Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, is a demanding title that scales heavily with both GPU and CPU resources. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, using the benchmark data from the FACT PACK. The data covers three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a clear picture of where this combination excels and where it struggles.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average is 131.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is significantly higher than the Ultra preset at the same resolution, which averages 71.2 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER perform relative to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 22206, placing it just 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 (score 22307) and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (score 22006). It is 2.3% behind the RTX 4060 Mobile but 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a strong performer in multi-threaded workloads?

A: Yes. In Cinebench R23 multi-core, it scores 19087, and in Geekbench multi-core it scores 8083. Its PassMark multithread score is 22458, contributing to an 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 99.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 53 FPS. This represents a drop of 46.6 FPS when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates a GPU bottleneck at 3840x2160. The average FPS at High settings is 40.9, and even dropping to Low only raises it to 67.7 FPS, suggesting the graphics card is the primary limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 3700X compare to the Intel Core i5-12600 in average score?

A: The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 28631. The Intel Core i5-12600 has an average score of 28654, which is a delta of -0.1%, meaning the two processors have nearly identical average performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the central component for rendering Control’s visuals. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for streaming high-resolution textures. The GPU’s architecture, Turing, includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, though the measured FPS data does not isolate ray tracing or DLSS performance. The base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and the card has a 215 W TDP.

In the context of the measured results, the GPU’s raw compute power, rated at 9.062 TFLOPS FP32, is the primary driver of frame rates. At 1080p Low, the GPU easily pushes 131.5 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 33.7 FPS. This demonstrates that the RTX 2070 SUPER has a performance ceiling that is reached well before 4K Ultra settings. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 and the PassMark G3D score of 18169 further quantify its standing, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The data shows a consistent trend: as the render load increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the performance gap between settings widens.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p High, the average is 79.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces this to 63.9 FPS, a 19.8% drop. At 4K High, the average falls to 40.9 FPS, a further 36% drop from 1440p. This pattern is consistent across all settings, indicating that resolution is a dominant factor in performance.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 131.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU and GPU are working in balance. However, at 4K Low, the average is 67.7 FPS. While this is still playable, it shows that the GPU is struggling to maintain high frame rates even at the lowest settings due to the sheer number of pixels. The fact that the frame rate at 4K Low (67.7 FPS) is lower than the frame rate at 1080p Ultra (71.2 FPS) further illustrates that resolution scaling has a more significant impact on this GPU than quality settings do at lower resolutions. This points to a system that is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but which requires significant settings compromises to achieve smooth performance at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides a complete matrix of performance across resolutions and settings.

1920x1080: The lowest resolution tested offers the highest performance. The Low preset averages 131.5 FPS, providing a very high refresh rate experience. Medium settings average 96 FPS, High settings average 79.7 FPS, and Ultra settings average 71.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 60.3 FPS, indicating that quality settings have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

2560x1440: Performance remains strong at this resolution. The Low preset averages 99.6 FPS, which is still excellent for smooth gameplay. Medium settings average 67.5 FPS, High settings average 63.9 FPS, and Ultra settings average 53 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 46.6 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable, but the system remains capable of delivering playable frame rates at all presets.

3840x2160: This resolution exposes the GPU’s limitations. The Low preset averages 67.7 FPS, which is the only preset above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 44.7 FPS, High settings average 40.9 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 33.7 FPS. The data shows a steep decline in performance, with the Ultra preset delivering less than half the frame rate of the Low preset.

Across all resolutions, the performance scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent, but the absolute numbers at 4K reveal that this combination is not suited for maximum settings at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

For a 1080p display, the High preset at 79.7 FPS offers an excellent balance between visual quality and performance. For gamers prioritizing a higher refresh rate, the Medium preset at 96 FPS is a strong choice, while the Low preset at 131.5 FPS is best for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 71.2 FPS is still playable and provides the best image quality.

At 1440p, the High preset at 63.9 FPS is the recommended choice for a smooth experience with good visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 67.5 FPS is nearly identical in performance and could be used if a few extra frames are needed. The Low preset at 99.6 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual compromise is significant. The Ultra preset at 53 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid.

At 4K, the data suggests that the Low preset at 67.7 FPS is the only viable option for maintaining a frame rate near 60. The Medium preset at 44.7 FPS and High preset at 40.9 FPS are playable but will show noticeable stutter in fast-paced action. The Ultra preset at 33.7 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience. For the best experience at 4K, users should select the Low preset and consider lowering internal resolution if possible.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a capable pairing for the RTX 2070 SUPER in Control. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it provides ample multi-threading capability for modern game engines. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz, boosting up to 4.40 GHz, and it has 32 MB of L3 cache. The CPU’s synthetic performance is strong, with a Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 8016 and a single-core score of 1131.

The CPU’s role in the measured FPS is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 131.5 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates. The near-identical average benchmark score to the Intel Core i5-12600 (delta of -0.1%) suggests that the Ryzen 7 3700X is not a bottleneck in general compute tasks. However, as the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU’s performance becomes less relevant to the final frame rate. The data shows that the CPU is not the primary constraint in this pairing for Control, even at 1080p, as the frame rate scales significantly with GPU load. The processor’s 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node indicate an efficient design, and its 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its overall capability.