Control

Control pairs an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, and the measured FPS data reveals a system that scales predictably across resolutions and presets. The Ryzen 9 9900X brings 12 cores, 24 threads, a 4.40 GHz base clock, and a 5.60 GHz boost clock, while the RTX 4070 Ti packs 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus. This combination lands at rank 496 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top tier of the database. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p the CPU carries more weight, while at 4K the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with settings making a substantial difference at every resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions tells a story of diminishing returns as pixel count rises. At 1080p High, the combo averages 143 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 108 FPS, a reduction of 35 FPS or roughly 24%. At 4K High, the average falls further to 73 FPS, which is 70 FPS below the 1080p figure — a 49% decrease from 1080p to 4K. This scaling suggests the RTX 4070 Ti is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s 12 cores and high boost clock are less stressed when pixel throughput dominates.

Low settings amplify the resolution gap. At 1080p Low, the system hits 226 FPS, which drops to 171 FPS at 1440p Low and 115 FPS at 4K Low. That is a 111 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K on Low, indicating that even at the lowest graphical load, the GPU cannot maintain 1080p-level performance at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K on Low is 56 FPS, while the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 55 FPS — nearly identical, suggesting linear scaling with pixel count in this low-load scenario.

Medium settings show the most complete data with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 161 FPS with a minimum of 136 and maximum of 185. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 121 FPS with min 103 and max 140. At 4K Medium, the average is 82 FPS with min 70 and max 94. The spread between min and max stays tight — around 24 to 37 FPS — which indicates stable frame pacing rather than erratic spikes.

Ultra settings produce the most demanding load. The 1080p Ultra average is 124 FPS, 1440p Ultra averages 94 FPS, and 4K Ultra averages 63 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K on Ultra is 61 FPS, which is the largest absolute drop among all presets. This pattern implies that Ultra settings, particularly at 4K, push the RTX 4070 Ti close to its limits, as the GPU’s 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 compute are taxed heavily.

The resolution scaling results indicate the limiting component changes with settings. At 1080p Low, hitting 226 FPS suggests the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU, but the 9900X’s single-thread score of 1286 in 3DMark and 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core are not extraordinary for modern standards. At 4K Ultra, the 63 FPS average strongly implies GPU-bound behavior, as the RTX 4070 Ti’s 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are more constrained by pixel fill rate than by the CPU’s capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, plays the dominant role in this game’s results, especially at higher resolutions. Its base clock of 2310 MHz and boost clock of 2610 MHz, combined with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, provides a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. In Control, which is known for its physics-heavy environments and particle effects, the GPU’s 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores may influence ray-traced scenarios, though the measured data does not separate ray tracing from standard rendering.

The GPU’s 80 ROPs and 240 TMUs deliver a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s, which directly affect how quickly the game can fill frames at 4K. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (63 FPS) versus 4K Low (115 FPS) shows a 52 FPS swing, indicating the GPU’s compute and memory subsystems are the primary variables when settings change. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not likely a limiting factor at 1080p or 1440p, but at 4K with Ultra textures, the memory bus width could become a constraint, though the data does not show VRAM usage.

Comparing the RTX 4070 Ti to its nearest rivals in the database, it sits 0.8% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile in average benchmark score, 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A6000, and 1.7% ahead of the Intel Arc A730M. This places the GPU in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795. In practical terms, the RTX 4070 Ti’s performance in Control aligns with its mid-to-high-tier positioning: it can handle 4K at playable framerates on High settings (73 FPS) but requires Low settings to reach 115 FPS at 4K.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS and FP16 at the same rate (1:1) suggests compute-heavy workloads scale well, but Control’s rendering pipeline appears more sensitive to memory bandwidth and pixel throughput. The 21 Gbps effective memory clock on the GDDR6X modules is relatively fast, yet the 192-bit bus limits total bandwidth to 504.2 GB/s, which is modest for a 4K-capable card. This is reflected in the 4K results: even on Medium settings, the average FPS of 82 is respectable but not high, and the min FPS of 70 indicates occasional dips that could be noticeable in combat.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination achieves a combo rank of 496 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 13.3% of all configs in the database. This rank reflects the balanced nature of the pairing: the 9900X’s multi-threaded strength (32,172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 22,174 in Geekbench multi-core) complements the RTX 4070 Ti’s solid 4K performance, but neither component is top-tier for extreme high-refresh or 8K scenarios.

The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 92, with an average benchmark score of 57,498. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 (0.1% lower score), AMD EPYC 7313 (0.2% higher), Intel Core i9-14900 (1.1% higher), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (1.4% higher). This puts the 9900X in a narrow band of performance, where deltas of 1-2% are within noise. For Control specifically, the CPU’s 12 cores and 24 threads may not be fully utilized, as the game likely scales to 8 threads or fewer, but the high boost clock of 5.60 GHz helps maintain minimum FPS in CPU-bound scenarios.

