Control

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a broadly capable experience in Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title, with measured frame rates that scale predictably across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the combination produces an average of 160.7 FPS on Low settings, 112.7 FPS on Medium, 100.4 FPS on High, and 89.7 FPS on Ultra, meaning every preset clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a wide margin. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 118 FPS on Low, 85.4 FPS on Medium, 77.5 FPS on High, and 66.1 FPS on Ultra, still comfortably above the 60 FPS line across the board. At 3840x2160, however, the picture changes: Low settings yield 79.8 FPS, Medium drops to 55.7 FPS, High falls to 48.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 43 FPS, so only the Low preset maintains the 60 FPS threshold. These figures come from measured data, with no minimum or maximum frame times recorded, so the analysis relies on average FPS as the primary metric for smoothness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this CPU-GPU combo in Control reveals a clear hierarchy tied to both resolution and graphical preset. At 1920x1080, the performance headroom is substantial, with the Low preset producing an average of 160.7 FPS, which is roughly 43% higher than the Medium preset’s 112.7 FPS. The High preset delivers 100.4 FPS, while Ultra trails at 89.7 FPS, a difference of about 10.7 FPS between High and Ultra, indicating that the final preset tier imposes a moderate but not crippling load. The gap from Low to Ultra is 71 FPS, demonstrating that Control’s settings scale heavily at this resolution, but even the most demanding preset remains far above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with reduced headroom. Low settings produce 118 FPS, Medium drops to 85.4 FPS, High settles at 77.5 FPS, and Ultra achieves 66.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 51.9 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, which suggests that the GPU is starting to become a more significant limiting factor as pixel count rises. Still, every preset at 1440p stays above 60 FPS, with Ultra holding a 6.1 FPS margin over the threshold, so the experience remains fluid even at maximum quality.

At 3840x2160, the performance cliff becomes apparent. Low settings deliver 79.8 FPS, which is respectable, but Medium falls to 55.7 FPS, already below the 60 FPS target. High drops further to 48.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 43 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 36.8 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at lower resolutions, but the percentage drop is steeper: Medium is about 30% slower than Low, High is about 13% slower than Medium, and Ultra is about 11% slower than High. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are saturated, and each preset increment exacts a heavier toll relative to the baseline.

Comparing across resolutions, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra settings shows a drop from 89.7 FPS to 66.1 FPS, a 26.3% reduction, while from 1440p to 4K at Ultra, the drop is from 66.1 FPS to 43 FPS, a 35% reduction. At Low settings, the scaling is steeper: 160.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 118 FPS at 1440p (26.6% drop) and then to 79.8 FPS at 4K (32.4% drop). These numbers suggest that the RTX 3070’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become increasingly strained as resolution increases, with the 4K Ultra figure of 43 FPS representing the worst-case scenario in this dataset.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the best settings are defined as the most demanding preset that still maintains an average FPS at or above the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset qualifies with an average of 89.7 FPS, so this is the recommended configuration. The data shows that even at maximum quality, the combo retains a 29.7 FPS buffer over the threshold, meaning there is ample room for demanding scenes or background processes without dropping below playable levels. High settings at 1080p deliver 100.4 FPS, but since Ultra is playable, it takes precedence as the best setting.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also qualifies, producing 66.1 FPS on average. This is a narrower margin—only 6.1 FPS above the 60 FPS line—but it still clears the threshold. The High preset at 1440p yields 77.5 FPS, which offers more headroom, but the benchmark data indicates that Ultra remains viable, so it is the best setting. Players seeking extra safety margin might prefer High, but the measured average suggests Ultra is playable.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset is the only one that stays above 60 FPS, with an average of 79.8 FPS. Medium falls to 55.7 FPS, which is below the threshold, so it cannot be recommended for a 60 FPS target. Therefore, Low is the best setting at 4K, despite the visual compromises. The data shows a stark choice: either accept Low settings for smooth performance or drop below 60 FPS by choosing Medium or higher. There is no middle ground in the measured results, as the gap between Low and Medium is 24.1 FPS, which is substantial.

CPU and GPU Roles

The interaction between the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 in Control shifts as resolution changes, reflecting the classic CPU-bound versus GPU-bound dynamics. At 1920x1080, the CPU’s role is more prominent, as the lower pixel count allows the GPU to render frames faster, potentially exposing CPU limitations. The Ryzen 9 5900X, with 12 cores and 24 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, has a strong single-thread score of 941 in 3dmark_single_thread and a multicore score of 10075 in 3dmark_max_threads, so it is unlikely to bottleneck the RTX 3070 at this resolution. The FPS spread across presets at 1080p—from 160.7 FPS on Low to 89.7 FPS on Ultra—shows that the GPU is still the primary driver of performance changes, since the CPU can handle the frame production without major constraints.

