Control

Control’s benchmark results for the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT show a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet capable of delivering strong frame rates at 1080p. The data indicates a clear hierarchy: the GPU dictates performance scaling across settings, while the CPU provides ample headroom that is rarely, if ever, the limiting factor. This combination ranks in the 54th percentile of tested combos, suggesting a balanced pairing that leans on the GPU’s capabilities for this specific title.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. It also features a substantial 36 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications place it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79824. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7413, scores only 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core i9-14900KF and Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF are both 0.7% behind. This indicates the i9-14900K is at the very top of the CPU performance hierarchy.

In the context of Control, this processor’s role is to feed the GPU with data without becoming a bottleneck. The benchmark data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 140.5 FPS, which is the highest average across all tested settings. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 42.7 FPS, a decline that is far more attributable to the GPU’s rendering load than to CPU limitations. The massive thread count and high boost clock ensure that even the most demanding physics and AI calculations in the game’s action sequences are handled with ease. The data shows no scenario where the CPU’s performance ceiling is reached, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with resolution and graphical preset changes, which are GPU-centric workloads.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process node, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2581 MHz, with a game clock of 2424 MHz. The GPU’s performance places it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 33721. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800, is only 0.7% faster, while the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and RX 480 are both 1% slower, and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 is 1.3% slower.

For Control, the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for High and Ultra presets, but the data shows a steep performance cost. At 1440p, moving from High (70.4 FPS) to Ultra (60.6 FPS) results in a 13.9% drop. At 4K, the same transition from High (47.5 FPS) to Ultra (42.7 FPS) shows a 10.1% drop. This indicates that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are taxing the GPU’s compute units and memory bandwidth heavily. The 4K Ultra result of 42.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, highlighting that the RX 6700 XT is stretched thin at this resolution with maximum settings. The GPU’s compute capabilities, rated at 13.21 TFLOPS, are the limiting factor in this scenario, not the CPU.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The scaling of frame rates across resolutions confirms the GPU-bound nature of this combination. At High settings, the system moves from 92.4 FPS at 1080p to 70.4 FPS at 1440p, a 23.8% decrease, and then to 47.5 FPS at 4K, a further 32.5% decrease from 1440p. This pattern is consistent across all settings. For instance, at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 140.5 FPS at 1080p to 105.2 FPS at 1440p (25.1% decrease), and then to 71.8 FPS at 4K (31.7% decrease).

The consistent proportional drops as resolution increases are a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU’s performance remains constant, but the GPU must render exponentially more pixels at 4K. The data shows that at 1080p, the system can exceed 140 FPS on Low, which is a CPU-friendly scenario where the GPU is still keeping up. However, at 4K, even the lowest settings cannot maintain 72 FPS, proving that the rendering pipeline is saturated. The most significant single drop occurs between 1440p and 4K at every setting, indicating that the RX 6700 XT’s memory bandwidth and shader throughput are insufficient for the higher pixel counts. This analysis points directly to the GPU as the limiting component for this game.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 881 out of 1636 tested combos for Control. This places it in the 54th percentile of all configurations. This ranking is not a reflection of poor performance but rather a positioning that reflects the balance of the two components. The i9-14900K is a top-tier CPU, but it is paired with a mid-range GPU. The data suggests that this combo outperforms configurations with weaker CPUs but similar GPUs, but it falls short of combos that pair the same GPU with a less powerful CPU would not exist, as the CPU is rarely the limiter.

The ranking implies that the system sits in the upper-middle tier of all tested setups. It is ahead of many older or lower-end GPU combos but behind those with higher-tier GPUs like the RX 6800, which is only 0.7% faster in synthetic benchmarks. In-game, this translates to a system that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming with high frame rates, but it struggles to maintain playable performance at 4K with high settings. The 881st rank is a data-driven conclusion that this is a competent 1440p gaming machine rather than a 4K powerhouse.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 92.4 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. Moving to Medium yields 100.5 FPS, a 8.8% improvement, but the visual downgrade may not be worth it for a few frames. The Ultra preset drops to 76.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 17% reduction from High. For 1080p, High is the sweet spot, balancing visual fidelity and performance.

At 2560x1440, High produces 70.4 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS, but the margin is thinner. Medium settings provide 77 FPS, offering a more comfortable buffer. The Ultra preset at 60.6 FPS is borderline, and any intense action could cause perceptible stutter. For 1440p, Medium is recommended, as it provides a 9.4% performance boost over High while maintaining most of the visual quality. At 3840x2160, all presets fail to reach 60 FPS. The High preset at 47.5 FPS is the best balance, while Low at 71.8 FPS is the only preset that is smooth, but it sacrifices significant visual fidelity. For 4K, Low is the only recommendation for a consistently playable experience, as Medium (50.1 FPS) and High (47.5 FPS) are too close to the 30 FPS minimum threshold for comfort.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming on this system?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields 77 FPS, which is 9.4% higher than High (70.4 FPS) and offers a more stable experience for action sequences.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings in Control?

A: No. The 4K Ultra preset produces an average of 42.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold and would likely result in noticeable slowdowns.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79824, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041) but 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79245).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K on High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 92.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 47.5 FPS at 3840x2160, a 48.6% decrease.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: Yes. The frame rate drops consistently with resolution increases (e.g., 140.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 71.8 FPS at 4K Low), indicating the GPU’s rendering capacity is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT had a launch MSRP of 479 USD.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured frame rates for this combination are as follows:

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 140.5 FPS on Low, 100.5 FPS on Medium, 92.4 FPS on High, and 76.7 FPS on Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is 63.8 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for maximum settings.

At 2560x1440, the results are 105.2 FPS on Low, 77 FPS on Medium, 70.4 FPS on High, and 60.6 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra narrows to 44.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to saturate as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the system drops to 71.8 FPS on Low, 50.1 FPS on Medium, 47.5 FPS on High, and 42.7 FPS on Ultra. The performance gap between Low and Ultra shrinks further to 29.1 FPS, and no preset reaches 60 FPS. The data shows a clear trend: the GPU’s frame rate decreases proportionally with resolution, confirming its role as the primary constraint in this pairing.