Control

Control pairs an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 7700 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, a combination that lands at rank 2152 out of 3720 tested combos in this title. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance keeps frame rates playable at 1080p. The measured FPS across three resolutions and four settings presets tells a clear story about where this hardware excels and where it struggles, particularly when pushing toward 4K Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a steep performance drop as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo averages 130 FPS, but moving to 1440p drops that to 98 FPS, and 4K further reduces it to 66 FPS. This represents a 24% loss from 1080p to 1440p and a 33% loss from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that pixel throughput is heavily taxing the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced at higher quality presets. With High settings, the average FPS goes from 82 at 1080p to 62 at 1440p (a 24% drop) and then to 42 at 4K (a 32% drop from 1440p). At Ultra settings, the pattern continues: 71 FPS at 1080p, 54 at 1440p, and 36 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS is below the 40 FPS minimum recorded at 4K Medium, suggesting that the GPU’s 8 GB GDDR6 buffer is being saturated, causing stutter and frame time spikes.

What is notable is that the CPU does not appear to be the limiting factor in this scaling. The Ryzen 7 7700’s boost clock of 5.30 GHz and its 16 threads provide enough headroom that frame rates at 1080p Low (130 FPS) are more than double the 4K Ultra result (36 FPS). If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the 1080p and 1440p results to converge more closely, but instead the gap between 1080p and 1440p remains consistent across all settings, reinforcing that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the constraining component.

The minimum FPS data points, available only for Medium settings, further illustrate this. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 78 FPS with a maximum of 106 FPS, while at 1440p Medium the minimum drops to 59 FPS and the maximum to 80 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum hits 40 FPS and the maximum 54 FPS. The fact that the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (40) is equal to the average FPS at 4K High (42) suggests that even moderate quality increases at 4K push the GPU to its limits, making frame pacing erratic.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 7700’s specifications suggest it is well-equipped to handle Control’s physics and AI workloads. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, it delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18760 and a single-core score of 1930. These numbers place the CPU at the 87th percentile versus all CPUs, indicating strong performance for a desktop processor. The 32 MB shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for game logic, though the game’s engine appears to lean more heavily on the GPU for rendering.

The benchmark data shows that the CPU’s influence on FPS diminishes as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the 130 FPS average is likely near the CPU’s practical limit for this game, as the single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 4063) becomes relevant when the GPU is not saturated. However, even at 1080p Ultra (71 FPS), the CPU is not the bottleneck because the GPU’s shading workload at 2560x1440 and above clearly dominates the frame time budget.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 7700’s average benchmark score of 40081 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048, delta 0.1%) and slightly behind the Intel Core 5 221E (40144, delta -0.2%). This indicates that within the tested combo, the CPU is performing as expected for its class. The real question is whether a faster CPU would unlock higher frame rates at 1080p; given the 130 FPS ceiling at Low settings, there is room for a more powerful processor, but the gains would be minimal compared to upgrading the GPU.

The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node make it an efficient choice, but its real value in this combo is ensuring that the RTX 2070 SUPER is never starved of data. The Passmark multi-thread score of 34470 and data compression score of 405084 show that the CPU can handle background tasks and game streaming without impacting frame rates. In essence, the Ryzen 7 7700 is a capable partner that lets the GPU be the sole determinant of performance scaling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: At 1440p, the combo achieves 62 FPS on High settings and 70 FPS on Medium, with 98 FPS on Low. At 1080p, all settings except Ultra (71 FPS) exceed 82 FPS, with Low reaching 130 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS target, 1440p High is the highest quality preset that meets this threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 20282, placing it at the 65th percentile. It is 1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), 1.2% behind the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), and 1.3% behind the Intel Arc B570 (20556). Its closest competitor is the Intel Arc A750 at 20582, which is 1.5% faster.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU does not bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as FPS scales consistently with resolution changes. At 1080p Low (130 FPS), the CPU may be approaching its limit, but the 5.30 GHz boost clock and 16 threads provide sufficient headroom for the GPU to be the primary limiter.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, Low settings average 66 FPS, while Ultra settings average 36 FPS. This is a 30 FPS difference, representing a 45% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Control at 4K?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS and 4K Medium minimum of 40 FPS suggest that 8 GB of GDDR6 is marginal at this resolution. The drop from Medium (47 FPS average) to High (42 FPS average) at 4K indicates that texture memory pressure is affecting performance, though the card still maintains playable frame rates at Low.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 7700 rank against other CPUs in its class?

