Control

FAQ

Q: What is the overall position of this CPU in the database?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X sits at the 86th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 37,943 and a 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,824.

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

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1,482, placing it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1,463, a 1.3% difference. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1,460, 1.5% delta), GT 625 OEM (1,446, 2.5% delta), and GT 710 (1,443, 2.7% delta) follow closely.

Q: What is the best playable result for this combo at 1920x1080?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 65 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the only settings preset at this resolution that reaches playable performance.

Q: Is the combo playable at 2560x1440?

A: No. At 2560x1440, the highest average FPS recorded is 50 at Low settings, which falls short of the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings yield 35 FPS, High 31 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS.

Q: What is the best FPS recorded at 3840x2160?

A: At 3840x2160, the best result is 33 FPS average at Low settings. Medium settings average 24 FPS, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. None of these come close to the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Control?

A: The combination ranks 3,311th out of 3,720 tested combos in the database for Control, placing it in the lower 11% of all tested hardware pairings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are all within 0.4% of the Ryzen 7 9700X. The Intel Core i9-14901E scores 37,911, just 0.1% lower. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 also scores 37,904, another 0.1% gap. The Intel Core 5 211E (37,829, 0.3% delta) and AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 (37,804, 0.4% delta) round out the immediate competition. For gaming workloads, these processors should deliver nearly identical frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios, though Control's actual bottleneck here lies elsewhere.

The GPU side tells a different story. The Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts from a much older generation. The GeForce GT 520MX leads with a 1.3% delta, followed by the GeForce 800M at 1.5%, the GT 625 OEM at 2.5%, and the GT 710 at 2.7%. The Arc B390 outperforms each of these by only a few percentage points, meaning a system with any of these GPUs would produce similar frame rates in Control. The recorded data shows the Arc B390 delivers roughly 1% to 3% more performance than these alternatives, which is unlikely to change the playability outcome at any resolution.

When considering a system that behaves similarly to this Ryzen 7 9700X plus Arc B390 pairing, the CPU portion is far stronger than the GPU portion. The processor sits in the top 14% of all CPUs, while the GPU rests in the bottom 9% of all GPUs. This imbalance means that swapping the CPU to any of its near-rivals would have negligible impact on Control's frame rates, as the GPU would still be the limiting factor. Swapping the GPU to a GT 520MX or GT 710 would produce nearly identical results, within 1% to 3% of the Arc B390's scores.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data for Control shows a clear pattern: the GPU dominates performance at every resolution, while the CPU has minimal influence on the final frame rates. Evidence comes from the scaling behavior. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 29 FPS (from 65 down to 36 FPS). At 2560x1440, the same settings spread is 23 FPS (50 down to 27 FPS). At 3840x2160, the spread narrows to 15 FPS (33 down to 18 FPS).

This scaling indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes progressively more saturated, leaving less headroom for settings changes to affect performance. At 1080p, the GPU still has some spare capacity, which is why Low settings can reach 65 FPS. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is already near its limits even at Low settings, producing 50 FPS and 33 FPS respectively.

The CPU's role is secondary throughout. With an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 processor scoring 20,485 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,211 in single-core, it is far more capable than what Control requires. The game's engine does not show CPU-bound behavior in these measurements; frame rates drop consistently with resolution increases, which is the signature of GPU limitation. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482 for the Arc B390, combined with its 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, confirms the GPU's modest compute budget.

At 1920x1080, the CPU matters most because frame rates are highest, but even there, the GPU still limits the Ultra preset to 36 FPS. At 2560x1440 and above, the GPU is so constrained that CPU differences between rival processors would be invisible in the final FPS numbers. The recorded data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck in Control.

How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 7 9700X and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 3,311th out of 3,720 tested combos in Control, putting it in the bottom 11% of the database. This low ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU, which sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, sits at the 86th percentile, yet the combo's overall position reflects the weaker component.

In practical terms, this ranking means that most tested hardware combinations outperform this pairing in Control. The 409 combos ranked below this one are likely using even weaker GPUs or CPUs, but the margin is thin. The Arc B390's nearest GPU rivals are all within 2.7% of its score, so the ranking position is not an outlier; it accurately represents the GPU's tier.

The combo's rank also indicates that Control's requirements are moderate for modern hardware, but the Arc B390 falls below the threshold needed for smooth gameplay at standard resolutions. The CPU's high percentile does not compensate for the GPU's low percentile in this title, as the game's rendering demands are primarily GPU-bound.

The Verdict

The recorded data shows that this PC can run Control, but only at the lowest settings and only at 1920x1080. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, there are no playable settings, meaning no preset reaches 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same applies: no preset reaches 60 FPS. At 1920x1080, only the Low preset clears the threshold, achieving an average of 65 FPS.

For 1080p gaming, the Low preset is the sole option that meets the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings drop to 46 FPS, High to 41 FPS, and Ultra to 36 FPS. None of these are playable under the established criteria.

For 1440p and 4K, the system is not viable for Control at any settings preset. The best case at 1440p is Low with 50 FPS, and at 4K it is Low with 33 FPS. Both fall well short of the 60 FPS threshold.

This system is best suited for 1080p gaming at reduced visual quality. Users who prioritize frame rate over fidelity can achieve a playable experience, but those who want higher settings or resolutions will need more powerful graphics hardware.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, there is no settings preset that maintains 60 FPS. The best recorded average is 33 FPS at Low settings, which is below the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the same situation applies. No preset reaches 60 FPS. The highest average is 50 FPS at Low settings.

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 65 FPS. This is the only playable configuration in the entire dataset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160:

• Low: 33 FPS average
• Medium: 24 FPS average, 20 FPS minimum, 27 FPS maximum
• High: 21 FPS average
• Ultra: 18 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 50 FPS average
• Medium: 35 FPS average, 30 FPS minimum, 40 FPS maximum
• High: 31 FPS average
• Ultra: 27 FPS average

1920x1080:

• Low: 65 FPS average
• Medium: 46 FPS average, 40 FPS minimum, 53 FPS maximum
• High: 41 FPS average
• Ultra: 36 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern across all resolutions: Low settings provide the best frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra always being the slowest. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases, from 29 FPS at 1080p to 15 FPS at 4K, indicating that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint at higher resolutions. The minimum and maximum FPS values, where recorded, show moderate variance on Medium settings, with the spread ranging from 7 FPS at 1080p to 7 FPS at 1440p and 4K.