Control

Control with the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 580 presents a pairing where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor at every resolution tested. The measured frames per second (FPS) show a steep decline as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a graphics-bound scenario. This combination ranks 3399 out of 3720 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower percentile of systems evaluated, and the benchmark data indicates that the 8 GB RX 580 is struggling to maintain smooth gameplay under the demands of Control's visuals.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and consistent across all settings presets, confirming that the rendering load is overwhelming the GPU rather than the CPU. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 63 at 1920x1080 to 48 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 15 frames, and then to 32 at 3840x2160, which is roughly half of the 1080p performance. This scaling pattern indicates that the RX 580's compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases, with the 256-bit memory bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth proving insufficient for 4K workloads.

The gap between resolutions narrows at higher settings, but the absolute numbers become increasingly unplayable. At High settings, the average FPS is 40 at 1080p, dropping to 30 at 1440p, and then to 20 at 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar trajectory, with 35 FPS at 1080p, 26 at 1440p, and 18 at 4K. The data reveals that the RX 580 cannot maintain a 60 FPS target even at 1080p with any preset, and the 4K results are uniformly below 32 FPS, which is below the threshold for a comfortable gaming experience. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, with an average loss of 10-12 FPS across all settings, suggesting that the GPU's 32 ROPs and 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are simply not enough for the increased pixel throughput required at 3840x2160.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores are robust, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116, which places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. However, in Control, the CPU's role is largely secondary because the measured FPS data shows that the RX 580 is the bottleneck. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10717 and the max-thread score of 12412 indicate that the CPU has ample headroom for gaming workloads, but the game's frame rates are not limited by processor throughput at any resolution.

The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game data, but the performance ceiling in this title is set by the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 63 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset, yet this is still well below what the i7-13700K could theoretically support if paired with a stronger graphics card. The benchmark results suggest that the CPU is not the constraining factor; rather, the RX 580's 14 nm Polaris 20 chip with 2304 shading units determines the frame rate. The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2529, ensures that game logic and draw calls are processed efficiently, but the GPU's rendering speed is the limiting variable.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is an end-of-life product built on the GCN 4.0 architecture, featuring 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1257 MHz with a boost clock of 1340 MHz, and it has a TDP of 185 W. In Control, the GPU's limitations are immediately apparent from the measured FPS, which never exceeds 63 FPS even at the lowest settings and resolution. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005 and a Passmark G3D score of 8813 place it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and GTX 1660 SUPER, both of which are within 0.4% of its average benchmark score.

The RX 580's memory configuration is a critical factor in this game. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 18, and even at 1080p Medium, the average is 45 FPS with minimums of 38 FPS, indicating frame pacing issues under load. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for most settings, but the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions where texture data and framebuffer operations demand more memory throughput. The GPU's 32 ROPs are also a limiting factor for pixel fill rate, particularly at 4K where the 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate is insufficient to keep up with the demands of the game's physics and particle effects. The data shows that the RX 580 is a capable 1080p card for this title, but its performance degrades rapidly as resolution increases, making 1440p and 4K largely impractical for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience for this combination is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which yields an average of 63 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, and even then, it is not a locked 60 FPS experience due to potential dips. The Medium preset at 1080p offers an average of 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, which may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over smoothness, but the drop from Low to Medium is 18 FPS, a significant penalty for modest graphical improvements. At 1080p High, the average falls to 40 FPS, and Ultra drops to 35 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS target and likely to feel stuttery during intense action sequences.

At 2560x1440, the data shows that even Low settings only manage 48 FPS, which is below the threshold for a responsive experience, and Medium drops to 34 FPS with minimums of 29 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with the highest average being 32 FPS at Low settingscript and 20 FPS at High. For players using this combo, the recommendation is to stick with 1080p Low or Medium if they can tolerate occasional frame drops, as higher resolutions will result in sub-30 FPS performance that compromises the game's action-adventure gameplay. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it only delivers 35 FPS at 1080p and 18 FPS at 4K, which are unplayable figures.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 3399 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 10% of systems evaluated. The rank reflects the severe GPU bottleneck, as the CPU is a high-end part that scores in the 89th percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 53rd percentile. The mismatch between the two components is stark: the i7-13700K's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 and Ryzen 9 7845HX, with performance deltas of -0.2% and 0.5% respectively, indicating that the CPU is competitive with top-tier parts. In contrast, the RX 580's nearest rivals are the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and GTX 1660 SUPER, which are mid-range or mobile parts, and the GPU's average benchmark score of 12928 is far below what the CPU can feed.

The combo rank of 3399 suggests that this pairing is poorly balanced for Control, as the CPU's potential is wasted by the GPU's inability to render frames quickly. The data indicates that the system would perform similarly to a much weaker CPU paired with the same RX 580, as the frame rates are entirely GPU-limited. For context, the rank is out of 3720 combos, meaning that only 321 tested configurations perform worse, and most of those likely use older or lower-end GPUs. The i7-13700K's high clock speeds and core count do not translate into better gaming performance here because the RX 580's 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the hard ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings is as follows: Low delivers 63 FPS, Medium delivers 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS, High delivers 40 FPS, and Ultra delivers 35 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 28 FPS, showing that the graphical preset has a substantial impact on performance at this resolution)Skip the 1080p results, the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS is Low, and the Medium preset's minimum of 38 FPS indicates that there are noticeable frame dips during gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 48 at Low, 34 at Medium (with a minimum of 29 and maximum of 39), 30 at High, and 26 at Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, with an average loss of 12-15 FPS across all presets, and the Medium preset's minimum of 29 FPS is below the threshold for smooth motion. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 32 at Low, 23 at Medium (with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 26), 20 at High, and 18 at Ultra. The 4K results are uniformly below 33 FPS, which is not playable for an action-adventure game that requires precise timing and quick reactionshe data shows a clear pattern: the RX 580 is only viable at 1080p Low or Medium, and any attempt to increase resolution or settings results in frame rates that fall below acceptable levels. The measured FPS values are consistent with the GPU's benchmark scores, confirming that the Polaris 20 chip is the limiting factor in this system configuration.