Control

Control with an Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a study in GPU-bound dominance. The data shows a pairing where the 4-core/8-thread Alder Lake processor is rarely the bottleneck, leaving the RTX 4080 SUPER to flex its Ada Lovelace muscle across all tested resolutions. The measured results place this combination at rank 328 out of 3720 combos, putting it in the top 9% of tested systems, which is a strong indicator of its overall capability for this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing your experience in Control. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 134 FPS, which is highly playable on high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the step down to High yields a substantial 21 FPS increase, hitting 155 FPS average. Given that the visual difference between High and Ultra in many titles is often subtle, the data suggests that High at 1080p is the sweet spot for competitive or high-refresh gameplay, offering a smoother experience without a major graphical sacrifice.

Moving to 2560x1440, the story remains favorable for High settings. The High preset averages 117 FPS, while Ultra trails at 102 FPS. The Medium preset sits at 132 FPS, providing a buffer above 120 FPS for those with 120Hz+ displays. The data shows that at 1440p, High is the best balance, as it maintains a triple-digit average while staying well above the 60 FPS threshold. Dropping to Medium only gains 15 FPS over High, which may not justify the reduction in visual fidelity for most users.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the GPU's workload increases significantly. Ultra drops to 69 FPS average, which is playable but near the edge for a buttery-smooth experience. High, however, is the clear recommendation here, achieving 79 FPS average. This is a 10 FPS improvement over Ultra and keeps the game comfortably above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 89 FPS offers an even larger margin, but High provides the best visual quality per frame for a 60Hz 4K display. Low settings are not recommended at any resolution, as the jump from Low to Medium at 4K is 36 FPS (from 125 to 89), which is a massive gain for what is likely a minor visual downgrade from Medium to Low.

The data strongly suggests that High is the universal "best experience" preset. It delivers 155 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. These numbers represent a significant performance headroom over the 60 FPS baseline, ensuring consistent frame pacing and responsiveness. The Ultra preset is only advisable if you have a 60Hz monitor at 4K and prioritize maximum graphical fidelity over a higher frame rate buffer.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the undisputed star of this configuration. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, it provides a massive 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This is more than sufficient for Control's textures and effects at 4K, as evidenced by the 79 FPS average at High settings. The GPU's 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores are put to good use, though the measured data does not specify whether ray tracing was enabled. The 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power ensures that the card is never the limiting factor in this pairing.

The clock speeds are notable. The base clock is 2295 MHz, boosting to 2550 MHz. This boost behavior is critical; the 2550 MHz boost ceiling allows the card to sustain high throughput in sustained gaming loads. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s are the raw metrics that translate into the high frame rates observed, especially at 1080p and 1440p where the card is less likely to be fully saturated. The GPU's benchmark scores reflect this strength, with a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the data shows a tight cluster at the top. The RTX 4080 SUPER's average benchmark score of 54209 is nearly identical to the standard RTX 4080 (54247, delta -0.1%). This indicates that within this game's performance envelope, the "SUPER" variant offers no practical advantage over the non-SUPER model, likely due to the game being more CPU-limited at lower resolutions. The performance gap to the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is also negligible at -1.1%. This suggests that for Control, the RTX 4080 SUPER is at the peak of its performance class, and any gains from a GPU upgrade would be minimal without a corresponding CPU upgrade.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured data shows an average of 79 FPS at 3840x2160 on High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS standard for playability. Even on Ultra, it manages a 69 FPS average.

Q: Is there a big performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the data shows a consistent 12-15% frame rate drop when moving from High to Ultra. At 1080p, it's a 21 FPS drop (155 to 134), at 1440p it's 15 FPS (117 to 102), and at 4K it's 10 FPS (79 to 69).

Q: Which resolution gives the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: 2560x1440 on High settings is the standout choice. It provides a 117 FPS average, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors, while still offering a significant visual upgrade over 1080p.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER significantly better than the regular RTX 4080 for this game?

A: The benchmark data shows they are virtually identical. The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average score of 54209, while the RTX 4080 has 54247, a delta of only -0.1%. Expect no noticeable difference in Control.

Q: What is the minimum FPS I should expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured data includes a min FPS of 112 for this setting. This indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate should stay well above 100 FPS, providing a smooth experience.

Q: Is the 4-core CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No, the data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system hits 230 FPS average, showing that the GPU can still push extremely high frame rates, meaning the CPU is keeping up.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across three resolutions and four quality presets.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 230 FPS average
• Medium: 174 FPS average (min 148, max 200)
• High: 155 FPS average
• Ultra: 134 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 185 FPS average
• Medium: 132 FPS average (min 112, max 152)
• High: 117 FPS average
• Ultra: 102 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 125 FPS average
• Medium: 89 FPS average (min 76, max 102)
• High: 79 FPS average
• Ultra: 69 FPS average

The min and max FPS data for Medium settings shows a consistent frame pacing range. At 1080p, the spread is 148-200 FPS, at 1440p it is 112-152 FPS, and at 4K it is 76-102 FPS. This indicates that while the average frame rate drops with resolution, the frame time consistency remains stable, with no severe stutters indicated by the data. The Low settings at 1080p exceeding 230 FPS average highlights the immense headroom this GPU has at lower resolutions, likely hitting a CPU or engine-level frame cap.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates where the bottleneck lies. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average FPS drops from 155 to 117, a 24.5% decrease. This is a significant drop, but expected as pixel count increases by 77%. However, the system still maintains a high frame rate. The more telling transition is from 1440p to 4K. The average FPS on High drops from 117 to 79, a 32.5% decrease. This larger percentage drop indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated as the resolution scales.

The data points to a system that is GPU-limited at 4K, but not entirely CPU-limited at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the 230 FPS average suggests the CPU is approaching its limit, but in normal High/Ultra settings, the GPU is still the primary driver of performance. The frame rate drops are not linear with pixel count, which is typical for a game like Control with complex rendering effects. The 4K Ultra setting at 69 FPS shows that even this powerful GPU is nearing its limits with maximum settings at the highest resolution. The scaling suggests that if you want to push beyond 69 FPS at 4K, you must reduce settings to High, which yields a 10 FPS gain, or Medium for a 20 FPS gain.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks is decent, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674. While these are modest numbers compared to higher-end CPUs, the data shows it is sufficient for this game. The Passmark single-thread score of 3444 is relatively strong, which is crucial for gaming. The CPU's 3DMark scores show a plateau from 8 threads (4026) to max threads (4023), indicating that the 4 cores are fully utilized but adding more threads wouldn't help.

The benchmark data for this CPU places it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 13494. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-9500 (delta 0.3%) and Intel Core 7 1250U (delta 1.1%), showing it competes well with older 6-core parts. In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU. The fact that the system can hit 230 FPS at 1080p Low proves that the CPU is not a major bottleneck at lower settings. However, the frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p at High settings (155 to 117) suggest that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache are adequate for the game's data streaming needs. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, but the measured data does not specify which was used. The 4.30 GHz boost clock is key, as Control benefits from high single-core performance, which the i3-12100F delivers. The data indicates that while this CPU is not a powerhouse, it is well-matched for the RTX 4080 SUPER in this specific title, as the GPU is the dominant performance driver in most scenarios. The combo rank of 328 out of 3720 confirms that this pairing performs in the top tier of tested systems, validating the CPU's adequacy for high-end GPU pairing in Control.