Control

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable Control experience at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 2975th out of 3720 tested configurations in this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of systems. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 68.8 FPS on High settings, while 2560x1440 requires Low settings to reach 82.4 FPS. The 4K resolution falls short of the 60 FPS threshold across all tested presets, with the best result being 56.2 FPS on Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 1920x1080?

A: High settings produce an average of 68.8 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings drop to 58.6 FPS, just below playable.

Q: Can this combo run Control at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which deliver 82.4 FPS average. Medium settings fall to 55.9 FPS, and High drops further to 49.5 FPS.

Q: Is 4K resolution playable with this hardware?

A: No. The best 4K result is 56.2 FPS on Low settings, which misses the 60 FPS target. Medium scores 38.1 FPS, High scores 35.6 FPS, and Ultra scores 27.9 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to similar processors?

A: The Core i3-12100F scores 13494 in average benchmarks, placing it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, scores nearly identically at 13492, a 0% delta.

Q: How does the GPU compare to similar graphics cards?

A: The Radeon RX 6600 averages 19036 in benchmarks, sitting in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 matches it closely at 19030, a 0% difference.

Q: Which component is more responsible for the performance gap at 4K?

A: The data shows GPU-bound behavior. At 3840x2160, dropping from Ultra (27.9 FPS) to Low (56.2 FPS) more than doubles the frame rate, indicating the RX 6600's rendering capacity is the limiting factor rather than the CPU.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, producing an average of 68.8 FPS. Medium yields 77.9 FPS, and Low reaches 105.9 FPS, but High offers the best visual quality while maintaining playability.

At 2560x1440, only Low settings stay above 60 FPS, averaging 82.4 FPS. Medium drops to 55.9 FPS, which is below the threshold, so users must accept Low to maintain smooth gameplay.

For 3840x2160, no preset clears 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 56.2 FPS, but this still fails the playability threshold. The verdict data confirms no playable settings exist at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2975th out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places the system in roughly the 80th percentile from the bottom, meaning about 80% of tested configurations perform better in this game. The rank reflects the mid-range positioning of both components: the CPU sits in the 68th percentile of all processors, while the GPU lands in the 63rd percentile of all graphics cards.

The ranking makes sense given the measured frame rates. At 1080p, the combo handles High settings comfortably but struggles with Ultra, which drops to 58.6 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings remain playable, and at 4K, no preset reaches the threshold. This pattern suggests the system is optimized for 1080p gaming with headroom for higher presets, but it lacks the raw power for higher resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

On the CPU side, the Core i3-12100F's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta), Intel Core i5-9500 (13452, +0.3% delta), Intel Core 5 120UL (13594, -0.7% delta), and Intel Core i7-1250U (13351, +1.1% delta). These processors would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Control, meaning any of them paired with the RX 6600 would produce similar frame rates in GPU-limited scenarios.

For the GPU, the Radeon RX 6600's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (19030, 0% delta), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, -0.1% delta), NVIDIA Tesla K20m (19089, -0.3% delta), and NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (18954, +0.4% delta). These graphics cards would produce nearly identical rendering performance, so swapping the RX 6600 for any of these would yield comparable FPS numbers in Control.

A system with any of these CPU-GPU combinations would behave similarly in practice, with the same limitations at 4K and the same playable settings at 1080p and 1440p.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear GPU-dominated workload in Control. At 1920x1080, the frame rate scales significantly with graphics settings: Low produces 105.9 FPS, Medium 77.9 FPS, High 68.8 FPS, and Ultra 58.6 FPS. This 47.3 FPS spread between Low and Ultra indicates the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU would maintain consistent frame rates across settings if it were the bottleneck.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern holds: Low hits 82.4 FPS, but Medium drops to 55.9 FPS, a 26.5 FPS decline from just one settings tier. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 35.3 FPS (82.4 vs 47.1), showing diminishing returns as resolution increases. The CPU's role becomes even less significant at higher resolutions, since the GPU has to process more pixels per frame.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is almost entirely responsible for performance. The frame rates range from 27.9 FPS (Ultra) to 56.2 FPS (Low), a 28.3 FPS spread. The i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads, while modest, are not the limiting factor here; even the strongest CPU would struggle to push these frame rates higher given the RX 6600's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

The scaling between resolutions reinforces this analysis. At Low settings, the system delivers 105.9 FPS at 1080p, 82.4 FPS at 1440p, and 56.2 FPS at 4K. The 49.7 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is consistent with GPU-bound rendering, where pixel count quadruples. At High settings, the drop is from 68.8 FPS to 49.5 FPS to 35.6 FPS, showing even steeper declines as resolution increases.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control at playable frame rates, but the resolution and preset options are limited. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on Low, Medium, and High settings, with High providing the best balance at 68.8 FPS. Ultra falls just short at 58.6 FPS, so users should stick with High for optimal performance.

At 2560x1440, the combo remains playable only on Low settings, achieving 82.4 FPS. Medium drops to 55.9 FPS, which misses the threshold, and High and Ultra fall further to 49.5 FPS and 47.1 FPS respectively. Users with 1440p monitors must sacrifice visual quality for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the system fails to reach 60 FPS on any preset. The best result is 56.2 FPS on Low, but this is still below the playable threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra produce 38.1 FPS, 35.6 FPS, and 27.9 FPS respectively, making 4K gaming impractical with this hardware.

The overall verdict is that this combo is suitable for 1080p gaming with high settings and 1440p gaming with low settings, but it cannot handle 4K at playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 105.9 FPS average
• Medium: 77.9 FPS average
• High: 68.8 FPS average
• Ultra: 58.6 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 82.4 FPS average
• Medium: 55.9 FPS average
• High: 49.5 FPS average
• Ultra: 47.1 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 56.2 FPS average
• Medium: 38.1 FPS average
• High: 35.6 FPS average
• Ultra: 27.9 FPS average

The data shows no min or max FPS values recorded, only averages. The performance curve is consistent across all resolutions, with each settings tier costing roughly 10-20 FPS depending on resolution. The steepest drops occur between Low and Medium at 1440p and 4K, suggesting that the RX 6600's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become strained when texture quality and effects scale up at higher resolutions.