Control

Control on the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers a broadly playable experience across all tested presets, but the data shows that the most balanced experience is achieved at Medium settings. At 3840x2160, Medium yields an average of 89 FPS with a measured minimum of 76 FPS, which keeps frame pacing smooth without the steep performance cost of Ultra. The jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 20 FPS on average, dropping to 69 FPS, while High sits at 79 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium again provides the most comfortable margin, with an average of 132 FPS and a floor of 113 FPS, whereas High and Ultra deliver 118 FPS and 102 FPS respectively. At 1920x1080, the story shifts slightly: High offers 156 FPS, which is only 19 FPS below Medium’s 175 FPS, making High the superior choice for 1080p users who want improved visuals without sacrificing the high refresh rate experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data across all three resolutions indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for this CPU/GPU pairing in Control. At 4K, Medium produces an 89 FPS average, which is 13% higher than High’s 79 FPS and 29% higher than Ultra’s 69 FPS. The minimum FPS of 76 at Medium is also the only recorded floor at 4K, suggesting that the frame time consistency is better than the averages alone imply. For users with 1440p displays, Medium’s 132 FPS average provides a 12% uplift over High’s 118 FPS and a 29% improvement over Ultra’s 102 FPS. The 113 FPS minimum at Medium ensures that even demanding combat sequences remain fluid.

At 1080p, the recommendation shifts because the GPU has enough headroom to prioritize image quality. High settings deliver 156 FPS, which is 21 FPS higher than Ultra’s 135 FPS and only 19 FPS lower than Medium’s 175 FPS. The gap between High and Medium narrows to 11%, while the gap between High and Ultra widens to 15%. Given that High offers a substantial visual upgrade over Medium with a minimal FPS penalty at this resolution, it emerges as the optimal preset for 1080p. However, for users who prioritize maximum refresh rate compatibility, Low at 1080p reaches 246 FPS, which is 41% higher than Medium.

Ultra settings are only advisable at 1080p, where the 135 FPS average remains above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh displays. At 1440p, Ultra’s 102 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for frame drops, and at 4K, Ultra’s 69 FPS approaches the boundary where action games become less responsive. The data clearly shows that Medium provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions, with High being a viable alternative at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 brings 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This memory configuration is directly relevant to Control’s results, as the game’s dense particle effects and destructible environments demand substantial memory throughput at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra preset, which averages 69 FPS, exercises the GPU’s memory subsystem heavily, and the 16 GB capacity ensures no texture swapping occurs even at the highest settings.

Clock speeds for the RTX 4080 are listed with a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). The boost clock behavior is evident in the scaling from Low to Ultra across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the card achieves 246 FPS, which suggests the boost clock is sustained under lighter loads. As resolution increases, the performance curve flattens: at 4K Low, the average drops to 126 FPS, a 49% reduction from 1080p Low, while the reduction from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 49% as well (135 to 69 FPS). This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, with the 16 GB frame buffer being fully utilized.

The RTX 4080’s 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are relevant to Control’s implementation of ray-traced reflections and DLSS, though the measured data does not differentiate between these features. The GPU’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute provides ample raw power for the game’s physics simulation, which is reflected in the high frame rates at 1440p and below. The 5 nm process node and 45,900 million transistors contribute to the power efficiency that allows the card to sustain high clocks under sustained gaming loads, as evidenced by the stable minimum FPS at Medium settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides the optimal balance, delivering 132 FPS average with a 113 FPS minimum. This offers a 48% improvement over 4K Medium while maintaining visual quality above 1080p.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Low achieves 246 FPS while Ultra drops to 135 FPS, representing a 45% reduction. At 1440p, the reduction is 45% (186 to 102 FPS), and at 4K, the reduction is 45% as well (126 to 69 FPS).

Q: Does the RTX 4080’s 16 GB VRAM provide enough capacity for 4K Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 69 FPS, which indicates the GPU can handle the memory load without crashing or stuttering, though the frame rate is below the 72 FPS threshold for smooth 4K gaming.

Q: Is this combo capable of driving a 144 Hz monitor at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1080p High settings, the combo achieves 156 FPS, which exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate. Low settings reach 246 FPS, providing headroom for maximum refresh rates.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 241st out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.5% of all configurations tested for Control.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only recorded minimum FPS values are at Medium settings: 76 FPS at 4K, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 149 FPS at 1080p. No minimum values are available for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080 delivers a range of performance depending on the preset. Low settings produce an average of 126 FPS, which is the highest 4K result and demonstrates the GPU’s raw compute capability when visual effects are minimized. Medium settings reduce the average to 89 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, providing the most consistent frame delivery at this resolution. High settings drop the average to 79 FPS, while Ultra settings bottom out at 69 FPS, which is the lowest recorded average across all resolutions and settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance headroom increases substantially. Low settings reach 186 FPS, representing a 48% improvement over 4K Low. Medium settings average 132 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS, making this the most stable configuration for 1440p gaming. High settings deliver 118 FPS, and Ultra settings achieve 102 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 45% reduction, consistent with the trend observed at 4K.

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its peak performance. Low settings hit 246 FPS, which is the highest average recorded in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS, providing a wide margin above 144 Hz displays. High settings deliver 156 FPS, and Ultra settings achieve 135 FPS. The minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 149, which ensures that even the most intense scenes remain well above the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 241st out of 3720 tested combos for Control, placing it in the 93.5th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU’s 8-core/16-thread architecture and the GPU’s 16 GB memory capacity. The RTX 4080’s average benchmark score of 54247 places it just 0.1% above the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209, indicating that the non-SUPER variant offers nearly identical performance in this game. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher, but the RTX 4080’s driver optimization for Control likely compensates in real-world scenarios.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 37943 places it 0.1% above the Intel Core i9-14901E (37911) and 0.1% above the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37904). This tight clustering suggests that the Ryzen 7 9700X provides sufficient processing power for Control, which is not heavily CPU-bound at high resolutions. The combo’s rank of 241 indicates that there are 240 configurations that outperform it, but given that the dataset includes 3720 combos, this places the pairing in the top 6.5% of all tested setups. The GPU’s percentile of 86 versus all GPUs further confirms that the RTX 4080 is a high-end component that drives the overall ranking.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This configuration provides 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core, which is relevant for Control’s physics calculations and AI routines. The CPU’s single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 (2211 points) and Geekbench (3023 points), ensures that the game’s main thread remains unconstrained. The multi-threaded capabilities, demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485, allow background tasks to run without interfering with frame rendering.

In Control, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU at 4K, where the RTX 4080 is the bottleneck. However, at 1080p Low, the CPU’s boost clock of 5.50 GHz becomes critical, as the 246 FPS average requires rapid draw call processing. The 8-core/16-thread configuration ensures that the game’s streaming and physics systems have dedicated threads, preventing stutters. The 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node allow sustained boost clocks without thermal throttling, which is reflected in the stable minimum FPS values at Medium settings across all resolutions.

The CPU’s memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel architecture and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth complements the GPU’s 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, ensuring no data starvation occurs during high-texture scenes. The 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the RTX 4080’s PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, eliminating any bus bottleneck. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 37943 places it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, with the nearest rival being the Intel Core i9-14901E at 37911 (0.1% lower). This indicates that the Ryzen 7 9700X provides top-tier processing power that pairs well with the RTX 4080 for Control, though the GPU remains the dominant factor in determining frame rates.