Control

Control is an action-adventure title that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily, and the data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 shows a system that is firmly balanced toward high-refresh 1440p gameplay, with 4K reserved for those willing to compromise on visual fidelity. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the board indicate that this combination is a capable performer, but the scaling patterns reveal exactly where the bottlenecks lie and how to best configure the game for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a predictable but steep decline in performance, highlighting the increasing load on the graphics card as pixel count rises. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo delivers 81 FPS, which drops to 61 FPS at 1440p and further to 41 FPS at 4K. This represents a roughly 24% performance hit from 1080p to 1440p, and a significant 49% drop from 1440p to 4K, showing that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at the highest resolution.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling when looking at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 148 FPS, but at 1440p Low it falls to 112 FPS, and at 4K Low it lands at 76 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 24%, nearly identical to the Ultra preset, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is roughly 32%, which is less severe than the Ultra preset’s 49% decline. This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU has more headroom to feed frames, but the GPU still struggles to fill the massive pixel count at 4K.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded for each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the average is 105 FPS with a range of 89 to 121 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 54 FPS with a range of 46 to 62 FPS. The frame time consistency is maintained across resolutions, but the absolute numbers show that 4K is only playable at Medium settings if you can tolerate dips into the high 40s, which will be noticeable in fast-paced combat.

The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU. The RX 7700, with its 16 GB of memory and 256-bit bus, has the capacity for high-resolution textures, but the sheer compute load of 4K causes the average FPS to fall below the 60 FPS threshold on all presets except Low. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance allows the GPU to operate near its full potential, as evidenced by the 148 FPS Low setting at 1080p, which is a frame rate that suggests the CPU is not holding things back.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations for Control, this pairing sits in the 1294th position out of 2888 total combos. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all systems tested, indicating that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it is far from a low-end configuration. The rank reflects a balance where the CPU is a high-end part, but the GPU is a mid-range offering, and the combination produces results that are competitive with many other systems.

The CPU itself is a powerhouse, ranking in the 96th percentile against all CPUs. This is a significant factor in the combo’s overall standing, as the processor’s 24 cores and 24 threads provide ample compute headroom for the game’s physics and AI systems. The nearest rival to this CPU is the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has a deltaPct of 0.2%, meaning the 290K Plus is essentially on par with its predecessor in synthetic benchmarks, though the gaming performance here is what matters.

The GPU, however, is where the combo’s rank is moderated. The RX 7700 sits in the 58th percentile against all GPUs, which is a decidedly mid-pack position. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a deltaPct of -0.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% faster on average. This means the GPU is a solid performer for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it lacks the raw horsepower to push the combo higher in the rankings at 4K. The combo’s rank of 1294 out of 2888 is a direct reflection of this CPU-GPU imbalance, where the processor is overqualified for the graphics card’s capabilities in this specific title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture and features a Navi 32 chip. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for Control’s textures and effects at 1080p and 1440p. The memory clock runs at 2438 MHz, which translates to 19.5 Gbps effective, and this high bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame rates when the game loads complex environments.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz are relatively high, and the 2560 shading units are put to work in this game’s particle-heavy combat sequences. The 40 ray tracing cores are present, but the measured FPS data does not specify whether ray tracing was enabled, so the results likely reflect rasterized performance. The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s are adequate for the resolutions tested, but the 4K results show that the GPU is reaching its limits.

The 16 GB VRAM is a standout feature for a card in this class, and it ensures that the game’s high-resolution textures do not cause memory-related stuttering. At 4K Ultra, the card still manages 41 FPS, which indicates that the memory capacity is not the bottleneck; rather, it is the compute throughput. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS is solid for rasterization, but Control’s complex lighting and physics calculations at 4K simply demand more than this card can deliver to maintain 60 FPS on higher presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend entirely on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the High preset is the sweet spot, delivering 93 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience with good visual quality. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 81 FPS, which is still playable, but the visual uplift from High to Ultra is often marginal in this title, so High is the recommended choice for maintaining higher headroom.

For 1440p, the High preset is again the best balance, producing 71 FPS. This is a comfortable frame rate for a fast-paced action game, and it leaves some overhead for dips in intense scenes. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 80 FPS, which is higher and still looks good, so if you prefer higher frame rates over minor visual improvements, Medium is a viable alternative. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 61 FPS, which is right at the edge of playability, but the risk of drops below 60 FPS makes it less ideal than High.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset is the only one that achieves a playable average of 76 FPS, but the visual quality will be noticeably reduced. The Medium preset at 4K averages 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, but the minimum of 46 FPS suggests it can be a playable experience if you are willing to tolerate occasional dips. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended, as they fall to 48 FPS and 41 FPS respectively, which will feel sluggish during combat. The best experience per the measured rows is 1440p High, as it offers a strong balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of the combo’s capabilities across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 148 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors. The Medium preset averages 105 FPS, with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS, showing good frame pacing. The High preset averages 93 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 81 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 67 FPS, indicating that the settings have a substantial impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 112 FPS, which is still very high. The Medium preset averages 80 FPS, with a range of 68 to 92 FPS. The High preset averages 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 51 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases. The minimum FPS of 68 at Medium is notable, as it indicates that even on this preset, there are moments where performance dips, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS. The High preset averages 48 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 41 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 35 FPS, which is a smaller absolute drop than at lower resolutions, but the starting point is much lower, making High and Ultra presets impractical for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium data shows a 16 FPS variance between minimum and maximum, which is a significant range that could cause noticeable stuttering in fast action scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a formidable processor, with 24 cores and 24 threads based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.80 GHz provide excellent single-threaded performance, which is crucial for Control’s game logic and physics. The CPU’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency and improving frame pacing.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 51731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7303 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. This raw compute power means that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck in this pairing, even at 1080p where frame rates are high. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 148 FPS, which is a frame rate that many lesser CPUs would struggle to feed to the GPU. The CPU’s ability to maintain high minimum frame rates is also evident in the 1080p Medium data, where the minimum of 89 FPS is well above the average of many other systems.

The CPU’s 125 W TDP and DDR5 memory support with a dual-channel configuration and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth ensure that data can be fed to the GPU quickly. The 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the GPU, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16, ensuring no bottleneck in data transfer. The CPU’s performance in PassMark multi-thread tests, scoring 60860, further confirms its capability to handle the game’s background tasks without impacting frame rates. In this combo, the CPU is the anchor that allows the RX 7700 to perform at its best, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the GPU is the limiting factor.