Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a robust 1080p experience in Control, with performance scaling predictably as resolution increases. The measured data shows a clear progression from an average of 212.6 FPS at 1080p Low to 67.8 FPS at 4K High, illustrating the growing burden on the graphics subsystem as pixel count rises. This combination ranks 275th out of 1636 tested combos, placing it comfortably within the top tier of systems for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate behavior across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 212.6 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 162 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 108.8 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 48.9% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, and a further 32.8% reduction when stepping up to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all quality presets, indicating that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the scaling is slightly steeper. The system achieves 134.9 FPS at 1080p, 103.4 FPS at 1440p, and 67.8 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 23.4%, while the jump to 4K costs another 34.4% of performance. This steeper decline at higher quality settings suggests that the additional graphical workload from the High preset amplifies the GPU's workload more than the CPU's, reinforcing the notion that the graphics card is the bottleneck in this configuration.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling curve. Starting at 116.4 FPS at 1080p, performance falls to 87.2 FPS at 1440p and bottoms out at 61.3 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 25.1%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 29.7%. Interestingly, the 4K Ultra result of 61.3 FPS is only slightly below the 4K High result of 67.8 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are relatively inexpensive at this resolution, or that the GPU is already saturated.

The data indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the texture and geometry demands of Control at all tested resolutions. The consistent frame rate gaps between presets at each resolution point to compute and shading unit limits rather than memory capacity issues. At 1080p, the system appears lightly GPU-bound, as even the Ultra preset yields 116.4 FPS, leaving headroom for the CPU to feed frames efficiently.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X contributes a strong foundation for this combination, with its 8 cores and 16 threads operating at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 1280 in 3dmark, a multi-thread score of 9824 in the 16-thread test, and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588. These figures indicate substantial headroom for game logic and physics processing, which is typical for an action-adventure title like Control.

At 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 212.6 FPS, which is likely approaching the practical ceiling for this CPU-GPU pairing. The CPU's 3dmark 2-thread score of 2525 and 4-thread score of 4869 demonstrate that even lightly threaded workloads are handled efficiently, which matters for a game that may not scale perfectly across all 16 threads. The Ryzen 7 9700X's Zen 5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC, provides the IPC improvements necessary to avoid stalling the GPU at high frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-14500HX with a delta of 0.2% and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H with a delta of -0.4%. These margins are negligible, meaning the 9700X's processing power is essentially on par with these alternatives. For Control, this suggests that CPU choice among these options would have minimal impact on the measured FPS, as the game appears to be GPU-limited in most scenarios. The 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that this processor is well above average for gaming workloads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly correlate with the observed frame rates. The GPU features 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, operating at a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for Control's asset streaming at all tested settings.

The GPU's benchmark results include a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and a Passmark G3D score of 29995, placing it at the 84th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals show tight competition: the NVIDIA RTX A6000 has a delta of -0.2%, and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE has a delta of -0.3%. This indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is competitive with much larger and more expensive workstation cards in synthetic tests, though real-world gaming performance varies.

In Control, the GPU's role becomes increasingly critical as resolution rises. At 1080p, the GPU can render frames quickly enough that the CPU remains relevant, but by 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The 4K Low result of 108.8 FPS versus the 4K Ultra result of 61.3 FPS shows a 43.6% performance difference purely from settings changes, which is a direct consequence of the GPU's shading and rasterization workload. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate provide ample raw throughput for this game, but the Ultra preset's effects push the GPU to its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 275th out of 1636 tested combos for Control, placing it in the top 16.8% of all configurations. This rank reflects the balance between the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance and the GPU's high-end capabilities. The CPU's percentile of 89 and the GPU's percentile of 84 suggest that neither component is dragging the other down significantly, resulting in a well-matched pairing.

The measured FPS data confirms this ranking. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 116.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p Ultra, the result is 87.2 FPS, still comfortably playable. Only at 4K Ultra does the system dip to 61.3 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS target but with little headroom. The 4K High setting at 67.8 FPS offers a more comfortable margin, suggesting that users with 4K displays should consider the High preset.

Compared to the 1636 total combos in the database, this rank of 275 indicates that there are 274 configurations that perform better in Control. These likely include systems with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or Radeon RX 7900 XTX, or combinations with faster CPUs. However, the RTX 4070 SUPER's 84th percentile GPU ranking suggests that the GPU is not the primary reason for the rank; rather, it is the overall balance of the system that determines its position.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable performance, with even the Ultra preset achieving 116.4 FPS. For users with 144Hz or higher refresh rate monitors, the High preset at 134.9 FPS provides a good balance between visual quality and smoothness, while the Medium preset at 155.7 FPS offers additional headroom. The Low preset at 212.6 FPS is suitable for competitive play but sacrifices visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the High preset at 103.4 FPS is the recommended choice for most users, as it maintains a three-digit frame rate while preserving visual quality. The Medium preset at 117.8 FPS is also viable for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals. The Ultra preset at 87.2 FPS meets the 60 FPS target with a comfortable margin, making it suitable for users with 90Hz or 100Hz displays. The Low preset at 162 FPS is unnecessary at this resolution, as the visual quality loss outweighs the frame rate benefit.

At 4K, the High preset at 67.8 FPS is the best option for maintaining a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 61.3 FPS is borderline, as it sits just above the 60 FPS threshold but may experience occasional dips during intense scenes. The Medium preset at 78.2 FPS offers a better balance, providing additional headroom while still looking good. The Low preset at 108.8 FPS is available for those who prioritize frame rate above all else, but the visual compromise is significant at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The system achieves an average of 134.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS target and suitable for high refresh rate displays.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Control?*

A: Yes, at 4K with High settings the average FPS is 67.8, and at Ultra it drops to 61.3. Both are above 60 FPS, though the High preset provides more headroom for consistent performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.4% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H. These differences are negligible in practice.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for Control at all tested settings and resolutions.

Q: What rank does this combo achieve in the database?

A: This combination ranks 275th out of 1636 tested combos for Control, placing it in the top 16.8% of all configurations in the database.

Q: Is the Low preset at 4K worth using?

A: The Low preset at 4K delivers 108.8 FPS, which is significantly higher than the High preset's 67.8 FPS, but the visual quality reduction is substantial. It is only recommended for users who prioritize frame rate above all visual fidelity.