Control

Control on this AMD Ryzen 5 4600G + AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT pairing shows a system that leans heavily on the graphics card for playable results, with the CPU providing a solid but not class-leading foundation. The measured data indicates that the sweet spot for this combo is the High preset, which delivers a balanced experience across all tested resolutions without the steep performance penalties seen at Ultra settings. At 1920x1080, High produces 112.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay, while 2560x1440 drops to 82.4 FPS and 3840x2160 maintains a playable 54.8 FPS. The Medium preset offers a modest FPS gain over High—124.2 FPS at 1080p, 95.9 FPS at 1440p, and 61.7 FPS at 4K—but the visual fidelity trade-off is significant in a game like Control, where atmospheric lighting and particle effects are central to the experience. Low settings are available for those chasing maximum frame rates, hitting 171.6 FPS at 1080p and 90.6 FPS at 4K, but this preset strips away much of the game’s visual identity. Ultra is the most demanding option, and the data shows it pushes the system hard: 97.4 FPS at 1080p, 71.2 FPS at 1440p, and just 46 FPS at 4K. For most users, High is the recommended starting point because it keeps frame rates above 60 FPS at 1440p and remains playable at 4K, whereas Ultra only makes sense for those with a 1080p display who want maximum visual polish and can tolerate a 15 FPS drop from High.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its benchmark results show a capable mid-range part: the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13593 and single-core score of 1919 place it comfortably above entry-level chips, and the 3DMark single-thread score of 726 suggests it can handle game logic and physics workloads without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. The processor’s 8 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards, but for Control, which is not particularly cache-sensitive, the data indicates that the CPU’s 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU in most situations. Looking at the nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 4600G scores nearly identically to the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core i5-12450H (deltaPct 0.1), while slightly trailing the Intel Core i3-14100T (deltaPct -0.8) and Intel Core i3-13100F (deltaPct -1). This places it in a tight performance band where no single CPU has a decisive advantage. However, the real story is how the CPU interacts with the GPU in this specific game. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (171.6 FPS) versus 4K Low (90.6 FPS) shows that the CPU can push high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor, but the gap between Low and High at the same resolution—for example, 171.6 FPS to 112.3 FPS at 1080p—suggests that the GPU workload scales significantly with settings. In practical terms, the 4600G provides enough single-thread performance to avoid dragging down the RX 7800 XT at lower resolutions, but its overall compute throughput, reflected in a PassMark multithread score of 15992, means it is not the strongest partner for a high-end GPU in CPU-light scenes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, offering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its clock speeds—1295 MHz base, 2124 MHz game, and 2430 MHz boost—are high enough to deliver strong raw performance, as evidenced by a PassMark G3D score of 24176 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4157. The GPU’s 60 ray tracing cores and 3840 shading units are relevant for Control, which uses ray-traced reflections and indirect lighting, though the measured data does not isolate RT performance. The VRAM capacity is a clear advantage: 16 GB ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, memory capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor, allowing the GPU to focus on compute and shading. The benchmark results place the RX 7800 XT in the 76th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals show a tight cluster: the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (deltaPct 0.2), NVIDIA P104-100 (deltaPct -0.4), NVIDIA T600 Mobile (deltaPct -0.7), and AMD FirePro S10000 (deltaPct 0.7). This indicates that the RX 7800 XT is a solidly upper-mid-range card, but not at the very top tier. In Control, the GPU’s role is clear from the FPS scaling: at 1080p Low, the system hits 171.6 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 46 FPS, a 73% drop that is almost entirely GPU-bound. The GPU’s power draw is listed at 263 W TDP with a suggested 600 W PSU, which is reasonable for the performance class, but builders should ensure adequate cooling given the dual-slot design and 2x 8-pin power connectors.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 1636 tested combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 4600G and RX 7800 XT ranks 585th in Control. This places it in the 64th percentile of all combos, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the systems tested for this game. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU: the RX 7800 XT is a strong performer, but the 4600G holds the combo back from the top tiers. For context, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 17489 is just below the GPU’s average of 32619, which suggests the processor is the weaker link in synthetic tests, but in actual game FPS, the GPU does most of the heavy lifting. The rank of 585 is respectable for a system that pairs a budget-oriented CPU with a mid-high-end GPU, and it indicates that the combo is well-suited for 1440p gaming, where it achieves 82.4 FPS on High. At 4K, the combo is still viable but marginal, with 54.8 FPS on High and 46 FPS on Ultra. The data suggests that users with this pairing should not expect top-tier 4K performance, but for 1080p and 1440p, it ranks among the better options, providing a smooth experience on High settings without needing to drop to Medium or Low.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo produces 112.3 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 82.4 FPS (a 26.6% reduction); and at 4K High, it falls to 54.8 FPS (a 33.5% drop from 1440p). This pattern is consistent with a GPU that is being pushed harder as pixel count increases, while the CPU has enough headroom to keep up. The Low preset shows a similar trend but with higher absolute numbers: 171.6 FPS at 1080p, 132.6 FPS at 1440p, and 90.6 FPS at 4K. The fact that 4K Low (90.6 FPS) is higher than 1080p Ultra (97.4 FPS) but not dramatically so indicates that the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints, not the CPU. The scaling from 1080p to 4K on High settings is roughly a 51% FPS loss, which is typical for a game like Control that uses demanding rendering techniques. This tells us that if a user wants to play at 4K, they must be willing to drop to High or Medium settings, as Ultra is not viable at 46 FPS. Conversely, 1080p users have headroom to enable Ultra and still get 97.4 FPS, which is smooth for most displays. The limiting component is clearly the GPU—the CPU’s single-thread performance, as shown in the 3DMark single-thread score of 726, is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the graphics card even at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1440p?

A: High is the recommended choice, delivering 82.4 FPS at 2560x1440. Medium offers 95.9 FPS but with reduced visual quality, while Ultra drops to 71.2 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Control?

A: Yes, but with compromises. On High settings, it achieves 54.8 FPS at 3840x2160, which is playable. Ultra is not recommended, as it falls to 46 FPS. Low settings hit 90.6 FPS at 4K if frame rate is the priority.

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

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The FPS drop from 1080p Low (171.6 FPS) to 4K Low (90.6 FPS) shows the GPU struggling with pixel count. The CPU’s 12 threads and 4.20 GHz boost clock are sufficient to keep up, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 585th out of 1636 combos, placing it in the upper-middle range. The GPU’s performance is strong (76th percentile), but the CPU’s average benchmark score of 17489 is below the GPU’s, indicating the processor holds the combo back from top rankings.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 97.4 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is above 60 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors, though High settings offer a 15 FPS improvement at 112.3 FPS.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM on the RX 7800 XT matter for Control?

A: Yes, the 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth ensures that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor even at 4K Ultra, allowing the GPU to focus on rendering. The data shows performance drops due to compute load, not memory constraints.