 FPS, averaging 58.1 FPS. High drops to 55.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 47.8 FPS. Low reaches 80.8 FPS but sacrifices visual quality. For a balance, Medium is the data-supported choice.

Q: Does the GPU’s VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for 4K in this game. The measured 4K Ultra average of 31.2 FPS versus 1080p Ultra at 60.4 FPS indicates that memory capacity and bandwidth are likely exceeded, causing the steep drop.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the decisive component in this combo, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, paired with a 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory at 14 Gbps effective. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest by modern standards, and the 132 W TDP reflects an entry-level design. The boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz are respectable, but they do not compensate for the narrow memory bus when resolution increases.

In Control, the GPU’s role is clearest at 4K. The average FPS at Ultra is 31.2, at High it is 34.7, at Medium it is 39.6, and at Low it is 56.8. The spread between Ultra and Low at 4K is 25.6 FPS, which shows that the GPU responds to settings changes but cannot overcome the resolution’s demands. At 1080p, the same settings spread is 46.6 FPS (107 Low to 60.4 Ultra), indicating that the GPU has more headroom at lower pixel counts. The FP32 compute of 8.928 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s are sufficient for 1080p but not for 4K.

The RT cores (28) are present, but the measured data does not include ray tracing results, so their impact cannot be quantified here. The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are relevant to this game’s rendering, but the bottleneck remains the memory subsystem. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p in this title, but the 4K results suggest that capacity or bandwidth limits are hit, producing the sub-60 FPS averages.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low averages 107 FPS, Medium 74.6 FPS, High 67.9 FPS, and Ultra 60.4 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 46.6 FPS, which is the largest drop of any resolution, showing that the GPU has room to trade visuals for speed at this pixel count. The 1080p Ultra result of 60.4 FPS is exactly at the 60 FPS threshold, making it a viable option for players who prioritize image quality over a high refresh rate.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low averages 80.8 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium falls to 58.1 FPS, High to 55.1 FPS, and Ultra to 47.8 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that stays within striking distance of 60 FPS, while Ultra is 12.2 FPS below the 1080p Ultra result. This resolution exposes the GPU’s memory bandwidth limitations, as the 128-bit bus cannot feed the higher pixel count efficiently.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low averages 56.8 FPS, which is the only preset above 40 FPS, while Medium averages 39.6 FPS, High 34.7 FPS, and Ultra 31.2 FPS. The drop from 1440p Ultra (47.8 FPS) to 4K Ultra (31.2 FPS) is 16.6 FPS, and the 4K Low result is lower than the 1080p Ultra result. This confirms that 4K is not a practical target for this hardware, even with the i9-14900K’s substantial CPU headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1314 out of 1636 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the bottom 20% of the database. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU’s 69th percentile standing and the measured FPS at 4K, but it also reflects the pairing’s imbalance. The i9-14900K’s nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 7413 (0.3% lower score), Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.7% higher), and Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (0.7% higher), all of which are within a rounding error of the i9-14900K’s average score of 79,824. This means the CPU choice is essentially irrelevant to the ranking; any of these processors would yield nearly identical FPS in this game.

The GPU’s nearest rivals tell a different story. The AMD Radeon 890M matches the RX 6600’s average score exactly (0% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP is 0.2% lower and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M is 0.2% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 0.5% higher, which is within noise. The RX 6600’s average benchmark score of 25,235 places it in the same performance tier as these rivals, meaning that swapping the GPU for any of these would not dramatically change the combo’s rank in Control. The ranking is low because the GPU is entry-level, not because the pairing is flawed.

The data suggests that the combo rank would improve significantly with a higher-tier GPU, as the CPU has 97th percentile headroom. However, within the tested combinations, this specific pairing underperforms at higher resolutions, which drags its rank down.

Settings Recommendations

For this combo, the measured data supports 1080p as the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance, averaging 74.6 FPS with a 25.6 FPS margin over High (67.9 FPS) and a 14.2 FPS margin over Ultra (60.4 FPS). Medium provides a comfortable buffer above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra are playable but leave no room for frame drops. Low at 107 FPS is the fastest option, but it sacrifices too much visual quality given that Medium is only 32.4 FPS slower.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to Low, which averages 80.8 FPS. Medium drops to 58.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, and High (55.1 FPS) and Ultra (47.8 FPS) are progressively worse. If 1440p is a hard requirement, Low is the only preset that maintains a smooth experience, though it will look noticeably less detailed than the 1080p Medium preset. The 14.2 FPS gap between 1080p Medium (74.6 FPS) and 1440p Medium (58.1 FPS) suggests that dropping to 1080p is the better trade-off for visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets deliver a satisfactory experience. Low averages 56.8 FPS, which is below 60 FPS, and every other preset falls below 40 FPS. The data indicates that 4K should be avoided with this hardware in Control; the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for this game’s 4K demands. For the best experience, run 1080p Medium or High, depending on whether you prioritize frame rate or image quality. The i9-14900K will never be the limiting factor, so all settings adjustments should be made with the RX 6600’s capabilities in mind.