Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination delivers a solid, if not spectacular, 1080p experience in Control. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, and the frame rates reflect a card that is now several generations old. The data provides a clear picture of what this pairing can achieve, with the most playable results found at 1080p on Medium settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p, the RTX 2060 has enough headroom to push frame rates well above 60 FPS on lower presets, but the picture changes dramatically as pixel count increases. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings drops the average frame rate from 68 FPS to 51 FPS, a reduction of 17 FPS or roughly 25%. The jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings is even more punishing, with the average falling from 51 FPS to 35 FPS, another 16 FPS drop.

This scaling pattern tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p, the CPU can still feed the GPU reasonably well, but at 4K, the RTX 2060's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus are simply overwhelmed by the pixel throughput required. The 4K Medium result of 39 FPS average and the 4K Low result of 55 FPS suggest that even with reduced graphical fidelity, the card cannot maintain a smooth 60 FPS experience at this resolution.

The frame time data available for Medium settings reinforces this. At 1080p Medium, the range is 65 to 88 FPS, showing a relatively tight band. At 1440p Medium, the range widens to 49 to 66 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it stretches to 33 to 45 FPS. The increasing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is under progressively more strain, causing more variance in frame delivery.

For a game like Control, which features heavy use of physics and particle effects, the 4K results of 30 to 35 FPS on High and Ultra presets are essentially unplayable for most users. Even the 4K Low setting at 55 FPS would feel inconsistent. The data clearly indicates that this combination is best suited to 1080p or, at most, 1440p with adjusted settings.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the only resolution where this pairing consistently delivers playable frame rates across multiple presets. The 1080p Medium setting produces an average of 76 FPS, while 1080p High averages 68 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset at 81 FPS and Medium at 58 FPS approach acceptable performance, and 4K results are mostly below 40 FPS.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but the experience will be subpar. The 4K Low preset averages 55 FPS, which is borderline, but the Medium preset drops to 39 FPS and High falls to 35 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K averages just 30 FPS. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are insufficient for a smooth 4K experience in this title.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 15290 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. It is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, which scores 15283 with a 0% delta, and the AMD Radeon 680M at 15270 with a 0.1% delta. It sits slightly above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which scores 15199 with a 0.6% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 at 15171 with a 0.8% delta.

Q: What CPU is the Ryzen 5 2600 comparable to?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600's average benchmark score of 21484 places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. It is nearly identical in performance to the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, which scores 21440 with a 0.2% delta, and the Intel Core i9-11900H at 21367 with a 0.5% delta. It also outperforms the AMD EPYC 9454, which scores 21223 with a 1.2% delta.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for the RTX 2060 in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU can keep up with the GPU, as evidenced by the 107 FPS result on Low settings. However, at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 4K results drop to 35 FPS on High, which is far below what the CPU is capable of feeding. The bottleneck shifts almost entirely to the GPU as resolution increases.

Q: What are the frame rate ranges on Medium settings?

A: The measured data includes min and max FPS values only for Medium presets. At 1080p, the range is 65 to 88 FPS with an average of 76 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 49 to 66 FPS with an average of 58 FPS. At 4K, the range narrows to 33 to 45 FPS with an average of 39 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 2000 series, built on the Zen architecture using 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. This processor sits in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21484.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p, where the frame rates are high enough to potentially expose a CPU limitation. The 1080p Low preset achieves 107 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. However, the 1080p Ultra preset drops to 59 FPS, which is likely due to the increased graphical load on the GPU rather than a CPU limitation.

The Ryzen 5 2600's 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with a bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s are adequate for this game. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 2239 and multi-thread score of 13160 indicate that it can handle the game's logic and physics calculations without becoming a major constraint at mainstream resolutions.

The CPU's position relative to its nearest rivals is noteworthy. It performs within 0.5% of the Intel Core i9-11900H and Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, despite being from an older generation. This suggests that the Ryzen 5 2600 retains enough single-thread and multi-thread performance to avoid being the primary bottleneck in this pairing.