A: The CPU is at the 87th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40081. It is 0.1% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 and 0.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 270, but 0.2% slower than the Intel Core 5 221E and 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i9-13905H.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2152 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the 42nd percentile (calculated as 1 - 2152/3720). This is a mid-pack result, indicating that while the hardware is competent, there are many stronger combinations available. The rank suggests that this pairing is better suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming rather than 4K, where the GPU’s limitations become evident.

Given that the GPU is at the 65th percentile and the CPU at the 87th percentile, the combo’s rank is dragged down by the graphics card. The data implies that pairing the Ryzen 7 7700 with a more powerful GPU would yield a significantly higher rank, as the CPU has ample headroom. Conversely, pairing the RTX 2070 SUPER with a weaker CPU would likely drop the rank further, as the CPU’s strong multi-core performance helps maintain minimum frame rates.

The rank also reflects the age of the GPU, which was released in July 2019, compared to the CPU’s January 2023 release. This generational gap means the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor in most scenarios, and the combo’s performance is capped by the GPU’s 12 nm Turing architecture and 8 GB memory. For players targeting 4K, this combo falls short of the top quartile, but for 1080p esports or 1440p balanced gaming, it sits in a respectable position.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience. For a 60 FPS target, 1440p High (62 FPS) is the optimal choice, as it delivers smooth gameplay with good visual quality. At 1080p, High (82 FPS) is the sweet spot, offering a comfortable margin above 60 FPS without the performance cost of Ultra (71 FPS). The Medium preset at 1440p (70 FPS) is also viable if players prefer higher frame rates over visual fidelity.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. Low settings (66 FPS) are the only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K play. Medium (47 FPS) and High (42 FPS) are playable but will experience dips below 60 FPS, while Ultra (36 FPS) is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS data for Medium (40 FPS at 4K) indicates that even this preset can stutter in demanding scenes.

For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low (130 FPS) provides the highest performance and is ideal for competitive play. The 1440p Medium preset (70 FPS) offers a balanced experience, with the minimum FPS of 59 ensuring that most scenes stay above 60 FPS. The data clearly shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates without hitting memory or compute limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results across all presets. Low settings average 130 FPS, Medium averages 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 and maximum of 106, High averages 82 FPS, and Ultra averages 71 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 59 FPS, showing that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution even with maxed-out settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop accordingly: Low hits 98 FPS, Medium 70 FPS (minimum 59, maximum 80), High 62 FPS, and Ultra 54 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 44 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more constrained. The minimum FPS at Medium (59) is just below the 60 FPS target, suggesting that some scenes will experience minor stutter.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls off significantly. Low averages 66 FPS, Medium 47 FPS (minimum 40, maximum 54), High 42 FPS, and Ultra 36 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 30 FPS, and the minimum FPS at Medium (40) is below the console-standard 30 FPS threshold, meaning this combo is only suitable for 4K at Low settings. The data shows a clear linear relationship between resolution and FPS, with the GPU’s 256-bit memory bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth being the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER is the dominant component in this combo, and its specifications explain the performance ceiling. With 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the GPU delivers 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores provide ray tracing and DLSS support, but the measured data does not include ray tracing results, so their impact is not quantified here. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but marginal at 4K.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 65th percentile, with a Passmark G3D score of 18169 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, is 1.5% faster, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is 1.2% faster. This suggests that the desktop RTX 2070 SUPER is competitive with mid-range mobile GPUs, but it lags behind newer desktop cards.

The GPU’s 12 nm process node and 215 W TDP indicate that it is less power-efficient than newer cards, but this is not a factor in the FPS results. What matters is that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are fully utilized at 1440p and 4K, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops when increasing resolution. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to push frame rates above 100 FPS on lower presets, but the CPU’s 16 threads ensure that the GPU is never idle. The data confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary determinant of performance in Control, with the CPU playing a supporting role that prevents bottlenecking.