Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, responds predictably but not uniformly to the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet one where the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance still manages to push frame rates to exceptional levels at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate a clear hierarchy: the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary performance arbiter from 1440p upward, while the Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s capabilities only become fully apparent at 1080p, where it helps deliver triple-digit frame rates across all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a classic resolution-scaling curve, but the slope is steeper than typical for modern titles. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 144 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 109 FPS, a reduction of 35 FPS (roughly 24% lower). The jump to 4K is more punishing: 73 FPS at 3840x2160 High, which is 71 FPS below the 1080p result. This indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s rendering load scales directly with pixel count, and the GPU becomes the limiting component well before 4K.

The delta between resolutions grows as settings increase, which is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, 1080p produces 228 FPS, 1440p produces 172 FPS, and 4K produces 116 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 112 FPS, a halving of performance. At Ultra settings, the same resolution sweep yields 125 FPS, 94 FPS, and 64 FPS respectively — a 61 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K is more severe at Low (about 49%) than at Ultra (about 49% as well), but the absolute numbers show the GPU consistently losing ground as pixel count rises.

What this says about the limiting component is unambiguous: the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the bottleneck from 1440p upwards. The CPU’s influence is only visible in the 1080p results, where the 228 FPS at Low settings suggests that neither the 12-core processor nor the GPU is being fully stressed, but rather the game’s engine is hitting an optimization ceiling. The fact that 1080p Ultra (125 FPS) is higher than 4K Low (116 FPS) reinforces that raw resolution is the dominant variable, with settings having a secondary, though still significant, effect.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s role in Control is subtle but measurable. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, the processor provides ample headroom for the game’s physics and AI systems. However, Control is not a title that scales linearly with core count; it responds more to single-threaded performance. The data supports this: the CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1269 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6739 indicate strong per-core throughput, which is what drives the high frame rates at 1080p where the GPU is less pressured.

The 1080p Low result of 228 FPS is particularly telling. This frame rate is far beyond what most games achieve, and it suggests that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s 5.50 GHz boost clock is being utilized effectively. The CPU’s 128 MB of L3 cache likely helps maintain consistent frame pacing in Control’s dense environments, though the benchmark data does not isolate this effect. The processor’s average benchmark score of 54762 places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and it trades blows with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (which scores 55093, a -0.6% delta) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053, a +1.3% delta). This positioning confirms that the 9900X3D is a top-tier gaming processor, but its advantage over rivals does not translate into a proportional FPS gain in Control because the GPU saturates first.

At 4K, the CPU’s contribution is negligible. The 64 FPS at Ultra settings is a GPU-bound result; the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is effectively idle waiting for the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER to finish rendering each frame. The data shows that dropping from Ultra to Low at 4K only improves FPS from 64 to 116, a 52 FPS gain that is entirely attributable to reduced GPU workload, not CPU changes. This is the expected behavior for a game where the CPU is not the primary constraint beyond 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear recommendation for different resolution targets. For 4K displays, the High preset at 73 FPS is the sweet spot. It offers a substantial improvement over Ultra’s 64 FPS — a 9 FPS gain — while remaining visually rich. The Medium preset at 83 FPS is also viable, and it adds a 10 FPS buffer over High, but the data shows that Medium at 4K (83 FPS) is still lower than High at 1440p (109 FPS). Given that the game is playable at 4K High, there is no need to drop to Low (116 FPS) unless the user prioritizes frame rate over visual fidelity, as Low sacrifices most graphical features for a 43 FPS increase over High.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 94 FPS is the recommended choice. This resolution provides enough GPU headroom to run the highest settings while maintaining a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 122 FPS is an alternative for competitive play, but the 28 FPS gain over Ultra comes at a significant visual cost. The High preset at 109 FPS is a balanced middle ground, but since Ultra is within 15 FPS of it, the extra visual detail is worth the small performance hit. The data indicates that 1440p Ultra is where this combination performs best: high fidelity without compromising frame rate.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 125 FPS is the obvious pick. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has enough raw power to handle Ultra settings at this resolution, and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D ensures the CPU does not bottleneck. The Low preset at 228 FPS is only relevant for users with 240Hz+ displays who demand maximum frame rates, but the visual degradation is severe. The Medium preset at 162 FPS offers a good compromise, but 125 FPS at Ultra is already above the 120Hz refresh rate threshold, making Ultra the best experience per the measured rows.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 73, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings drop to 64 FPS, which is still playable but less fluid.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 228 FPS while the Ultra preset achieves 125 FPS. This is a 103 FPS difference, indicating that Ultra settings nearly halve performance compared to Low.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in this game?

