Control

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a lopsided combination on paper — a 4-core budget CPU from 2022 driving a flagship-tier Blackwell GPU — but the measured data for Control shows that this pairing delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all resolutions. The benchmark results, measured rather than estimated, place this combo at rank 377 out of 3,720 tested configurations, which puts it in the top 10% of all systems for this game. At 1920x1080, the system pushes well beyond 200 FPS at Low settings, and even at the demanding 3840x2160 Ultra preset, it holds an average above 60 FPS. What follows is a detailed breakdown of the measured FPS data, answers to common questions, optimal settings per resolution, comparisons to similar hardware, and an analysis of whether the CPU or GPU is the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). All figures are average FPS; min and max FPS values were not recorded in the dataset.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system delivers playable performance across all presets. The Low preset averages 118.6 FPS, which is a strong baseline for a 4K display. Moving up to Medium drops the average to 88.0 FPS, a 26% reduction from Low, while High sits at 76.1 FPS — a further 14% drop from Medium. The Ultra preset brings the average down to 68.6 FPS, which is 42% below the Low preset result. The scaling from Medium to High to Ultra shows diminishing returns: the gap between Medium and High is 11.9 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 7.5 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's extra visual effects cost less relative performance than the jump from Medium to High.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), performance is comfortably high. The Low preset averages 180.7 FPS, making it more than triple the 60 FPS threshold. Medium produces 124.7 FPS, High produces 112.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 97.8 FPS. The scaling here is more linear than at 4K: the difference between Low and Medium is 56 FPS, between Medium and High is 12.3 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 14.6 FPS. Notably, the Ultra preset at 1440p (97.8 FPS) is still faster than the Low preset at 4K (118.6 FPS is higher, but Ultra at 1440p is close to that figure), which indicates that resolution has a larger impact on frame rate than the settings preset does in this range.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system delivers extremely high frame rates that are likely CPU-limited in some scenarios. The Low preset reaches 229.5 FPS, which is the highest average in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 170.5 FPS, High to 146.6 FPS, and Ultra to 128.5 FPS. The relative scaling is steeper than at higher resolutions: the drop from Low to Medium is 59 FPS (a 26% reduction), while the drop from Medium to High is 24 FPS (14%), and from High to Ultra is 18 FPS (12%). The fact that the 1080p Low preset (229.5 FPS) is only 27% higher than the 1440p Low preset (180.7 FPS), despite rendering roughly half the pixels, suggests that the CPU or the game's draw call overhead is starting to become a factor at 1080p.

The data shows a clear trend: as resolution decreases, the gap between settings presets widens in absolute FPS terms, but the relative scaling remains similar across resolutions. This indicates that the RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant factor at 4K and 1440p, while the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads may hold back performance at 1080p Low where the GPU is not fully saturated.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 Ti at 1920x1080?

A: The data suggests yes, but not a severe one. At 1080p Low, the system averages 229.5 FPS, which is only 27% higher than the 1440p Low average of 180.7 FPS, despite rendering roughly half the pixel count. This disproportionate scaling indicates that the CPU, which has a Passmark multithread score of 14015 and hits a 68th percentile among all CPUs, is limiting the GPU's ability to produce even higher frame rates at 1080p.

*Q: Can this system run Control at 4K Ultra settings?*

A: Yes, the data shows it is playable. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 68.6, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by 14%. The verdict data lists Ultra as the best playable setting at 4K, meaning all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) exceed 60 FPS at that resolution.

Q: What is the best setting preset to use at 2560x1440 to maintain a high refresh rate?

A: If you own a 144Hz monitor, you need to prioritize. Ultra at 1440p averages 97.8 FPS, which is below 144 Hz. To get closer to 144 FPS, you would need to drop to Medium (124.7 FPS) or Low (180.7 FPS). The High preset (112.4 FPS) is a compromise, but no preset at 1440.0p reaches exactly 144 FPS — the closest is Medium at 124.7 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance in this game compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i3-12100F's average benchmark score is 13494, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, a 0% difference) and the Intel Core i5-9500 (13452, 0.3% faster). It is slightly slower than the Intel Core 5 120UL (13594, a -0.7% gap) and slightly faster than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13351, a 1.1% advantage). These rivals are all within a small window, meaning the CPU's raw compute would behave similarly across these chips in CPU-bound scenarios.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 3840x2160 for the highest visual quality?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K is playable with an average of 68.6 FPS. Since there is no higher preset in the data, Ultra is the best option for visual quality. The system has 16 GB of GDDR7 VRAM and 896 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for this game, but the 4.30 GHz boost clock of the i3-12100F may cause occasional stutters.

*Q: Is this system in the top tier for Control performance?*

A: The combo ranks at 377 out of 3720 tested CPU-GPU combinations, placing it in the 89.9th percentile of all tested combos. This is a strong position, but it is not the absolute top, as 3,343 other configurations performed better in this game.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the best visual preset that stays above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 128.5 FPS. This is a huge margin above the 60 FPS threshold, and the system is not at any risk of dropping below playable performance. The Low setting (229.5 FPS) and Medium (170.5 FPS) are more suited to 240Hz displays, but Ultra is the best for image quality.

At 2560x1440, the best preset is Ultra, with an average of 97.8 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold by over 37 FPS, leaving room for demanding scenes. If you have a 144Hz monitor, you may prefer Medium (124.7 FPS) to get closer to that refresh rate, but for pure visual fidelity, Ultra is the recommended choice.

