Control

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a robust Control experience across all tested resolutions, with the data showing that 60 FPS is achievable at every setting tier except for 4K Ultra. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate ranges from a low of 50.3 FPS on Ultra to a high of 92.9 FPS on Low, with High and Medium landing at 62.2 and 70.1 FPS respectively. Dropping to 2560x1440, the combo clears the playable threshold with ease, producing 79 FPS at Ultra, 89 FPS at High, 99.2 FPS at Medium, and 138.4 FPS at Low. At 1920x1080, performance is exceptionally strong, with the Ultra preset delivering 100.2 FPS, High at 114.4 FPS, Medium at 129.7 FPS, and Low reaching 184.2 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control reveals a clear scaling pattern across the four settings presets and three resolutions. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops from 92.9 FPS on Low to 70.1 FPS on Medium, then to 62.2 FPS on High, and finally to 50.3 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 42.6 FPS, which represents a substantial performance cost for the highest visual quality. Notably, the High preset remains above the 60 FPS playable threshold with a 62.2 FPS average, while Ultra falls short by nearly 10 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance headroom expands considerably. The Low preset produces 138.4 FPS, Medium reaches 99.2 FPS, High achieves 89 FPS, and Ultra still maintains 79 FPS. Every single setting at this resolution stays comfortably above the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the Ultra preset retaining a 19 FPS margin over the minimum requirement. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 59.4 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough capacity to handle even the heaviest settings without dropping below playable levels.

At 1920x1080, the combination of the i7-13700K and RTX 3080 shows its full strength. The Low preset produces an average of 184.2 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 129.7 FPS, High at 114.4 FPS, and Ultra at 100.2 FPS. The spread from Ultra to Low is 84 FPS, and even the most demanding preset leaves a 40.2 FPS buffer above the playable threshold. Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent, with each step up in settings costing roughly 15-20% performance on average.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary performance driver in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. The evidence lies in the scaling between 1920x1080 and 3840x2160. At the Ultra preset, the average frame rate drops from 100.2 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p, and then to 50.3 FPS at 4K — a reduction of 49.9 FPS when moving from the lowest to the highest resolution tested. This steep decline is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios, where the rendering load increases significantly with pixel count.

The Intel Core i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, provides ample processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The fact that 1920x1080 Ultra reaches 100.2 FPS, while 2560x1440 Ultra drops to 79 FPS, suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the Ultra preset falling below 60 FPS despite the CPU's high multi-threaded capabilities, which are reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745.

The settings scaling further clarifies the component roles. At 3840x2160, moving from Low to Ultra reduces performance from 92.9 FPS to 50.3 FPS, a 42.6 FPS penalty. This is a larger absolute drop than at 2560x1440, where the same settings change costs 59.4 FPS, but the relative impact is similar. The data suggests that the RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for most settings at 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset places demands that exceed the GPU's capacity to maintain 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS for the Ultra preset at 2560x1440 is 79 FPS, which is 19 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 3840x2160?

A: The High preset is the most demanding setting that stays at or above 60 FPS at 4K, with an average of 62.2 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 50.3 FPS, which is below the playable threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 114.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 62.2 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 52.2 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, as the average FPS of 50.3 falls below the 60 FPS threshold despite the CPU's high benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745.

Q: Does the i7-13700K hold back the RTX 3080 at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 184.2 FPS, and at Ultra it reaches 100.2 FPS, showing the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at this resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset averages 99.2 FPS, while High averages 89 FPS, a difference of 10.2 FPS in favor of Medium.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Intel Core i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881, which places it 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 and 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375. The Ryzen 9 7845HX and Intel Xeon w3-2535 are both 0.5% ahead. These deltas are negligible, meaning any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Control when paired with the same GPU. The performance differences are within the margin of error for typical game benchmarks.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23249 (0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 at 23250 (0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6600M at 23273 (0.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X at 23276 (0.4% ahead). These alternatives would produce very similar FPS numbers in Control, with differences of less than one percent. In practical terms, a system with any of these GPUs paired with a similarly performing CPU would land within a couple of frames per second of the measured results in this analysis.

The combination of the i7-13700K and RTX 3080 ranks 1098 out of 3720 tested combos for this game, putting it in the top 30% of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects the strong performance of both components, even though the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 68 and the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 89 show the CPU is relatively stronger in the broader hardware landscape.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is High, which produces 62.2 FPS. The Medium preset also clears the threshold with 70.1 FPS, and Low achieves 92.9 FPS, but High offers the best visual quality among the playable options. The Ultra preset at this resolution falls short with 50.3 FPS, so users seeking maximum fidelity would need to accept a frame rate below the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 79 FPS. This leaves a 19 FPS margin above the 60 FPS threshold, providing both high visual quality and smooth gameplay. All other settings at this resolution also exceed 60 FPS, so there is no compromise required.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 100.2 FPS, making it the clear recommendation for this resolution. The substantial headroom above the playable threshold means users can enable the highest settings without any concern about frame rate drops. The High preset at 114.4 FPS and Medium at 129.7 FPS are also viable, but Ultra provides the best experience without sacrificing performance.

The Verdict

The data confirms that this PC can run Control effectively at all three tested resolutions, with some caveats at 4K. At 3840x2160, the system achieves 60 FPS or higher on the High, Medium, and Low presets, but the Ultra preset falls to 50.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best playable setting at this resolution is High with an average of 62.2 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the system runs every preset at or above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers 79 FPS, making it the best choice for this resolution. The 1920x1080 resolution shows the strongest performance, with the Ultra preset achieving 100.2 FPS and all other presets exceeding 114 FPS. Overall, this combo is fully capable of running Control at high settings with smooth frame rates, provided users are willing to drop from Ultra to High at 4K resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 1098 out of 3720 tested combos for Control, placing it in the upper third of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects the balanced performance of the pairing, with the CPU's strong single-threaded and multi-threaded scores complementing the GPU's substantial rendering power. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with the GPU's 68th percentile among all GPUs, indicates that the processor is relatively more capable than the graphics card in this configuration.

The practical implication of this ranking is that while the combo is not at the very top of the performance hierarchy, it sits well above the median. Users can expect a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p with all settings maxed out, and a playable experience at 4K with a modest reduction from Ultra to High. The 79 FPS result at 1440p Ultra and the 100.2 FPS at 1080p Ultra show that this system is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors at those resolutions, while the 62.2 FPS at 4K High makes it a viable option for 4K gaming with slight setting adjustments.