Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title that pushes both processor and graphics hardware, and the pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a compelling, high-refresh-rate experience across most settings. The data indicates this combo ranks 496th out of 3,720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 13.3% of all systems evaluated for this game. That percentile placement reflects a balanced platform where neither component is an obvious bottleneck at common gaming resolutions, though the scaling patterns reveal distinct roles for the CPU and GPU as settings and resolution change.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 496 out of 3,720 tested combos in Control places it firmly in the upper tier of tested systems, but not at the very top. This is a strong result for a mid-to-high-end desktop pairing, indicating that the i7-12700K and RTX 4070 Ti together are well-suited to Control’s engine. The CPU itself sits at the 84th percentile among all processors tested, with an average benchmark score of 35,287. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the Intel Core i5-13600T (average score 35,305, a delta of -0.1%), the Intel Core i7-12700KF (35,365, delta -0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-13700T (35,403, delta -0.3%). In real-world gaming, the measured FPS numbers show this combo outperforming a large majority of tested systems, though the exact delta to the 100th-ranked combo is not provided in the data. What the rank does tell us is that the platform is well-balanced; the 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake processor provides ample compute headroom for the game’s physics and AI workloads, while the RTX 4070 Ti’s 12 GB of memory and Ada Lovelace architecture handle the visual load. The GPU also holds an 84th percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 44,795. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (average score 45,152, delta -0.8%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384, delta -1.3%), and the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44,075, delta 1.6%). In Control specifically, the combo’s ranking suggests that the system is capable of maintaining smooth framerates even at higher presets, though the 4K Ultra data reveals where the limits lie.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture, with a chip designated AD104 containing 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its base clock runs at 2310 MHz, boosting to 2610 MHz, and the memory operates at 1313 MHz with a 21 Gbps effective data rate. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is spread across a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. These specifications position the card as a high-end option for Control, where the game’s physics-heavy environments and particle effects demand both raw throughput and memory capacity. In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role becomes clear when examining the transition from Low to Ultra settings at a fixed resolution. At 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 226 at Low to 124 at Ultra, a reduction of 45.1%. At 2560x1440, the drop is from 171 at Low to 94 at Ultra, a 45.0% decrease. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 115 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 63 FPS, a 45.2% reduction. This consistent ~45% performance penalty from Low to Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor when settings change, not the CPU. The RTX 4070 Ti’s 80 ROPs and 240 TMUs provide ample fill rate for the game’s textures, while the 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores suggest headroom for ray tracing and DLSS features, though those are not directly measured in the provided FPS data. The card’s FP32 compute of 40.09 TFLOPS and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s are more than sufficient for Control’s visual effects, and the pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s ensures that even at 4K, the rasterization pipeline remains fed. The data shows that at 1440p High, the combo averages 108 FPS, which is a smooth experience for most displays, and at 1080p High, it reaches 143 FPS, indicating the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern, with the CPU’s influence diminishing as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 143 at 1920x1080 to 108 at 2560x1440 (a 24.5% drop), and then to 73 at 3840x2160 (a 32.4% drop from 1440p, or 49.0% from 1080p). At Low settings, the progression is from 226 FPS at 1080p to 171 FPS at 1440p (a 24.3% drop), and then to 115 FPS at 4K (a 32.7% drop from 1440p, or 49.1% from 1080p). This near-identical percentage drop across different presets strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component even at Low settings, because the relative cost of each additional pixel remains constant. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is not saturating at any resolution; even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate hits 226 FPS, the i7-12700K’s single-thread performance (as measured by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,850.5) is sufficient to keep up. The data also shows that the gap between Medium and High settings is relatively small; at 1080p, Medium averages 161 FPS while High averages 143 FPS, a 12.6% difference. At 4K, Medium averages 82 FPS while High averages 73 FPS, a 11.0% difference. This indicates that the game’s High preset adds visual quality without a disproportionate performance cost, whereas the jump from High to Ultra is more demanding: at 1080p, Ultra drops to 124 FPS (a 13.3% reduction from High), and at 4K, Ultra falls to 63 FPS (a 13.7% reduction from High). The scaling pattern shows that users targeting 60 FPS at 4K must stay at High or below, while those with 144 Hz monitors at 1080p can comfortably use High or even Ultra, as the latter still averages 124 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings balance depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset provides an average of 143 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz displays, and it offers a significant visual uplift over Medium (161 FPS) with only a 12.6% performance penalty. Ultra at 1080p still delivers 124 FPS average, which is playable on most high-refresh monitors, but the drop from High to Ultra is steeper than the visual difference typically justifies. For 2560x1440, High is the sweet spot, averaging 108 FPS; this is smooth on 100 Hz+ monitors, while Medium (121 FPS) offers a slight headroom boost but with reduced visual fidelity. Ultra at 1440p falls to 94 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but may cause noticeable dips in heavy scenes, so High is recommended for consistency. At 3840x2160, the data shows that High averages 73 FPS, which is playable on 60 Hz displays but not ideal for high refresh. Medium averages 82 FPS, providing a better margin above 60 FPS, while Low (115 FPS) is the only preset that fully saturates a 120 Hz 4K panel. Ultra at 4K drops to 63 FPS, which is borderline for 60 Hz but risk of stutter in demanding sequences is higher. The measured minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings: at 1080p Medium, the minimum is 136 FPS (with a maximum of 185), at 1440p Medium it is 103 FPS (max 140), and at 4K Medium it is 70 FPS (max 94). These minimums indicate that Medium provides a stable experience even in the most demanding moments, whereas High and Ultra settings lack recorded minimums, suggesting higher variance. The recommendation is to prioritize High at 1080p and 1440p for the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability, while at 4K, Medium or High are both viable depending on whether the user prefers extra visual effects or a higher average frame rate. Low settings are only recommended for competitive play at 1080p or for achieving 120+ FPS at 4K, as the visual downgrade is substantial.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS is 108 at 2560x1440 with High settings, with no minimum or maximum recorded in the data.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 73, and with Medium settings it is 82 FPS. However, at Ultra settings, the average drops to 63 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold but may be less stable.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance in this game?

