Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, presents a demanding scenario for the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti pairing. The measured FPS data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by resolution and graphical presets, with the GPU emerging as the primary bottleneck at higher settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes it against other tested combinations, and provides actionable insights based strictly on the provided benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and tells a clear story about system balance. At 1080p High, the combo averages 105.3 FPS, but at 1440p High, that figure falls to 82 FPS—a 22% reduction. Moving to 4K High, the average plummets to 54.9 FPS, which is a 48% drop from the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling aggressively with pixel count, placing the onus squarely on the graphics card.

The pattern persists across all settings. At Low, the system achieves 165.8 FPS at 1080p, 124.1 FPS at 1440p, and 83.2 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low is 82.6 FPS, while at Ultra, the delta is 43 FPS (92.7 down to 49.7). The fact that the absolute FPS drop is larger at lower settings suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is capable of feeding frames much faster, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor even at this modest resolution. Conversely, at Ultra, the GPU is so saturated that the relative penalty of increasing resolution is slightly lessened, but the absolute performance is already low.

The data implies that for 4K gaming, this combination is not suited for high-refresh-rate displays. The 54.9 FPS at High and 49.7 FPS at Ultra are playable but firmly in the 60 FPS territory’s lower bound. The scaling suggests that the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB of VRAM and 256-bit memory bus are being taxed heavily as resolution increases, a point elaborated on in the next section.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the dominant partner in this pairing for Control. Its specifications—8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth—are central to understanding the measured results. The 8 GB capacity is likely a constraining factor at 4K Ultra, where texture detail and geometry can exceed this limit, causing the 49.7 FPS average. The GDDR6X type and high bandwidth are crucial for feeding the GA104 chip, which has 6144 shading units and a boost clock of 1770 MHz.

The GPU’s raw compute, rated at 21.75 TFLOPS FP32, is what drives the pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s. This explains why the card can still manage 83.2 FPS at 4K Low, where the shading load is reduced. However, as settings increase to Medium (59.8 FPS) and High (54.9 FPS), the additional work per pixel on effects like volumetric lighting and reflections takes a toll. The data shows a clear hierarchy: the RTX 3070 Ti is the performance ceiling, and the CPU is rarely a limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s overall standing is reflected in its percentile of 74 versus all GPUs. Its nearest rival in average benchmark score is the AMD Radeon RX 6700, which scores 31112 versus the RTX 3070 Ti’s 30849, a delta of -0.8%. This close margin in synthetic benchmarks does not translate to a perfectly linear relationship in Control, but it does frame the card’s class. The 21.75 TFLOPS figure is identical for FP16 and FP32, indicating a 1:1 ratio, which is mature for Ampere but not a differentiator in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of Control, this CPU-GPU combination ranks 626th out of 1636 tested combos. This places it in the top 38% of all tested systems, a solid but not elite position. The percentile ranking suggests that while this is a capable setup, many other combinations—likely with more powerful GPUs—achieve higher average FPS. The data indicates that the combo is more constrained by the GPU than the CPU, as the i9-14900K is a top-tier processor.

The CPU itself holds a percentile of 97 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79824. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7413, scores 80041, a delta of -0.3%, making them statistically equivalent. This high CPU percentile reinforces that the processor is not the bottleneck. The GPU, with its 74th percentile, is clearly the weaker link in this duo for gaming. When the combo ranks 626th, it implies that the average FPS in Control is pulled down by the GPU’s mid-range performance class, despite the CPU’s top-tier standing.

The deltaPct values for the CPU rivals are all within 0.9% of each other, showing that at the very top of the CPU market, performance differences are negligible. This further isolates the GPU as the performance differentiator. For users with this exact combo, the ranking suggests that to improve Control performance, the upgrade path would be to replace the RTX 3070 Ti, not the i9-14900K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 82.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The GPU is the main bottleneck. The average FPS is 49.7, and the CPU’s high percentile (97) indicates it is not limiting performance at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti scores 30849 in average benchmarks, while the AMD Radeon RX 6700 scores 31112, a delta of -0.8%.

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The best average FPS is 165.8, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How many total combos were tested for Control, and where does this one rank?

A: This combo ranks 626th out of 1636 tested combos.

Q: What is the L3 cache size on the Intel Core i9-14900K?

A: The L3 cache is 36 MB (shared).

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear guide for optimizing the experience. For 4K gaming, the High preset (54.9 FPS) is the most balanced, offering a playable frame rate without the steep performance hit of Ultra (49.7 FPS). Dropping to Medium (59.8 FPS) yields a 9% improvement over High, which could be worthwhile for those seeking smoother motion. Low (83.2 FPS) is the only 4K preset that breaks into high-refresh territory, but it significantly compromises visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the High preset (82 FPS) is excellent for most monitors, providing a smooth experience. Ultra (68.9 FPS) is also viable, offering near-maximum quality. Medium (93.2 FPS) is the sweet spot for 144Hz displays. At 1080p, all presets are playable, with High (105.3 FPS) and Medium (119.5 FPS) being ideal for 120Hz+ panels. Ultra (92.7 FPS) remains smooth. The best experience per the measured rows is 1440p High, as it balances a substantial resolution increase over 1080p with a frame rate (82 FPS) that remains fluid. For strict competitive play, 1080p Low (165.8 FPS) offers the highest headroom, but the visual trade-off is severe.

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. Its substantial L3 cache (36 MB shared) and high single-thread performance—evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040—make it exceptionally well-suited for gaming. The data shows that this CPU is not a limiting factor in Control, even at 1080p Low where the frame rate peaks at 165.8 FPS.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 79824 places it in the 97th percentile, with its nearest rival (AMD EPYC 7413) only 0.3% behind. This indicates that in the broader benchmark landscape, the i9-14900K is at the apex of desktop performance. However, in Control, the frame rates scale inversely with resolution and settings, which is classic GPU-bound behavior. At 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely idling, waiting for the GPU to deliver frames. The fact that 1080p Low (165.8 FPS) does not show a dramatic jump over 1080p High (105.3 FPS) suggests that even at lower resolutions, the GPU is still the primary constraint, though the CPU’s headroom is evident in the higher Low-setting result.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following are the exact measured average FPS values for the Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti in Control.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 83.2 FPS
• Medium: 59.8 FPS
• High: 54.9 FPS
• Ultra: 49.7 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 124.1 FPS
• Medium: 93.2 FPS
• High: 82 FPS
• Ultra: 68.9 FPS

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 165.8 FPS
• Medium: 119.5 FPS
• High: 105.3 FPS
• Ultra: 92.7 FPS

The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is 33.5 FPS, while at 1080p it is 73.1 FPS. This widening gap at lower resolutions confirms that the CPU can push much higher frame rates when the GPU is less burdened. The 4K Ultra result of 49.7 FPS is the only sub-50 FPS result in the entire dataset, highlighting the extreme demand of that preset. The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step down in settings yields a meaningful FPS gain, with the Low preset providing a significant boost over Medium at all resolutions.