Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 pairing delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, with 4K requiring settings compromises. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 3070 provides the horsepower, while the Ryzen 5 2600 keeps pace at lower resolutions but becomes a secondary factor as pixel count rises. This combo ranks in the 754th position out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales from 1080p to 4K across all four settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 103.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 76.3 FPS at 2560x1440, then falls further to 49.6 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 26% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 52% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as resolution climbs.

At Low settings, the pattern shifts. The 1920x1080 result is 148.2 FPS, dropping to 120.6 FPS at 2560x1440 and 82.8 FPS at 3840x2160. The percentage drops here are smaller in absolute terms but still significant: 19% from 1080p to 1440p, and 44% from 1080p to 4K. This suggests that at Low settings, the Ryzen 5 2600 is more capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the RTX 3070 still dominates the performance curve at 4K.

The Medium preset shows 115.4 FPS at 1080p, 85.8 FPS at 1440p, and 57.6 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce the lowest overall numbers: 86.9 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 43.6 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 61.3 FPS, while at 4K that gap narrows to 39.2 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions indicates that pixel throughput, not CPU capability, becomes the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 2600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides enough headroom at 1080p to let the RTX 3070 stretch, but at 4K the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the binding constraints.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 754 out of 1636 tested combinations places this system in the 46th percentile of all tested pairings. This is a competitive position, considering the Ryzen 5 2600 is a 2018-era CPU with a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the RTX 3070 sits at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs. The combination performs slightly better than each component's individual percentile would suggest, indicating good synergy in this game.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-1345U with an average score of 19691 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U at 19508 (0.6% lower), the Intel Core i5-11600KF at 19740 (0.6% higher), and the Intel Core i7-10700F at 19485 (0.7% lower). These deltas are minimal, meaning the Ryzen 5 2600's processing power is essentially on par with these more modern or higher-clocked alternatives. The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern: the AMD FirePro S7150 is 0.6% higher, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is 0.9% lower, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is 1% lower, and the AMD Radeon R9 M295X is 1.1% higher.

What this means for Control specifically is that the combo is not held back by any single bottleneck. The 46th percentile overall rank reflects a balanced system where neither the CPU nor GPU is dramatically outclassing the other. In a game like Control, which uses DirectX 12 Ultimate features, the RTX 3070's 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores provide hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS support, though the measured FPS data here does not include those features enabled.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the data shows that 4K requires Medium settings at 57.6 FPS, which is below the threshold. High settings at 4K produce 49.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 43.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings deliver 76.3 FPS, comfortably above 60, while Ultra hits 67 FPS. At 1920x1080, even Ultra settings maintain 86.9 FPS, making this resolution the safest bet for maximum visual quality.

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the display. For 4K users, Medium settings at 57.6 FPS is the highest preset that stays near playable frame rates, though some may prefer Low at 82.8 FPS for smoother motion. For 1440p displays, High settings at 76.3 FPS offers a strong balance, with Ultra at 67 FPS still viable for those prioritizing image quality. At 1080p, Ultra at 86.9 FPS is the clear choice, as the GPU has ample headroom.

The scaling from Low to High at 1440p shows a 44.3 FPS difference (120.6 to 76.3), while the jump from High to Ultra is only 9.3 FPS (76.3 to 67). This suggests diminishing returns beyond High settings at 1440p—the visual uplift from High to Ultra may not justify the frame rate loss. At 1080p, the same pattern holds: Low to High gains 44.9 FPS (148.2 to 103.3), but High to Ultra loses 16.4 FPS (103.3 to 86.9). The data indicates that High is the sweet spot across all resolutions, offering the best ratio of visual fidelity to performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is available. Low settings produce 148.2 FPS, Medium hits 115.4 FPS, High reaches 103.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 86.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 61.3 FPS, and every preset exceeds 60 FPS, making 1080p the resolution where this combo has the most flexibility.

At 2560x1440, Low delivers 120.6 FPS, Medium 85.8 FPS, High 76.3 FPS, and Ultra 67 FPS. All presets stay above 60 FPS, though Ultra is barely above the threshold. This resolution is well-suited to the RTX 3070's 8 GB memory capacity, as the 256-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth handle the increased pixel load without severe penalties.

At 3840x2160, the results tighten. Low produces 82.8 FPS, Medium 57.6 FPS, High 49.6 FPS, and Ultra 43.6 FPS. Only Low settings clear the 60 FPS mark, and even that is by a comfortable margin. The gap between Low and Medium is 25.2 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 8 FPS, and High to Ultra is 6 FPS. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes the primary constraint, as the quality settings have less impact on frame rate than they do at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 is the dominant component in this pairing, particularly at 4K where the CPU's influence diminishes. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is adequate for Control at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with High or Ultra settings, the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 256-bit bus are taxed heavily. The benchmark results show a 43.6 FPS average at 4K Ultra, which is below the 60 FPS target, indicating that the memory subsystem is the limiting factor.

The GPU's clock speeds—1500 MHz base and 1725 MHz boost—are typical for the Ampere architecture. The 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units provide substantial compute throughput, as evidenced by the 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance. In Control, this translates to strong rasterization performance, but the game's use of DirectX 12 Ultimate features, including ray tracing, would rely on the 46 RT cores, which are not reflected in the measured FPS data.

The GPU's nearest rival comparison shows it is statistically equivalent to the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (0.9% lower average score) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (1% lower). This places the RTX 3070 in a competitive position, though Control's specific engine may favor one architecture over another. The 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that this is a high-end card, but not at the very top of the stack.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 82.8. Medium drops to 57.6 FPS, High to 49.6 FPS, and Ultra to 43.6 FPS, all of which are below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with High settings at 76.3 FPS and Ultra at 67 FPS, both exceeding 60 FPS while providing strong visual quality.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 2600 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 19616 is within 0.7% of the Intel Core i7-10700F (19485) and within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (19508), showing it remains competitive.

Q: Is the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Control?

A: Yes, at 1080p and 1440p across all settings. At 4K, the VRAM capacity is adequate, but the memory bandwidth becomes a constraint, as seen in the significant FPS drops at higher settings.

Q: What settings should a 1440p monitor user choose?

A: High settings at 76.3 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a 9.3 FPS improvement over Ultra while likely offering minimal visual difference in gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 754th out of 1636 combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier. This reflects a balanced pairing where neither component significantly bottlenecks the other in Control.