Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination delivers playable performance in Control at 1080p, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at higher resolutions. The benchmark data shows a clear pattern: this combo is a 1080p-focused setup that requires setting adjustments to hit 60 FPS, with 1440p being borderline and 4K largely out of reach. The pairing ranks in the bottom 15% of all tested combinations, reflecting the GPU's mid-range position as the primary bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a GPU-bound system. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 57 FPS at 1920x1080 to 43 FPS at 2560x1440, then plummets to 29 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 24.6% loss when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49.1% loss from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear — the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 14 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 14 FPS as well, but the percentage impact grows as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the pattern intensifies. The combo delivers 91 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 69 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2% reduction) and then to 46 FPS at 4K (a 49.5% reduction from 1080p). The 4K Low result of 46 FPS is technically playable but sits below the 60 FPS threshold most gamers target. The data indicates that even at the lowest graphical preset, 4K resolution overwhelms the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 64 FPS at 1080p, 49 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 13 FPS, suggesting that texture quality and shadow details significantly impact the GPU's ability to render at high pixel counts. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Medium is 27 FPS, meaning the GPU has headroom to handle increased detail at lower resolutions but runs out of resources as pixel count rises.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 50 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS is below the 30 FPS playability floor, making it unsuitable for actual gameplay. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is a 24% drop, consistent with the other presets, but the absolute numbers are already marginal at 1080p.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. The Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs and posts a Passmark multithread score of 36,470. The GTX 1660 SUPER, by contrast, sits in the 53rd percentile for GPUs with a Passmark G3D score of 12,699. The CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions; the frame rate collapses as resolution increases because the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER's specifications explain the measured results. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 1785 MHz and 1408 shading units produce 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These numbers place it firmly in the mid-range segment, as confirmed by its nearest rivals: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 12,940, the RX 580 scores 12,928, and the Tesla M2090 scores 13,075. The GTX 1660 SUPER's average benchmark score of 12,986 is within 0.9% of all three rivals, showing it competes at the same performance tier.

The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint in Control, a game known for detailed textures and complex environments. At 1080p High settings, the combo manages 57 FPS, which is smooth enough for most players. The memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is sufficient at this resolution, but the frame rate drops to 43 FPS at 1440p High, suggesting the GPU is running out of both compute throughput and memory resources. At 4K High, the 29 FPS result indicates the VRAM capacity is being exceeded or the memory bus is saturated.

The GPU's Turing architecture, despite lacking the RT cores found in higher-tier cards, still supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Control uses DirectX 12 features, and the Passmark DirectX 12 score of 50 shows the GPU can handle the API, but the raw performance is insufficient for high-resolution rendering. The FP16 performance of 10.05 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) suggests some compute headroom, but this does not translate into higher frame rates in a rasterization-heavy game.

The GTX 1660 SUPER's percentile rank of 53 means it outperforms roughly half of all GPUs in the database. In the context of Control, this translates to playable 1080p performance and marginal 1440p performance. The GPU's 12 nm process node and 125 W TDP indicate it is an older design, but the measured results show it can still handle a 2019 title at reasonable settings. The 4K results are consistently below 30 FPS except at Low settings, confirming that this GPU is not designed for 4K gaming.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS in any configuration?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with Low settings the average FPS is 91, and at Medium settings it reaches 64 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings exceed 60 FPS with an average of 69 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all four settings presets produce at least 50 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 38 FPS, and at 3840x2160, even Low settings only reach 46 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12,986 on average, which is 0.4% higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940), 0.4% higher than the RX 580 (12,928), and 0.7% lower than the Tesla M2090 (13,075).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F CPU a bottleneck in this pairing?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 69,996. Its nearest rival, the Ryzen 9 7940HX, scores 69,875 (0.2% lower), and the Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163 (0.2% higher). The frame rate drops are consistent with GPU limitations.

Q: What happens to frame times at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. This indicates frame time variance of roughly 15 FPS, which could cause noticeable stuttering during intense action sequences.

Q: Does the combo meet the 30 FPS playability threshold at 4K?

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 46 FPS. At Medium settings it averages 33 FPS, at High settings 29 FPS, and at Ultra settings 25 FPS. The High and Ultra presets fall below the 30 FPS floor.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to 1920x1080 with Medium settings as the best balance of visual quality and performance. This configuration produces an average of 64 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. The minimum frame rate is still comfortably playable, and the 19 FPS variance between min and max indicates consistent frame delivery. Upgrading to High settings at 1080p drops the average to 57 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 50 FPS, which is acceptable but sacrifices 14 FPS compared to Medium.

For players who prioritize smoothness over visuals, 1080p Low settings deliver 91 FPS, providing a 42% performance boost over Medium. This setting is ideal for competitive play or for users with high refresh rate monitors. The Low preset at 1440p also achieves 69 FPS, making it the only 1440p configuration that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. This is a viable option for users who want better image clarity without upgrading the GPU.

At 1440p Medium, the 49 FPS average is borderline, and the 41 FPS minimum could lead to noticeable dips during combat. The High preset at 1440p averages 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and may feel sluggish. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo; even Low settings at 46 FPS are playable but lack visual fidelity, while Medium at 33 FPS and High at 29 FPS are marginal at best. The Ultra preset at 4K at 25 FPS is effectively unplayable.

The data suggests that the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM is the key constraint at higher settings. The 14 FPS drop from Medium to High at 1080p, and the 7 FPS drop from High to Ultra, indicate that texture memory is being taxed. Sticking with Medium at 1080p or Low at 1440p provides the most stable experience based on the min/max frame data.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 14.4th percentile. This means 417 other combinations perform worse, but the vast majority of tested setups deliver higher frame rates. The low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU's 94th percentile rank shows it is a high-end part. The GPU's 53rd percentile rank places it in the middle of all GPUs, but in a game like Control with demanding visual effects, mid-range GPUs struggle.

The combination's ranking reflects the GPU's position relative to its rivals. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, RX 580, and Tesla M2090 all score within 0.9% of the GTX 1660 SUPER in raw benchmarks, so any of these GPUs paired with a comparable CPU would likely produce similar frame rates in Control. The gap between this combo and higher-performing configurations is significant, but the ranking is consistent with the GPU's hardware specifications.

The 2471st rank out of 2888 combos means this setup is in the bottom 15% of all tested configurations. This is not surprising given the GTX 1660 SUPER's age and mid-range positioning, but the data shows it can still deliver a playable experience at 1080p. The CPU has enough headroom to support a GPU upgrade without becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by its 0.2% to 0.9% delta compared to rival CPUs in the same performance class.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 91 FPS, Medium produces 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS, High produces 57 FPS, and Ultra produces 50 FPS. The 41 FPS spread between Low and Ultra shows the GPU's sensitivity to graphical detail at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 69 FPS, Medium averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and maximum of 56 FPS, High averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 38 FPS. The 31 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is narrower than at 1080p, indicating that resolution is becoming the dominant factor.

At 3840x2160, the combo is largely overwhelmed. Low settings average 46 FPS, Medium averages 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS and maximum of 38 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. The 21 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is the smallest of the three resolutions, confirming that pixel throughput is the primary limiter.

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 55-74 FPS range shows stable performance. At 1440p, the 41-56 FPS range shows more variance. At 4K, the 28-38 FPS range shows the GPU operating at its limits, with the minimum falling below the 30 FPS playability threshold. These measurements provide the clearest picture of how the combo degrades as resolution increases, with the GPU consistently being the limiting factor.