Control

Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title, places the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination in a position where the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. This pairing, with a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 2 processor and a Blackwell 2.0 GPU, delivers frame rates that range from comfortably playable to exceptionally high, depending on the workload imposed by the game's rendering engine. The measured FPS data indicates that the RTX 5070 is the dominant component, but the Ryzen 5 3600's capabilities become increasingly relevant as resolution decreases, a dynamic that defines the overall character of this combo's performance profile.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results show a predictable yet informative decline in average frame rates as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 132.9 at 1080p to 99.5 at 1440p, a decrease of 33.4 FPS, and then further to 67.4 at 4K, a substantial 65.5 FPS reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern suggests that the game becomes increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, where the rendering load on the RTX 5070's 6144 shading units and 80 ROPs grows exponentially, outweighing the CPU's role in frame production.

The data for Low settings provides a particularly clear view of this dynamic. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 170.3 FPS, which is the highest score recorded across all configurations. Moving to 2560x1440 Low reduces this to 156.2 FPS, a modest 8.3% drop, but the transition to 3840x2160 Low yields 103.6 FPS, a significant 39.1% decrease from the 1440p figure. The relatively small penalty between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at these lower resolutions, but the 4K workload finally saturates the GPU's capabilities, exposing a more pronounced performance cliff.

Ultra settings amplify this effect, with the frame rate at 4K falling to 55.9 FPS, which is less than half of the 115.9 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra. This consistent pattern across all settings—High, Low, Medium, and Ultra—confirms that Control's rendering pipeline scales heavily with pixel count, and the RTX 5070's 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance are the primary limiting factors at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, underscoring the exponential cost of 4K rendering and reinforcing the GPU as the bottleneck at the highest resolution tested.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, based on the Zen 2 architecture. Its benchmark scores, such as 15,045 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,124 in single-core, place it in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18,129. This positions it as a capable mid-range processor, albeit one that is now several generations old, and its performance is closely matched by rivals like the Intel Core i5-11400, which has a deltaPct of -0.1, and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 at -0.2.

In Control, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU has spare capacity. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 170.3 FPS, suggesting that the Ryzen 5 3600 can maintain high frame rates when the graphics workload is light. However, the data shows that even at 1080p, the CPU does not become a severe bottleneck, as the frame rate still scales with settings changes. The jump from 115.9 FPS at Ultra to 170.3 FPS at Low represents a 46.9% increase, indicating that both CPU and GPU are contributing to the performance envelope, with the GPU's load being the more sensitive variable.

The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for a game like Control. The single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 696 and a Cinebench R20 single-core score of 892, is sufficient to avoid crippling frame pacing issues, but the data does not suggest that the CPU is a strength of this combo. Compared to the RTX 5070's capabilities, which place it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 41,687, the CPU's relative weakness means that at 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the CPU's contribution is largely masked.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Control?

A: The highest average frame rate is 170.3 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 55.9 FPS, which is the lowest score recorded in the measured data.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the frame rate varies significantly with settings, from 115.9 FPS at Ultra to 170.3 FPS at Low, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiter, as reducing its workload yields substantial gains.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 99.5 at 2560x1440 to 67.4 at 3840x2160, a difference of 32.1 FPS.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18,129, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-11400's score of 18,150, a negligible performance difference.

Q: What is the best performance per settings level at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 156.2 FPS, Medium yields 112.5 FPS, High yields 99.5 FPS, and Ultra yields 84.8 FPS, with Low being the highest.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Control, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 370th out of 1,636 combos, placing it in the top 22.6% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects a strong overall performance, though it is not at the very top tier, suggesting that there are 369 other configurations that achieve higher average frame rates in this game. The rank is likely influenced by the CPU's age, as newer processors with higher single-thread scores could push the frame rates higher at lower resolutions.

The GPU's high percentile ranking (83rd) and substantial average benchmark score (41,687) suggest that the RTX 5070 is the primary driver of this combo's position. However, the CPU's 76th percentile and lower average score (18,129) mean that this combo does not fully leverage the GPU's potential in CPU-limited scenarios. The data indicates that with a more powerful CPU, this combo could rank higher, as the measured FPS at 1080p Low (170.3) does not fully saturate the GPU's capabilities, leaving headroom for improvement.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows a wide range of performance depending on settings. Low settings produce the highest average of 170.3 FPS, followed by Medium at 149.1 FPS, High at 132.9 FPS, and Ultra at 115.9 FPS. The spread of 54.4 FPS between Low and Ultra indicates that Control is sensitive to graphical fidelity at this resolution, with the GPU's load scaling predictably.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across the board. Low settings average 156.2 FPS, Medium drops to 112.5 FPS, High falls to 99.5 FPS, and Ultra is the lowest at 84.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 71.4 FPS, but the relative drop from 1080p is most pronounced at Ultra, where the frame rate falls by 31.1 FPS, highlighting the increased GPU workload at higher pixel counts.

At 3840x2160, the performance is more constrained. Low settings average 103.6 FPS, Medium runs at 75.2 FPS, High achieves 67.4 FPS, and Ultra dips to 55.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 47.7 FPS, but the absolute numbers are lower, with even Low settings failing to reach the 1080p Ultra score. This pattern confirms that 4K is a significant challenge for this combo, with the RTX 5070's resources being fully taxed, resulting in playable but not exceptionally high frame rates at the highest settings.