Control

# Control with Intel Core i7-12700KF + Intel Arc B570

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a mid-pack experience in Control, ranking 2307th out of 2888 tested combos. This places the configuration in the lower-middle tier of the database, with the CPU holding an 85th percentile standing among all processors while the GPU sits at the 65th percentile. The pairing produces playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but 4K gaming demands compromises that push the experience below the smoothness threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 101 FPS, which drops to 76 FPS at 1440p Low—a 24.8% reduction. Moving to 4K Low yields 51 FPS, representing another 32.9% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates the Arc B570 becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases, since the i7-12700KF's strong single-thread score of 1043 in 3dmark and 4071 in Cinebench R23 single-core suggests ample CPU headroom at lower resolutions.

The gap between settings narrows at higher resolutions, which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra spans 46 FPS (101 to 55), but at 4K that spread compresses to just 23 FPS (51 to 28). This compression means that at 4K, even dropping from Ultra to Low only recovers 23 FPS, whereas the same settings change at 1080p recovers 46 FPS. The data suggests that at 4K, the GPU is working near its maximum capacity regardless of quality preset, and the render resolution itself—not the graphical features—dominates the performance cost.

The 1440p results show a more balanced picture. The i7-12700KF's 20 threads and 12 cores, combined with the Arc B570's 2304 shading units, produce 76 FPS at Low and 48 FPS at High. The 28 FPS delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p indicates the GPU still has some headroom to trade visual quality for speed, but the scaling is less dramatic than at 1080p. At 1080p, the 101 FPS Low result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently, while the 55 FPS Ultra result shows the GPU's 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance being taxed by Control's demanding effects.

For 4K gaming, the data clearly shows this combo is not designed for high-refresh experiences. The 32 FPS average at 4K High and 28 FPS at 4K Ultra fall below the 30 FPS threshold that most players consider minimally playable. Even the 4K Low result of 51 FPS, while smooth enough for slower-paced sections, would struggle during Control's intense combat sequences where particle effects and physics calculations spike.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570's specifications directly explain its behavior in Control. With 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has sufficient memory capacity for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the bandwidth constraint becomes apparent at 4K where texture streaming demands increase. The GPU's 2500 MHz base and boost clock, coupled with 80 ROPs and 144 TMUs, gives it a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s.

Control is known for its physics-heavy gameplay and destructible environments, which place significant load on both the GPU's compute units and the CPU's physics processing. The i7-12700KF's PassMark physics score of 1780 and its 3dmark 16-thread score of 9282 suggest the CPU can handle the game's rigid body simulations without becoming a bottleneck at 1080p. However, at 4K, the GPU's FP32 throughput of 11.52 TFLOPS becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 28 FPS versus the 1080p Ultra result of 55 FPS.

The Arc B570's 18 ray tracing cores are present, but Control's implementation of ray-traced reflections and indirect lighting is demanding. The measured data shows no ray tracing-specific benchmarks, but the overall performance at 4K Ultra (28 FPS) indicates that enabling all visual features pushes the GPU beyond its comfort zone. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compliance mean it can run Control's modern rendering paths, but the sheer pixel throughput requirement at 4K overwhelms the 160-bit memory interface.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 14195 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct of 0.1) and Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct of -0.1). This proximity to the Arc A750 suggests the B570 is a modest step up in rasterization performance, yet the 10 GB memory allocation gives it more headroom for high-resolution textures compared to 8 GB cards. In Control, which can exceed 8 GB of VRAM usage at 4K with high-quality textures, the 10 GB capacity helps avoid texture thrashing, though the bandwidth still limits sustained throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1080p is the sweet spot. The combo achieves 71 FPS at 1080p Medium and 63 FPS at 1080p High, both comfortably above the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, only the Low preset (76 FPS) and Medium preset (54 FPS) provide playable frame rates, while 4K results range from 28 to 51 FPS depending on settings.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 20556 places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and 0.1% below the Intel Arc A750. The AMD Radeon R9 M390X trails by 0.5%, while the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 0.4% behind. These deltas indicate the B570 performs nearly identically to the Arc A750 in synthetic benchmarks, suggesting similar real-world behavior in Control.

Q: Is the i7-12700KF a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests minimal CPU bottleneck at 1080p. The 101 FPS result at 1080p Low shows the CPU can feed the GPU effectively, and the 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 indicates strong per-core performance. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all processors further supports that it is not the limiting component at this resolution.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K with any settings?

A: The 4K Low preset delivers 51 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The 4K Medium preset drops to 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS, while 4K High and Ultra fall to 32 and 28 FPS respectively. For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only viable option, and players should expect occasional dips during heavy scenes.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Control?

