Control

Control is a 2019 Action Adventure title that stresses both processor and graphics hardware in unusual ways, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti reveals a system that is exceptionally well balanced across the board. The combination ranks 139th out of 1,636 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the top percentile of all possible hardware pairings, and the benchmark results show a predictable scaling pattern from 1080p through 1440p to 4K that highlights where each component’s workload begins and ends.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K is steep, but not uniform, and the shape of that curve tells the story of a GPU that becomes the primary limiting factor only at the highest resolution. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system produces 147.5 FPS average, but dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 235.1 FPS, which is a massive 59% increase in headroom that indicates the CPU is capable of pushing far more frames than the GPU can render at lower quality presets. Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset average falls to 111.6 FPS, and the Low preset average drops to 177.8 FPS, showing a 37% reduction in the gap between the two extremes compared to 1080p. At 3840x2160, the High preset manages 77.9 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 119.3 FPS, which means the delta between Low and High has compressed to just over 53% of the 1080p delta—clear evidence that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck as pixel count rises.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At High settings, the drop from 111.6 FPS to 77.9 FPS represents a 30% performance loss, which is almost exactly proportional to the 2.25x increase in pixel count from 1440p to 4K, suggesting that the RTX 5070 Ti is fully utilized at both resolutions and that memory bandwidth is not a constraint. However, at Low settings, the drop from 177.8 FPS to 119.3 FPS is only a 33% decrease, which is slightly less than the pixel count increase would predict, indicating that at Low settings the CPU begins to reassert some influence even at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most consistent scaling: 130.6 FPS at 1080p, 96.8 FPS at 1440p, and 68.2 FPS at 4K, with each step representing roughly a 26-30% reduction, which is a textbook example of GPU-bound scaling where the rendering workload dominates all other factors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process and 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, and it carries 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus with 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That memory configuration is directly relevant to Control’s results because the game’s physics-heavy environments and destructible scenery place significant demands on texture streaming and geometry buffers, and the data shows that the GPU never runs out of memory headroom even at 4K Ultra. The boost clock of 2452 MHz, paired with 8,960 shading units and 96 ROPs, produces a pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s, which explains why the card can maintain playable frame rates at 4K High (77.9 FPS) and even 4K Ultra (68.2 FPS) despite the game’s age.

The RTX 5070 Ti’s benchmark scores corroborate the gaming data. Its Passmark G3D score of 32,974 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,604 place it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 52,086 puts it in a dead heat with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, which scores 52,085 with a deltaPct of 0. That near-identical performance to a previous-generation flagship explains why the 4K High result of 77.9 FPS feels so strong—the card is effectively operating at the top of its class for this title. The 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores are not directly exercised by Control’s standard rendering path, but the FP32 throughput of 43.94 TFLOPS is what drives the raw rasterization performance seen in the measured frames, and the 300 W TDP with a 700 W suggested PSU indicates the card has ample power delivery for sustained loads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its multi-threaded performance is exceptional for gaming, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 43,695 and a Passmark multithread score of 51,406, but its single-thread capability is equally impressive with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,168 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4,238. Those numbers are critical for Control because the game’s rendering engine is known to scale with core count up to a point, but the 7900X’s high boost clock ensures that even lightly threaded scenes remain fluid. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10,972 and max-thread score of 12,536 show that the CPU maintains strong scaling as more threads are utilized, which is relevant for Control’s physics simulations that run on multiple cores.

The CPU’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 per core provide ample on-die storage for game assets, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the GPU never starves for data. The 7900X sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 50,556, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.8% of that figure: the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 (50,598, deltaPct -0.1), AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT (50,738, deltaPct -0.4), Intel Core i7-13850HX (50,827, deltaPct -0.5), and Intel Core i9-13980HX (50,944, deltaPct -0.8). That clustering shows the 7900X is at the absolute top of its performance tier, and the data suggests that in Control, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor—at 1080p Low, the system hits 235.1 FPS, which is likely near the engine’s frame rate ceiling rather than a hardware limitation.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings delivers 111.6 FPS, which is smooth and visually rich, while 4K High still maintains 77.9 FPS. For maximum frame rates, 1080p Low hits 235.1 FPS, but the sweet spot for balance is 1440p High.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The two GPUs are effectively tied in synthetic benchmarks—the RTX 5070 Ti scores 52,086 average versus 52,085 for the RTX 4080, with a deltaPct of 0. In Control, this means the 5070 Ti delivers the same class of performance as the previous generation’s flagship.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 7900X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 235.1 FPS, which is extremely high and suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU effectively. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (235.1 vs 130.6 FPS) indicates GPU scaling, not CPU limitation.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM of the RTX 5070 Ti matter for Control?

A: Control at 4K Ultra produces 68.2 FPS with no min-frame data indicating stutter, and the 16 GB GDDR7 memory with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for the game’s texture and geometry demands at all tested settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings?

A: At 4K, Medium yields 84.6 FPS versus 77.9 FPS for High, a 9% improvement. At 1440p, Medium hits 127.8 FPS versus 111.6 FPS for High, a 15% gain. At 1080p, Medium reaches 170.4 FPS versus 147.5 FPS, a 16% increase.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested configurations for Control?

A: The combination ranks 139th out of 1,636 total combos, placing it in the top 8.5% of all hardware pairings tested for this game, with the CPU in the 93rd percentile and GPU in the 87th percentile of their respective categories.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports a clear hierarchy for the best experience in Control with this hardware. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing 68.2 FPS at 4K, 96.8 FPS at 1440p, and 130.6 FPS at 1080p—all of which are playable, but the 4K result dips below the 70 FPS threshold that many consider optimal for fast-paced action. The High preset is the best overall choice for visual fidelity at 4K, delivering 77.9 FPS, which is a 14% improvement over Ultra while maintaining most of the graphical enhancements; at 1440p, High hits 111.6 FPS, which is well above the 100 FPS mark for smooth gameplay, and at 1080p it reaches 147.5 FPS. The Medium preset offers the most balanced experience for users who prioritize frame rates over eye candy: at 4K it produces 84.6 FPS, at 1440p it jumps to 127.8 FPS, and at 1080p it achieves 170.4 FPS, all while reducing the visual fidelity penalties that come with the Low preset.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the recommendation is to run High settings at 1440p, which provides 111.6 FPS and represents the optimal compromise between the 4K visual upgrade and the 1080p performance ceiling. Players targeting 4K should select High settings to stay above 75 FPS, while those with 1080p monitors can confidently enable Ultra at 130.6 FPS without sacrificing smoothness. The Low preset is only advisable for competitive play or extreme frame rate targets, as it pushes 235.1 FPS at 1080p but eliminates most of the game’s atmospheric effects, and the data shows that the step from Low to Medium at any resolution is a worthwhile trade for the visual gains.