A: Only at 1080p with Low settings, where the 228 FPS result suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU’s output. At 1440p and above, the GPU is the limiting component, as evidenced by the FPS scaling with resolution.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium preset compare to the 4K Medium preset?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average FPS is 122, while at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 83. The 1440p result is 39 FPS higher, showing that resolution has a greater impact on performance than the Medium settings alone.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p 144Hz monitor?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces 94 FPS, which is below 144Hz. The Medium preset at 122 FPS is closer to the refresh rate but still not fully saturating it. The High preset at 109 FPS is a balanced option, but none of the presets hit 144 FPS at 1440p.

Q: Does the 4K High preset offer better performance than the 1080p Ultra preset?

A: No. The 4K High preset averages 73 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra preset averages 125 FPS. The lower resolution provides a 52 FPS advantage despite using the same High-to-Ultra settings tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this analysis. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for Control’s textures and effects at 4K. The AD103 chip, built on a 5 nm process, operates at a boost clock of 2610 MHz and offers 44.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These specifications translate directly to the measured FPS: the GPU’s rendering throughput is what determines the frame rate at 1440p and 4K.

The data shows the GPU’s performance ceiling. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 64 FPS, which is a demanding workload that stresses the 8448 shading units and 96 ROPs. Dropping to 4K Low raises the average to 116 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU has headroom when graphical effects are reduced. The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate this: a PassMark G3D score of 31811 places it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs, and it is closely matched with the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31206, a -0.4% delta) and the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31676, a -1.9% delta). This sibling rivalry shows that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a solid mid-to-high-end card, but not a flagship.

The 16 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor in Control, as the game’s requirements are modest by modern standards. The memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s ensures that texture streaming at 4K Ultra does not cause stuttering, which is reflected in the 4K Medium min FPS of 70 (the only preset with a reported minimum). The GPU’s 66 RT cores and 264 Tensor cores are present but underutilized in this non-ray-traced benchmark, meaning the raw rasterization performance is what drives the results. Overall, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a capable GPU for Control, but the data indicates it is the bottleneck for this system at all resolutions above 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination in Control is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 228 FPS. The Medium preset averages 162 FPS, with a minimum of 137 and a maximum of 186. The High preset averages 144 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 125 FPS. This resolution shows the widest spread between presets, with a 103 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint even at 1080p when settings are maxed.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 172 FPS. The Medium preset averages 122 FPS, with a minimum of 104 and a maximum of 141. The High preset averages 109 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 94 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: each preset loses roughly 30-40 FPS, with the Ultra preset dropping below 100 FPS for the first time.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 116 FPS. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS, with a minimum of 70 and a maximum of 95. The High preset averages 73 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 64 FPS. This resolution demonstrates the GPU’s limits, as even the Low preset cannot maintain the 144 FPS seen at 1080p High. The 4K results show a compressed range: only 52 FPS separates Low from Ultra, compared to 103 FPS at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution regardless of settings.

The combo ranks 303rd out of 2888 measured combinations for this game, placing it in the top 10.5% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the strong overall performance, but the data shows that the system is GPU-bound in most scenarios, with the CPU playing a supporting role that only matters at lower resolutions.