Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers a fundamentally playable experience in Control, but the definition of "playable" depends heavily on your resolution target. At 1920x1080, this system is unequivocally capable, clearing the 60 FPS threshold at every settings preset. At 2560x1440, it remains strong, but only up to Medium settings. At 3840x2160, the system is severely constrained, with only Low settings achieving the 60 FPS target. The data indicates a classic CPU-bound versus GPU-bound split: the Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 94th percentile standing, provides ample headroom, while the RTX 5050, sitting at the 66th percentile, becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1920x1080 to maintain a smooth experience?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, yielding an average FPS of 68. This is above the 60 FPS playable threshold, making it the optimal balance of quality and performance. Lower presets provide higher frame rates, with Low reaching 124 FPS, but Ultra is the only one marked as the best settings for this resolution.

Q: Can this PC run Control at 3840x2160 with Medium settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers an average FPS of 45, with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52. This falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Only the Low preset, with an average of 63 FPS, is considered playable at this resolution.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: The difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 94 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 52 FPS. This represents a drop of 42 FPS, or roughly 45%, when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested CPU-GPU combinations for this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination ranks 2296th out of 3720 combos tested for Control. This places it in the lower half of the performance distribution, indicating that while it is playable at lower resolutions, it is not a high-end setup.

Q: Is the GPU or the CPU the primary bottleneck for this game?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, given the RTX 5050's 66th percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU's 94th percentile standing suggests it provides enough processing power. The evidence is the FPS scaling: at 1920x1080, it achieves 124 FPS on Low, but at 3840x2160 on Low, it drops to 63 FPS, a clear sign of GPU limits.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS values recorded at 1920x1080 Medium?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 75 and the maximum is 101. This suggests a relatively stable frame delivery, with the average at 88 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target.

CPU and GPU Roles

For Control, the data shows a clear division of labor between the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is a strong performer, ranking in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its Passmark scores are robust, including a single-thread score of 4691 and a multithread score of 36470. This level of performance is more than adequate to feed the GPU, and it is not the limiting factor in this game. The GPU, in contrast, holds a 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs, which is significantly lower than the CPU's ranking. This disparity is the key insight: the RTX 5050 is the primary constraint on frame rates.

This is evident when examining the scaling of Average FPS with resolution. At 1920x1080, which is a resolution less demanding on the GPU, the system achieves high average FPS values: 124 FPS on Low, 88 on Medium, 78 on High, and 68 on Ultra. The CPU has enough headroom to drive these frames. As the resolution increases to 2560x1440, the performance drops across all presets. The Low preset drops from 124 FPS to 94 FPS, Medium from 88 to 67, High from 78 to 59, and Ultra from 68 to 52. This consistent drop is a direct consequence of the GPU's fill rate and computational limits being stressed by the increased pixel count.

The trend becomes more drastic at 3840x2160. The Low preset falls to 63 FPS, Medium to 45, High to 40, and Ultra to 35. The margin between the Low preset at 1080p (124 FPS) and the Low preset at 4K (63 FPS) is a 61 FPS loss, a 49% reduction. This loss is entirely attributable to the GPU's inability to maintain the same throughput at this resolution. The CPU's role is relatively static across these tests, as it is not the primary bottleneck. The GPU is the determining factor for the playability at each resolution, dictating which settings presets can achieve the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance. At 1920x1080, the combination is highly capable. Low settings yield an average of 124 FPS. Medium settings produce an average of 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 101. High settings average 78 FPS, while Ultra settings average 68 FPS. All presets at this resolution are above the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the Ultra preset providing the highest quality experience while still maintaining a smooth frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down as expected. The Low preset delivers a strong average of 94 FPS. Medium settings average 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 and a maximum of 77. The High preset is close to the playable threshold, averaging 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS mark. The Ultra preset averages 52 FPS, which is not playable by the standard set in this analysis. The data indicates that at this resolution, only the Low and Medium presets are viable for a 60 FPS experience.

At 3840x2160, the system is heavily constrained. The Low preset achieves an average of 63 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold and considered playable. The Medium preset drops to an average of 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52. The High preset averages 40 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages only 35 FPS. This shows a steep drop-off in performance, where only the most modest graphical settings allow for a playable experience. The data shows a clear, consistent pattern of the GPU being the limiting factor as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark results position the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination in the 2296th position out of 3720 tested combinations for Control. This rank, 61st percentile, puts it in the middle to lower end of the performance spectrum. While not a top-tier competitor, the rank reflects its capability to run the game at lower settings. The CPU has a high percentile rank of 94, but the GPU's percentile rank of 66 is the weaker link.

The data indicates that for this game, the GPU's performance is the deciding factor for the overall ranking. The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, which has an average score 0.2% higher, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which is 0.2% lower. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% lower), show that the RTX 5050 is positioned in a narrow band of performance. This suggests that the combination's rank is largely determined by the GPU's mid-range standing, not the CPU's high-end capability.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Control? Yes, but the definition of "run" is highly dependent on the resolution. The verdict is a clear "yes" for 1920x1080, where the system clears the 60 FPS threshold at all settings. The data shows that Ultra settings average 68 FPS, making it the recommended choice for a high-quality experience. At 2560x1440, the system is playable, but only at Low and Medium settings, with Medium averaging 67 FPS being the best option. The High preset, at 59 FPS, and the Ultra preset, at 52 FPS, do not meet the 60 FPS standard.

At 3840x2160, the system is only playable at Low settings, which averages 63 FPS. The rest of the presets fall short. The verdict for 4K is that it is not a practical resolution for this game with this hardware. The "best settings" for 4K is Low, which provides an average of 63, just barely over the threshold. The conclusion is that this PC is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being a stretch that requires significant settings to achieve playable frame rates.

Similar Performance Alternatives

If the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F were not available, the nearest rivals in terms of overall CPU benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and the Intel Core i7-14700KF. The Ryzen 9 7940HX has an average score that is 0.2% higher, while the Core i7-14700KF is 0.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and Intel Core i7-14700K are also close, with scores 0.7% and 0.9% higher, respectively. These alternatives would be expected to behave nearly identically in terms of CPU-bound performance in Control.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050's closest competitors are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which has an average score 0.6% higher, and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile, which is 1.6% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M is 1.0% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is 1.6% lower. These GPUs would be expected to produce similar frame rates in this game, meaning that a system with an RTX 5050 and a Ryzen 7 9700F would have a similar performance profile to one with a Ryzen 7 9700F and an RX 5600 XT, for example. The exact frame rates might vary by a couple of FPS, but the overall playability at each resolution and settings preset would remain consistent.