Control

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers a highly playable experience in Control at 1080p and 1440p, but the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck at 4K. The data indicates that this combination is best utilized at 1440p Medium settings, which provides a strong balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, while 1080p Low offers the highest performance ceiling for competitive play.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results for this specific CPU-GPU combination show a clear hierarchy where the graphics settings have a more pronounced impact at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, all four settings presets produce playable average frame rates, with Low achieving 133 FPS and Ultra still maintaining 72.4 FPS. However, the most efficient use of the hardware is at Medium settings, which yields 94.1 FPS—a substantial 28.4% increase over High settings at 82.4 FPS, while the visual jump to Ultra only costs an additional 21.7 FPS. For a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors, Medium at 1080p is the recommended starting point.

At 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more critical. High settings deliver 61.6 FPS, which is adequate for most players, but Medium settings push the average to 74.6 FPS, representing a 21.1% improvement. This makes Medium the optimal preset for 1440p, as it maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while preserving noticeable visual enhancements over Low settings. The Ultra preset at 52.5 FPS is the only 1440p option that falls below the 60 FPS target, making it less desirable unless visual fidelity is prioritized above all else.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1080 Ti struggles to maintain high frame rates. Even Low settings only achieve 69.6 FPS, while Medium drops to 47.1 FPS and High falls to 43.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at 39.9 FPS. For 4K gaming, the data suggests using Low settings if frame rate is the priority, but the overall experience is compromised. The analysis points to 1440p Medium as the sweet spot for this combo, offering the best balance of image quality and performance without dipping below the 60 FPS threshold.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The data shows 1440p Medium is the optimal choice, delivering 74.6 FPS average. This provides a 21.1% improvement over High settings (61.6 FPS) while maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target.

*Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti perform at 4K in Control?*

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. The best result comes from Low settings at 69.6 FPS, but Medium drops to 47.1 FPS and High falls to 43.3 FPS. The Ultra preset only manages 39.9 FPS, indicating that 4K is not a viable option for this card in this game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 133 FPS, but this drops to 69.6 FPS at 4K Low—a 47.7% decrease. The CPU's performance (16 cores, 24 threads, boost clock of 5.40 GHz) is sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions, so the frame rate scaling is dictated purely by GPU load.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: The difference varies by resolution. At 1080p, High achieves 82.4 FPS while Ultra hits 72.4 FPS, a 12.1% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is 61.6 FPS versus 52.5 FPS, a 14.8% drop. At 4K, High sees 43.3 FPS versus Ultra's 39.9 FPS, an 7.9% reduction.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 968 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This ranking reflects the age of the GTX 1080 Ti, which is in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 93rd percentile.

Q: Can this hardware maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only with the right settings. Medium settings deliver 74.6 FPS, and High settings achieve 61.6 FPS. However, Ultra settings fall short at 52.5 FPS, so players must avoid the highest preset to maintain a stable 60 FPS experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a steep performance decline as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the limiting component. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces the average frame rate from 82.4 FPS to 61.6 FPS, a 25.2% drop. Scaling further to 4K at High settings yields 43.3 FPS, which is a 47.4% reduction from the 1440p figure and a 47.5% reduction from 1080p.

This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 133 FPS at 1080p to 101.4 FPS at 1440p (23.8% loss), then to 69.6 FPS at 4K (31.4% loss from 1440p). The diminishing returns at higher resolutions confirm that the GTX 1080 Ti's compute resources—11.34 TFLOPS FP32 and 484.4 GB/s memory bandwidth—are exhausted by the increased pixel count.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. The Intel Core i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, does not show signs of bottlenecking even at 1080p Low where the frame rate peaks at 133 FPS. The 3DMark scores for the CPU (12,412 max threads, 1,136 single thread) indicate substantial headroom. Therefore, the resolution scaling behavior is entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering limits, not CPU throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The full range of settings is playable. Low settings lead with 133 FPS average, followed by Medium at 94.1 FPS, High at 82.4 FPS, and Ultra at 72.4 FPS. The performance delta from Low to Ultra is 45.6%, showing that the GPU has adequate headroom at this resolution to absorb graphics quality increases.

2560x1440: The average frame rates are 101.4 FPS (Low), 74.6 FPS (Medium), 61.6 FPS (High), and 52.5 FPS (Ultra). The drop from Low to Medium is 26.4%, while the drop from Medium to High is 17.4%. The Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, marking the first point of compromise.

3840x2160: Performance degrades significantly. Low settings produce 69.6 FPS, which is the only preset above 60 FPS. Medium drops to 47.1 FPS, High to 43.3 FPS, and Ultra to 39.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 42.7%, but the absolute values are all marginal for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the GTX 1080 Ti can handle Control at 1080p and 1440p with mid-tier settings, but 4K requires the lowest settings to remain playable.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ranks 968 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. This places the configuration in the 40.8th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 59% of tested combos perform better in this game.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which is the weaker component in this pairing. The GTX 1080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 19,402 and sits in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (deltaPct 0), the AMD Radeon Pro 560X (deltaPct -0.1), and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (deltaPct 1.1). The GPU's age and 11 GB of GDDR5X memory are sufficient for Control at lower resolutions but limit high-resolution performance.

In contrast, the CPU is a high-end part. The Intel Core i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 47,282 and is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-13700KF (deltaPct -0.1), the AMD EPYC 4364P (deltaPct 0.3), and the Intel Core i9-12900F (deltaPct 0.4). The CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo's rank; the GPU is responsible for holding the system back in Control.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 30 MB shared L3 cache. Its multi-threaded performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39,000 and a Geekbench multicore score of 17,731.

In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any tested resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 133 FPS, and the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior. The CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,505) and multi-thread capabilities are more than adequate for this game's demands.

The 3DMark scores further support this analysis: the CPU scores 12,412 with max threads and 1,136 single-thread. Given that Control is not a heavily threaded title, the 16 cores provide ample headroom. The data suggests that even a significantly weaker CPU would not reduce frame rates in this configuration, confirming that the CPU's contribution is entirely sufficient.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the deciding factor in this combo's performance. It is based on the Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 16 nm process, with 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, yielding 484.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has 3,584 shading units and 88 ROPs, with a base clock of 1,481 MHz and a boost clock of 1,582 MHz.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 19,402, placing it in the 61st percentile. Its Passmark G3D score of 18,600 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2,231 reflect its mid-range standing in the current database. The 11 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at the tested settings, as even 4K Ultra does not exceed this capacity, but the raw compute power (11.34 TFLOPS FP32) is insufficient for high frame rates at 4K.

The measured FPS data shows that the GTX 1080 Ti is the clear performance limiter. At 1440p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 52.5 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 39.9 FPS. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (deltaPct 0) and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (deltaPct 1.1), which exhibit similar performance characteristics. This indicates that while the GPU is functional for 1080p and 1440p gaming, it lacks the headroom for high-refresh-rate 4K in Control.