Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and AMD Radeon RX 570 combination delivers a strictly entry-level experience in Control, with the data indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at every tested resolution. The measured frame rates show a clear progression from unplayable at 4K to only marginally acceptable at 1080p, placing this combo in the bottom 5% of all tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a steep and consistent penalty as resolution increases, confirming that the AMD Radeon RX 570's rendering capabilities are exhausted well before the CPU becomes a limiting factor. At 1080p High settings, the combo averages 36 FPS; moving to 1440p High drops performance by 25% to 27 FPS, and 4K High falls to 18 FPS, a 50% loss from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where pixel throughput, not geometry or draw calls, dictates the final frame rate.

The Low preset tells a similar story with slightly better absolute numbers. The 1080p Low average of 57 FPS drops to 43 FPS at 1440p (a 24.6% reduction) and then to 29 FPS at 4K (a 32.6% reduction from 1440p). The fact that even the lowest settings cannot hold a playable 60 FPS at 1080p suggests that the RX 570's raw fillrate and shader output are simply insufficient for Control's rendering demands. The 4 GB VRAM buffer, while not explicitly tested for capacity limits, likely contributes to the severe 4K performance collapse.

The Medium preset provides the only complete data set with minimum and maximum frame times. At 1080p Medium, the average is 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 46 FPS. At 1440p Medium, this falls to 30 FPS average (26 min, 35 max), and at 4K Medium, the average drops to 21 FPS (17 min, 24 max). The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium of 17 FPS indicates significant frame pacing issues, not just low average throughput. The gap between the 1080p and 1440p Medium averages (10 FPS) is identical to the gap between 1440p and 4K (9 FPS), demonstrating a linear scaling penalty that points squarely at the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel processing limits.

Ultra settings are effectively unplayable across the board: 31 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure of 16 FPS is the lowest recorded result for this combo and represents a 48.4% drop from 1080p Ultra. The data suggests that Control at 4K with this hardware is only feasible at Low settings, and even then the 29 FPS average falls short of smooth gameplay. The resolution scaling analysis indicates that the RX 570's 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are the hard ceilings; reducing resolution from 4K to 1080p provides roughly a 2x improvement in frame rate, which is the expected theoretical gain for a pixel-bound workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G + AMD Radeon RX 570 combination ranks 3549th out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 4.6th percentile of all configurations. This means that 95.4% of tested hardware pairings deliver better performance in this specific title. The ranking is exceptionally low, reflecting the age of both components relative to Control's 2019 release and the demanding nature of the game's physics and particle effects.

The CPU alone sits in the 71st percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17507. Its nearest rivals in the synthetic CPU benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482, 0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen 3 8300GE (17614, -0.6% delta), the Intel Core 7 150U (17395, 0.6% delta), and the Intel Core i3-14100T (17648, -0.8% delta). This places the 4600G in a tight cluster of mid-range processors, but the GPU pairing drags the overall gaming result down dramatically. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 74, with an average benchmark score of 28766; its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28874, -0.4% delta), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28580, 0.7% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996, -0.8% delta), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (28421, 1.2% delta).

The discrepancy between the component-level percentiles (71st for CPU, 74th for GPU) and the in-game combo rank (4.6th percentile) highlights a critical finding: this pairing is not inherently weak in synthetic benchmarks, but it fails to translate that capability into Control's specific workload. The combo rank of 3549 out of 3720 suggests that other combinations with similar component-level scores achieve far better results in this game. The data indicates that Control is unusually punishing to this hardware configuration, likely due to the game's reliance on asynchronous compute and high draw call counts, which the RX 570's GCN 4.0 architecture handles inefficiently. The ranking also implies that a modest GPU upgrade would yield disproportionately large improvements, as the CPU has headroom that the current GPU cannot exploit.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G provides 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 2 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU's L3 cache is 8 MB shared, which is modest by modern standards but adequate for gaming workloads that typically favor single-thread performance. In synthetic tests, the 4600G achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13593 and a single-core score of 1919, indicating balanced performance for its class. The Geekbench scores follow a similar pattern: 6637 multicore and 1460 single-core.

In Control, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU bottleneck. The frame rate differences between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution are substantial (57 FPS vs 31 FPS at 1080p), which would not be the case if the CPU were the limiting factor. A CPU-bound scenario would show minimal frame rate variation across graphics presets. The data shows a 26 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p, proving that the GPU is the constraint. However, the CPU's 12 threads are relevant for Control's physics simulation and AI routines; the 3dmark_16_threads score of 4863 and max_threads score of 4889 suggest that the processor can handle multi-threaded workloads, but the game's frame pacing at 4K Medium (17 FPS minimum) could indicate occasional CPU stalls when the GPU is not fully saturated.

The 4600G's integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics are irrelevant here since the discrete RX 570 is present, but the CPU's PCIe Gen 3 interface with 20 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the GPU's PCIe 3.0 x16 connection. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s for the CPU's DDR4 support is not a limiting factor in this configuration, as the GPU has its own dedicated 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 65W TDP and 7nm process node make this an efficient processor, but efficiency does not translate into higher frame rates when the GPU is the bottleneck. The Cinebench R15 multicore score of 1370 and single-core of 193 place the CPU in a solid mid-range position, but the PassMark single-thread score of 2653 and multithread score of 15992 confirm that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at 1080p, where the RX 570's limits are reached first.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this hardware?