At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes significantly. The frame rates at these resolutions are dictated by the RTX 2060's rendering capabilities, not by the processor's throughput. The data shows that even the 4K Low preset at 55 FPS is likely GPU-bound, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at that rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for this hardware combination. The sweet spot for this pairing in Control is 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers an average of 76 FPS with a range of 65 to 88 FPS. This provides a smooth, responsive experience that takes advantage of the GPU's capabilities without pushing it to its limits.

For users with 1080p monitors who want higher visual fidelity, the High preset at 68 FPS is a viable alternative. The drop from Medium to High costs only 8 FPS on average, which is a reasonable trade-off for improved graphics. The Ultra preset at 59 FPS is still playable, but it brings the frame rate dangerously close to the 60 FPS threshold, and any demanding scene could cause noticeable stuttering.

At 1440p, the choices become more constrained. The Low preset at 81 FPS is the only setting that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 58 FPS is workable, but it sits below the 60 FPS target and the frame time range of 49 to 66 FPS indicates occasional dips. The High preset at 51 FPS and Ultra preset at 45 FPS are not recommended for a smooth experience.

The 4K resolution is not recommended for this GPU. Even the Low preset at 55 FPS is marginal, and the Medium preset at 39 FPS falls well below acceptable playability. Users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution to 1440p or consider a more powerful GPU.

The data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. It is the only preset with complete frame time data, and the consistency of those results—65 to 88 FPS at 1080p, 49 to 66 FPS at 1440p, and 33 to 45 FPS at 4K—indicates that it is the most stable option for this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2950 out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places it in the bottom 21% of all tested configurations, which reflects the age of both components relative to the game's requirements.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance ceiling. The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 15290 puts it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, which is a middling position. Its nearest rivals—the GTX 580, Radeon 680M, RTX 3050 OEM, and RX 7600—all score within 0.8% of it, indicating that the 2060 is at the lower end of modern GPU performance.

The CPU's ranking is more favorable. The Ryzen 5 2600's 75th percentile position among all CPUs means it is not the primary reason for this combo's low overall rank. The processor performs comparably to much newer chips like the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V and Core i9-11900H, suggesting that the CPU could support a more powerful GPU in a future upgrade.

The combination's rank of 2950 out of 3720 is consistent with the measured frame rates. A combo that averages 35 FPS at 4K High and 51 FPS at 1440p High is not going to compete with modern high-end systems that can push 4K at 60 FPS or higher. However, the ranking does not tell the whole story—at 1080p Medium, this combo delivers a perfectly playable 76 FPS, which is all many users need.

For context, the CPU's nearest rivals all have average scores within 1.2% of the Ryzen 5 2600, and the GPU's rivals are within 0.8%. This means that swapping in a slightly different CPU or GPU would not meaningfully change this combo's ranking. The system is what it is: a capable 1080p machine that struggles at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for this combination in Control is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 107 FPS average
• Medium: 76 FPS average, 65 FPS minimum, 88 FPS maximum
• High: 68 FPS average
• Ultra: 59 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 81 FPS average
• Medium: 58 FPS average, 49 FPS minimum, 66 FPS maximum
• High: 51 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 55 FPS average
• Medium: 39 FPS average, 33 FPS minimum, 45 FPS maximum
• High: 35 FPS average
• Ultra: 30 FPS average

The 1080p Low result of 107 FPS stands out as the highest measured frame rate for this combo, indicating that the CPU and GPU can work well together when the graphical load is light. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is the lowest, showing the GPU's limitations at maximum resolution and settings.

The Medium preset data provides the most detailed picture of performance consistency. At 1080p, the 65 to 88 FPS range shows a 23 FPS spread, which is noticeable but manageable. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 17 FPS (49 to 66), and at 4K, it narrows further to 12 FPS (33 to 45). This narrowing at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is consistently hitting its performance ceiling, with less variance because it is always fully utilized.

The progression from 107 FPS at 1080p Low to 30 FPS at 4K Ultra represents a 77 FPS drop. This is a stark illustration of how resolution and settings scale with this hardware. Users who want to maintain 60 FPS or higher should target 1080p Medium or High, or 1440p Low. Users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate can push to 1440p Medium at 58 FPS, but anything beyond that will result in a compromised experience.