Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Control with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 184.4 FPS, but this drops to 140 FPS at 1440p and further to 93.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating the GPU is the primary scaling factor.

The High preset tells a similar story but with a different slope. At 1080p High, the system produces 113.1 FPS, falling to 90.1 FPS at 1440p and 59.6 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 20% and 47% respectively, showing that the scaling penalty is slightly less severe at higher quality settings. This suggests that as the GPU works harder on visual effects, the relative cost of additional pixels diminishes somewhat.

Medium settings show the most conservative scaling curve: 128.9 FPS at 1080p, 96.9 FPS at 1440p, and 68.3 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 25%, while the 1080p-to-4K drop is 47%. Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute numbers, with 99.3 FPS at 1080p, 73.7 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K, representing 26% and 50% reductions respectively.

What stands out is that the 4K-to-1080p ratio remains remarkably consistent across all settings, hovering around the 50% mark. This consistency points to the RX 9070 being the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demands scale predictably regardless of the quality preset. The Ryzen 5 5500, with its six cores and twelve threads, appears sufficient to keep feeding the GPU at 1080p, where the CPU has more headroom relative to the frame rates being produced.

The data implies that at 1080p, the system is approaching the balance point where CPU and GPU share the workload. The 184.4 FPS at Low settings suggests the CPU can sustain very high frame rates, but the scaling to 1440p and 4K shows the GPU's raw pixel-pushing capabilities becoming the dominant factor. For users targeting 4K, the GPU is unquestionably the bottleneck, as even the lowest quality preset cannot reach 100 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the most compelling balance in the dataset. At 96.9 FPS, it provides a smooth experience that approaches the 100 FPS threshold, while the step up to High at 1440p costs 6.8 FPS for presumably improved visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 73.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 24% loss from Medium.

For 4K users, the High preset at 59.6 FPS is the only configuration that stays above the 60 FPS line, barely. Medium at 4K produces 68.3 FPS, which is actually 8.7 FPS higher than High at the same resolution. This counterintuitive result suggests that the Medium preset at 4K might be the better choice for those prioritizing frame rate stability, as it provides a larger buffer above the 60 FPS threshold while presumably sacrificing some visual effects compared to High.

At 1080p, even Ultra delivers 99.3 FPS, so users with 1080p displays can comfortably max out the settings. The gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is 13.8 FPS, but both remain well above any playability threshold. Low settings at 1080p push the system to 184.4 FPS, which would be relevant for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, though the visual compromise is substantial.

The data suggests that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p with Medium settings, as it maintains a high frame rate while the resolution provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. The 4K Ultra preset at exactly 50 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the least recommended option in the dataset.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Control?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 184.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, at 4K with Medium settings the combo achieves 68.3 FPS, and at High settings it produces 59.6 FPS. The Low preset at 4K reaches 93.2 FPS, while Ultra falls to exactly 50 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 90.1 FPS, while Ultra produces 73.7 FPS. This represents a 16.4 FPS difference, or roughly 18% lower performance for the Ultra settings.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance benchmark score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 scores 2319 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 836 in 3DMark single-thread, indicating its capability to handle lightly threaded workloads.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: The RX 9070 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus width and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Control's requirements at any resolution measured.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 528th out of 1636 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the upper third of all configurations in the database.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 528 out of 1636 tested combinations places it at roughly the 68th percentile of all configurations in the database for Control. This positioning suggests that while the Ryzen 5 5500 and RX 9070 combination is capable, it sits below the top tier of tested systems. The CPU's percentile rank of 79 among all CPUs and the GPU's percentile rank of 79 among all GPUs would suggest a more competitive overall position, yet the game-specific ranking shows there are many combinations that outperform this pairing in Control.

The delta between the CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, is negligible at -0.1%, meaning the 5500 is essentially tied with that processor in average benchmark scores. This near-parity in synthetic benchmarks does not necessarily translate to identical game performance, as Control's engine may favor one architecture's characteristics over another. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA A2, shows a -0.2% delta, again placing the RX 9070 in a virtual tie with that competitor in average scores.

The game-specific rank of 528 out of 1636 indicates that roughly 68% of tested combos perform better in Control. This gap between the component-level percentiles and the in-game ranking suggests that either the combination of these specific parts creates an unexpected bottleneck, or that the database contains many higher-end configurations that skew the distribution. The measured FPS data shows strong absolute performance, so the rank likely reflects the presence of more powerful combos rather than any deficiency in this pairing.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 brings substantial resources to Control, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, 3584 shading units, and 128 ROPs. The memory subsystem, featuring a 256-bit bus and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, provides ample headroom for the game's texture streaming and asset loading. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz indicate the card's operating range during typical gaming workloads.

The GPU's FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s suggest it can handle the visual complexity Control presents, particularly at higher resolutions. The measured FPS scaling supports this, as the card maintains playable frame rates even at 4K across most settings. The DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility mean the GPU can utilize modern rendering APIs that Control can take advantage of.

The GPU's role becomes most apparent when examining the 4K results. The RX 9070 produces 93.2 FPS at Low settings, showing it can push pixels rapidly when effects are minimized. The drop to 50 FPS at Ultra settings represents a 46% reduction, highlighting how the GPU's shading units and ROPs are stressed by the game's maximum visual features. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that memory is never a limiting factor, even at 4K with Ultra textures.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows a clear progression across settings. Low produces 184.4 FPS, Medium drops to 128.9 FPS (a 30% reduction), High delivers 113.1 FPS (another 12% drop from Medium), and Ultra bottoms out at 99.3 FPS (12% below High). The total spread from Low to Ultra is 85.1 FPS, indicating that settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

The 2560x1440 results follow a similar pattern with lower absolute values. Low achieves 140 FPS, Medium produces 96.9 FPS (31% lower), High delivers 90.1 FPS (7% lower than Medium), and Ultra reaches 73.7 FPS (18% lower than High). The spread from Low to Ultra is 66.3 FPS, showing a slightly compressed range compared to 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the data reveals the GPU's limits. Low produces 93.2 FPS, Medium drops to 68.3 FPS (27% lower), High delivers 59.6 FPS (13% lower than Medium), and Ultra falls to exactly 50 FPS (16% lower than High). The total spread at 4K is 43.2 FPS, the smallest range across all resolutions, indicating that pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint regardless of settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 provides six cores and twelve threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 16 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth give it adequate resources for feeding a high-end GPU in gaming workloads. The CPU's benchmark results show balanced performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and single-core score of 2319.

The CPU's role in Control appears secondary to the GPU based on the FPS scaling data. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 184.4 FPS, which approaches the range where CPU limitations might emerge. The 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and 2-thread score of 1645 suggest the CPU can handle the lightly threaded nature of game logic and physics at high frame rates. However, the 16-thread score of 5386 indicates that the CPU's multithreaded capabilities are more modest, which could matter if Control scales beyond a few threads.

The CPU's percentile rank of 79 among all CPUs, combined with its nearest rival delta of -0.1% versus the Intel Core i5-12500, places it in the mid-to-upper tier of processors. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a 65 W TDP suggests efficient operation, and the PCIe Gen 3 interface, while older than the GPU's PCIe 5.0 support, does not appear to bottleneck the measured performance given the strong FPS results across all resolutions.