A: The data shows 1080p is the only viable resolution. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 57, which is close to 60 FPS. At 1440p, the maximum average across any preset is 43 FPS on Low, and at 4K, the best average is 29 FPS on Low. The 1080p Medium preset offers 40 FPS average with a minimum of 34 FPS, which is the most balanced option for playability.

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but the results are poor. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 29, which is below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered minimum playability. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 21 FPS with a minimum of 17 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average is 16 FPS. None of these configurations provide a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G has an average benchmark score of 17507. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE, scores 17482, a 0.1% difference. The AMD Ryzen 3 8300GE scores 17614 (-0.6%), the Intel Core 7 150U scores 17395 (0.6%), and the Intel Core i3-14100T scores 17648 (-0.8%). The CPU is essentially tied with these processors in raw compute performance.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. Evidence from the resolution scaling shows that lowering graphics settings from Ultra to Low at 1080p improves FPS from 31 to 57, a 26 FPS gain. If the CPU were the bottleneck, changing graphics settings would have minimal effect. Additionally, the 4K to 1080p scaling shows near-linear improvements as pixel count decreases, characteristic of GPU-bound workloads.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates at Medium settings?

A: The data provides minimum FPS only for Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 34 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 26 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 17 FPS. These minimums are close to the averages, indicating relatively stable frame pacing, but all fall below ideal levels for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 3549th out of 3720 tested combinations in Control. This places it in the bottom 4.6% of all configurations. The CPU itself ranks in the 71st percentile versus all CPUs, and the GPU ranks in the 74th percentile versus all GPUs, but the combination performs far worse in this specific game than those percentiles would suggest.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14nm process at GlobalFoundries. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, delivering a peak FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS. The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory operates at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications are the key determinants of the frame rates observed in Control.

The RX 570's pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s explain the severe 4K performance degradation. At 4K (3840x2160), the GPU must process 8.3 million pixels per frame; at 60 FPS, this would require 498 MPixel/s, far exceeding the 39.81 GPixel/s fillrate. Even at 4K Low (29 FPS), the GPU is operating at 241 MPixel/s, which is 60% of its theoretical maximum fillrate. This leaves no headroom for other rendering tasks. The 1440p results are more reasonable: at 1440p Medium (30 FPS), the pixel throughput is 111 MPixel/s, within the GPU's capabilities but still not leaving room for high settings.

The nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks provide context for the RX 570's position. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 28874 in average benchmark (0.4% higher), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580 (0.7% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996 (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 28421 (1.2% lower). These deltas show that the RX 570 is statistically tied with these GPUs in synthetic tests, yet the RX 470's near-identical score suggests that AMD's Polaris architecture has a consistent performance profile. In Control, the GPU's 4 GB VRAM is a potential concern; the game's textures at High and Ultra presets may exceed this capacity, causing texture streaming hitches. The minimum frame rates at Medium settings (34 FPS at 1080p) versus the averages (40 FPS) suggest some frame time spikes, though the GPU's 224.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for the game's needs at lower presets.

The RX 570's DirectX 12 (12_0) support and Vulkan 1.3 API compatibility are relevant for Control, which uses DX12. The GPU's 150W TDP and 450W suggested PSU indicate that power delivery is not a constraint, but the dual-slot design and 241mm length may limit case compatibility. The FP16 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio) means the GPU does not gain a speed advantage from half-precision operations, which some modern games can exploit. In Control's case, the data suggests that the GPU's compute performance is the primary bottleneck, not memory bandwidth or VRAM capacity, as evidenced by the linear scaling across resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this hardware is 1080p with Medium settings. This preset delivers an average of 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 46 FPS, providing the best balance between visual quality and playability. The Medium preset at 1080p is the only configuration that maintains a minimum frame rate above 30 FPS while offering higher than Low settings. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 57 FPS average, which is smoother, but the visual downgrade is significant given that Control's atmosphere relies heavily on lighting and particle effects.

The 1440p Medium preset (30 FPS average, 26 FPS minimum) is borderline playable but suffers from frequent drops below 30 FPS. The 1440p Low preset (43 FPS average) is the recommended alternative for users with 1440p monitors who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. However, the 1080p Medium setting provides a more consistent experience than 1440p Low, as the higher resolution introduces more pixel pressure on the GPU. The 4K presets are not recommended under any circumstances; even 4K Low (29 FPS) falls below the 30 FPS threshold, and the 4K Medium minimum of 17 FPS makes the game feel stuttery.

For users seeking maximum visual quality, the 1080p Ultra preset (31 FPS average) is technically playable but not recommended, as the frame rate hovers near 30 FPS and will likely dip during intense combat sequences. The 1080p High preset (36 FPS) is a middle ground, but the data shows only a 4 FPS difference between High and Medium (36 vs 40 FPS), while the jump from Medium to Low (40 to 57 FPS) is much larger. This suggests that the Medium preset captures most of the visual fidelity of High at a significantly lower performance cost. The measured data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot: it delivers 40 FPS average at 1080p, which is acceptable for a slow-paced action-adventure game like Control, while maintaining minimum frame rates above 30 FPS. Users with 1440p displays should accept 30 FPS on Medium as the practical ceiling, and 4K gaming with this hardware is not viable for a satisfying experience.