At 3840x2160, the best preset is Ultra, with an average of 68.6 FPS. This is just above the 60 FPS threshold, so it is playable, but there is little headroom for stutters or complex action scenes. For a smoother experience at 4K, you could drop to High (76.1 FPS), which is 11% faster than Ultra and still visually close, but the data confirms Ultra is viable.

In summary, the system is capable of running the maximum Ultra preset at all three resolutions. The only warning is at 4K, where Ultra (68.6 FPS) is close to the 60 FPS threshold, so players who are sensitive to frame dips might prefer High (76.1 FPS) for a safer margin.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU (Intel Core i3-12100F), its average benchmark score of 13494 places it in a tight cluster of rivals. The Intel Core 3 N355 scores 13492, which is virtually identical (0% deltaPct), meaning it would perform the same in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452 (0.3% slower), so a system with that CPU would be indistinguishable. The Intel Core 5 120UL is 0.7% faster, and the Intel Core i7-1250U is 1.1% slower. All these chips are within a 1.8% band, so swapping the CPU for any of these would not change your frame rate in Control at all — the difference is within measurement noise.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has an average score of 49957, and its nearest rivals are remarkably close. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 scores 50001, which is actually 0.1% higher, meaning it would be slightly faster in practice. The Intel Arc A550M scores 49737 (0.4% slower). The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT scores 50951, which is 2% faster, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT scores 48477, which is 3.1% slower. In Control, the RX 6900 XT would provide a marginal FPS boost (about 2% at the same settings and resolution), while the RX 6800 XT would cost you about 3% FPS, which is a minor difference.

The practical takeaway is that the RTX 5070 Ti is in a performance band where a 2% variance covers many rivals. For the CPU, the 4-core i3-12100F is near the bottom of what is acceptable, but its rivals are equally similar in score, so you don't need to upgrade for this game unless the 1080p bottleneck (229 FPS at Low) is a concern.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data reveals a clear division of labor between the i3-12100F and the RTX 5070 Ti depending on resolution and preset.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is overwhelmingly the limiting factor. The Ultra preset (68.6 FPS) is only 42% slower than the Low preset (118.6 FPS), which is a typical GPU-bound scaling pattern — more pixels and more effects burden the render output. The CPU, with its 4-core / 8-thread design and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860, is not stressed at this resolution because the GPU is the bottleneck. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 896 GB/s bandwidth are fully utilized, and the GPU's 43.94 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the primary driver.

At 2560x1440, the GPU still dominates, but the CPU begins to play a larger role. The scaling from Low (180.7 FPS) to Ultra (97.8 FPS) is closer to a 50% reduction, which indicates that the GPU is still the primary constraint. However, the fact that 1440p Low (180.7 FPS) is only 27% lower than 1080p Low (229.5 FPS) — despite a 78% pixel increase — suggests that the CPU is starting to limit the frame rate at the higher end of FPS. The i3-12100F's single-thread score (1674 in Cinebench R23) is adequate, but the 8-thread limit (3dmark_8_threads score of 4026) means that the CPU can only issue so many draw calls per second.

At 1920x1080, the CPU becomes the more important factor, especially at Low and Medium settings. The Low preset (229.5 FPS) is only 27% higher than the 1440p Low (180.7 FPS), and the Ultra preset (128.5 FPS) is only 31% higher than 1440p Ultra (97.8 FPS). This indicates that the GPU has enough headroom at 1080p to produce even higher FPS, but the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are hitting a limit. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 14015 is not high by modern standards, and the 4.30 GHz boost clock is modest. In this scenario, upgrading the CPU would likely yield a meaningful FPS increase at 1080p, whereas at 4K, the GPU would need to be upgraded first.

In summary, the RTX 5070 Ti is the primary driver at 4K and 1440p, while the i3-12100F becomes a limiting factor at 1080p, particularly at lower settings where the GPU is not fully stressed.

The Verdict

The verdict is clear: *this system can run Control with a playable frame rate at every resolution and setting preset tested. The verdictByResolution data confirms that at 3840x2160, all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable, with the best being Ultra at 68.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, all presets are playable, with Ultra at 97.8 FPS. At 1920x1080*, all presets are playable, with Ultra at 128.5 FPS.

The system clears the 60 FPS playable threshold with a comfortable margin everywhere except at 4K Ultra, where it is only 8.6 FPS above the threshold. For a 4K display, you can run Ultra and expect an average of 68.6 FPS, but for consistent 60 FPS in complex scenes, dropping to High (76.1 FPS) is a safer choice. At 1440p and 1080p, there is no actual risk of falling below 60 FPS at any preset, so the choice comes down to monitor refresh rate and visual preference.

The CPU's low core count (4 cores/8 threads) does not prevent playability, but it does create a ceiling at 1080p where the GPU could otherwise produce more frames. If you are using a 240Hz monitor at 1080p, the system will not max out that refresh rate even at Low settings (229.5 FPS is below 240), and the Ultra preset (128.5 FPS) is still well above 60 FPS. The GPU's rank at the 86th percentile of all GPUs and the combo's rank of 377 out of 3,720 confirms that this is a high-end performance pairing, even with the modest CPU.

Final recommendation: Use Ultra settings at all resolutions if you prioritize image quality. At 4K, be aware that the 68.6 FPS average is playable but near the threshold; at 1440p and 1080p, the system has ample headroom for high-refresh-rate displays (up to 144Hz at 1440p Medium or High). The CPU does not need an upgrade for this game, but if you later play CPU-heavy titles, the i3-12100F would be the first component to replace.