Control

Control with the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a study in GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p, the combination delivers playable performance, but the data clearly indicates that the GTX 1660 Ti is the limiting factor as resolution increases, with the powerful CPU unable to compensate for the graphics card's memory bandwidth and compute limits.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 60.8 FPS at 1080p to 44.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 15.9 FPS, and then plummets to 28.9 FPS at 4K. This pattern is repeated across all quality presets, with the Ultra preset showing the most dramatic decline from 53 FPS at 1080p to 23.7 FPS at 4K, a drop of 29.3 FPS. The scaling behavior indicates that the GTX 1660 Ti's rendering pipeline is saturated long before the CPU's processing capacity is challenged.

The delta between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the gap between Low (92.6 FPS) and Ultra (53 FPS) is 39.6 FPS, but at 4K, the spread narrows to 21.6 FPS (45.3 FPS vs 23.7 FPS). This compression suggests that at 4K, even the Low preset is pushing the GPU to its limits, leaving little headroom for additional graphical features. The data strongly suggests that the 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary bottlenecks, as higher resolutions demand more memory capacity and bandwidth than this card can provide for a demanding title like Control.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Control at 4K?

A: Benchmark results indicate that 4K is not a viable target for this combo. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 23.7, and even at 4K Low, it only reaches 45.3 FPS. The data shows that the GTX 1660 Ti lacks the raw throughput and memory resources for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this setup?

A: The measured FPS data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combination consistently achieves high frame rates. At 1080p High, the average is 60.8 FPS, and at 1080p Low, it reaches 92.6 FPS, making 1080p the recommended target for this hardware pairing.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti's average benchmark score is 13925, which places it 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871) and 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13821). It trails the NVIDIA Tesla K10 (14029) by 0.7%, indicating a tightly clustered performance tier.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck this GPU in Control?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads, combined with its 5.40 GHz boost clock, provide ample processing power. The performance degradation at higher resolutions is consistent with GPU limitations, not CPU constraints.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 68 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 40.1 FPS. This represents a 27.9 FPS difference, showing that the GPU's performance is heavily influenced by graphical complexity at this resolution.

Q: Is the CPU's high benchmark score reflected in game performance?

A: The i7-13700K achieves a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 47282, but this strength does not translate to higher frame rates in Control. The game's performance is gated by the GPU, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns across resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 1413 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 13.6% of all tested configurations. This low ranking is directly attributable to the GPU's modest standing; the GTX 1660 Ti sits in the 55th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 13925. The CPU, by contrast, is a top-tier performer at the 93rd percentile, creating a significant performance imbalance.

The disparity between the components is stark when considering their nearest rivals. The CPU's average score of 47282 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13700KF (47334, -0.1% delta) and the AMD EPYC 4364P (47131, 0.3% delta), showing it competes with the best desktop processors. The GPU, however, is grouped with older or lower-tier cards like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (13812, 0.8% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871, 0.4% delta). This pairing places a flagship-level CPU with a mid-range GPU, and the benchmark results in Control reflect that the GPU cannot keep pace with the CPU's potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 92.6 FPS, followed by Medium at 64.4 FPS, High at 60.8 FPS, and Ultra at 53 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 39.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to handle varying graphical loads.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. The Low preset averages 68 FPS, Medium 53.2 FPS, High 44.9 FPS, and Ultra 40.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra narrows to 27.9 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor. At 3840x2160, the performance falls further: Low averages 45.3 FPS, Medium 35.3 FPS, High 28.9 FPS, and Ultra 23.7 FPS. The data reveals that at 4K, even the Low preset struggles to maintain 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset dips below 24 FPS, which is on the edge of playability for many users.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the decisive component in this combination's Control performance. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, it provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p but insufficient for higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 1536 shading units, deliver 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power. These specifications place the card in a performance tier that is 55th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 13925 puts it within 0.8% of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile.

The VRAM capacity is a critical limitation in Control. At 4K High, the average FPS drops to 28.9, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 23.7, suggesting that the 6 GB frame buffer is being exhausted by the game's high-resolution textures and effects. The GPU's 12 Gbps effective memory speed and 169.9 GTexel/s texture rate are simply not sufficient for the demands of this title at higher resolutions. The data shows that the GTX 1660 Ti is the bottleneck, as the CPU's performance remains consistent regardless of resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combination are at 1920x1080 with the High preset. This configuration yields an average of 60.8 FPS, which is the standard threshold for smooth gameplay, while still providing a visually rich experience. The Medium preset at 64.4 FPS offers a slight performance boost with minimal visual compromise, but High strikes the best balance for most users.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 68 FPS is the only setting that maintains a comfortable frame rate. The Medium preset at 53.2 FPS is playable but may exhibit noticeable stuttering in fast-paced action sequences. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the High preset at 44.9 FPS is acceptable, but it is not recommended for competitive play. At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve a desirable frame rate, with the Low preset at 45.3 FPS being the only option that approaches playability, though it requires significant graphical compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a high-end processor that is vastly overqualified for this GPU pairing in Control. With 16 cores and 24 threads, it offers exceptional multithreaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000 and Geekbench multicore score of 17731. Its single-thread capabilities are equally strong, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4333, ensuring that it can handle any game's primary thread requirements.

The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data storage for game logic, and its boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures rapid response times. However, in Control, the CPU's role is minimal due to the GPU bottleneck. The measured FPS values do not show any indication of CPU limitation, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, a pattern that would not occur if the CPU were the constraint. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all processors and its average benchmark score of 47282, which is within 0.4% of the Intel Core i9-12900F, confirm that it is not the limiting factor in this combination.