Control

# Control — AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

The pairing of AMD's Zen 4 desktop processor with NVIDIA's Pascal-era graphics card creates a distinctly GPU-bound experience in Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title. Measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets show the GTX 1070 operating near its practical ceiling, while the Ryzen 7 7700's substantial multi-threaded headroom goes largely untapped. The data set includes 12 measured configurations, all with actual gameplay runs, placing this combo at rank 3083 out of 3720 tested combinations — a position that reflects the GPU's age more than any CPU limitation.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160 reveals a steep performance curve that points squarely at the graphics card as the limiting factor. At High settings, average FPS drops from 61 at 1080p to 46 at 1440p — a 24.6% reduction — and then to 31 at 4K, another 32.6% cut from the 1440p figure. The 1080p-to-4K span costs 30 FPS, or roughly half the original frame rate, which is typical for a GPU with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and a 256-bit bus.

Low settings tell a similar story with higher absolute numbers: 97 FPS at 1080p, 73 at 1440p, and 49 at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent — 24.7% from 1080p to 1440p, then 32.9% from 1440p to 4K — suggesting the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. Medium and Ultra presets follow the same pattern, with 1080p-to-4K reductions of 50.7% and 49.1% respectively.

What does this imply about the bottleneck? At 1080p Low, the GTX 1070 still cannot exceed 97 FPS average, which is far below what a Ryzen 7 7700 with 8 cores and 16 threads could feed. Even the single-threaded performance — a Cinebench R23 score of 1930 — would not constrain a game like Control at these frame rates. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 6.463 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s are the more relevant ceilings, and the data suggests the card is saturated well before the CPU becomes relevant.

The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS average is particularly telling. That is below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered playable, and it comes despite the CPU's ability to maintain high thread utilization — 3DMark max-threads score of 8479 versus 8484 for 16 threads shows near-perfect scaling on the processor side. No amount of CPU headroom can compensate for a GPU that delivers 27 frames when the scene demands more fill rate and memory bandwidth than the 256.3 GB/s available.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a 7000-series desktop part built on TSMC's 5 nm process, with 8 cores and 16 threads running at a 3.80 GHz base clock and 5.30 GHz boost. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 in dual-channel configuration, yielding 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong across the board: Cinebench R23 multicore at 18760, single-core at 1930, Geekbench multicore at 15371, and 3DMark single-thread at 1049.

In Control, however, the CPU's role is mostly to stay out of the way. The game's measured FPS never approaches a level where the processor's thread scheduling or per-core speed would matter. At 1080p Low, the 97 FPS average is the highest result in the entire data set, and even that is a GPU-bound number for this card. The CPU's 87th percentile ranking among all processors (average benchmark score 40081) places it well above the GTX 1070's 47th percentile (average score 9780), reinforcing the mismatch.

The nearest rival comparisons for the CPU — AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 at 40048 (0.1% higher), Intel Core 5 221E at 40144 (0.2% lower), AMD Ryzen 9 270 at 40246 (0.4% lower), and Intel Core i9-13905H at 40313 (0.6% lower) — all sit within a fraction of a percent in average score. This means swapping the 7700 for any of these would produce virtually identical results in Control, since the game is not exercising the CPU's limits. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2043 and 4-thread score of 3931 indicate strong low-thread performance, but the game's engine does not appear to demand it.

The CPU's TDP of 65 W and AM5 socket compatibility are architectural facts, but they do not influence the measured frame rates. What matters is that the 7700 provides a stable platform with PCIe Gen 5 lanes (24 total, CPU-only) and integrated Radeon Graphics as a fallback — none of which alter the GPU-bound reality of this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 69 FPS average with a minimum of 58 and maximum of 79 — a smooth, consistent result that stays above 60 FPS for most of the run. High settings at the same resolution drop to 61 FPS average, which is still playable but with less margin. Low settings reach 97 FPS but sacrifice visual fidelity, and Ultra falls to 53 FPS, which introduces perceptible stutter in action sequences.

For 2560x1440, the picture changes. Low settings average 73 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution to exceed 60 FPS. Medium drops to 52 FPS (min 44, max 60), High to 46, and Ultra to 40. The 44 FPS minimum on Medium suggests occasional dips into the low 40s during heavy scenes, which could be noticeable. Low is the only sensible choice for 1440p if the goal is a consistently fluid experience.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches playable levels by conventional standards. Low averages 49 FPS, Medium 35 (min 30, max 40), High 31, and Ultra 27. Even the Low preset's 49 FPS average likely includes sub-40 dips, though no minimum was recorded for that row. The Medium preset's 30 FPS minimum confirms that 4K is borderline at best, and only with substantial quality reductions.

