Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Control, with the data showing every tested resolution and preset configuration exceeding the 60 FPS playable threshold. The measured results position this pairing in the 92nd percentile among 3,720 tested combos for this title, indicating a top-tier experience. The following analysis breaks down the system's behavior, compares it to nearby hardware, and provides a detailed look at what these numbers mean for gameplay.

Similar Performance Alternatives

When examining the benchmark database, the Ryzen 7 9700X sits in the 86th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,943. The nearest rivals in this performance class are remarkably close in aggregate output. The Intel Core i9-14901E posts an average score of 37,911, a delta of just 0.1% from the AMD processor. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 achieves 37,904, also within 0.1% of the 9700X's score. The Intel Core 5 211E and AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 trail by a mere 0.3% and 0.4% respectively, with scores of 37,829 and 37,804.

For the GPU side, the RTX 4090 holds the 88th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 60,347. The nearest rival data is more varied. The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches almost exactly, scoring 60,326 for a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 comes in at 60,140, which is 0.3% behind. Interestingly, the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M actually scores higher at 61,896, putting it 2.5% ahead of the RTX 4090 in this aggregate metric. The AMD Radeon PRO V710 trails by 2.9% with a score of 58,657.

In practical terms for Control, a user swapping between the Ryzen 7 9700X and any of these CPU rivals would likely observe negligible differences in framerate, as the deltaPct values are all under half a percent. On the GPU side, the situation is similar — the Arc Pro A60 and Pro Vega 48 are statistically tied with the 4090 in aggregate benchmarks, though the W6600M's slightly higher score suggests it could theoretically edge out the 4090 in some synthetic workloads. However, the measured FPS data for Control specifically reflects only the 9700X + 4090 combination, so these rival comparisons remain indicative of general compute potential rather than direct in-game equivalence.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data for Control reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions, with the CPU's role becoming more pronounced as resolution drops. At 4K (3840x2160), the jump from Low to High settings reduces average FPS from 140.3 to 89.1, a drop of 51.2 FPS. This substantial scaling indicates the GPU is the primary limiter, as the workload at 4K heavily taxes the RTX 4090's rendering capabilities. Moving from High to Ultra at 4K further reduces performance from 89.1 to 78.5 FPS, showing that even the most demanding preset remains comfortably playable.

At 1440p, the same settings progression shows less severe scaling. Low settings produce 207.8 FPS, while High yields 132.7 FPS. The difference between Low and High is 75.1 FPS, which is larger in absolute terms than at 4K, but the overall frame rates are much higher. This suggests the GPU still dominates, but the CPU begins to contribute more meaningfully to keeping frame times low. The Ultra preset at 1440p still manages 116.5 FPS, indicating headroom remains.

At 1080p, the CPU's influence becomes more apparent. Low settings hit 274.8 FPS, and High drops to 173.3 FPS. The gap between Medium (196.8 FPS) and High (173.3 FPS) is 23.5 FPS, while the gap from High to Ultra (152.1 FPS) is 21.2 FPS. These smaller incremental differences at 1080p suggest that while the GPU still handles most of the graphical load, the Ryzen 7 9700X's single-thread performance — evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1,280 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,211 — is sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck at these very high frame rates.

A key observation is the scaling efficiency across resolutions. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 152.1 at 1080p to 116.5 at 1440p (a 23.4% reduction) and then to 78.5 at 4K (a 32.6% reduction from 1440p). This consistent degradation with resolution indicates the RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are ample for all tested configurations, with the GPU's compute throughput being the limiting factor rather than memory capacity or bandwidth.

Best Settings per Resolution

The verdict data for this combination is unambiguous: at every resolution, the Ultra preset delivers above 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 78.5 FPS, which is the most demanding setting that clears the playable threshold. This is particularly notable because 4K Ultra is typically the harshest test for any hardware, and the RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 128 RT cores handle Control's physics-heavy combat sequences with room to spare.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings produce an average of 116.5 FPS. This represents a significant 48.4% improvement over the 4K Ultra result, demonstrating that 1440p is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 116.5 FPS figure is well above the 60 FPS threshold and even approaches the 120 Hz territory, though the data only confirms averages without min/max values.

For 1920x1080, Ultra settings reach 152.1 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate recorded for Ultra across all resolutions and indicates that the system has substantial headroom for competitive play or future settings changes. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 274.8 FPS, which would be relevant for esports scenarios, but the Ultra preset remains the recommended choice given it already blows past the 60 FPS target by a factor of 2.5.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with the highest possible graphics settings?

