Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 presents a compelling case study in bottleneck dynamics within Control. This 2019 Action Adventure title, known for its demanding physics and visual effects, pushes this combination to its limits. The measured data reveals a system where the GPU is the clear constraining factor, but the CPU still plays a significant role in maintaining playable frame rates, especially at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K is steep and revealing. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 64.8 FPS. This is the only configuration in the measured set that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, indicating a playable experience. However, moving to 1440p at the same Low settings drops the average to 50.7 FPS, a 21.8% decrease. The jump to 4K at Low settings is even more punishing, falling to 33.7 FPS, which is a 48% reduction from the 1080p figure. This pattern strongly suggests that the graphics card, the AMD Radeon RX 580, is the limiting component. As resolution increases, the pixel fill rate demand skyrockets, and the RX 580’s 32 ROPs and 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are overwhelmed.

The scaling is not linear, which is a key indicator of where the bottleneck lies. For instance, at High settings, the drop from 1080p (37.5 FPS) to 1440p (31.1 FPS) is a 17% reduction, but the drop from 1440p to 4K (22.8 FPS) is a 26.7% reduction. This non-linear degradation is classic behavior when a GPU’s compute and memory resources are saturated. The gap between Low and Ultra settings also widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (64.8 FPS) and Ultra (32.7 FPS) is 32.1 FPS. At 4K, this gap shrinks to 17.5 FPS (33.7 vs 16.2), confirming that at 4K, the GPU is so overburdened that even reducing settings yields diminishing returns. The data implies that for this combo, 1080p is the only viable resolution for a consistently smooth experience, while 1440p is a compromise and 4K is largely unplayable.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on the optimal settings-to-resolution balance. For a target of 60 FPS, the only option is 1080p with Low settings, which delivers 64.8 FPS. This is the single configuration that meets this performance threshold. If a player can tolerate slightly lower frame rates, 1080p with Medium settings yields 43.7 FPS, which is a 32.5% improvement over the Low preset’s performance. This suggests that the RX 580 has enough headroom at 1080p to handle a moderate increase in visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the situation changes. The best average FPS is 50.7 with Low settings. While this is below 60, it is significantly better than the 31.1 FPS achieved at High settings. The data indicates that at 1440p, sticking to Low is the only way to approach a playable frame rate. The jump from Low to Medium at 1440p results in a 36.3% performance penalty (50.7 to 32.3 FPS), which is a severe cost for the visual upgrade. For 4K, all settings are below 34 FPS, with Ultra at a slideshow-like 16.2 FPS. Given the data, the best experience for this combo is unequivocally 1080p with Low settings for high frame rates, or 1080p with Medium settings for a better visual experience while still maintaining a reasonably smooth 43.7 FPS average. Higher resolutions require significant compromises that do not result in a pleasant experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 4600G and RX 580 ranks 1521 out of 1636 combos for Control. This places it in the bottom 7% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a decidedly low-performance configuration for this specific title. The percentile data for the individual components corroborates this. The CPU, with a percentile of 75 vs all CPUs, is a relatively strong performer, while the GPU, with a percentile of 53 vs all GPUs, is decidedly mid-range. The system’s overall rank is dragged down by the GPU’s limitations, which is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis.

The benchmark scores for the components also paint a clear picture. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 17489, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE at 17482 (a 0% delta). This shows the 4600G is a competent processor. In contrast, the GPU’s average benchmark score is 13559, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at 13564 (a 0% delta). This places the RX 580 on par with a much older card. The fact that this combo ranks so low is not a surprise, as the GPU’s performance is the limiting factor. The data suggests that to improve the ranking in Control, a GPU upgrade would be far more impactful than a CPU upgrade.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates is as follows. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 64.8 on Low, down to 43.7 on Medium, 37.5 on High, and 32.7 on Ultra. This shows a clear and consistent performance degradation as visual fidelity increases. At 2560x1440, the averages are 50.7 (Low), 32.3 (Medium), 31.1 (High), and 27.5 (Ultra). The most significant drop at this resolution occurs between Low and Medium, a 36.3% reduction, whereas the subsequent steps are smaller. At 3840x2160, the averages are 33.7 (Low), 23.5 (Medium), 22.8 (High), and 16.2 (Ultra). Here, the performance is uniformly poor, with even the Low preset failing to reach 34 FPS.

Analyzing the data across resolutions, the performance delta between Low and Ultra is substantial. At 1080p, Ultra is 49.5% slower than Low. At 1440p, Ultra is 45.8% slower. At 4K, Ultra is 51.9% slower. The consistency of this ~50% penalty across all resolutions suggests that the settings are primarily affecting the GPU’s shading and texture work, which scales consistently regardless of pixel count. The lack of min or max FPS data means we can only assess average performance, but the averages are low enough to indicate frequent stutters and dips below the target frame rate, particularly at higher resolutions and settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the primary driver of this combo’s performance. Its specifications, including 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, are modest by modern standards. The GPU’s base clock is 1257 MHz, with a boost clock of 1340 MHz, and it has a TDP of 185 W. The benchmark results show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005, which is low. More telling are the PassMark scores: DirectX 11 at 60, DirectX 12 at 43, and DirectX 9 at 124. The lower DirectX 12 score compared to DirectX 11 suggests this older GCN 4.0 architecture is not optimally efficient in modern APIs.

In Control, which likely uses DirectX 12, the RX 580’s weaknesses are exposed. The 4K performance, where the GPU is fully saturated, is particularly weak, with all settings below 34 FPS. Even at 1080p, the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at higher presets. The data indicates that the 8 GB of VRAM is likely sufficient for this game at these resolutions, as the performance drop from High to Ultra is consistent with compute and bandwidth limitations rather than memory capacity issues. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (13564 vs 13559), highlighting how far behind the RX 580 is from contemporary mid-range cards. This is a GPU that can handle esports titles or older games, but for a demanding action-adventure like Control, it is a significant bottleneck.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this CPU and GPU combo?*

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where a 60 FPS average is achievable, and only on Low settings (64.8 FPS). 1440p and 4K averages are all below 51 FPS, making them less ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K on Low settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 64.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 33.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 48% reduction in performance.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most balanced experience at 1080p?

A: While Low is the only preset to reach 60 FPS, Medium offers a 43.7 FPS average. This is a 32.5% improvement in visual fidelity over Low for a 21.1 FPS performance cost, making it a reasonable compromise for players who prefer visual quality over frame rate.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo for Control?*

A: The data strongly points to the GPU. The non-linear FPS drops at higher resolutions and the fact that lowering settings from Low to Ultra at 1080p costs about 50% performance indicate a GPU bottleneck. The CPU’s high 75th percentile ranking vs all CPUs further supports this.

*Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems in Control?*

A: It ranks 1521 out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 7% of all systems. This indicates it is a low-performance configuration for this specific game.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p on High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 31.1. This is a playable, but not smooth, experience and represents a 17% drop from the 37.5 FPS seen at 1080p on the same High settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is a capable processor. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz, based on the Zen 2 architecture, provide solid single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The benchmark scores confirm this, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13593 and a single-core score of 1919. In the PassMark tests, it scores 50723 in integer math and 29947 in floating-point math, showing strong computational throughput. The CPU’s percentile of 75 vs all CPUs indicates it outperforms the majority of processors on the market.

In Control, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 4600G is more than sufficient for this task, as the frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU. The fact that at 1080p Low, the system can achieve 64.8 FPS shows that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach that level. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see the frame rate remain flat or even decrease at lower resolutions, but instead, we see a clear increase as resolution drops, which is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s performance is not the primary concern here; it is the RX 580 that prevents this combo from achieving higher frame rates across all settings.