Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a strong Control experience across all tested resolutions, with the combo ranking in the 365th position out of 1,636 tested CPU-GPU combinations. The GPU’s 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves ample for this 2019 Action Adventure title. The CPU, a Zen 2 Matisse part with 6 cores and 12 threads, keeps pace well at 1080p but becomes less of a factor as resolution increases, shifting the bottleneck decisively toward the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest 1080p average FPS is 173.4, achieved at Low settings. Medium settings deliver 149.5 FPS, High settings 130.4 FPS, and Ultra settings 115.9 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18,129, which is effectively tied with the Intel Core i5-11400 (18,150, deltaPct -0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18,158, deltaPct -0.2). It sits slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18,101, deltaPct 0.2).

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 130.4 at 1920x1080 to 98 at 2560x1440, and further to 69.7 at 3840x2160. This represents a 46.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the RX 7900 XT outperform its closest rival in the PassMark G3D benchmark?

A: Yes, the RX 7900 XT scores 29,009 in PassMark G3D. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, scores 38,349 in average benchmark score (deltaPct 0), but the RX 7900 XT’s overall average benchmark score is 38,358, slightly higher.

Q: What is the recommended preset for 4K gaming based on measured data?

A: For 4K, High settings deliver 69.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings drop to 59.6 FPS, so High is the recommended preset for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: How much faster is the GPU’s boost clock compared to its base clock?

A: The RX 7900 XT has a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, representing a 72.6% increase in clock speed under boost conditions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for Control. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory is far beyond what this game requires, but the 800.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures texture streaming and high-resolution rendering face no memory bottlenecks. The GPU’s 5,376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs provide a robust foundation for pixel-heavy workloads, with a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s.

The clock behavior is telling: the base clock sits at 1387 MHz, the game clock at 2025 MHz, and the boost clock at 2394 MHz. The large gap between base and boost suggests the card can sustain high clocks under load, which aligns with the measured FPS data. At 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 59.6 FPS, indicating the GPU is working near its limits. The 84 ray tracing cores are present, but Control’s implementation of ray tracing is not separately benchmarked here, so the standard rasterization results stand.

The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 29,009 places it in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38,358. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (deltaPct 0) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct 0.6), showing the RX 7900 XT is competitive with high-end mobile parts but not necessarily desktop flagships. The 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 103.0 TFLOPS of FP16 compute (2:1 ratio) give it ample raw horsepower for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS moves from 173.4 at 1080p to 158.7 at 1440p (a 8.5% drop), then to 104 at 4K (a 34.4% drop from 1440p). This steep 4K decline indicates the GPU is becoming the primary limiter, as the CPU has more headroom at lower resolutions.

At High settings, the scaling is more uniform: 130.4 FPS at 1080p, 98 at 1440p (a 24.8% drop), and 69.7 at 4K (a 28.9% drop from 1440p). The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 46.6%, which is consistent with a GPU that has to render four times the pixels. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 115.9, 86.6, and 59.6 FPS respectively, with the 4K figure barely above 60 FPS.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 57.5 FPS (173.4 vs 115.9). At 4K, that gap narrows to 44.4 FPS (104 vs 59.6). This compression suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is saturated even at Low settings, leaving less room for settings-based performance differentiation. The CPU’s role diminishes from 1080p to 4K, as evidenced by the smaller absolute differences between settings at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers high frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 173.4 FPS on average, Medium settings 149.5 FPS, High settings 130.4 FPS, and Ultra settings 115.9 FPS. The jump from Medium to High is a 19.1 FPS reduction, while High to Ultra is a 14.5 FPS reduction, showing diminishing returns as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 158.7 (Low), 110 (Medium), 98 (High), and 86.6 (Ultra). The difference between Low and Medium is 48.7 FPS, which is the largest single-settings gap in the entire dataset, indicating that Medium settings introduce significant GPU workload at this resolution. High to Ultra sees a smaller 11.4 FPS drop.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress further: 104 FPS at Low, 74.5 FPS at Medium, 69.7 FPS at High, and 59.6 FPS at Ultra. The Low to Medium gap is 29.5 FPS, while High to Ultra is 10.1 FPS. Notably, the 4K Ultra result of 59.6 FPS is the only measured average below 60 FPS in the entire dataset, suggesting that this preset is at the edge of playability. The 4K High result of 69.7 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making it the highest settings preset that maintains smooth performance at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays with high refresh rates, High settings at 130.4 FPS is the best balance, as it exceeds 120 FPS and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 115.9 FPS is also viable for 120 Hz displays, but High provides a safer margin.

For 1440p, High settings at 98 FPS is the standout recommendation. It offers a smooth experience for 100 Hz or 120 Hz displays, and the 86.6 FPS Ultra result is acceptable but closer to the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 110 FPS is tempting, but the visual quality trade-off from High to Medium is substantial in Control, given the game’s atmospheric lighting and particle effects.

For 4K, High settings at 69.7 FPS is the clear winner. Ultra at 59.6 FPS is technically below 60 FPS, which can introduce stutter on standard 60 Hz displays. Medium at 74.5 FPS offers a slight performance boost but sacrifices visual fidelity. Low at 104 FPS is unnecessary at 4K, as the GPU is capable of High settings without dropping below 60 FPS. The data indicates that High is the sweet spot for this combo at 4K, providing a 10.1 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining a 69.7 FPS average.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a supporting role in this pairing. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz are modest by modern standards, but its Zen 2 architecture provides solid single-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,124 and multicore score of 15,045 show a balanced profile, while the PassMark multithread score of 17,700 indicates strong multi-threaded capability for a 6-core part.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 18,129 places it in the 76th percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-11400 (deltaPct -0.1) and AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (deltaPct 0.2). The 3DMark scores are revealing: 3,844 for 8 threads and 4,605 for 16 threads, showing that scaling from 8 to 16 threads adds only 19.8% performance, which is typical for a 6-core/12-thread part.

In Control, the CPU’s impact is most visible at 1080p Low settings, where the 173.4 FPS average suggests the GPU is not fully saturated. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 57.5 FPS, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU enough frames at lower settings. However, at 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck at all settings. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game’s data demands, and the 3,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die reflect a mature 7nm design that balances power and thermals at 65 W TDP. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 4 support with 16 lanes ensures the GPU has a high-bandwidth connection, though Control is unlikely to saturate even PCIe Gen 3 bandwidth. If paired with a faster CPU, the 1080p frame rates might improve slightly, but the measured data shows the RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of performance in this configuration.