Control

Control with an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 pairing delivers a robust 1080p experience and remains playable at 4K, though the scaling pattern reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound at lower resolutions to firmly GPU-bound at the highest settings. The benchmark data for this Action Adventure title shows a clear hierarchy across the four tested settings tiers, with the most significant performance headroom appearing at 1080p Low, where the combination reaches 193 FPS average.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but consistent with a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 122 FPS at 1920x1080 to 92 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 30 FPS, and then further to 62 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 49% decrease in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at High settings, indicating that the RTX 4070 is the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The scaling becomes more dramatic when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system produces 193 FPS average, which drops to 146 FPS at 1440p (a 47 FPS loss) and then to 98 FPS at 4K (another 48 FPS loss). The near-linear decline from 1080p to 4K at Low settings suggests the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU workload grows proportionally with pixel count. The fact that 1080p Low yields nearly double the frame rate of 4K Low highlights how resolution dominates performance in this title.

Medium settings tell a similar story with slightly lower absolute numbers: 137 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, however, shows the most constrained scaling, moving from 106 FPS at 1080p to 80 FPS at 1440p and finally 54 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 87 FPS, while at 4K it narrows to 44 FPS, which implies that the GPU becomes the bottleneck much earlier at higher resolutions, diminishing the impact of settings changes.

The data indicates that at 1080p and even 1440p, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D has enough headroom to keep the RTX 4070 fed, as evidenced by the large FPS swings between presets. At 4K, the curve flattens considerably, with all presets clustering within a 44 FPS range (54 to 98), which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. Users targeting 4K should expect the Ultra preset to dip below 60 FPS, while Medium holds at 70 FPS and Low reaches 98 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for Control at 4K, where the Medium preset maintains a minimum of 59 FPS and an average of 70 FPS. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz, based on a base clock of 1920 MHz, represents a 29% increase under load, which helps sustain performance in demanding scenes.

The RTX 4070's specifications place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628, a negligible 0.1% difference, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 trails by 0.4% at 37507. The RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster with a score of 38135, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 comes in 1.3% slower at 37157. These margins are tight, suggesting the RTX 4070 sits in a competitive performance band.

The GPU's 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs provide the raw throughput needed for Control's physics-heavy environments. With 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, the card has dedicated hardware for ray tracing and DLSS, though the measured FPS data does not include ray-traced scenarios. The 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate explain why the card can push past 100 FPS at 1080p High without breaking a sweat.

At 4K Ultra, the RTX 4070 drops to 54 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players prefer. This aligns with the GPU's 81st percentile ranking; it is a capable card but not a top-tier 4K performer. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Control's texture loads, as evidenced by the stable minimum FPS of 59 at 4K Medium, though it does not provide the future-proofing of higher-capacity cards.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the data strongly favors the High preset, which delivers 122 FPS average. While Low pushes to 193 FPS, the visual quality trade-off is substantial for only a 58% frame rate gain. Medium at 137 FPS is a viable alternative for those wanting extra headroom, but High offers the best balance of fidelity and speed. Ultra at 106 FPS still clears 100 FPS, so it remains playable for those who prioritize image quality over refresh rate.

At 1440p, the High preset again emerges as the recommended choice with 92 FPS average. The step from High to Ultra costs 12 FPS (down to 80), while moving to Medium gains 12 FPS (up to 104). The Low preset at 146 FPS is excessive for most displays and sacrifices too much visual detail. For 1440p owners with 144 Hz monitors, the Medium preset's 104 FPS provides a smoother experience than High's 92 FPS, but High remains the sweet spot for most users.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Ultra preset's 54 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target, making it a poor choice for consistent play. High at 62 FPS barely clears the threshold but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 70 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS is the most reliable option, offering a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while retaining reasonable visual quality. Low at 98 FPS is overkill for most 4K displays and should be reserved for competitive play.

The measured data suggests that the Medium preset provides the best overall experience across all resolutions, as it is the only setting tier with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values (e.g., 116 to 157 at 1080p, 88 to 119 at 1440p, 59 to 80 at 4K). This consistency indicates that Medium avoids the extreme frame time spikes that can occur at higher presets, making it the safest recommendation for a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 193 FPS, followed by Medium at 137 FPS with a range of 116 to 157 FPS. High settings produce 122 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 106 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 87 FPS, demonstrating that the CPU and GPU combination has significant headroom at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates compress somewhat. Low leads at 146 FPS, Medium follows at 104 FPS (88 to 119 FPS range), High achieves 92 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 80 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 66 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling is beginning to tax the GPU more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the performance hierarchy tightens further. Low produces 98 FPS, Medium averages 70 FPS (59 to 80 FPS range), High reaches 62 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is now just 44 FPS, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. Notably, the Medium preset at 4K has a minimum FPS of 59, which is higher than the Ultra preset's average of 54 FPS, reinforcing that Medium is the practical ceiling for 4K play.

The data also shows that the jump from Low to Medium costs 56 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. This diminishing penalty for higher settings as resolution increases is a textbook pattern for a GPU-bound scenario. Similarly, the step from High to Ultra costs 16 FPS at 1080p, 12 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K, showing that the most demanding preset has a relatively smaller impact at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 650th out of 2888 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 22.5% of all systems benchmarked for this game. This percentile position reflects a capable, above-average setup that handles the game well at most resolutions but does not crack the upper echelon reserved for flagship GPUs.

The CPU component of this combo is a strong contributor to the ranking. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 54762. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, scores 55093, which is 0.6% higher, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K trails by 1.3% at 54053. The Intel Xeon 6505P is 2% behind at 53701, and the Intel Core i7-14700F is 2.1% lower at 53620. This CPU clearly outperforms its immediate competition in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU, however, drags the combo ranking down relative to the CPU's strong showing. The RTX 4070's 81st percentile ranking and 37648 average benchmark score place it in the mid-to-upper range, but its nearest rivals show how tight the competition is. The Tesla P4 matches within 0.1%, and the RX Vega 56 is only 0.4% behind. This means the GPU is not a standout performer in its class, which explains why the combined ranking lands at 650 rather than higher.

The 2888 total combinations tested include many with more powerful GPUs paired with comparable or weaker CPUs, which pushes this combo's rank down. For a system aiming at high-refresh 1080p or solid 1440p play, the 650th ranking is entirely respectable. For 4K enthusiasts, the rank reflects the GPU's limitations at that resolution, where the RTX 4070 cannot consistently hold 60 FPS on Ultra settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Control?

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 193, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset. This is the only configuration that approaches 200 FPS, with the next closest being 146 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, the Medium preset averages 70 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS, which keeps the experience above 60 FPS on average. The High preset drops to 62 FPS average, and Ultra falls below at 54 FPS, so only Medium and Low reliably hit the 60 FPS target.

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

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF's 55093, but 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K's 54053. It also leads the Intel Xeon 6505P by 2% and the Intel Core i7-14700F by 2.1%.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 193 FPS while Ultra averages 106 FPS, a difference of 87 FPS. This is the largest spread between presets at any resolution, indicating the CPU has ample headroom at 1080p.

Q: Is there a resolution where the Medium preset is the best choice?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium is the recommended preset because it delivers 70 FPS average with a 59 FPS minimum, while High falls to 62 FPS and Ultra to 54 FPS. The Medium preset also shows stable frame pacing with a recorded range of 59 to 80 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU rank among all tested GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628, only 0.1% lower, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% behind at 37507.