A: The combo ranks 2307th out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the Arc B570's mid-range positioning (65th percentile among GPUs) rather than the CPU's strong performance (85th percentile), indicating the GPU is the performance limiter in Control.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: The 1440p Medium preset shows an average of 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS. The 8 FPS gap between average and minimum suggests some frame time variance, but the 46 FPS floor remains above the 30 FPS playability threshold, making this a viable settings choice for 1440p gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset achieves 101 FPS average, providing a high-refresh experience suitable for competitive play. Medium settings produce 71 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS, offering a balanced mix of visual quality and smoothness. The High preset drops to 63 FPS, still maintaining a 60+ FPS experience. Ultra settings bring the average down to 55 FPS, which remains playable but starts to show the GPU's limitations with Control's most demanding visual features enabled.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance decreases noticeably. Low settings yield 76 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 24.8% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS, creating a playable experience with occasional dips during intense scenes. The High preset delivers 48 FPS, which dips below the 60 FPS threshold but remains acceptable for slower-paced exploration. Ultra settings drop to 42 FPS, which many players would find borderline for Control's combat sequences.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 51 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Medium settings average 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS and maximum of 42 FPS, putting the experience at the edge of playability. High settings drop to 32 FPS, while Ultra settings bottom out at 28 FPS. These 4K results clearly indicate that the Arc B570 is not suited for 4K gaming in Control, even with the powerful i7-12700KF feeding it.

The settings scaling at each resolution reveals the GPU's performance envelope. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 46 FPS, showing significant headroom for visual quality adjustments. At 1440p, that gap narrows to 34 FPS, and at 4K it compresses to 23 FPS. This progressive narrowing confirms that the GPU becomes increasingly saturated as resolution increases, with the 4K results showing that even the lowest settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel throughput demands.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's 2307th place ranking out of 2888 tested configurations places it in the 20th percentile of all combinations tested in Control. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which holds only a 65th percentile standing among all GPUs. The i7-12700KF's 85th percentile ranking among CPUs indicates that the processor is performing well above average, but the Arc B570's mid-range positioning drags the overall combo ranking down.

Comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals provides context for the combo's performance. The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.1% below the Intel Arc A750 (20582). This puts the B570 in a tightly contested performance band where minor architectural differences can shift rankings. The AMD Radeon R9 M390X trails by 0.5% at 20480, while the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 0.4% behind at 20480.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The i7-12700KF's average benchmark score of 35365 is 0.1% below the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403) and 0.2% below the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428). It sits 0.2% above the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305) and 0.2% above the Intel Core i7-12700K (35287). This tight grouping indicates that the CPU's performance is well within the expected range for its class, with no significant outliers.

The combination of a top-quartile CPU with a mid-range GPU creates an imbalanced pairing for Control. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p Low, and even at 1080p Ultra the GPU's 55 FPS result suggests it is working near its maximum capacity. Players considering this combo should prioritize GPU upgrades to improve Control performance, as the CPU has substantial headroom remaining.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset at 71 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The minimum frame rate of 61 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even during Control's most physics-intensive scenes. Players seeking higher frame rates can drop to Low for 101 FPS, while those prioritizing visual fidelity can use High at 63 FPS. The Ultra preset at 55 FPS is playable but represents diminishing returns, as the visual improvements over High are marginal while the performance cost is significant.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 54 FPS is the recommended choice. The 46 FPS minimum provides adequate headroom for most gameplay scenarios, and the visual quality at Medium is sufficient for the game's atmospheric environments. The Low preset at 76 FPS is the alternative for players who prefer higher frame rates, though the reduced visual fidelity may detract from Control's detailed environments and lighting effects. The High preset at 48 FPS is workable but leaves little margin for frame rate dips during intense combat, while Ultra at 42 FPS is not recommended for consistent gameplay.

For 4K, the Low preset at 51 FPS is the only viable option for playable performance. The Medium preset at 36 FPS with a 31 FPS minimum is borderline, and players may experience noticeable stuttering during heavy scenes. The High and Ultra presets at 32 and 28 FPS respectively fall below the 30 FPS playability threshold and should be avoided. Players with 4K displays should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p with Medium settings for a significantly better experience.

The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with Medium to High settings, or 1440p gaming with Low to Medium settings. The i7-12700KF provides sufficient CPU performance for all tested configurations, but the Arc B570's 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth limit its ability to handle Control's demanding rendering at higher resolutions. Players seeking 4K performance should look to higher-tier GPUs, while those content with 1080p or 1440p gaming can achieve satisfying results with this pairing.