Control

# Control: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 + Intel Arc B390

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a playable but constrained experience in Control, with measured frame rates that drop sharply as resolution increases. At 1080p the combo averages 65 FPS on Low settings, but this falls to 21 FPS at 4K High, indicating the integrated GPU is the dominant limiting factor across most configurations. The combo ranks 3311th out of 3720 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower 11% of all systems, a position consistent with the GPU's 9th percentile standing among all graphics cards.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a steep performance decline as resolution moves from 1920x1080 through 2560x1440 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 65 FPS at 1080p to 50 FPS at 1440p, a 23% drop, and then to 33 FPS at 4K, another 34% reduction. This pattern indicates the rendering pipeline becomes increasingly pixel-bound at higher resolutions, with the Arc B390's 24 ROPs and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate struggling to keep up with the quadrupled pixel count from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling behavior differs across quality presets. At High settings, the drop from 1080p (41 FPS) to 1440p (31 FPS) is 24%, and then to 4K (21 FPS) is another 32%. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 46 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset follows the same shape but at lower absolute values: 36, 27, and 18 FPS respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets suggests that resolution scaling is governed by the same bottleneck regardless of quality level—the GPU's fill rate and shader throughput.

The 1080p to 1440p transition costs roughly a quarter of performance across all settings, while the 1440p to 4K step costs another third. This nonlinear degradation is typical of a system where the GPU is already near its limits at 1080p; there is no headroom for the additional pixel workload. The data implies that even at Low settings, the Arc B390 is the primary constraint—the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are not the limiting factor here, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with pixel count rather than with scene complexity changes that would stress the processor.

At 4K, the gap between Low (33 FPS) and Ultra (18 FPS) is 15 FPS, or 83% difference. At 1080p, the same gap is 29 FPS (65 vs 36), a 81% spread. The near-identical proportional delta between presets at each resolution reinforces that the GPU is uniformly saturated; preset changes alter the per-pixel cost but do not shift the fundamental bottleneck.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Panther Lake chip, using the Xe3-LPG architecture on a 3 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 300 MHz with a boost of 2500 MHz, and its memory is system-shared, meaning bandwidth and capacity are dependent on the host system's RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs, with 12 ray tracing cores. Its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, and it delivers 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

In Control, a game known for heavy visual effects, these specifications translate to the measured results. The shared memory architecture means there is no dedicated VRAM pool, so texture streaming and buffer allocation compete with the CPU's memory traffic. This is particularly relevant at 4K where larger frame buffers and higher-resolution textures demand more memory bandwidth; the system-dependent bandwidth becomes a practical ceiling.

The GPU's percentile standing is 9th among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 1482 from 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443 average score, 2.7% delta) and GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% delta). These are entry-level discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, and the Arc B390's performance in Control aligns with that tier. The 3DMark result is a synthetic proxy, but the game data confirms the GPU is not capable of high-refresh or high-resolution play.

The boost clock of 2500 MHz, while high for an integrated part, cannot compensate for the limited ROP count and pixel rate. At 4K High, the 21 FPS average is below playable thresholds, and even at 1080p Low, the 65 FPS is only borderline for smooth action. The GPU's 80 W TDP suggests thermals are not the issue; the architecture simply lacks the raw throughput for this title's demands.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy: Low settings always deliver the highest average frame rate at any resolution, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1080p, Low (65 FPS) is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium (46 FPS) and High (41 FPS) are playable but not smooth. Ultra at 1080p averages 36 FPS, which is marginal for a fast-paced action game.

For a playable experience, 1080p Low is the best option, offering 65 FPS on average. This is 41% higher than Medium at the same resolution, and the visual quality loss is acceptable given the alternative of dropping below 60 FPS. At 1440p, Low (50 FPS) is the only preset that stays above 45 FPS; Medium (35 FPS) and High (31 FPS) are playable but with noticeable stutter potential. At 4K, no preset reaches 30 FPS, with Low at 33 FPS being the only one above 30—a borderline 30 FPS experience.

