Control

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX produces a striking performance profile in Control, one that showcases a substantial GPU advantage over the CPU in most scenarios. This combination ranks 676th out of 3,720 tested combos in the game, placing it in the top 18% of all configurations. The data reveals that while the Ryzen 5 3600 provides adequate foundation for high frame rates, the RX 7900 XTX's raw graphics horsepower dominates the measured results, especially at lower resolutions where CPU overhead becomes more apparent.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 3000 series, built on the Zen 2 architecture with the Matisse codename. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, and its 65W TDP reflects a modest power envelope for a desktop CPU. The processor features a 32 MB shared L3 cache, 512 KB L2 per core, and 64 KB L1 per core, all feeding into a dual-channel DDR4 memory interface with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU supports PCIe Gen 4 with 16 lanes and carries a launch MSRP of $199.

In benchmark terms, the Ryzen 5 3600 sits at the 71st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,035. Its nearest rivals in aggregate scores include the Intel Core i7-1260P (17,007, 0.2% higher), the Intel Core i5-11400 (17,067, 0.2% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7742 (16,998, 0.2% higher). These margins are razor-thin, indicating that the 3600's computational output is highly competitive with a range of mobile and desktop parts from different generations. Single-thread performance is respectable at 696 in 3DMark single-thread and 2,124 in Cinebench R23 single-core, while multi-thread scores reach 4,605 in 3DMark 16-thread and 15,045 in Cinebench R23 multi-core.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes most evident at 1080p, where the average FPS for Low settings reaches 171. This high frame rate suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower graphical loads. However, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p — from 171 to 123 FPS — indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution; instead, the GPU's workload scaling with settings drives the differences. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes further, as the RX 7900 XTX becomes the primary bottleneck. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration appears sufficient for Control's demands, as frame rates remain playable across all tested settings and resolutions, with no signs of CPU stall at the highest presets.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific CPU-GPU combination achieves a rank of 676 out of 3,720 tested combos in Control, which places it in the 81.8th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong showing, but the ranking reveals an interesting mismatch: the GPU alone sits at the 64th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 71st percentile among all CPUs. The combo's overall rank is higher than either component's individual percentile, suggesting that the pairing yields a synergistic benefit in this game. The data implies that the RX 7900 XTX's capabilities are not fully bottlenecked by the Ryzen 5 3600, at least not to the extent that would drag the combo's rank down to the GPU's percentile level.

When examining the GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores, the picture becomes more nuanced. The RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 19,410, with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB at 19,334 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 19,602 (1% lower), and the AMD FirePro D300 at 19,637 (1.2% lower). These deltas are small, but the RX 7900 XTX's actual in-game performance in Control far exceeds what these rival scores might suggest. The 4K High average of 72 FPS and 1440p High average of 107 FPS demonstrate that the GPU is delivering high-end results, and the combo rank of 676 reflects this.

The rank also benefits from the CPU's strong multi-threaded capabilities. The Ryzen 5 3600's 12 threads provide ample parallelism for Control's engine, which can utilize multiple cores for physics and AI. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 3,844 and 16-thread score of 4,605 indicate that the CPU maintains consistent throughput as thread count increases, avoiding the drop-off that some processors exhibit. This consistency likely contributes to the combo's high rank, as the CPU never becomes a severe bottleneck even in CPU-intensive scenes.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 142. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 107 FPS, a reduction of 24.6%. At 4K High, the average falls to 72 FPS, which is 32.7% lower than 1440p and 49.3% lower than 1080p. This progressive decline with resolution is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where the RX 7900 XTX's pixel throughput becomes the constraining factor.

The Low settings tell a similar story but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 171; at 1440p Low, it drops to 156; and at 4K Low, it falls to 115. The percentage drops from 1080p to 1440p are 8.8%, and from 1440p to 4K are 26.3%. The smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests that the CPU is providing enough frame throughput to keep the GPU busy, but the larger drop to 4K indicates that the GPU's rendering load is the dominant factor. The fact that 4K Low still achieves 115 FPS is notable, as it shows the GPU's raw power even at lower quality presets.

The Medium settings include min and max FPS values, offering additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 151 FPS with min 128 and max 173, a spread of 45 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 121 FPS with min 103 and max 139, a spread of 36 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 82 FPS with min 69 and max 94, a spread of 25 FPS. The narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that frame time variance decreases as the GPU becomes more consistently loaded, which is a sign of a stable GPU-bound scenario rather than CPU-induced stuttering.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear hierarchy across settings. Low settings produce an average of 171 FPS, Medium produces 151 FPS (with min 128 and max 173), High produces 142 FPS, and Ultra produces 123 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 48 FPS, or 28.1% of the Low value. This indicates that Control's graphical settings have a significant impact on performance at this resolution, but even the most demanding preset remains well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the same settings order persists. Low delivers 156 FPS, Medium delivers 121 FPS (with min 103 and max 139), High delivers 107 FPS, and Ultra delivers 93 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 63 FPS in absolute terms but represents a 40.4% reduction from Low to Ultra. The Medium settings show a min FPS of 103, which is notably lower than the min at 1080p Medium (128 FPS), suggesting that 1440p introduces more frame time variability.