At 2560x1440, the balance tips slightly toward the GPU, as the increased pixel count raises the rendering load. The FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is consistent, ranging from about 26% at Low to 26% at Ultra, which suggests the GPU is becoming more dominant. The Ryzen 9 5900X’s performance in CPU benchmarks, such as a geekbench_multicore score of 14118 and a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16262, indicates it has ample headroom to feed the GPU, so the bottleneck is increasingly on the graphics card’s side. The RTX 3070’s FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s are the limiting factors at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the dominant component. The FPS drops from 1440p to 4K are steep—for example, from 118 FPS to 79.8 FPS on Low settings, a 32.4% reduction—and the CPU’s influence diminishes further. The RTX 3070’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and 8 GB GDDR6 capacity are likely the primary constraints, as Control’s high-resolution textures and effects demand more memory and bandwidth than the card can efficiently supply. The CPU’s single-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and draw calls, remains sufficient, but the GPU’s rendering capability dictates the frame rate. The data supports this: at 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra is 36.8 FPS, whereas at 1080p, the same gap is 71 FPS, indicating that the GPU is saturating and cannot scale as effectively with preset changes when pixel count is high.

The Verdict

The question of whether this PC can run Control is answered by the verdictByResolution data, which uses a 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1920x1080, the answer is a definitive yes across all presets, with Ultra delivering 89.7 FPS, High at 100.4 FPS, Medium at 112.7 FPS, and Low at 160.7 FPS. Every setting clears the threshold, and the lowest margin is 29.7 FPS at Ultra, so the system has substantial headroom for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the answer is also yes for all presets, but the margins shrink. Ultra runs at 66.1 FPS, which is just above the threshold, while High at 77.5 FPS, Medium at 85.4 FPS, and Low at 118 FPS provide more comfortable buffers. The data indicates that Ultra is playable, but it is close to the edge, so users who prioritize consistent frame times might opt for High to gain an 11.4 FPS cushion.

At 3840x2160, the answer is conditional. Only Low settings, at 79.8 FPS, clear the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 55.7 FPS, High at 48.6 FPS, and Ultra at 43 FPS all fall short, meaning the system cannot sustain 60 FPS at higher presets. The verdict is that the PC can run Control at 4K only with reduced visual fidelity, and any attempt to raise settings beyond Low will result in sub-60 FPS performance. For users with a 4K display, the trade-off is stark: accept Low settings or lower the resolution to 1440p for Ultra quality.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals to the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X are based on average benchmark scores, with the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H scoring 41263, a deltaPct of 0.3% relative to the Ryzen’s average benchmark score of 41376. This means the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H performs within a rounding error of the Ryzen 9 5900X, so in Control, it would likely produce nearly identical frame rates, assuming the GPU remains the same. Similarly, the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H scores 41215 (0.4% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 scores 41208 (0.4% delta), both of which are effectively tied with the Ryzen 9 5900X. On the other side, the Intel Core i7-14650HX scores 41576, a deltaPct of -0.5%, meaning it is about half a percent faster, which is negligible in real-world gaming. These alternatives suggest that if the Ryzen 9 5900X were swapped for any of these CPUs, the measured FPS in Control would remain essentially unchanged, as the CPU is not the limiting factor at most resolutions tested.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which scores 17083 in average benchmarks versus the RTX 3070’s 17208, a deltaPct of 0.7% meaning the RX 7600 XT is slightly slower. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037 (1% delta), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019 (1.1% delta), both of which are marginally behind the RTX 3070. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468 (-1.5% delta), putting it slightly ahead. In practical terms, the RX 7600 XT is the closest consumer alternative, and it would deliver nearly identical FPS in Control—perhaps 1-2 FPS difference at most—so users with that GPU can expect similar performance characteristics. The GTX 690 and HD 7970M are older architectures, but their benchmark scores place them in the same performance tier, meaning they would also provide comparable frame rates, though they lack the RTX 3070’s modern features like DirectX 12 Ultimate support.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination ranks 1602 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 43rd percentile overall. This ranking reflects the fact that while both components are solid performers—the CPU ranks in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU ranks in the 61st percentile among all GPUs—the pairing is not exceptional for this specific game. The CPU’s high percentile suggests it is a strong processor, but Control’s performance is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, and the RTX 3070’s 61st percentile indicates it is only moderately above average. In the context of all tested combinations, 1602nd place means there are 2118 combos that rank lower, but also 1601 that rank higher, so the system sits in the middle of the pack.

This ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data: the combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, where it delivers high frame rates, but struggles at 4K with higher presets, which drags down its overall standing. The CPU’s strong benchmark scores, such as a passmark_multithread score of 39002 and a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16262, do not translate into a higher combo ranking because the game’s performance ceiling is set by the GPU. The RTX 3070’s 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, they become limiting, as evidenced by the 43 FPS Ultra result. Therefore, the combo’s rank of 1602 out of 3720 is a fair representation of its capabilities: it is a balanced mid-to-high-tier system that handles most scenarios well but falls short at the most demanding settings, making it a reasonable choice for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with caveats at 4K.