Control

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti produces a highly capable Control configuration, but the data reveals a system where the GPU is the clear performance driver across most settings. The measured frames per second indicate that this combination can push well beyond 100 FPS at 1080p, yet the experience becomes more demanding as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 104.6 FPS average, which is a strong baseline for smooth gameplay, while the High preset reaches 119.8 FPS. The Medium preset jumps to 138.4 FPS, and Low peaks at 192.6 FPS. The data suggests that for competitive or high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p, Medium offers the best balance, as it provides a 15.5% improvement over High while still maintaining a substantial visual quality step above Low. However, the gap between Medium and High is notable, and the 138.4 FPS figure is well beyond typical 60Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. High produces 90.4 FPS, while Ultra drops to 82 FPS. The Medium preset yields 106.9 FPS, and Low reaches 145.8 FPS. For 1440p, High is the recommended preset because it stays above 90 FPS while preserving more visual fidelity than Medium, which is only 16.5 FPS faster. The Ultra preset, at 82 FPS, is still playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. At 3840x2160, the landscape changes dramatically. High averages 62.5 FPS, Medium 69.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 54.8 FPS. Low reaches 99.8 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset offers the best experience, as it remains above 60 FPS while delivering significantly better visuals than Low, which is the only other preset that exceeds 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080 Ti’s specifications explain much of the performance envelope. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is substantial for Control, which is known for its particle effects and destructible environments. The graphics card operates with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory clocked at 1188 MHz. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores suggest that ray-traced effects, if enabled, would rely on these dedicated units, though the measured data does not specify RT settings. The benchmark results show the GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 26896 and a percentile of 83 among all GPUs, indicating strong overall performance. The nearest rival, the RTX 3090, scores 41441 on average, which is only 0.5% higher, confirming that the RTX 3080 Ti is positioned at the high end. The 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 rating and 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate further underscore its capability for high-resolution rendering.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals the GPU’s dominance in this pairing. At High settings, the progression is 119.8 FPS at 1920x1080, 90.4 FPS at 2560x1440, and 62.5 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24.5% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 30.9% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The Low preset shows a similar trend: 192.6 FPS at 1080p, 145.8 FPS at 1440p, and 99.8 FPS at 4K. The scaling suggests that the RTX 3080 Ti remains the bottleneck even at 4K, as the frame rate drops are roughly proportional to the pixel count increase. At Ultra settings, the 1080p result of 104.6 FPS falls to 82 FPS at 1440p and 54.8 FPS at 4K, a cumulative drop of 47.6% from 1080p to 4K. The data indicates that the Core i3-12100F is not limiting performance at any resolution, as the GPU consistently dictates the frame rate ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i3-12100F and RTX 3080 Ti ranks 415 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 25.4% of all systems. This ranking is notable because the CPU itself is a lower-tier processor, with a percentile of 72 among all CPUs. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 13516, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX at 13534 (0.1% higher) and the Intel Core i7-7700K at 13280 (1.8% lower). The GPU, however, has a percentile of 83 among all GPUs and an average score of 41224. The high combo rank relative to the CPU’s individual percentile suggests that the RTX 3080 Ti compensates for the i3-12100F’s modest multi-threaded performance in this game. Control appears to be GPU-bound in the measured scenarios, allowing the 4-core processor to keep pace despite its limitations.

CPU Role

The Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It features 12 MB of shared L3 cache and a 10 nm process node. The CPU’s benchmark scores show a significant gap between single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The 3DMark single-thread score is 893, while the 16-thread score reaches 4051, indicating that the processor scales well up to its thread count. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 11912, and the single-core score is 1681. In the context of Control, the data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the system, as the FPS at 1080p Low reaches 192.6, which is well above typical CPU-limited thresholds. The 4-core design is sufficient for this title, likely because Control’s engine utilizes fewer threads effectively. The CPU’s PassMark multi-thread score of 14015 and single-thread score of 3444 place it in a mid-range tier, but the game’s performance indicates that the RTX 3080 Ti is the primary driver. The boost clock of 4.30 GHz helps maintain responsiveness, and the 8 threads handle background tasks without affecting frame times.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gameplay with this combo?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 yields 90.4 FPS average, which is above 60 FPS and offers better visuals than Medium (106.9 FPS) or Low (145.8 FPS). Ultra drops to 82 FPS, making High the recommended balance.

Q: Does the Core i3-12100F bottleneck the RTX 3080 Ti in Control?

A: Benchmark results indicate no CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 192.6 FPS, and even at 4K Ultra, it maintains 54.8 FPS, showing that the GPU is the limiting component across all measured settings.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 415 out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the top 25.4% of all systems. This high ranking is driven primarily by the GPU, which has a percentile of 83 among all GPUs.

Q: What is the FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High averages 119.8 FPS, while Ultra averages 104.6 FPS. This is a 15.2 FPS difference, representing a 12.7% performance drop for the higher preset.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti’s 12 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K?

A: The measured data shows 4K High at 62.5 FPS and 4K Ultra at 54.8 FPS. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth supports these results, indicating sufficient capacity for this game at 4K.

Q: Which rival GPU is closest in performance to the RTX 3080 Ti?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has an average benchmark score of 41441, which is 0.5% higher than the RTX 3080 Ti’s 41224. This makes the RTX 3090 the nearest competitor in the data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 192.6, Medium 138.4, High 119.8, and Ultra 104.6. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 45.7% drop, with each preset tier reducing performance by roughly 15-20 FPS. The Medium preset offers the largest relative gain over High, providing 18.6 FPS more.

At 2560x1440, the values are: Low 145.8, Medium 106.9, High 90.4, and Ultra 82. The drop from Low to Ultra is 43.8%, slightly less than at 1080p. The difference between Medium and High is 16.5 FPS, and High to Ultra is 8.4 FPS, showing diminishing returns at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low 99.8, Medium 69.9, High 62.5, and Ultra 54.8. The total drop from Low to Ultra is 45.1%. Notably, the gap between Medium and High narrows to 7.4 FPS, while Low remains the only preset above 60 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that the RTX 3080 Ti approaches its limits at this resolution, with Ultra falling below 55 FPS. The data across all resolutions shows consistent scaling, with the GPU dominating performance and the CPU maintaining its role without introducing frame rate variability.