Control

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a clear performance profile across Control’s four presets and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo is fully playable at every setting, with average frame rates ranging from 77 FPS at Ultra to 140 FPS at Low. The Medium preset produces an average of 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, showing consistent frame delivery. High settings average 88 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but requires more careful selection: High averages 67 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS with a 64 FPS minimum and 86 FPS maximum, and Low averages 106 FPS. Ultra at this resolution drops to an average of 58 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 3840x2160, the picture changes substantially. Low settings average 71 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 51 FPS (minimum 43, maximum 58), High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The data indicates that this configuration is a 1080p and 1440p performer, with 4K only viable at the lowest preset.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains an average of 60 FPS or more at 1920x1080?

A: Ultra is the top preset at 1080p, producing an average of 77 FPS. All four presets—Low at 140 FPS, Medium at 99 FPS, High at 88 FPS, and Ultra at 77 FPS—clear the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the 2560x1440 Ultra preset compare to the 1920x1080 Ultra preset?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 77 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs 19 FPS on the Ultra preset.

Q: Is 3840x2160 playable at Medium settings?

A: No. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS. This average falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at 2560x1440 Medium?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS, with an average of 75 FPS. The minimum stays above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating stable performance.

Q: Which resolution offers the highest average frame rate for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 140 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 106 FPS at 2560x1440 Low.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 3840x2160 High settings?

A: No. High settings at 3840x2160 average 45 FPS, which is 15 FPS below the playable threshold. Only the Low preset at 4K averages above 60 FPS, at 71 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals which component constrains performance in Control. The largest frame rate jumps occur when lowering settings at the same resolution, indicating a strong GPU dependency. At 1920x1080, moving from Ultra (77 FPS) to Low (140 FPS) increases performance by 63 FPS, while the CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom. The i7-12700KF’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and single-core score of 4071 suggest it is not the limiting factor at 1080p. At 2560x1440, the spread between Ultra (58 FPS) and Low (106 FPS) is 48 FPS, showing the GPU’s workload scaling with resolution. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth handle the additional pixel count, but the 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 throughput becomes the bottleneck at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s role dominates. The difference between Low (71 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) is 32 FPS, but even the lowest preset only reaches 71 FPS. This suggests the RTX 4060’s 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB capacity limit 4K performance regardless of CPU capability. The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 3984 and multi-thread score of 34092 are far above what Control requires at 4K, so the GPU is the sole constraint. The data shows that the i7-12700KF provides consistent frame delivery across all resolutions, while the RTX 4060 dictates the playable settings ceiling. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach 140 FPS on Low, but at 4K, even Low settings stress the GPU’s limits. The verdict is clear: this combo is GPU-bound at 1440p and 4K, and only at 1080p does the CPU’s performance headroom become fully apparent.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control, but the playable experience depends entirely on resolution. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on every preset: Low averages 140 FPS, Medium averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 77 FPS. This is the only resolution where Ultra is viable. At 2560x1440, three presets stay above 60 FPS: Low averages 106 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS with a 64 FPS minimum, and High averages 67 FPS. Ultra at 1440p falls short at 58 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low settings average above 60 FPS, at 71 FPS. Medium averages 51 FPS, High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The playable threshold of 60 FPS is met at 1080p for all settings, at 1440p for High, Medium, and Low, and at 4K only for Low. The data shows a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K beyond the lowest preset.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 77 FPS. This provides the highest visual quality at this resolution without dropping below the playable threshold. At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is High, averaging 67 FPS. While Medium averages higher at 75 FPS, High offers better graphical fidelity while still clearing 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, the only playable preset is Low, averaging 71 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 60 FPS, so Low is the maximum quality setting that maintains smooth gameplay. These selections balance visual quality against the 60 FPS requirement, with the data showing that the RTX 4060’s performance ceiling is reached at 1440p High and 4K Low.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration—Intel Core i7-12700KF with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060—ranks 2008 out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This places it in the upper-middle range of the benchmark database, meaning it outperforms a majority of tested systems but is far from the top tier. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus score of 85 indicates it outperforms 85% of all tested CPUs, while the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus score of 61 shows it outperforms 61% of all tested GPUs. The rank of 2008 out of 3720 suggests that while the CPU is strong, the GPU holds this combo back in a GPU-heavy title like Control. The average benchmark scores support this: the i7-12700KF averages 35365 across all CPU tests, while the RTX 4060 averages 17639 across GPU tests. For Control specifically, the measured FPS data shows the system is capable at 1080p and 1440p, but the rank reflects that many other GPU combos deliver higher frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware would behave similarly in this configuration. For the Intel Core i7-12700KF, the closest match is the Intel Core i7-13700T, with an average score of 35403 versus the i7-12700KF’s 35365, a difference of -0.1%. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, which is 0.2% lower, while the Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, which is 0.2% higher. The Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287, a 0.2% difference. All four rivals are within 0.2% of the i7-12700KF’s average score, meaning they would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Control. For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which scores 17666 versus the RTX 4060’s 17639, a -0.2% difference. The AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588, which is 0.3% lower, the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17551, 0.5% lower, and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 scores 17509, 0.7% lower. These GPU alternatives would deliver similar frame rates in Control, though the RTX 4060’s architectural features like 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are not reflected in the average benchmark score. The data indicates that swapping the CPU for any of its nearest rivals would result in negligible FPS changes, while swapping the GPU for its nearest rivals would also produce nearly identical results.