Control

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a commanding performance profile in Control, with the data showing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions while the CPU remains highly capable at 1080p. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is exceptionally well-balanced for this title, though the scaling patterns indicate where each component’s influence dominates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shift in system bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 269.3 FPS, which drops to 206.6 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 142.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 47.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a substantial decline that points to the GPU becoming increasingly strained as pixel count rises.

The Ultra settings tell a similar story but with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 150.2 FPS, falling to 112.5 FPS at 1440p and 79.2 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 47.3%, nearly identical to the Low settings scenario. This consistency across settings suggests that resolution scaling is primarily a function of the GPU’s rendering workload rather than CPU limitations.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution decreases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (269.3 FPS) and Ultra (150.2 FPS) is 119.1 FPS, a 44.2% penalty for maximum quality. At 4K, the same comparison shows 142.1 FPS versus 79.2 FPS, a 62.9 FPS difference or 44.3%. This proportional consistency indicates that the RTX 4090’s compute resources scale predictably with graphical complexity.

The data also reveals that 1440p represents a sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 1440p High, the system delivers 132.2 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 120 FPS threshold common among high-end monitors. Even at 1440p Ultra, the 112.5 FPS result remains playable for competitive scenarios, though it no longer guarantees maximum refresh rate support.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of tested combinations, this pairing ranks 35th out of 1636 combos for Control. This places it in the top 2.1% of all systems tested, a position that reflects the raw performance ceiling of the RTX 4090 when paired with a capable 12th-gen Intel processor. The percentile ranking is particularly notable given that the GPU alone sits at the 91st percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU achieves an 89th percentile ranking among all processors.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 35684 places it in close competition with several rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 scores 35802, a mere 0.3% advantage, while the Intel Core i7-13700T trails by 0.6% with a score of 35468. The Intel Core i5-14500HX leads the group at 35940, outperforming the i7-12700K by 0.7%, and the Intel Core i7-13800H sits 0.8% behind at 35416. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios, confirming that the i7-12700K is not a limiting factor in this configuration.

For the GPU, the RTX 4090’s average benchmark score of 66473 places it against workstation-class rivals. The NVIDIA Tesla T4 scores 66733 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 scores 66127 (0.5% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 67097 (0.9% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 scores 67320 (1.3% higher). The comparison is somewhat academic, as these are professional-grade cards with different driver optimizations, but it underscores the 4090’s position as a top-tier consumer GPU.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Control?*

A: The maximum recorded average is 269.3 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 79.2 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the constraint even at 1080p, as evidenced by the 44.2% performance gap between Low and Ultra settings, which indicates scaling with GPU workload rather than CPU saturation.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 206.6 FPS while High settings produce 132.2 FPS, representing a 36.0% reduction in frame rate for improved visual quality.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 35th out of 1636 combinations tested for Control, placing it in the top 2.1% of all systems.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The system achieves 195.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which is 27.5% lower than the Low preset but still well above high-refresh-rate requirements.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rate ranges from 269.3 FPS at Low settings to 150.2 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset delivers 195.3 FPS, while High achieves 171.3 FPS. The progression shows a consistent penalty for each quality tier: Medium is 27.5% slower than Low, High is 12.3% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 12.3% slower than High.

Moving to 2560x1440, the absolute numbers decrease but the relative scaling remains similar. Low settings produce 206.6 FPS, Medium drops to 147.5 FPS (a 28.6% reduction), High reaches 132.2 FPS (10.4% below Medium), and Ultra settles at 112.5 FPS (14.9% below High). The 1440p results demonstrate that even at maximum quality, the system maintains frame rates suitable for 100 Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the impact of resolution becomes more pronounced. Low settings yield 142.1 FPS, Medium drops to 102.2 FPS (a 28.1% reduction), High produces 87.9 FPS (14.0% below Medium), and Ultra falls to 79.2 FPS (9.9% below High). The 4K Ultra result of 79.2 FPS is the only configuration tested that falls below the 90 FPS mark, indicating that maximum settings at 4K require some compromise for very high refresh rates.

The data shows diminishing returns from Medium to Ultra settings at 4K, with only a 23.0 FPS difference between those two presets. This contrasts with the 1080p scenario where the Medium-to-Ultra gap is 45.1 FPS, suggesting that at 4K the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor rather than shading complexity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 serves as the performance engine in this configuration, with its specifications directly explaining the observed frame rates. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is critical for Control’s high-resolution textures, which can consume substantial VRAM at 4K Ultra settings.

The card’s clock behavior shows a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with 16384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units, yield 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores provide additional headroom for Control’s physics and rendering effects, though the measured FPS data does not isolate ray tracing performance.

The 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design indicate the thermal and power requirements necessary to sustain these clocks under load. The 1x 16-pin power connector and 850 W suggested PSU reflect the card’s substantial power draw. The 304 mm length and 137 mm height make physical compatibility a consideration for smaller cases, while the 61 mm width (2.4 inches) confirms the triple-slot footprint.

Benchmark data places the RTX 4090 at the 91st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. The nearest rivals in the database are professional cards: the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733), NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097), and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67320). These comparisons highlight that the 4090’s gaming performance is competitive even against workstation-class hardware, though the deltaPct values of -0.4% to -1.3% suggest the professional cards hold a slight edge in compute-oriented workloads.

The GPU’s end-of-life production status and successor in the GeForce 50 series indicate that this is a mature product, yet the Control results show it remains more than capable of handling this 2019 title at maximum settings. The combination of high VRAM capacity, broad memory bandwidth, and substantial compute resources ensures that the RTX 4090 is rarely the limiting factor in this pairing, with the measured FPS data confirming its dominance across all tested resolutions and settings.