The GPU’s rank of 84th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44,795, is lower than the CPU’s 92nd percentile. This mismatch suggests the GPU is the weaker link in this combo for Control. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 226 FPS, which is near the ceiling for many displays but not limited by the CPU. At 4K Ultra, the 63 FPS average is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU would have no trouble at these settings. The combo rank of 496 out of 3720 (13.3%) is respectable but not elite, reflecting the GPU’s mid-high positioning rather than the CPU’s top-tier percentile.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest framerates across all presets. Low settings average 226 FPS, Medium averages 161 FPS with a min of 136 and max of 185, High averages 143 FPS, and Ultra averages 124 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 102 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact at 1080p. The 9900X’s 4.40 GHz base clock and 5.60 GHz boost clock ensure the CPU can feed the GPU at these high framerates, as even the Low preset at 226 FPS does not appear to hit a CPU ceiling.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 171 FPS on Low, 121 FPS on Medium (min 103, max 140), 108 FPS on High, and 94 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets: 55 FPS on Low, 40 FPS on Medium, 35 FPS on High, and 30 FPS on Ultra. This pattern indicates that the GPU is increasingly the bottleneck as resolution rises, with the RTX 4070 Ti’s 504.2 GB/s bandwidth becoming more critical. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 103 at 1440p is still above 100, which is good for competitive play, while Ultra’s 94 FPS average is smooth for single-player action.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further: Low averages 115 FPS, Medium averages 82 FPS (min 70, max 94), High averages 73 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 52 FPS, smaller than at 1080p (102 FPS) or 1440p (77 FPS), suggesting that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even lowering settings cannot drastically improve FPS. The Medium preset’s max FPS of 94 at 4K shows that the GPU can occasionally push higher, but the average of 82 is more representative. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is playable but not ideal for a 60 Hz display with headroom for drops.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 161 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay and provides headroom for 144 Hz displays. At 1440p Medium, the average of 121 FPS and minimum of 103 FPS ensures that even demanding scenes stay above 100 FPS, making this the optimal choice for high-refresh monitors. At 4K Medium, the average of 82 FPS and minimum of 70 FPS is playable on a 60 Hz display, though users targeting 120 Hz at 4K would need to drop to Low.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the High preset is viable at 1080p (143 FPS) and 1440p (108 FPS), but at 4K it averages 73 FPS, which is borderline for 60 Hz. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p (124 FPS) or 1440p (94 FPS) if visual fidelity outweighs framerate, as 4K Ultra at 63 FPS risks dips below 60 FPS in intensive scenes. The Low preset is unnecessary at 1080p (226 FPS) or 1440p (171 FPS) unless aiming for extreme refresh rates, but at 4K it provides a significant boost to 115 FPS, making it the only way to reach triple-digit framerates at that resolution.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo. The min FPS values for Medium (136 at 1080p, 103 at 1440p, 70 at 4K) are higher than the averages for Ultra at the same resolutions (124 at 1080p, 94 at 1440p, 63 at 4K), indicating that Medium not only averages higher but also maintains higher minimums. This makes Medium the most consistent preset across all resolutions, with the only caveat being that at 4K, users may prefer Low (115 FPS) if they require 100+ FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Control?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 496 out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top 13.3% of all configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti’s average benchmark score is 44,795, which is 0.8% lower than the RTX 5090 Mobile, 1.3% lower than the Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1.6% higher than the RTX A6000, and 1.7% higher than the Arc A730M.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming based on measured FPS?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 121 FPS with a minimum of 103 FPS, while High averages 108 FPS and Ultra averages 94 FPS. Medium offers the highest average with a minimum above 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60+ FPS at 4K on Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured 4K Ultra average is 63 FPS, which is above 60 FPS, but the minimum FPS is not recorded for Ultra. Given the Medium preset’s minimum of 70 FPS at 4K, Ultra may dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

Q: How much does resolution affect performance from 1080p to 4K on High settings?

A: On High settings, the average FPS drops from 143 at 1080p to 108 at 1440p and 73 at 4K. This represents a 49% decrease from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the CPU’s percentile ranking and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X is in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57,498. It is 0.1% lower than the EPYC 9015, 0.2% higher than the EPYC 7313, 1.1% lower than the Core i9-14900, and 1.4% lower than the Xeon Platinum 8260M.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), plays a supporting role in Control’s performance, particularly at lower resolutions. Its base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, along with a 64 MB L3 cache, provide strong single-thread performance for game logic and physics calculations. The CPU’s benchmark scores are robust: 32,172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 2,253 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 22,174 in Geekbench multi-core. These numbers indicate the CPU is far from a bottleneck in most scenarios.

At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 226 FPS, which is a high framerate that would strain many CPUs. The fact that the 9900X can sustain this suggests its single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1286) is sufficient for Control’s engine. However, the CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities (3DMark max threads score of 13,929) may not be fully utilized, as Control likely scales to fewer than 12 cores. The 24 threads provide headroom for background tasks, but the game’s performance is more dependent on the GPU at 4K.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database — the AMD EPYC 9015, EPYC 7313, Intel Core i9-14900, and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M — all have average benchmark scores within 1.4% of the 9900X. This indicates that for Control, any of these CPUs would produce similar results when paired with the same GPU, as the game’s frame rates at 4K (63-115 FPS depending on settings) are unlikely to be CPU-limited. The 9900X’s 120 W TDP and DDR5 memory support (dual-channel, 89.6 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for this workload, but the data does not show memory bandwidth as a limiting factor.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent when comparing 1080p and 1440p results. At 1080p Low, the 226 FPS average suggests the CPU can push frames faster than the GPU can render them, but at 1440p Low, the drop to 171 FPS indicates the GPU is now the bottleneck. This transition occurs between 1080p and 1440p, meaning the 9900X is sufficient for any resolution in Control when paired with the RTX 4070 Ti. The CPU’s 92nd percentile ranking reinforces that it is not the weak link in this combo; rather, the GPU’s 84th percentile is more likely to constrain high-resolution performance.