Control

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 339 out of 2,888 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 11.7% of all tested combos. This is a strong result for a game released in 2019, suggesting the combo has substantial headroom for this title. The percentile ranking reflects that this system sits well above the median tested configuration, though it is not at the very top tier—likely because Control is not particularly demanding by modern standards, and many higher-ranked combos feature flagship GPUs or CPUs with more aggressive tuning.

The data indicates that this combination delivers a consistently playable experience across all tested resolutions and settings, with no configuration falling below 63 FPS average. The rank of 339 suggests that while the combo is capable, there are still 338 other combinations that outperform it, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs. The CPU's percentile of 94 against all CPUs and the GPU's percentile of 84 against all GPUs align well with this overall ranking, showing a balanced pairing where neither component is a severe bottleneck.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and it operates on a 5 nm process from TSMC with 35,800 million transistors. These specifications translate to a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s, which are critical for handling Control's particle effects and environmental destruction at high frame rates.

In the context of Control's benchmark results, the GPU appears to be the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 63 FPS average, indicating the GPU is nearing its limits with all settings maxed out. The GPU's 84th percentile ranking against all GPUs is reflected in its ability to maintain 73 FPS at 4K High, which is respectable for a 2019 title. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Control, which does not appear to be VRAM-limited at any tested setting, allowing the GPU to focus on raw compute rather than memory swapping.

The Ada Lovelace architecture's 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present, though Control's standard rendering path does not heavily utilize ray tracing in the measured results. The GPU's FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS provides ample compute headroom for the game's physics and lighting calculations, as evidenced by the smooth frame times at lower settings where the GPU is not the limiting factor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 36,470 and single-thread score of 4,691 place it in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, which is notably higher than the GPU's percentile.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 226 FPS average, which is likely CPU-limited given that the GPU could theoretically push even higher frame rates. The CPU's high single-thread performance is crucial here, as Control's game logic and physics calculations are largely single-threaded. The 8 cores and 16 threads provide adequate parallelism for background tasks and engine systems, but the game does not appear to scale beyond a few cores based on the performance deltas between settings.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% faster), Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% faster), and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% faster). These tight deltas suggest the 9700F is competitive with high-end desktop and mobile flagship CPUs, ensuring that it does not bottleneck the RTX 4070 Ti in most scenarios. The 65W TDP indicates efficient power delivery, though this is not directly measured in the FPS data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K). At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 226 FPS average, which is the highest recorded across all configurations. Moving to 1080p Medium, the average drops to 161 FPS with a minimum of 136 and maximum of 185. At 1080p High, the average is 143 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it falls to 124 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 45% reduction in average FPS, indicating that the GPU is increasingly stressed as settings increase.

At 1440p, the trend continues but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings yield 171 FPS average, Medium produces 121 FPS (min 103, max 140), High delivers 108 FPS, and Ultra drops to 94 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at each setting is significant: Low sees a 32% drop, Medium a 25% drop, High a 24% drop, and Ultra a 24% drop. These reductions are consistent with the GPU handling more pixels, though the CPU remains capable at this resolution.

At 4K, the performance becomes more GPU-bound. Low settings achieve 115 FPS average, Medium drops to 82 FPS (min 70, max 94), High falls to 73 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 63 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K is substantial: Low sees a 33% reduction, Medium a 32% reduction, High a 32% reduction, and Ultra a 33% reduction. These consistent percentage drops indicate the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, as the CPU's performance headroom is not fully utilized.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck dynamics of this combo. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 226 at 1080p to 171 at 1440p (a 24% reduction) and then to 115 at 4K (a 33% reduction from 1440p). The 1080p Low result of 226 FPS suggests the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU could likely render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. This is corroborated by the fact that the CPU's single-thread score is high but not top-tier, and Control's engine has frame rate ceilings.

At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 124 at 1080p to 94 at 1440p (a 24% reduction) and then to 63 at 4K (a 33% reduction from 1440p). The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper percentage-wise than from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. The 4K Ultra result of 63 FPS is close to the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that the GPU is working near its maximum capacity with all settings maxed out.

The data implies that at 1080p, the combo is CPU-bound at lower settings, but as settings increase, the GPU becomes more involved. At 1440p, the system is more balanced, with neither component clearly dominating. At 4K, the GPU is definitively the limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent 32-33% FPS drops from 1440p regardless of settings. This scaling pattern is typical for a high-end CPU paired with a mid-to-high-end GPU, where the CPU has enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking until very high frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Control at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, the data shows 4K Ultra achieves 63 FPS average, while 4K High reaches 73 FPS and 4K Medium hits 82 FPS. All 4K settings remain above 60 FPS, making the experience smooth.

Q: At which resolution does the CPU become a bottleneck?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, where 226 FPS is achieved. This is likely near the engine's CPU-bound ceiling, as the GPU could theoretically push higher frame rates at such low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti's performance compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 5090 Mobile, is 0.8% faster, while the RTX A6000 is 1.6% slower. These small deltas indicate the 4070 Ti is competitive with top-tier mobile and workstation GPUs, though not a flagship desktop part.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 171 FPS average, while Ultra produces 94 FPS. This represents a 45% reduction in average FPS when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Q: Is the CPU's performance sufficient for this GPU in Control?

A: The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and close rivalry with the Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% faster) and Core i7-14700K (0.9% faster) indicate it provides ample performance. The data shows no severe CPU bottleneck except at 1080p Low, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM on the GPU cause any issues at 4K?

A: No, the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (63 FPS average) does not show signs of VRAM limitation. Control's requirements are well within the 12 GB capacity, allowing the GPU to focus on compute rather than memory management.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends on the user's display resolution and preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers an excellent balance, delivering 161 FPS average with a minimum of 136 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in intense combat sequences. The jump to High reduces the average to 143 FPS, which is still well above 60 FPS, but the additional visual quality may not justify the 11% performance loss for most users. Ultra at 1080p provides 124 FPS, which is playable but sacrifices 23% of the Medium preset's performance for marginal visual gains.

For 1440p users, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, achieving 121 FPS average with a minimum of 103 FPS. This ensures no drops below 100 FPS, which is ideal for competitive or action-heavy gameplay. High settings at 1440p yield 108 FPS, still above 100 FPS, and may be preferable for those who prioritize visual detail. Ultra at 1440p drops to 94 FPS, which is still smooth but approaches the threshold where frame time consistency becomes more noticeable. Low settings at 1440p provide 171 FPS but are not recommended as the visual quality degradation is significant for a 40% FPS gain over Medium.

At 4K, the High preset offers the best balance, achieving 73 FPS average with no minimum data suggesting drops below 60 FPS. Ultra at 4K delivers 63 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Medium at 4K provides 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, making it the safer choice for consistent performance. Low at 4K reaches 115 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial and unnecessary given the High preset's playability. The data indicates that for most users, Medium at 1080p and 1440p, and High at 4K, provide the best experience in terms of smoothness and visual quality.