The best experience per the data is 1080p Medium: it balances the 69 FPS average with a 58 FPS floor, keeping the action fluid while retaining enough graphical detail to appreciate the game's atmosphere. For users who prioritize frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 97 FPS is the clear winner, but the visual compromise is significant. At 1440p, Low is the only viable preset, and 4K should be avoided entirely with this GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3083 out of 3720 tested combinations places this pairing in the lower 17% of all tested systems. This is not surprising given the GPU's age and market position. The GTX 1070, released in June 2016, is now end-of-life, and its 47th percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects that. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 87th percentile, creating a lopsided pairing where the processor is roughly two tiers above the graphics card in overall capability.

The rank itself is a composite measure — it does not isolate whether the CPU or GPU is the limiting factor, but the measured FPS data makes it clear. At 1080p Ultra, the 53 FPS average is only 45% of the 1080p Low result, indicating that the GPU's shading units (1920) and texture units (120) are the constraining resources. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 8484 versus 2-thread score of 2043 shows ample multi-threading headroom that Control does not exploit.

Compared to other combos in the database, this rank suggests that users with a Ryzen 7 7700 could achieve far better results by pairing it with a more modern GPU. The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.6% of each other in average benchmark terms, so the rank is essentially determined by the GPU's performance class. A system with a stronger graphics card would climb substantially in the rankings, as the CPU would not hold it back.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal-architecture card built on TSMC's 16 nm process, with a GP104 chip containing 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz and boost of 1683 MHz, with memory running at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card offers 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, delivering 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Control, the GPU's limitations are evident across every resolution and preset. The card's 47th percentile ranking (average benchmark score 9780) places it near the middle of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals — AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, 0.2% higher), NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, 0.5% higher), NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724, 0.6% lower), and NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716, 0.7% lower) — are all workstation or older parts, not gaming cards. This indicates the GTX 1070 is at the lower end of gaming-relevant performance in the current database.

The GPU's DirectX 12 support is limited to feature level 12_1, and its PassMark DirectX 12 score of 48 is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 100. Control uses DX12, and the card's performance in this title reflects that limitation. The 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 figure is modest by modern standards, and the 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate means high-resolution rendering taxes the ROPs heavily.

The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p in Control, but at 4K, the combination of higher resolution textures and the game's physics-heavy scenes may push memory usage toward the limit, though no VRAM-related metrics were recorded in this data set. The card's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design are standard for its era, but the performance in this game is what matters — and it is consistently GPU-bound.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS table, organized by resolution and settings:

1920x1080:

• Low: 97 FPS average
• Medium: 69 FPS average (min 58, max 79)
• High: 61 FPS average
• Ultra: 53 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 73 FPS average
• Medium: 52 FPS average (min 44, max 60)
• High: 46 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 49 FPS average
• Medium: 35 FPS average (min 30, max 40)
• High: 31 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

The only rows with recorded minimum and maximum values are the Medium presets across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 58 to 79 FPS, a 21 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 44 to 60 FPS, a 16 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 30 to 40 FPS, a 10 FPS spread. This tightening of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent as pixel count increases, but at the cost of lower average performance.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution is notable. At 1080p, the gap is 44 FPS (97 vs 53). At 1440p, the gap is 33 FPS (73 vs 40). At 4K, the gap is 22 FPS (49 vs 27). This diminishing gap indicates that at higher resolutions, the pixel fill rate becomes the dominant cost, and quality settings have less relative impact. The GTX 1070 simply cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1440p with any preset above Low, and 4K is only marginally playable at Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS in 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at Low or Medium settings. Low averages 97 FPS and Medium 69 FPS, while High drops to 61 and Ultra to 53. The 61 FPS High result is borderline, and Ultra falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any preset achieves a consistently playable frame rate above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (73 FPS) exceeds 60, while all other presets fall below. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 50 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Control?

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 7700 scores in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, while the GTX 1070 sits in the 47th percentile among GPUs. The measured FPS drops consistently with resolution and settings, indicating the graphics card's shading and memory resources are the limiting factor.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Control?

A: It ranks 3083 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 17% of all systems. This low rank is driven by the GPU's performance, as the CPU is capable of much higher frame rates with a more powerful graphics card.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 58 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it is 44 FPS. At 4K Medium, it is 30 FPS. These are the only presets with recorded minimum values in the data set.

Q: Is 4K playable with this setup?

A: Not in any meaningful sense. The best 4K result is Low at 49 FPS average, with Medium at 35 (min 30), High at 31, and Ultra at 27. The 27 FPS Ultra result is below the standard 30 FPS playability threshold, and even the Low preset likely experiences dips below 40 FPS during intense scenes.