A: The i7-12700K shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and a multi-thread score of 9,979, while Cinebench R23 scores are 1,850.5 single-core and 19,784 multi-core. In Control, the resolution scaling data suggests that even at 1080p Low (226 FPS average), the CPU does not bottleneck, indicating that both single and multi-thread performance are adequate for the game’s demands.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 226 FPS, while Ultra averages 124 FPS, a reduction of 45.1%. This gap is consistent across all resolutions, indicating a GPU-bound workload.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti’s 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Control at 4K?

A: The data shows playable frame rates at 4K High (73 FPS) and Medium (82 FPS), suggesting that 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is sufficient for this game’s texture and geometry requirements at these settings. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s likely helps maintain performance in scenes with heavy particle effects.

Q: How does this combo’s ranking compare to the CPU’s overall percentile?

A: The combo ranks 496th out of 3,720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 13.3%. The CPU alone is at the 84th percentile among all processors, and the GPU is also at the 84th percentile, indicating that the two components are well-matched for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process node. It features a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,850.5) and robust multi-thread capabilities (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19,784). In Control, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions and to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 226 FPS average, which is a clear indication that the CPU is not the limiting factor; if it were, the frame rate would plateau regardless of resolution. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,276 and max-thread score of 9,979 demonstrate that the processor can handle heavily threaded workloads, which is relevant for Control’s use of multiple cores for AI and environmental interactions. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35,287, places it just below the Intel Core i5-13600T (35,305) and the i7-12700KF (35,365) in synthetic tests, but these deltas are all within 0.3%, meaning real-world gaming performance is nearly identical. When examining the resolution scaling, the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at the same settings is consistent (around 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K), which confirms that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher pixel counts. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.00 GHz and single-thread performance ensure that even at 226 FPS (1080p Low), the processor is not saturated, as evidenced by the fact that raising settings to Ultra at 1080p only reduces FPS to 124, a drop that is fully attributable to GPU load. The i7-12700K supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, with a dual-channel memory bus, though the measured FPS data does not specify which memory type was used; however, the game’s performance scaling suggests that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor. The processor’s integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present but irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU. The CPU’s L3 cache of 25 MB is shared across all cores, which helps with data locality in games like Control that have large, dynamic environments. Overall, the CPU provides a solid foundation for this GPU, and the data indicates that users upgrading from a weaker processor would see minimal gains in Control, as the RTX 4070 Ti is already the primary performance driver at resolutions above 1080p. The combo’s rank of 496 out of 3,720 further underscores that this is a well-balanced pairing, with the CPU’s 20 threads offering headroom for background tasks and future games that may use more cores. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU’s PassMark multi-thread score of 34,404 and single-thread score of 4,013 put it in the upper tier, and its Geekbench multi-core score of 15,790 aligns with its class. The measured FPS data in Control does not show any CPU-bound scenarios, as even the highest frame rate (226 FPS at 1080p Low) is likely limited by the GPU’s pixel throughput rather than CPU processing. This reflects the i7-12700K’s strong IPC and clock speeds, which allow it to keep up with the RTX 4070 Ti’s capabilities without becoming a bottleneck in this title.