Control

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Control?

A: The only playable combination, meaning it stays at or above 60 FPS, is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces an average of 65 FPS. No settings at 2560x1440 or 3840x2160 reach the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. It is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M, 2.5% ahead of the GeForce GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% ahead of the GeForce GT 710.

Q: What is the CPU's standing relative to other processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 lands in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 19,593, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19,617, 0.1% ahead), the Intel Core i5-12500 (19,668, 0.4% ahead), and the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19,723, 0.7% ahead). It slightly beats the Intel Core i7-10700F (19,499, 0.5% behind).

Q: Does the system handle Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 36, which is well below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 29 FPS.

Q: What is the frame rate behavior at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 35, with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 40. This indicates the system cannot maintain a consistent 60 FPS experience at this resolution.

Q: How many total combos are ranked in the database for this game?

A: This specific CPU and GPU combination ranks 3,311 out of 3,720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower portion of the ranking table.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear picture: the Intel Arc B390 is the dominant bottleneck in this pairing. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 5 5500, is a capable desktop processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, scoring in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its multi-threaded performance is strong enough to handle most gaming workloads. However, the GPU sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, a massive gap that defines the system's overall behavior.

Looking at the scaling between resolutions, the GPU's limitations become stark. At 1920x1080 Low, the system delivers 65 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 50 FPS, a 23% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, it falls further to 33 FPS, another 34% reduction. This steep decline with increasing resolution is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's workload does not scale as dramatically with resolution, yet the frame rate collapses, confirming the Arc B390 is the limiting factor.

The settings scaling reinforces this. At 1080p, going from Low to Medium reduces the average from 65 to 46 FPS, a 29% drop. Low to High goes from 65 to 41 FPS, a 37% drop. Low to Ultra goes from 65 to 36 FPS, a 45% drop. These are substantial reductions for a single settings tier, indicating the GPU has very little headroom to spare. The Arc B390 only has 1,536 shading units and 24 ROPs, and its 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is modest by modern standards. Each incremental increase in graphical fidelity directly taxes the GPU's limited pixel throughput and texture rate.

At higher resolutions, the situation worsens. At 1440p, the spread between Low (50 FPS) and Ultra (27 FPS) is 23 FPS. At 4K, the spread between Low (33 FPS) and Ultra (18 FPS) is 15 FPS. The absolute numbers are all below the playable threshold, but the pattern is consistent: the GPU cannot keep up with the demands of Control's visual effects at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its Zen 3 architecture and 16 MB of L3 cache, is not the primary concern. Its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,429, are far above what the GPU requires to saturate at these frame rates.

In summary, the CPU plays a supporting role that is more than adequate, while the GPU is the decisive factor. For this game, users should focus entirely on the GPU's capabilities when assessing performance at any resolution above 1080p Low.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold is Low, with an average of 65 FPS. Medium falls short at 46 FPS, High at 41 FPS, and Ultra at 36 FPS. The database's verdict confirms this, listing Low as the best playable setting with an average of 65 FPS.

At 2560x1440, no settings are playable. The highest average recorded is 50 FPS at Low, which is still 10 FPS below the threshold. Medium averages 35 FPS, High 31 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS. The verdict lists no playable settings for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the situation is worse. Low averages 33 FPS, Medium 24 FPS, High 21 FPS, and Ultra 18 FPS. None of these approach the 60 FPS mark. The verdict again lists no playable settings.

The pattern is unambiguous. Users who wish to maintain a smooth experience must use 1080p Low. Any attempt to increase visual fidelity or resolution will result in frame rates below the playable threshold, with the margin of failure growing larger as demands increase.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 has several near-identical rivals in the database. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 scores 19,617, which is 0.1% higher, making it effectively indistinguishable in performance. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19,668, 0.4% higher, and the Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19,723, 0.7% higher. The Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19,499, which is 0.5% lower. Any of these processors would behave nearly the same as the Ryzen 5 5500 in Control, assuming the same GPU is paired with them. None of these differences are large enough to change the frame rate outcomes for this game, since the GPU is the limiting component.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all significantly older or lower-end parts. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1,463, which is 1.3% lower. The GeForce 800M scores 1,460, 1.5% lower. The GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1,446, 2.5% lower, and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1,443, 2.7% lower. These deltas are small, meaning the Arc B390 is only marginally faster than these legacy GPUs. In practical terms, a system with any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control, all of which would be below the playable threshold at 1080p Medium or higher. The 9th percentile ranking for the Arc B390 underscores that this is not a gaming-oriented graphics solution.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Control? The answer depends on the resolution and settings. The database's verdict is clear: at 3840x2160, there are no playable settings. At 2560x1440, there are also no playable settings. Only at 1920x1080 does the system clear the 60 FPS threshold, and only with Low settings, achieving an average of 65 FPS.

This is a marginal pass. The 65 FPS average at 1080p Low is just 5 FPS above the playable threshold of 60. There is no headroom for demanding scenes or prolonged combat sequences. The minimum FPS at 1080p Low is not recorded, but the Medium preset at the same resolution shows a minimum of 40 FPS, suggesting that dips below the average are likely in more intense moments.

For users who prioritize frame rate, 1080p Low is the only viable configuration. Those who want higher visual quality or higher resolutions will be disappointed. The system cannot handle 1440p or 4K at any setting, and even 1080p Medium falls 14 FPS short of the target. The combination of a strong CPU and a weak GPU means the experience is entirely constrained by the Arc B390's limited capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's ranking for Control, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and the Intel Arc B390 sits at rank 3,311 out of 3,720 total tested combos. This places it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. The rank reflects the GPU's poor showing relative to other hardware. The CPU's 73rd percentile standing is not enough to compensate for the GPU's 9th percentile performance.

The rank is consistent with the measured frame rates. A system that can only manage 65 FPS at 1080p Low, and nothing playable at higher resolutions, will naturally fall near the bottom of a ranking that includes many more capable GPUs. The 409-combo gap between this system and the top of the list is substantial, but the more relevant comparison is that over 3,300 other tested combinations deliver better results in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across resolutions and settings.

At 3840x2160, the highest average is 33 FPS at Low settings. Medium averages 24 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27. High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. All of these are far below the 60 FPS threshold, and the system is not playable at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 50 FPS. Medium averages 35 FPS, with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 40. High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The Low preset is closest to playable, but still 10 FPS short.

At 1920x1080, Low averages 65 FPS, which is the only playable result. Medium averages 46 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 53. High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The data shows a clear progression: each settings tier reduces the average by roughly 5 to 19 FPS, and the system only clears the threshold at the lowest possible settings.

The minimum and maximum values are only recorded for the Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, the range is 40 to 53 FPS, indicating some variability. At 1440p Medium, the range is 30 to 40 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the range is 20 to 27 FPS. These ranges suggest that even the playable 1080p Low configuration may experience dips below 60 FPS in certain scenes, as the Medium preset at the same resolution shows a minimum of 40 FPS.