Control

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers a thoroughly capable Control experience, with benchmark data showing that 1080p and 1440p Ultra settings remain comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K requires dropping to Medium for a stable frame rate. The measured results reveal a system that scales predictably with resolution and preset, with the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra) producing an average of 54.2 FPS, just short of the playable threshold. This combination ranks in the 1132nd position out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all tested systems for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces exceptional frame rates across all presets. The Low preset averages 183.2 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combination in any configuration. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 128.3 FPS, still far above what the game demands for smooth play. High settings yield 113.5 FPS, while the most demanding Ultra preset still maintains an average of 98.5 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system has substantial headroom, with even the heaviest settings leaving more than 38 FPS of margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected impact of increased pixel count. The Low preset averages 136.4 FPS, which represents a reduction of 46.8 FPS compared to the same settings at 1080p. Medium settings produce 99.4 FPS, High delivers 89 FPS, and Ultra averages 76.1 FPS. The scaling between presets at this resolution is consistent, with each step up from Low to Ultra costing roughly 20 FPS on average. The gap between the highest and lowest preset at 1440p is 60.3 FPS, illustrating the significant influence of graphical settings on performance at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to feel the strain of 4K rendering. The Low preset averages 92 FPS, which is still well above the playable threshold but represents a 91.2 FPS drop from the equivalent 1080p result. Medium settings produce 66.7 FPS, just clearing the 60 FPS line. High settings drop to 57 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 37.8 FPS, a narrower spread than at lower resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. Notably, the data shows no min or max FPS values for any configuration, so the analysis relies solely on average frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination holds the 1132nd rank out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 30th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the balanced nature of the pairing, where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other in this particular title. The CPU's percentile ranking against all processors is 85, while the GPU sits at the 69th percentile against all graphics cards, indicating that the processor is relatively stronger in synthetic benchmarks than the graphics card is among its peers.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 35365 places it in close competition with several alternatives. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, a delta of -0.1 percent, making it effectively a performance twin. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, which is 0.2 percent lower. The Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, representing a -0.2 percent delta, and the Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287, again a 0.2 percent difference. These four rivals all fall within a 0.4 percent performance band, meaning the 12700KF is essentially tied with them in aggregate CPU performance.

On the GPU side, the RX 9070's average benchmark score of 23877 places it near several notable rivals. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z scores 23736, a 0.6 percent delta. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 24063, which is 0.8 percent higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile scores 23628, representing a 1.1 percent delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24170, which is 1.2 percent higher. These deltas are all within 1.2 percent, indicating that the RX 9070 performs in the same tier as these four cards in aggregate benchmarks.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 98.5 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and the system clears the playable threshold by 38.5 FPS, providing a significant margin for demanding scenes. All four presets at this resolution — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable, with the lowest result being Ultra at 98.5 FPS.

For 2560x1440, Ultra is again the best playable setting, averaging 76.1 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold by 16.1 FPS, which is a comfortable margin but noticeably less than at 1080p. Every preset at this resolution is playable, with the lowest being Ultra at 76.1 FPS. The system maintains playable performance even at the highest quality level, making 1440p a strong choice for this combination.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Ultra preset averages 54.2 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold, and High averages 57 FPS, also below the line. The most demanding playable preset is Medium, which averages 66.7 FPS. This clears the threshold by 6.7 FPS, a smaller margin than at lower resolutions. Low settings average 92 FPS, providing a much larger buffer. For 4K gaming, Medium is the recommended maximum, with Low available as a higher frame rate alternative.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals for the CPU, systems built around the Intel Core i7-13700T, Intel Core i5-13600T, Intel Core 5 213PE, or Intel Core i7-12700K would produce nearly identical aggregate CPU performance. The 13700T scores 35403, the 13600T scores 35305, the Core 5 213PE scores 35428, and the 12700K scores 35287. All of these fall within 0.2 percent of the 12700KF's score of 35365, meaning game performance differences would be negligible in CPU-bound scenarios.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, AMD Radeon RX 6800S, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER are the closest matches. The GTX TITAN Z scores 23736, the RX 6800S scores 24063, the RTX 3080 Mobile scores 23628, and the RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24170. These scores are within 1.2 percent of the RX 9070's 23877, so in GPU-bound situations, these cards would deliver very similar frame rates in Control.

Combining these alternatives, a system with any of the four rival CPUs paired with any of the four rival GPUs would behave almost identically to the tested combination. The performance deltas are so small that they would be imperceptible in actual gameplay. The closest overall match would be the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800S, as both components sit within 0.2 and 0.8 percent of the tested parts respectively.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system shows significant scaling from Low to Ultra, with the average FPS dropping from 183.2 to 98.5, a reduction of 84.7 FPS or 46.2 percent. This large spread suggests that at 1080p, the GPU is the primary driver of performance, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed the graphics card even at high frame rates. The 12700KF's strong single-thread and multi-thread scores — including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 and singlecore score of 4071 — allow it to keep up with the RX 9070's output at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the scaling from Low to Ultra shows a reduction from 136.4 to 76.1 FPS, a drop of 60.3 FPS or 44.2 percent. The percentage drop is slightly smaller than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to become more of a limiting factor. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, since the graphics card must render more pixels and the processor's frame generation capability becomes less critical. The 1440p results show that the RX 9070 still has substantial performance headroom, with Ultra averaging 76.1 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the scaling from Low to Ultra produces a reduction from 92 to 54.2 FPS, a drop of 37.8 FPS or 41.1 percent. The narrower absolute spread at 4K indicates that the GPU is now the dominant constraint, with the CPU's influence becoming minimal. The fact that even Low settings at 4K produce only 92 FPS — compared to 183.2 FPS at 1080p Low — highlights that pixel throughput is the main bottleneck at this resolution. The RX 9070's 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 performance are sufficient for 4K Medium at 66.7 FPS, but the GPU cannot maintain 60 FPS at High or Ultra settings.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 with all presets playable, including Ultra, which averages 98.5 FPS at 1080p and 76.1 FPS at 1440p. At 3840x2160, the system handles Low and Medium settings at playable frame rates, with Medium averaging 66.7 FPS, but High and Ultra fall short at 57 and 54.2 FPS respectively. For players targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combination delivers excellent performance with no compromises needed on graphical quality. For 4K gaming, Medium settings are the ceiling for maintaining 60 FPS, though players willing to accept lower frame rates can use High or Ultra. The system's rank of 1132 out of 3720 combos confirms it is a solid mid-to-upper tier option for this game, with the CPU's 85th percentile standing providing ample processing headroom and the GPU's 69th percentile performance being the more limiting factor at higher resolutions.