The Medium preset at 1080p provides a balance of 46 FPS, which is 29% lower than Low but likely offers better visual fidelity. However, the gap between Medium and High is smaller (46 vs 41 FPS, an 11% difference), suggesting Medium is the sweet spot for those who want better graphics without the full performance penalty. The Ultra preset at any resolution delivers the lowest frame rates, and its 18 FPS at 4K is unplayable.

Given the data, the recommended configuration for this combo is 1080p with Low settings for maximum fluidity, or 1080p Medium if visual quality is prioritized and the user is comfortable with sub-60 FPS. At 1440p, only Low is recommended, and 4K is not viable for gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 3311 out of 3720 tested combinations places this system in the bottom 11.0% of all CPU-GPU pairings for Control. This is a low position, but it is important to contextualize it: the rank reflects the total system performance, and the GPU's 9th percentile is the primary drag. The CPU, by contrast, sits at the 75th percentile among all CPUs, meaning the processor is far more capable than the graphics solution.

The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all older entry-level NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (1463 average score, 1.3% delta), the GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5%), and the GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5%). The Arc B390 outperforms these by a narrow margin—between 1.3% and 2.7%—which is negligible in real-world gaming. In Control, the measured frame rates are consistent with a GPU that barely edges out a GT 710, which itself was not designed for modern gaming.

The CPU's nearest rivals are a mixed bag: the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (21440 average score, 0.2% delta), the Intel Core i9-11900H (21367, 0.5%), and the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (21635, -0.7%). These deltas are all within 1.2%, indicating the Ryzen 5 2600's synthetic performance is comparable to a range of mobile and server chips. However, in Control, the CPU's strength is irrelevant because the GPU is the limiting factor.

The rank of 3311 out of 3720 means that only 409 combos are worse. This is a strong signal that the Arc B390 is the bottleneck, and any upgrade to a more capable GPU would dramatically improve the ranking. The CPU's 75th percentile suggests it could support a much faster graphics card without becoming the constraint.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any preset exceeds 60 FPS (Low at 65 FPS). At 1440p, the highest average is 50 FPS (Low), and at 4K, the best is 33 FPS (Low).

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?

A: At 4K, the highest average frame rate is 33 FPS on Low settings, with Medium at 24 FPS, High at 21 FPS, and Ultra at 18 FPS. These are below typical playable thresholds, so 4K is not recommended.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to other GPUs in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, placing it 1.3% above the GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% above the GeForce 800M (1460), and 2.7% above the GT 625 OEM (1446). Its percentile is 9th among all GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck in this setup?

A: The CPU has a 75th percentile standing among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21484. In Control, the frame rate scales with resolution and settings in a way that indicates the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low averages 65 FPS, Medium 46 FPS, High 41 FPS, and Ultra 36 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 29 FPS, or 81% higher on Low.

Q: Does the system-shared memory affect performance in Control?

A: The GPU's memory is system-shared, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory access, which is a factor in the low frame rates at higher resolutions, though the exact impact is not quantified in the measured data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured average frame rates for each resolution and settings combination are as follows:

At 1920x1080:

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

At 2560x1440:

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

At 3840x2160:

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

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a range of 13 FPS at 1080p (40-53), 10 FPS at 1440p (30-40), and 7 FPS at 4K (20-27). These ranges indicate some frame time variance, but the average values are the primary metric.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen architecture (Pinnacle Ridge), manufactured on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. Its cache hierarchy includes 96 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 16 MB L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 2600 scores 1248 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 157.3 in single-core, 5648 in Geekbench multi-core and 1154 in single-core, and 13160 in PassMark multithread. Its average benchmark score is 21484, placing it at the 75th percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals are within 1.2% in average score, including the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (21440, 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i9-11900H (21367, 0.5% delta).

In Control, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The measured frame rates are consistently low across all settings, and the scaling pattern with resolution points to the Arc B390 as the bottleneck. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for this game's physics and AI workload, and the boost clock of 3.90 GHz provides adequate single-thread performance for the game's main thread. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking suggests it could handle a much more powerful GPU without becoming the limiting factor, but with the Arc B390, the system is firmly GPU-bound.