Control

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a study in imbalance. The CPU sits in the 97th percentile of all processors, while the GPU lands in the 55th percentile. In Control, this combination ranks 1406th out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 14% of systems. The measured frame rates reveal a GPU-bound experience where the CPU's headroom goes unused. The CPU's launch MSRP is $589, and the GPU's launch MSRP is 279 USD, but the data speaks louder than price tags.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1406 out of 1636 means only 230 other combinations perform worse in Control. That places this system in the 14th percentile of all tested combos, a low standing for a CPU that individually outperforms 97% of all processors. The GPU, by contrast, sits at the 55th percentile, squarely mid-pack. The delta between the CPU and GPU percentiles is stark: the i9-14900K's average benchmark score of 79824 is within 0.9% of its nearest rivals (AMD EPYC 7413 at 80041, Intel Core i9-14900KF at 79245, Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF at 79240, Intel Core Ultra 7 265K at 79102). The GTX 1660 Ti's average score of 13925 is similarly close to its own rivals: AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871, +0.4%), NVIDIA Tesla K10 (14029, -0.7%), NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13821, +0.8%), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (13812, +0.8%). The data shows that the CPU is a top-tier part, but the GPU is merely average, and Control's frame rates reflect that the GPU is the limiting factor. The rank is low because the GPU cannot translate the CPU's massive compute potential into high frame rates in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 59.3 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combos in Control?

A: It ranks 1406 out of 1636, meaning it outperforms only 230 other combinations.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti is in the 55th percentile, indicating it performs better than 55% of all GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock?

A: The i9-14900K boosts up to 6.00 GHz, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has a 192-bit bus and 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: 93.8 FPS at 1080p with Low settings.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 Ti is built on the Turing architecture with a TU116 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process. It contains 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. Its base clock is 1500 MHz, boosting to 1770 MHz, while the memory runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The 6 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is paired with a 192-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 5.437 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 10.87 TFLOPS (2:1). These specifications place it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13925. In Control, the GPU's role is decisive: the measured FPS scales directly with resolution and settings, a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 27.2, while at 1080p Low it reaches 93.8. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for the tested settings, but the raw compute throughput limits performance. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 570X, is within 0.4% in average score, confirming that the GTX 1660 Ti is a mid-range part that cannot keep pace with the i9-14900K's capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data includes 12 combinations of resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 93.8 (Low) to 54.1 (Ultra), with Medium at 64.2 and High at 59.3. At 2560x1440, the range is 68.9 (Low) to 38.6 (Ultra), with Medium at 51.5 and High at 44.6. At 3840x2160, the range is 45.7 (Low) to 27.2 (Ultra), with Medium at 34.5 and High at 30.4. The table below summarizes all measured values:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 93.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 64.2 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 59.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 54.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 68.9 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 51.5 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 44.6 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 38.6 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 45.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 34.5 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 30.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 27.2 |

The data shows a consistent pattern: each step up in settings costs roughly 10-15 FPS at 1080p, and the gap narrows at higher resolutions. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 18.5 FPS, while at 1080p it is 39.7 FPS. This suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is the primary constraint, as higher resolutions amplify the cost of each setting.

Resolution Scaling

Moving from 1080p to 4K at the same setting reveals how the GPU scales. For Low settings, FPS drops from 93.8 to 45.7, a reduction of 48.1 FPS, or 51%. For Medium, it drops from 64.2 to 34.5, a 46% reduction. High goes from 59.3 to 30.4, a 49% drop, and Ultra from 54.1 to 27.2, a 50% drop. In all cases, the 4K result is roughly half of the 1080p result. This near-linear scaling with pixel count (4K has four times the pixels of 1080p) indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the data shows a strong resolution dependence. The i9-14900K's single-thread score of 7040 in Cinebench R23 and multi-thread score of 49872 are far beyond what Control requires, so the CPU is not holding back the frame rate. The GPU's 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are the practical limits, and the resolution scaling confirms this.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend on the target frame rate. At 1080p, Medium delivers 64.2 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, while High falls just short at 59.3. Ultra is 54.1, and Low is 93.8. For a smooth 60+ FPS experience at 1080p, Medium is the highest setting that achieves it. At 1440p, only Low reaches 68.9 FPS; Medium drops to 51.5, High to 44.6, and Ultra to 38.6. Thus, 1440p users should stick to Low for playable frame rates. At 4K, no setting reaches 60 FPS; Low gives 45.7, Medium 34.5, High 30.4, and Ultra 27.2. Low is the only setting that stays above 30 FPS, making it the only viable option for 4K. The data suggests that the GTX 1660 Ti is best suited for 1080p gaming, where Medium settings provide a good balance of visual quality and performance. For higher resolutions, the GPU's limitations become severe, and even Low settings may not deliver a consistently smooth experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 49872 multi-core and 7040 single-core, and it sits in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, but the measured FPS shows that the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's performance is so far ahead of the GPU that even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the FPS is only 93.8—a number that the CPU could easily exceed if the GPU allowed. The nearest CPU rivals (AMD EPYC 7413, Intel Core i9-14900KF, Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, Intel Core Ultra 7 265K) are all within 0.9% of the i9-14900K's average score, confirming that this CPU is at the top of its class. The combo's low rank in Control is not due to the CPU, but rather to the GPU's inability to translate that CPU power into frame rates. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield a far larger performance gain than any CPU change, as the i9-14900K has ample headroom for more demanding graphics cards.