Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three resolutions reveal a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, with the RTX 5080 paired with the Ryzen 5 3600. At 1080p, the average frame rate across all settings is high, but the scaling from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K shows a consistent and significant drop-off, indicating that the graphics card is the primary performance limiter as resolution increases.

Looking at the High preset data, the move from 1920x1080 (145 FPS average) to 2560x1440 (122 FPS) represents a 15.9% performance decrease. The jump from 1440p to 3840x2160 (82 FPS) is steeper, a 32.8% reduction. This progressive decline is characteristic of a system where the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become increasingly taxed at higher resolutions. The RTX 5080's 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 293.1 GPixel/s pixel rate are being fully utilized, and the data shows that the scaling is not linear, with the 4K resolution causing a disproportionately larger hit.

The Low preset further illustrates the GPU-bound nature. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 171 FPS, while at 4K Low it drops to 130 FPS. This is a 24% reduction, which is less severe than the High preset's 43% drop from 1080p to 4K. This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU has more headroom, but the GPU is still the limiting factor. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K (130 FPS vs 72 FPS) is a massive 80%, showing that the graphics card's compute resources are the bottleneck when visual fidelity is maximized.

The data points to a system where the Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p but becomes less of a factor as resolution climbs. The scaling pattern is smooth and predictable, with no anomalous spikes or drops that would suggest a CPU limitation. The RTX 5080 is clearly the dominant component in this pairing, and the frame rate curves are defined almost entirely by its performance envelope across the three resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved by this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 171 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the peak performance point for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 pairing in Control.

Q: How does the performance at 4K Ultra compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the system averages 72 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it averages 138 FPS. This represents a 47.8% decrease in performance when moving from the lower to the higher resolution at the same settings.

Q: Is there a significant difference between the Medium and High presets?

A: Yes, the data shows a consistent gap. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 137 FPS, while High averages 122 FPS, a difference of 12.3%. At 4K, the gap narrows slightly, with Medium at 93 FPS and High at 82 FPS, a difference of 13.4%.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded in the dataset?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 72 FPS, which is observed at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra preset. This is the most demanding configuration tested.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 3600 bottleneck the RTX 5080 at any resolution?

A: The benchmark results do not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 171 FPS, showing the CPU can push high frame rates, but the scaling pattern suggests the GPU is the primary limiter across all tested settings.

Q: Are the minimum FPS values provided for all settings?

A: No, minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 128 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 117 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 79 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the undisputed performance driver in this configuration. The data confirms that its specifications are directly correlated with the measured frame rates. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for feeding the high-resolution textures and effects in Control at 4K. The difference between the 4K Low (130 FPS) and 4K Medium (93 FPS) settings highlights the memory and bandwidth demands, as the Medium preset likely increases texture detail and asset streaming.

The GPU's clock speeds also play a role in the scaling. With a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, the RTX 5080 maintains high throughput. The benchmark results show that the card's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is the limiting factor when rendering complex scenes with ray tracing or high particle counts. The transition from High to Ultra at 1440p (122 FPS to 106 FPS, a 15.1% drop) is a clear indication of the compute shaders and pixel shaders being pushed to their limits.

The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains a playable 72 FPS average. The 16 GB frame buffer is sufficient for Control's requirements, and the data does not show any signs of texture swapping or stuttering that would indicate a VRAM shortage. The GPU's 112 ROPs and 336 TMUs are also well-utilized, as the pixel fill rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s are reflected in the smooth scaling between resolutions.

The RTX 5080's performance in this game places it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, according to the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score of 56083 is slightly above the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698), but slightly below the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (57367). These rival comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS data in Control confirms that the RTX 5080 is a high-end card capable of delivering excellent frame rates at all tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system is capable of very high frame rates. The Low preset achieves 171 FPS, which is the highest average in the entire dataset. The Medium preset yields 151 FPS, with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS. High settings drop to 145 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 138 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 33 FPS, or 23.9%, indicating that the CPU has enough headroom to allow the GPU to scale its performance with settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a noticeable step down. Low settings average 156 FPS, which is a 9.6% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS. High settings produce 122 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 106 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 50 FPS, or 47.2%, which is a larger relative difference than at 1080p, showing that the GPU's compute resources are becoming more strained.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly lower but still playable. The Low preset averages 130 FPS, which is a 23.9% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. High settings drop to 82 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 72 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep, with the Low preset dropping by 20% and the Ultra preset dropping by 32.1%. The minimum FPS of 79 FPS at 4K Medium suggests that the frame times are relatively stable, but the overall performance is clearly bound by the GPU's pixel processing capabilities.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. This reveals that the frame pacing is consistent, with the minimum FPS being about 78-85% of the average. The maximum FPS at 1080p Medium is 173, which is close to the Low preset's average, indicating that the Medium preset can occasionally hit very high frame rates when the scene is less demanding.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this system. At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 137 FPS, which is only 12.3% lower than the Low preset's 156 FPS but provides a significantly better visual experience. The High preset at 1440p (122 FPS) is also a strong choice, but the Medium preset's minimum FPS of 117 ensures a smoother experience with less variance.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. It delivers an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 4K (82 FPS) is also viable, but the Medium preset provides a 13.4% performance boost with a minimal visual fidelity trade-off. The Ultra preset at 4K (72 FPS) is playable but may suffer from occasional frame rate dips in demanding scenes, as indicated by the lack of min/max data for that preset.

At 1080p, the High preset (145 FPS) is the recommended setting. The Ultra preset (138 FPS) offers a marginal 5.1% performance decrease but may not provide a noticeable visual improvement on most monitors. The Medium preset (151 FPS) is also a good option for users with high refresh rate displays, as the minimum FPS of 128 ensures a consistent experience.

The data indicates that the Low preset is not necessary on this hardware, as even the Ultra preset at 4K maintains a playable frame rate. The system has enough GPU headroom to run the game at Medium or High settings at all resolutions without compromising on frame rate. The Medium preset emerges as the sweet spot, offering the best combination of high average FPS and stable minimum FPS across the board.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, plays a supporting role in this configuration. The benchmark data shows that it does not bottleneck the RTX 5080 in Control, but its influence is visible in the higher frame rate ranges. The CPU's boost clock of 4.20 GHz and base clock of 3.60 GHz provide sufficient single-thread performance for the game's game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores are respectable but not exceptional. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15045 and single-core score of 2124 place it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11400 (avg score 17067, deltaPct -0.2) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (avg score 17007, deltaPct 0.2). These scores indicate that the Ryzen 5 3600 is a mid-range processor that can handle modern games but may not provide the headroom for extremely high frame rates in CPU-intensive titles.

In Control, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where frame rates are highest. The difference between the Low preset (171 FPS) and Ultra preset (138 FPS) at 1080p is 33 FPS, which suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the GPU is still able to scale its output based on settings. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller difference between presets at lower resolutions, as the CPU would cap the maximum frame rate.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth are sufficient for Control's requirements. The game does not appear to be heavily dependent on memory bandwidth or cache size, as the frame rates scale smoothly across resolutions. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 4605 and 2-thread score of 1361 show that the CPU has balanced multi-threaded and single-threaded performance, which is adequate for the game's mixed workload.

The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 3600 is a capable partner for the RTX 5080 in this game. The GPU is clearly the dominant component, and the CPU does not hinder performance at any resolution or setting. The system achieves high frame rates across the board, and the CPU's 71st percentile ranking is sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output. While a more powerful CPU might yield slightly higher frame rates at 1080p, the measured data shows that the current pairing is well-balanced for Control.