At 3840x2160, the results reflect the GPU's limits more clearly. Low produces 115 FPS, Medium produces 82 FPS (with min 69 and max 94), High produces 72 FPS, and Ultra produces 63 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra difference is 52 FPS, and Ultra at 4K is the only setting across all resolutions that dips near 60 FPS, though it remains above that threshold. The Medium min FPS of 69 at 4K is still comfortably playable, and the max of 94 shows that the GPU can burst well above the average in less demanding scenes.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a RDNA 3.0 architecture GPU with the Navi 31 chip, built on a 5 nm process with 57,700 million transistors. It features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1929 MHz, with a boost clock of 2498 MHz and a game clock of 2365 MHz, while the memory runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The 6,144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 61.39 TFLOPS.

In Control, the GPU's 24 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for any settings at any resolution, as the game's texture requirements are unlikely to approach this capacity. The 960.0 GB/s bandwidth supports high-resolution rendering without memory bottlenecks, which is consistent with the measured FPS at 4K. The GPU's 96 ray tracing cores are relevant to Control's use of ray-traced reflections and indirect lighting, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance specifically. The GPU's 355W TDP and suggested 750W PSU indicate a power-hungry part, but the benchmark results show that this power translates into high frame rates across all tested configurations.

The GPU's percentile rank of 64 among all GPUs may seem modest given its performance in Control, but this is an average across many benchmark applications. The PassMark G3D score of 31,238 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,841 demonstrate strong synthetic performance, yet the nearest rivals in average score are older or lower-tier parts like the GTX 1060 3 GB and Quadro K5200. This suggests that the RX 7900 XTX's benchmark distribution is skewed by workloads that do not reflect gaming performance, whereas in Control it excels. The game's measured FPS at 4K Ultra (63 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (123 FPS) confirm that the GPU is a high-end performer in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Control. At 1080p, the High preset at 142 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, especially for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 151 FPS provides a marginal 6.3% FPS increase over High while sacrificing visual fidelity, making High the better choice for most users. Ultra at 123 FPS is still excellent, but the 13.4% drop from High may not justify the visual gains for competitive play.

At 1440p, the High preset at 107 FPS is ideal for 60 Hz displays and provides headroom for frame rate fluctuations. The Medium preset at 121 FPS is a viable alternative for users prioritizing smoother motion, while Ultra at 93 FPS remains above 60 and offers the best image quality. The Low preset at 156 FPS is unnecessary unless targeting very high refresh rates, as the visual degradation is significant for minimal FPS gains over Medium at 121 FPS (a 28.9% increase).

At 4K, the High preset at 72 FPS is the recommended choice, as it stays well above 60 FPS and delivers strong visual quality. The Medium preset at 82 FPS provides an 13.9% FPS boost over High, but the visual difference may be noticeable. Ultra at 63 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, so it is only recommended for users who prioritize maximum fidelity over smoothness. The Low preset at 115 FPS is not recommended at 4K, as the visual downgrade is substantial for a resolution that already benefits from high detail settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this combo for a 60 Hz monitor?*

A: At 4K, the High preset delivers 72 FPS, and Ultra delivers 63 FPS, both above 60 FPS, making 4K viable. At 1440p, High (107 FPS) and Ultra (93 FPS) provide ample margin, while 1080p High (142 FPS) is excellent for high-refresh displays.

Q: How much FPS difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The average FPS at 1080p Low is 171, while at 1080p Ultra it is 123, a difference of 48 FPS or 28.1% of the Low value. The Medium preset sits at 151 FPS, and High at 142 FPS.

*Q: Does this combo maintain at least 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in Control?*

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 63, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. However, this leaves minimal headroom for complex scenes, as the Medium preset at 4K has a min FPS of 69.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 17,035, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-1260P (17,007) and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i5-11400 (17,067). It also scores 0.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 7742 (16,998).

Q: What is the FPS range for the Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average FPS is 121, with a minimum of 103 and a maximum of 139. This represents a 36 FPS spread, indicating some frame time variability.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 4K in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial (e.g., High settings drop from 142 to 72 FPS), and the GPU's high workload at 4K dominates, while the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration provides sufficient throughput.