Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a playable experience in Control, but the data reveals a clear bottleneck hierarchy that shifts dramatically depending on resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combination is heavily CPU-limited, with frame rates compressing into a narrow band as the GPU waits on the six-core, twelve-thread processor. Moving to 1440p and 4K, the load shifts to the GPU, allowing the RX 9070 XT to stretch its legs, though the older Ryzen still constrains peak performance in lighter settings. The benchmark results show a system that is capable of high-refresh 1440p gaming but requires careful settings management to hit 4K targets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a story of a pairing where neither component is fully utilized at every resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 147.3 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low yields 134.8 FPS, a reduction of only 8.5%, while 4K Low falls to 95.7 FPS, a 35% drop from 1080p. This relatively mild scaling at Low settings suggests that the Ryzen 5 2600 is the limiting factor—even at 4K, the CPU cannot feed the GPU enough frames to saturate it, capping performance well below what the RX 9070 XT could theoretically deliver.

The picture changes with higher settings. At Ultra, the combo manages 105.9 FPS at 1080p, 78.4 FPS at 1440p, and 51.4 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 26% drop, and from 1440p to 4K another 34% drop. This steeper decline indicates that Ultra settings shift the burden onto the GPU's compute and memory subsystems, where the RX 9070 XT's 16 GB of GDDR6 and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth become the primary drivers. The 4K Ultra result of 51.4 FPS is notably close to the 60 FPS target, suggesting that the GPU is working near its limits in this configuration.

The most telling data point is the spread between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is only 41.4 FPS (147.3 to 105.9), a 28% penalty for maxing out settings. At 1440p, the spread widens to 56.4 FPS (134.8 to 78.4), a 42% penalty. At 4K, the spread becomes 44.3 FPS (95.7 to 51.4), a 46% penalty. This widening gap with resolution confirms that GPU load scales as expected, but the relatively small spread at 1080p underscores the CPU bottleneck—the Ryzen 5 2600 cannot push frame rates high enough to expose the GPU's full potential at lower resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K in Control?*

A: Yes, but only with High settings, which deliver 60.1 FPS on average. At Medium, the average drops to 70.1 FPS, while Ultra falls below the target at 51.4 FPS. Low settings push well past it at 95.7 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 2600 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 scores 19616 in average benchmark score. It trails the Intel Core i5-1345U (19691) by 0.4% and the Intel Core i5-11600KF (19740) by 0.6%, while leading the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (19508) by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-10700F (19485) by 0.7%. These are all near-identical results, placing the 2600 in the 77th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1440p offers the best balance. At High settings, it achieves 90 FPS, which is 30% ahead of the 4K High result (60.1 FPS) and still smooth. At Ultra, 1440p delivers 78.4 FPS, which is 52% faster than 4K Ultra (51.4 FPS) and comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost by switching from Low to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Ultra is 28% slower than Low (105.9 vs 147.3 FPS). At 1440p, the penalty increases to 42% (78.4 vs 134.8 FPS), and at 4K, it reaches 46% (51.4 vs 95.7 FPS). The growing percentage reflects the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the RX 9070 XT outperform its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In average benchmark score, the RX 9070 XT (39647) is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39703, -0.1%), NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, +0.2%), AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39836, -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (39879, -0.6%). All deltas are under 1%, placing the GPU in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components?

A: The CPU has a launch MSRP of $199, and the GPU has a launch MSRP of 599 USD. These are the only pricing details available in the data.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1,636 tested combinations in Control, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT ranks 542nd. This places it in the 67th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly one-third of tested systems deliver higher frame rates. The rank is somewhat surprising given the GPU's high standing (82nd percentile) and the CPU's solid mid-pack position (77th percentile). The discrepancy suggests that Control's engine is particularly sensitive to CPU performance, and the Ryzen 5 2600's Zen architecture, despite its twelve threads, holds back the system from reaching the upper tiers.

The rank of 542 out of 1,636 implies that many combinations with newer or higher-clocked CPUs outperform this setup, even if they pair with weaker GPUs. This is consistent with the resolution scaling data, which shows the CPU limiting performance at 1080p and even at 1440p Low. The combo's ranking would likely improve at higher resolutions and settings where the GPU dominates, but as tested, the average result across all settings and resolutions places it in the upper-middle of the pack. For context, a rank in the 500s means the system is ahead of the majority of tested configurations but well behind top-tier pairings that can push 4K Ultra beyond 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 147.3 FPS, which is the maximum recorded for this pairing. Medium settings reduce this to 129.4 FPS, a 12% drop. High settings further reduce it to 125.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 105.9 FPS. The narrow range between Low and Ultra—just 41.4 FPS—indicates that the CPU is the dominant constraint at this resolution, as even the most demanding settings cannot push the GPU hard enough to create a large performance gap.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates spread out as the GPU takes on more load. Low settings yield 134.8 FPS, still very high. Medium delivers 101.8 FPS, a 24% reduction from Low. High settings produce 90 FPS, which is a 33% drop from Low. Ultra brings the average down to 78.4 FPS, a 42% reduction. This progression shows the GPU beginning to matter more, but the CPU still keeps the Low setting result above 130 FPS, indicating it can handle the lighter load without becoming a hard ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear limiting factor. Low settings deliver 95.7 FPS, which is still playable. Medium drops to 70.1 FPS, a 27% reduction. High settings achieve 60.1 FPS, which is exactly at the common 60 FPS target. Ultra falls to 51.4 FPS, a 46% reduction from Low. This is the only resolution where the CPU's influence wanes, as the frame rates are driven almost entirely by the RX 9070 XT's ability to process pixels at 8.3 million pixels per frame.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the star of this pairing, and its specifications explain why it can handle Control at 4K. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for Control, which can consume large amounts of VRAM at high resolutions and Ultra settings. The GPU's boost clock of 2970 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz, with a base clock of 1660 MHz, allow it to sustain high throughput across the 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with 48.66 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 76 0.3 GTexel/s texture rate. These figures support the 4K High result of 60.1 FPS and the 1440p Ultra result of 78.4 FPS. However, the GPU's performance in the measured FPS data is consistently higher than what the CPU allows at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 147.3 FPS result is likely below the GPU's maximum potential, as the Ryzen 5 2600 cannot issue draw calls fast enough. The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39647, confirms it is a high-end part, but the CPU pairing prevents it from fully expressing that capability in Control's CPU-bound scenes.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores—the Radeon Pro 575, RTX A500 Mobile, Radeon Pro 575X, and RX Vega 64—all sit within 0.6% of its average score. This tight grouping suggests that the RX 9070 XT's raw compute is comparable to these parts, but its advantage in VRAM capacity and bandwidth (16 GB vs. typical 8 GB for the rivals) gives it more headroom in texture-heavy games like Control. The measured FPS data shows the GPU handling 4K Ultra at 51.4 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor at this extreme setting, not the CPU.