A: Yes. The measured data shows the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 78.5 FPS, which is 18.5 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four tested settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at 4K exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X scores 37,943 on average, which places it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i9-14901E (37,911) and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37,904). The Intel Core 5 211E trails by 0.3% at 37,829.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between settings at any resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (274.8 FPS) and Ultra (152.1 FPS) is 122.7 FPS. At 4K, the same settings comparison shows a gap of 61.8 FPS (140.3 vs 78.5), indicating that higher resolutions compress the settings-based performance spread.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's performance headroom significant for this game?

A: The data indicates yes. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 78.5, which is 30.8% above the 60 FPS threshold. This headroom grows to 94.2% above threshold at 1440p Ultra (116.5 FPS) and 153.5% above at 1080p Ultra (152.1 FPS).

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Control?*

A: The combination ranks 92nd out of 3,720 tested combos, placing it in the top 2.5% of all pairings. This high percentile reflects the RTX 4090's position in the 88th GPU percentile and the 9700X's 86th CPU percentile.

Q: What does the RTX 4090's nearest rival data suggest about its aggregate compute performance?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60,347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% behind). The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 2.5% higher at 61,896, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 trails by 2.9%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090 demonstrates predictable scaling. Low settings produce an average of 140.3 FPS, which drops to 101.0 FPS at Medium. High settings yield 89.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 78.5 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium represents a 39.3 FPS drop, while Medium to High is a smaller 11.9 FPS reduction, and High to Ultra is a modest 10.6 FPS decline. This pattern suggests diminishing returns in cost as settings increase, with the largest performance penalty occurring when moving from Low to Medium.

At 2560x1440, the numbers shift upward substantially. Low settings average 207.8 FPS, Medium reaches 148.4 FPS, High hits 132.7 FPS, and Ultra settles at 116.5 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap is 59.4 FPS, which is the largest single-step reduction across all resolutions and settings. Interestingly, the Medium-to-High drop is only 15.7 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 16.2 FPS, showing a more consistent degradation at this resolution compared to 4K.

At 1920x1080, the highest frame rates appear. Low settings deliver 274.8 FPS, Medium produces 196.8 FPS, High achieves 173.3 FPS, and Ultra reaches 152.1 FPS. The Low-to-Medium drop of 78.0 FPS is the largest absolute difference observed anywhere in the dataset. This suggests that at 1080p, the GPU is heavily underutilized at Low settings, with the CPU providing enough throughput to push frame rates far beyond what typical monitors can display. The scaling from Medium to High (23.5 FPS) and High to Ultra (21.2 FPS) remains relatively linear, indicating a balanced workload distribution.

Across all resolutions, the average FPS values consistently exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold by wide margins. The lowest recorded average is 78.5 FPS at 4K Ultra, while the highest is 274.8 FPS at 1080p Low. The data does not include min or max FPS values, so frame time consistency cannot be assessed, but the average figures suggest smooth performance across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 92 out of 3,720 tested combos for Control. This places the pairing in the top 2.5% of all configurations in the database for this specific game. The rank reflects the synergy between the CPU's 86th percentile standing among processors and the GPU's 88th percentile among graphics cards, with the combined result exceeding either component's individual percentile.

Given that the RTX 4090's nearest GPU rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, which have nearly identical aggregate scores, it is likely that pairing the 9700X with those GPUs would produce very similar results in Control. However, the measured data only applies to the exact combination tested. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14901E with a 0.1% delta, would be expected to perform nearly identically when paired with the same GPU, based on the aggregate benchmark scores.

The high rank is particularly notable because Control is an action-adventure title that benefits from both strong single-threaded CPU performance and robust GPU throughput. The 9700X's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,211 and the RTX 4090's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 both indicate top-tier capabilities that translate directly to the game's demanding physics and rendering workloads.

The Verdict

This system can absolutely run Control at high performance levels across all tested resolutions. The verdict data confirms that at 3840x2160, all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable, with Ultra achieving 78.5 FPS average. This is the most demanding scenario in the dataset, and it still clears the 60 FPS threshold by 30.8%.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 116.5 FPS, providing a 94.2% margin above the playable threshold. This resolution offers the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate for users with high-refresh-rate displays. The 1920x1080 Ultra setting reaches 152.1 FPS, which is 153.5% above the threshold, making this configuration suitable for even the fastest gaming monitors.

For users who prioritize maximum visual quality, the 4K Ultra setting at 78.5 FPS is the clear recommendation, as it offers the most demanding graphics while remaining comfortably playable. Those with 1440p or 1080p monitors can confidently enable Ultra settings without concern, as the data shows no scenario where the system drops below 60 FPS. The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X's strong single-thread performance and the RTX 4090's massive compute resources ensures that Control runs smoothly with substantial headroom for future content updates or more demanding scenes.