Control

# Control with Intel Core i7-12700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a strong Control experience, ranking in the 92nd percentile among 3,720 tested combos with a rank of 283. The pairing shows a clear GPU-bound trend at higher resolutions, while the CPU's hybrid architecture ensures headroom even at 1080p. Measured data indicates this setup sustains playable framerates across all tested settings, from 69 FPS at 4K Ultra to 245 FPS at 1080p Low, making it a versatile choice for both high-refresh and high-resolution displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo attains a rank of 283 out of 3,720 tested configurations, placing it in the top 7.6% of all pairings in the database for Control. This ranking reflects the balance between the 12700KF, which sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, and the RTX 4080 SUPER, at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The synergy is effective: neither component falls so far behind the other that it creates a significant bottleneck in this title.

Relative to the CPU's nearest rivals, the 12700KF's average benchmark score of 35,365 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13700T (35,403, a -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (35,305, a +0.2% delta). It also edges out the Intel Core i7-12700K (35,287, a +0.2% delta). This indicates that within the same tier, the 12700KF offers no substantial performance advantage over its closest competitors in synthetic tests, but the measured in-game FPS shows the full combo's strength.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 SUPER's average benchmark score of 54,209 trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (54,247, a -0.1% delta) by a negligible margin. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828, -1.1%) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, -2.7%) sit slightly ahead on paper, but the measured Control results demonstrate that the 4080 SUPER's real-world performance is primarily dictated by resolution and settings, not by synthetic deltas.

The combo's high rank suggests that for Control—a game with demanding visual effects and physics—this hardware pairing is well-matched. At 4K Ultra, the average of 69 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while at 1440p High it reaches 117 FPS, indicating that the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the title's textures and effects without stutter.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Control?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 245, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 185 at 2560x1440 Low and 125 at 3840x2160 Low, showing a consistent scaling pattern.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the measured average at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 69 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS target. The minimum FPS for this configuration is not listed, but the average provides a comfortable margin.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the RTX 4080 in this pairing?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54,209, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's 54,247. In practical terms for Control, this delta is negligible, and the measured FPS is more dependent on settings and resolution.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 245 FPS, which suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and max-thread score of 9,983 indicate strong per-core and multi-core performance, likely sufficient for this game's physics.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 117 FPS average, while Medium hits 132 FPS. For a 144Hz display, Medium is the better choice, as it stays above 112 FPS minimum, whereas High has no listed minimum but a lower average.

Q: Does the combo support ray tracing or DLSS in Control?

A: The fact pack does not include ray tracing or DLSS performance measurements. The GPU's specifications show 80 RT cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, but no measured FPS data for these features is provided.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data across three resolutions and four settings presets allows for a clear recommendation based on target framerates. For 4K displays, the Ultra preset achieves 69 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh panels. The High preset at 4K yields 79 FPS, offering a better balance without a listed minimum FPS to worry about. For users prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity at 4K, the Medium preset provides 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS, ensuring no dips below 60.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the standout choice for high-refresh monitors. It delivers 132 FPS average with a minimum of 112 FPS, comfortably above the 100 FPS mark. The High preset at 117 FPS is also viable for 120Hz displays, but the lack of a minimum FPS listing makes Medium the safer pick. The Ultra preset at 102 FPS is acceptable for 100Hz panels, though it leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

For 1080p, the situation shifts to CPU and GPU headroom. The Medium preset hits 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS, which is ideal for 165Hz monitors. The High preset at 155 FPS is also excellent, and the Ultra preset at 134 FPS still exceeds 120Hz refresh rates. The Low preset's 245 FPS is only useful for 240Hz displays, but the visual sacrifices are substantial. Overall, the Medium preset across all resolutions offers the best combination of framerate stability and visual quality, as it is the only preset with measured minimum and maximum FPS values.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset reaches an average of 245 FPS, while Medium averages 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 200 FPS. High follows at 155 FPS, and Ultra drops to 134 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 111 FPS, indicating that GPU load scales significantly with settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the framerates remain high but show a clear step down. Low averages 185 FPS, Medium averages 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS, High averages 117 FPS, and Ultra averages 102 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 83 FPS, suggesting the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further. Low averages 125 FPS, Medium averages 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS, High averages 79 FPS, and Ultra averages 69 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 56 FPS, showing that at 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput is the dominant constraint. The Medium preset's minimum of 76 FPS is the only 4K data point with a confirmed floor, and it remains above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern that reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 245 at 1080p to 185 at 1440p (a -24.5% change) and then to 125 at 4K (a -32.4% change from 1440p). This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is heavily taxed by the pixel count, while the CPU maintains enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking.

At Medium settings, the averages are 174 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p (-24.1%), and 89 FPS at 4K (-32.6%). The similar percentage drops across Low and Medium suggest that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. At High settings, the pattern continues: 155 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p (-24.5%), and 79 FPS at 4K (-32.5%). Ultra settings show the same trend: 134 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p (-23.9%), and 69 FPS at 4K (-32.4%).

The consistent ~24% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~32% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings points to a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the 1080p results would show less variation between settings, but the 111 FPS spread at 1080p versus 56 FPS at 4K indicates that the GPU is doing more work relative to the CPU as resolution increases. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key drivers here, while the Core i7-12700KF's 20 threads provide ample processing power for the game's physics at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its hybrid design—though the fact pack does not specify P-core and E-core counts—is reflected in benchmark results: the 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and 16-thread score of 9,282 show strong per-core and multi-core capabilities. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28,838 and single-core score of 4,071 further confirm its ability to handle both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads.

In Control, a game that utilizes physics and particle effects, the CPU's 20 threads are likely sufficient to keep up with the GPU. The 1080p Low result of 245 FPS is a strong indicator that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as this framerate is near the upper limit of what many CPUs can sustain in this title. The PassMark multi-thread score of 34,092 and physics score of 1,780 suggest that the processor can manage the game's simulation load without dragging down the average FPS.

The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 or DDR5) provide adequate data throughput for the game's assets. However, the fact pack does not include memory bandwidth figures, so the impact of memory speed on Control performance cannot be quantified. The CPU's 125W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility indicate it is a high-power desktop part, but no thermal or power draw measurements are available in the data to assess cooling requirements.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the clear performance driver in this combo, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Ada Lovelace architecture includes 10,240 shading units, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores, with a boost clock of 2550 MHz. The FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s are substantial, enabling the high framerates observed in the measured data.

At 4K Ultra, the 69 FPS average indicates that the GPU is fully utilized, with the 16 GB VRAM likely accommodating the game's high-resolution textures without spilling to system memory. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 and PassMark G3D score of 34,245 are consistent with a top-tier graphics card, though the nearest rivals show that the 4080 SUPER is not the absolute fastest in synthetic tests. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 260,075 and OpenCL score of 219,065 further demonstrate its compute capabilities.

The GPU's 320W TDP and triple-slot design are notable, but no power consumption measurements are provided in the fact pack. The 23 Gbps effective memory clock and 1438 MHz base memory clock are high, but the actual impact on Control's performance is best seen in the resolution scaling data, where the GPU's pixel rate becomes the limiting factor at 4K. The 12 GB AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE, which is 2.7% ahead in average benchmark score, would likely struggle to match the 4080 SUPER in Control due to the latter's higher memory bandwidth and VRAM capacity, though no direct comparison is measured in this data.