Control

Control with Intel Core i9-14900K + AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers a dataset that clearly separates GPU-bound scaling from CPU headroom. The measured frames per second across three resolutions and four quality presets show a component pairing where the graphics card is the primary constraint, with the processor contributing consistent overhead. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, the GPU's role, the combo's ranking, and settings recommendations based strictly on the measured rows.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the limiting component in this pairing. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 77.9 at 1920x1080 to 54.6 at 2560x1440, then to 39.3 at 3840x2160. That represents a 30% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 28% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The trend is similar at other presets, with Low settings dropping from 118.3 at 1080p to 92 at 1440p and 59.1 at 4K — a 50% total loss from the lowest to highest resolution.

The scaling pattern reveals that the GPU is saturated well before the CPU becomes relevant. At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra is only 25.3 FPS (59.1 vs 33.8), which is a 43% spread. At 1080p, the same Low-to-Ultra gap is 51.5 FPS (118.3 vs 66.8), a 44% spread. The relative consistency of this preset delta across resolutions suggests that the RX 7600's rendering throughput scales predictably with pixel count, rather than hitting any memory or bandwidth cliff. The 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth appear sufficient for this game's demands, as the frame rate drops are smooth and monotonic.

The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the combo approaches high refresh rates. At Low settings, the 118.3 average exceeds 60 FPS by a wide margin, and even High settings hit 77.9. At 1440p, the best case is Low at 92, but Medium falls to 65.8 and High to 54.6, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS; the best is Low at 59.1, which is marginally under. This indicates that the limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads are unlikely to bottleneck any modern game at such pixel densities.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip and a 6 nm process from TSMC. Its boost clock of 2655 MHz and game clock of 2250 MHz provide the compute throughput for the measured results. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, which is a moderate figure for this class of card. In Control, the memory size does not appear to cause a severe penalty at 4K, as the average FPS at High (39.3) is not disproportionately lower than Medium (41.9), suggesting the game fits within the 8 GB frame buffer at these settings.

The GPU's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs drive the pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s. This explains why Ultra settings at 4K drop to 33.8 FPS — the ROP throughput is being taxed heavily by the resolution increase. The FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS is respectable, but the data shows that the card's raw compute is not enough to maintain 60 FPS at 1440p High. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with an average score 0.6% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 1.3% lower, which places the RX 7600 in a tightly contested mid-range segment.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 63 among all GPUs confirms this mid-range positioning. The measured FPS in Control aligns with that ranking — the card delivers playable frame rates at 1080p, acceptable at 1440p with lowered settings, and struggles at 4K. The 8 GB memory capacity is adequate for this game, as the scaling from Medium to High at 4K is only a 2.6 FPS difference (41.9 to 39.3), indicating that texture memory is not the primary bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination ranks 1095 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. This places it in the lower third of all pairings, which is expected given that the GPU is a mid-range part paired with a top-tier processor. The combo's rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU's performance, as the i9-14900K sits in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 and single-core score of 7040 are exceptional, but in Control, the frame rates are capped by the RX 7600's rendering capabilities.

The ranking data suggests that this pairing is unbalanced for this game. The CPU has ample headroom — its average benchmark score of 79824 is within 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 7413 and 0.7% of the Intel Core i9-14900KF — but the GPU's average score of 20258 is only in the 63rd percentile. In Control, the combo's performance is consistent with the GPU's capabilities, meaning the processor is not the limiting factor. The rank of 1095 indicates that there are 541 tested combos that perform worse, but also 1094 that perform better, which reflects the GPU's mid-range position.

This combo's rank in Control is not a reflection of CPU quality. The i9-14900K's nearest rivals all have similar average scores — the AMD EPYC 7413 at 80041, the Intel Core i9-14900KF at 79245, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF at 79240 — with deltaPct values under 1%. The CPU's multi-threaded performance is so far above the game's requirements that swapping it for a weaker processor would likely yield identical frame rates. The bottleneck is firmly on the GPU side, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows point to Medium settings at 1440p as the best balance for this combo. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 65.8 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold, while High drops to 54.6 and Ultra to 52.7. The jump from Medium to High costs 11.2 FPS (65.8 to 54.6), which is a 17% penalty for what may be marginal visual improvements. At 1080p, High is the optimal choice, delivering 77.9 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS and leaves headroom for dips. Ultra at 1080p drops to 66.8, which is still playable, but the 14% reduction from High may not justify the visual gain.

For users targeting 4K, the data shows that Low settings at 59.1 FPS are the only way to approach 60 FPS, but this requires a significant visual compromise. Medium at 4K yields 41.9 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target, and High at 39.3 is only marginally better than Medium. Given the steep drop from Low to Medium at 4K (59.1 to 41.9, a 29% reduction), the recommendation is to avoid 4K unless Low settings are acceptable. The sweet spot is 1440p Medium, which offers 65.8 FPS and likely retains most of the game's visual fidelity.

At 1080p, the data supports using High as the default preset. The measured 77.9 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, and the gap to Ultra (66.8) is 11.1 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not worth the performance cost. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, Low at 118.3 FPS is available, but the visual trade-off is substantial. The recommendation is to prioritize Medium at 1440p for the best combination of frame rate and image quality, with High at 1080p as a fallback for users who prefer higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: The data shows 1080p as the most consistent resolution, with High settings delivering 77.9 FPS and Low reaching 118.3. At 1440p, Medium is the only preset above 60 FPS at 65.8, while 4K cannot exceed 59.1 FPS even at Low settings.

Q: How does the GPU perform relative to its rivals?

A: The RX 7600's average benchmark score of 20258 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RX 7600 XT, has an average score 0.6% higher, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 1.3% lower, indicating a tightly grouped mid-range segment.

Q: Is the CPU bottlenecking the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i9-14900K ranks in the 97th percentile of CPUs with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872. The resolution scaling shows a consistent FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, not a CPU bottleneck.

Q: What settings should I use for 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 deliver 65.8 FPS, which is the only preset at that resolution above 60 FPS. High drops to 54.6 and Ultra to 52.7, so Medium is the recommended choice.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, the best measured result is 59.1 FPS at Low settings, which is just below 60 FPS. Medium gives 41.9 FPS and High gives 39.3, so 4K gaming is only feasible with substantial visual compromises.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 1095 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower third. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range performance, as the CPU is among the top performers in the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.20 GHz and boost clock of 6.00 GHz provide exceptional single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache ensure that game data is readily accessible, but in Control, this CPU power is largely unused. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (118.3) is the only result that approaches the CPU's potential, and even then, the GPU is still the limiting factor.

The CPU's benchmark scores are far above what this game requires. The Geekbench multi-core score of 20370 and single-core score of 3064 are in the top tier of desktop processors, and the PassMark multithread score of 58674 reinforces this. However, the combo's rank of 1095 out of 1636 in Control indicates that the GPU's performance ceiling is what defines the experience. The i9-14900K's nearest rivals all have average scores within 0.9% of each other, confirming that the CPU is not a differentiator in this game.

The processor's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory give it flexibility, but the game's performance is not memory-sensitive based on the measured data. The 4K Ultra result of 33.8 FPS is consistent with the GPU's compute limits, not any CPU constraint. In summary, the i9-14900K provides ample headroom for Control, but the RX 7600's 8 GB memory and 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance cap the frame rates. The data shows a clear GPU-bound scenario where the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads are more than sufficient, and any performance gains would require a more powerful graphics card.