Control

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B580 represents a specific configuration point in the Control benchmark database. The data shows this combo achieves a rank of 1264 out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid tier of the overall distribution. The measured frames per second reveal a system that is clearly capable at lower resolutions but encounters significant limitations as pixel count increases, with the GPU emerging as the primary constraint.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700KF compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, placing it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14400 (35336) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900HX (35289). It trails the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.2% (35416) and the Intel Core i5-13600T by 0.3% (35256).

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking for Control among all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 1264 out of 1636 total combos tested in this game. This places it well below the median, indicating that while the hardware is functional, it does not deliver top-tier performance in Control specifically.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the combo produces 72.6 FPS. At 3840x2160 High, the average drops to 38.3 FPS. This represents a substantial reduction of 34.3 FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Q: How does the Arc B580's benchmark score compare to the RTX 4060?

A: The Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021, which is 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (23181). It performs 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon 760M (22999) and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA P106-100 (22950).

Q: What is the best performance setting at 1440p for this combo?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low setting delivers the highest average FPS at 87.3, followed by Medium at 59.1 FPS and High at 56 FPS. Ultra yields the lowest at 49.2 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU's score of 35355 ranks in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, suggesting the GPU is the weaker link.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings a hybrid configuration of 12 cores and 20 threads, built on the Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process. Its base clock operates at 3.60 GHz with a boost capability up to 5.00 GHz, and it draws a 125 W TDP. This processor sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 35355, which places it statistically even with its nearest rivals—the i5-14400 and i9-12900HX differ by only 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.

In synthetic single-thread workloads, the chip scores 1043 in 3dMark single-thread and 4091 in Cinebench R23 single-core, figures that indicate strong per-core performance for a desktop part of this generation. Multi-threaded results are more striking: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 28979, and 3dMark max threads reaches 9983. These numbers demonstrate that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this Control configuration, as its processing headroom far exceeds what the measured frame rates require.

The data supports this interpretation when examining the game's performance scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 112.7 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it drops to 63.5 FPS. This 49.2 FPS reduction across settings at the same resolution points to GPU workload sensitivity rather than CPU limitations, since the CPU's thread count and clock speed remain constant regardless of graphical fidelity. The i7-12700KF's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes provide ample bandwidth for feeding the discrete GPU without introducing a visible processing stall.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture using a 5 nm TSMC process, featuring 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It operates at a fixed 2670 MHz base and boost clock, with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's FP32 throughput is 13.67 TFLOPS, and it includes 20 ray tracing cores. These specifications produce an average benchmark score of 23021, placing the GPU in the 66th percentile of all graphics cards.

The GPU's relative weakness compared to the CPU becomes evident when analyzing Control's resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the config hits 112.7 FPS, but this drops to 87.3 FPS at 1440p Low and 60.8 FPS at 4K Low. The progressive decline with each resolution step—25.4 FPS from 1080p to 1440p, then 26.5 FPS from 1440p to 4K—shows the GPU struggling to maintain fill rates as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The Arc B580's 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are being saturated by Control's rendering demands.

In direct comparison, the Arc B580 sits 0.7% behind the RTX 4060 in average benchmark score, yet the measured game performance at 1080p High (72.6 FPS) is respectable. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM buffer is sufficient for this title, as evidenced by the relatively stable performance degradation from High to Ultra settings at each resolution—at 4K, the drop from High (38.3 FPS) to Ultra (33.2 FPS) is only 5.1 FPS, suggesting memory capacity is not the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1264 out of 1636 in Control places it in the bottom 23% of all tested configurations. This is a notably low position given the individual components' percentiles—the CPU at 89th and the GPU at 66th—which suggests that the pairing does not synergize optimally for this specific title. The gap between component potential and game performance indicates that the Arc B580's architectural characteristics do not translate efficiently into Control's rendering pipeline.

When considering the benchmark scores, the i7-12700KF's 35355 average is effectively tied with the i5-14400's 35336, differing by just 0.1%. Similarly, the Arc B580's 23021 score is within 0.7% of the RTX 4060's 23181. Yet the combined result ranks far lower than what these component scores might imply. This discrepancy suggests that Control's engine may not utilize the Arc's Xe2 architecture optimally, or that the GPU's raw compute metrics do not align with the game's specific shader workloads.

The rank becomes more understandable when viewing the frame rate data. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 63.5 FPS, which is playable but not exceptional. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 33.2 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many users target. The percentile data reinforces this: the GPU's 66th percentile score is modest for a discrete card, and when paired with a high-end CPU, the resulting combo rank reflects the GPU's inability to keep pace with the processor's capabilities.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 112.7 FPS, which drops to 87.3 FPS at 1440p Low (−25.4 FPS) and further to 60.8 FPS at 4K Low (−26.5 FPS from 1440p). At High settings, the progression is 72.6 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p (−16.6 FPS), and 38.3 FPS at 4K (−17.7 FPS). The nearly linear FPS reduction with each resolution increase indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput is the dominant constraint.

The settings scaling at each resolution provides additional evidence. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 49.2 FPS (from 112.7 to 63.5). At 1440p, the same settings range costs 38.1 FPS (from 87.3 to 49.2). At 4K, the cost is 27.6 FPS (from 60.8 to 33.2). This diminishing absolute cost at higher resolutions is typical of a GPU that is already saturated—at 4K, even the Low setting (60.8 FPS) cannot maintain a high frame rate, so the relative impact of Ultra settings is compressed.

This data points to the Arc B580 as the limiting component. The CPU's 89th percentile standing and strong multi-thread scores (28979 in Cinebench R23) would not likely throttle at these frame rates, which cap at 112.7 FPS maximum. The GPU's 66th percentile score and its position 0.7% behind the RTX 4060 in synthetic tests align with the observed performance ceiling. For users seeking higher frame rates at 1440p or 4K in Control, the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield more significant gains than changing the processor.