Control

FAQ

Q: What is the highest quality preset this combo can run at 4K while staying at or above 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers an average of 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 67 FPS, and Low averages 94 FPS, but Ultra falls to 52 FPS, below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X compare to its nearest rival in raw CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498, placing it 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9015 (57555) and 0.2% behind the AMD EPYC 7313 (57399). It trails the Intel Core i9-14900 by 1.1% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M by 1.4%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 3080 sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23172. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23249 — a 0.3% difference.

Q: Can this system run Control at 1440p with every setting maxed out?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 77 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at this resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 185 FPS while Ultra averages 101 FPS — a gap of 84 FPS. Medium and High sit between at 131 FPS and 117 FPS respectively.

Q: How does this CPU+GPU combo rank among all tested system combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 1071st out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the upper portion of the overall distribution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear pattern: the RTX 3080 becomes the dominant performance driver as resolution increases, while the Ryzen 9 9900X provides ample headroom at lower resolutions. Comparing FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K at the same preset illustrates this shift. At Low settings, the average drops from 185 FPS at 1920x1080 to 140 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 24% reduction), then further to 94 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 49% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline at 4K indicates the GPU is the limiting factor — the CPU's strong single-thread score of 1286 in 3DMark and 4672 in Passmark single-thread tests ensures it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The scaling from Medium to High settings reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p, Medium averages 131 FPS and High averages 117 FPS — a modest 11% drop. At 1440p, the same settings gap shows 99 FPS versus 88 FPS, a similar 11% reduction. But at 4K, Medium averages 67 FPS versus High's 60 FPS, a 10% difference that pushes High right to the edge of the 60 FPS threshold. The fact that the Ultra preset at 4K falls to 52 FPS — a 22% drop below High — suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth (760.3 GB/s) and 10 GB GDDR6X frame buffer become strained with the highest quality textures and effects at that resolution.

The CPU's role is most evident in the consistency of frame times. At Medium settings, where both components are exercised, the minimum FPS values are 111 at 1080p, 84 at 1440p, and 57 at 4K. The ratio of minimum to average FPS stays relatively stable (0.85 at 1080p, 0.85 at 1440p, 0.85 at 4K), indicating the Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads maintain smooth frame pacing even when the GPU is heavily loaded. The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) provide sufficient data throughput for the game's physics and AI calculations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The full range of presets is playable, with substantial headroom even at maximum quality. Low settings produce an average of 185 FPS. Medium averages 131 FPS, with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS. High averages 117 FPS. Ultra averages 101 FPS — still 68% above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The data shows no preset at 1080p drops below 100 FPS on average.

2560x1440: Performance remains strong across all presets. Low averages 140 FPS. Medium averages 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. High averages 88 FPS. Ultra averages 77 FPS, maintaining a 28% margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The minimum FPS at Medium (84) is still well above playable levels, suggesting the system has stability headroom even under load.

3840x2160: This is where the GPU begins to show its limits. Low averages 94 FPS — still playable but a 33% drop from the 1440p Low result. Medium averages 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS. The minimum dips below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating occasional stutters during intense scenes. High averages exactly 60 FPS, sitting right at the playability boundary. Ultra averages 52 FPS, falling 13% below the threshold and making it unplayable by the 60 FPS standard. The medium preset's min-max range (57–77 FPS) shows a 20 FPS spread, highlighting the GPU's variable performance at 4K.

The Verdict

This system can run Control, but the playable experience depends heavily on resolution and settings. The verdict data confirms that at 1920x1080, all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 101 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same is true: every preset is playable, and Ultra maintains 77 FPS. At 3840x2160, the situation narrows: Low (94 FPS), Medium (67 FPS), and High (60 FPS) are all playable, but Ultra (52 FPS) falls below the threshold.

The practical takeaway is that 1080p and 1440p users can enable maximum settings without concern. For 4K, the best playable preset is High, which hits exactly 60 FPS on average — though the Medium preset's minimum of 57 FPS suggests that High may occasionally dip below 60 during demanding sequences. Players seeking a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 4K should consider Medium, which provides a 7 FPS average buffer above the threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals all cluster within 1.4% of its average benchmark score. The AMD EPYC 9015 (57555 score) is effectively identical at -0.1% delta, while the AMD EPYC 7313 (57399) is 0.2% faster. The Intel Core i9-14900 (58115) leads by 1.1%, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323) is 1.4% ahead. In practical terms, any of these processors would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in this game, as the 3DMark 16-thread score of 12552 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 indicate the Ryzen 9 9900X is not the limiting factor at any tested resolution.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show an even tighter cluster — all within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's 23172 average score. The NVIDIA P106-100 (23249), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23276) all post nearly identical scores. However, these are synthetic benchmark comparisons; the RTX 3080's 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth would likely produce different real-world results in Control at 4K, where memory pressure is highest. The benchmark data alone suggests these alternatives would perform within statistical noise of each other in this specific title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1071st out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the 71st percentile of all tested systems. This is a strong showing for a CPU in the 92nd percentile of all processors paired with a GPU in the 68th percentile of all graphics cards. The rank suggests that while the RTX 3080 is not a top-tier card by current standards, the Ryzen 9 9900X's exceptional multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172) helps boost the overall experience, particularly in CPU-light scenes where the GPU can stretch its legs.

The gap between the CPU's high percentile (92) and GPU's moderate percentile (68) indicates an imbalanced pairing — the processor has significantly more headroom than the graphics card can utilize. This is most visible at 4K Ultra, where the GPU's 52 FPS result becomes the bottleneck. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's strength ensures frame rates stay high, but the GPU still caps performance below what the CPU could theoretically support.

Best Settings per Resolution

1920x1080: Ultra is the best setting, delivering an average of 101 FPS. All presets remain above 100 FPS on average, so there is no reason to sacrifice visual quality.

2560x1440: Ultra is the best setting, with an average of 77 FPS. The 28% margin above the 60 FPS threshold provides comfortable headroom for demanding scenes.

3840x2160: High is the best setting, averaging exactly 60 FPS. While this meets the playability threshold, the Medium preset (67 FPS) offers a safer buffer for players who prioritize consistent frame times over maximum visual fidelity. Ultra is not recommended at this resolution, as its 52 FPS average falls below the playable threshold.