Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title, and the data shows that the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti delivers a highly capable, though resolution-dependent, experience. Benchmark results indicate that this combination can clear the 60 FPS threshold at 1080p and 1440p with the right settings, while 4K requires a significant compromise on visual fidelity. The measured FPS data, captured across three resolutions and four quality presets, provides a clear picture of where this combo excels and where it strains.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data for this combo in Control is presented as average FPS across all settings, with no minimum or maximum frame time data available. At 3840x2160 (4K), the performance envelope is tight. The Low preset delivers an average of 63.2 FPS, which is the only playable option at this resolution. Stepping up to Medium drops the average to 44.6 FPS, a substantial 29.4% decrease from Low, indicating a heavy reliance on GPU fill rate. The High preset averages 39.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 35.5 FPS. The scaling from Medium to High is a 11.2% drop, and from High to Ultra is another 10.4% drop, showing that each tier of visual quality costs a significant chunk of frame rate at 4K.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the situation improves markedly. The Low preset averages 90.1 FPS, providing a very smooth experience. The Medium preset, which is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, averages 64.7 FPS. This is a 28.2% drop from Low, which is a significant cost for the visual upgrade. The High preset averages 57.2 FPS, just below the playable threshold, while the Ultra preset averages 51.3 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 11.6%, and the gap between High and Ultra is 10.3%, following a similar pattern to 4K but with a higher absolute starting point.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the combo is never below 60 FPS on any tested preset. The Low preset averages 118.5 FPS, offering a very high refresh rate experience. Medium averages 83.5 FPS, High averages 77.9 FPS, and the most demanding Ultra preset still manages a solid 62.5 FPS. The scaling here is interesting: the drop from Low to Medium is 29.5%, but the drop from Medium to High is only 6.7%, and from High to Ultra is 19.8%. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom, and the GPU is less of a bottleneck until the Ultra preset is engaged, which then pulls the average down closer to the 60 FPS line.

Best Settings per Resolution

To identify the best settings, we look for the most demanding preset that still maintains an average of at least 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, the only preset that achieves this is Low, with an average of 63.2 FPS. This is a strict limitation: any quality preset above Low will result in sub-60 FPS averages, making the game feel less fluid. At 2560x1440, the best settings are Medium, which averages 64.7 FPS. This offers a good balance, as High and Ultra both fall below the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, with an average of 62.5 FPS. This is a clear win, as the combo can run the game at its highest visual quality while still clearing the playability bar, albeit with a marginal 2.5 FPS of headroom.

The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the preset ceiling for 60 FPS drops. At 1080p, the full Ultra experience is accessible. At 1440p, you must dial back to Medium. At 4K, you must drop all the way to Low. This makes the 1080p Ultra setting the only configuration where the player can enjoy the game's full visual feature set without compromising on frame rate.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals the division of labor between the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The data indicates that this game is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. Comparing the 1080p Low average of 118.5 FPS to the 1440p Low average of 90.1 FPS, there is a 24% drop in performance. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low, the average drops from 90.1 FPS to 63.2 FPS, a further 29.9% reduction. This steep decline as pixel count increases is classic GPU-limited behavior; the RTX 3060 Ti's rendering throughput is the primary constraint.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and higher frame rates. At 1080p, the difference between presets is not linear, as noted earlier. The drop from Medium to High is only 6.7%, which is surprisingly small compared to the 29.5% drop from Low to Medium. This suggests that at 1080p Medium, the system is still somewhat CPU-bound, and the GPU has enough headroom to handle the extra load of the High preset without a proportional frame rate penalty. However, the jump from High to Ultra (19.8%) shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck again as the pixel shading load increases.

At 4K, all presets are clearly GPU-bound. The difference between Low and Ultra is 27.7 FPS (from 63.2 to 35.5), a 43.7% reduction. This wide spread indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution; the RTX 3060 Ti's raw compute and memory bandwidth are the sole determinants of performance. The i7-12700K, with its high multi-threaded scores (e.g., a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784), is more than capable of feeding the GPU at 4K, but the GPU cannot keep up with the demands of higher presets.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K with high settings?

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, the High preset averages only 39.6 FPS, which is well below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The only playable setting at this resolution is Low, which averages 63.2 FPS.

Q: What is the best quality preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The best preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at 2560x1440 is Medium, with an average of 64.7 FPS. The High preset falls short at 57.2 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 118.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 62.5 FPS. This represents an 89.6% performance increase for Low over Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. Performance drops significantly from 1080p to 1440p and again to 4K, showing the RTX 3060 Ti's limits. The CPU's role is more visible at 1080p, where the frame rate differences between some presets are smaller than expected.

Q: Does the combo rank high among all tested systems for Control?

A: The combo rank is 2491 out of 3720 tested combinations. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, indicating that while it can run the game, many other configurations deliver higher frame rates.

Q: What are the playable settings at 1080p?

A: All four tested presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable at 1920x1080, as they all average above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 62.5 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all hardware combinations tested for Control, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 2491 out of 3720. This places it in the 33rd percentile of tested systems. The benchmark data shows this is a mid-to-low tier result for this specific game. The CPU itself is quite strong, with an average benchmark score of 35287 and a percentile rank of 84 against all CPUs, putting it just 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-13600T and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-12700KF in synthetic tests. The GPU, however, is a limiting factor, with a percentile rank of only 59 against all GPUs and an average score of 16129, sitting just 0.7% below the AMD Radeon RX 9060.

The low combo rank relative to the individual component strengths suggests that Control is a demanding title that heavily weights GPU performance. The RTX 3060 Ti, while competent, does not have the raw throughput to push this game to high frame rates at higher resolutions, which drags the overall combo ranking down. The CPU's strong synthetic scores do not translate into a top-tier gaming result here, as the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck in most scenarios. This rank indicates that for players seeking higher frame rates or higher quality settings in Control, a more powerful GPU would be the necessary upgrade.

The Verdict

The data provides a straightforward verdict for whether this PC can run Control. At 1920x1080, the answer is a definitive yes. The combo clears the 60 FPS threshold on all presets, with the most demanding Ultra preset averaging 62.5 FPS. This is the ideal resolution for this hardware, allowing for the full visual experience at a playable frame rate. At 2560x1440, the answer is a conditional yes. The Medium preset averages 64.7 FPS, providing a smooth experience, but the High and Ultra presets fall below 60 FPS. Players at this resolution must be willing to compromise on visual fidelity to maintain playability. At 3840x2160, the answer is a narrow yes. Only the Low preset averages above 60 FPS, at 63.2 FPS. This means the game is technically playable at 4K, but only with the lowest quality settings, which significantly detracts from the visual experience.

In summary, the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a solid combination for Control at 1080p and a capable one at 1440p with adjusted settings. At 4K, it is only viable for players who prioritize frame rate over graphical fidelity. The benchmark results clearly show that this system is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can fully utilize its capabilities, and requires careful setting management at higher resolutions to stay above the 60 FPS playable threshold.