Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + Intel Arc B370

The measured data for Control with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B370 paints a clear picture of a system that is severely constrained by its graphics component. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 59 FPS average, which drops to 17 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating that the Intel Arc B370, with its 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, is the primary bottleneck in nearly every scenario tested. The CPU, a 6-core Zen 3 part with a 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, demonstrates ample headroom in synthetic benchmarks, but this advantage never translates into playable frame rates at higher resolutions or settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and revealing. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 59 FPS at 1920x1080 to 45 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 14 FPS or roughly 24%. Moving to 3840x2160 at Low, the average drops further to 30 FPS, which represents a 49% reduction from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern suggests that the GPU is being pushed to its absolute limits as pixel count increases, with the 4K Low result already falling below the threshold of smooth gameplay.

The High settings row tells a similar story but with even steeper declines. At 1080p High, the system manages 37 FPS average. At 1440p High, this falls to 28 FPS, and at 4K High, it collapses to 19 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 9 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is another 9 FPS, showing a consistent degradation pattern. The Ultra preset shows the most extreme scaling: 32 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and just 17 FPS at 4K, meaning the 4K Ultra result is only 53% of the 1080p Ultra frame rate.

What does this scaling behavior imply about the limiting component? The Intel Arc B370 has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. These specifications, combined with its System Shared memory and memory bandwidth described as "System Dependent," suggest that the GPU simply lacks the raw throughput to handle the increasing pixel loads at higher resolutions. The 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance is modest, and the data shows that even at Low settings, 4K resolution overwhelms the graphics processor.

The Medium settings row provides additional insight through its min and max FPS readings. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48. At 1440p Medium, averages drop to 32 FPS with a range of 27 to 37. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 21 FPS with a range of 18 to 25. The tight min-to-max spread at each resolution indicates consistent performance without major frame time spikes, but the absolute values are too low for comfortable play at 1440p and above. The data strongly suggests that the CPU is never the limiting factor in resolution scaling; even at 4K Low with 30 FPS, the GPU is saturated while the Ryzen 5 5500 likely sits idle waiting for render work.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the most viable configuration for acceptable gameplay is 1080p Low, which produces an average of 59 FPS. This is the only preset and resolution combination that approaches the 60 FPS target. The 1080p Medium setting achieves 42 FPS average, which is playable for slower-paced action but may feel choppy during Control's combat sequences. The 1080p High setting at 37 FPS and 1080p Ultra at 32 FPS both fall below what most players would consider smooth, but they remain usable if visual fidelity is prioritized over frame rate.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more challenging. The Low preset yields 45 FPS average, which is the best result at this resolution. Medium drops to 32 FPS, High to 28 FPS, and Ultra to 25 FPS. The 1440p Low configuration provides a reasonable compromise between resolution and performance, but the data shows that even this setting struggles to maintain 60 FPS. At 4K, all presets produce averages between 17 and 30 FPS, with only Low breaking past 25 FPS. The 4K Low result of 30 FPS is technically playable on some displays but will feel noticeably sluggish during intense scenes.

The Medium preset deserves special attention because it is the only setting row with complete min and max FPS data across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 36 FPS minimum suggests that even the average 42 FPS result includes dips into borderline territory. At 4K Medium, the 18 FPS minimum makes the experience nearly unplayable. For players seeking the best experience per the measured rows, the data indicates that 1080p Low is the only configuration that delivers consistently smooth performance, while 1080p Medium offers a marginal visual upgrade at the cost of 17 FPS average. The 1440p Low setting is a viable alternative for those with 1440p displays who can tolerate sub-60 FPS frame rates, but the data does not support recommending any 4K configuration for serious gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in Control?

A: According to the measured data, 1920x1080 with Low settings produces the highest average FPS at 59, making it the only configuration that approaches 60 FPS. The 1080p Medium setting is the next best option at 42 FPS average.

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

A: The data shows 4K results ranging from 17 FPS at Ultra to 30 FPS at Low settings. The 4K Low configuration is the only one that reaches 30 FPS, but all 4K presets fall below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating the GPU is not capable of smooth 4K gameplay in this title.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184, which places it just 0.2% below the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186) and 0.5% below the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190). It sits 1.4% above the AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168). This places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck for this GPU in Control?

A: The benchmark data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. The Ryzen 5 5500 scores 16429 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2319 in single-core, with a 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking and the steep FPS drops with resolution increases indicate the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p with Low settings?

A: The measured data shows 45 FPS average at 2560x1440 with Low settings. This is the highest average at 1440p across all presets, but it still falls short of 60 FPS.

Q: Does the Arc B370's System Shared memory affect performance in Control?

A: The GPU uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth, which means it relies on the system's DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The 10,700 million transistors and 7 nm process node of the Ryzen 5 5500 support DDR4 memory, but the shared memory configuration likely contributes to the GPU's low performance percentile and the poor frame rates observed at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2657 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This ranking is consistent with the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all GPUs, which drastically outweighs the CPU's more respectable 73rd percentile ranking. The combo's position suggests that the vast majority of tested systems deliver better performance in this game, with only 231 combinations ranking lower.

The rank disparity between CPU and GPU performance is striking. The Ryzen 5 5500's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 with an average score of 19617 and a delta of -0.1%, the Intel Core i5-12500 at 19668 with -0.4%, and the Intel Core i7-10700F at 19499 with +0.5%. These deltas are all within 1% of the Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 19593, indicating that the CPU performs on par with its immediate competitors. However, this competitive CPU performance does nothing to boost the combo's rank because the GPU's benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is so low.

The data implies that pairing a mid-range CPU with an entry-level integrated GPU creates a severely imbalanced system for gaming. The combo rank of 2657 out of 2888 suggests that even much older CPU and GPU pairings likely outperform this setup in Control, since the game's requirements are dominated by graphics processing. The measured FPS data confirms this interpretation: even at the lowest resolution and settings, the system barely reaches 60 FPS, while at higher settings, it falls to levels that are borderline unplayable. For anyone evaluating this combo based on the rank data, the conclusion is clear: the GPU is the decisive factor holding back performance in Control.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the dominant performance limiter in this system. Its benchmark results show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with a score of 1186 (-0.2% delta), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (-0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M at 1192 (-0.7%). These comparisons place the Arc B370 in the company of GPUs from over a decade ago, which explains its poor performance in Control.

The GPU's specifications reveal why it struggles. It features 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, with 10 RT cores. Its base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are relatively low for modern gaming. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, and FP16 reaches 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1). The memory configuration is System Shared, meaning it uses system memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as System Dependent. This shared memory setup likely contributes to the GPU's inability to handle Control's graphics demands, especially at 4K resolution where memory bandwidth becomes critical.

The measured FPS data directly reflects these GPU limitations. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 17 FPS average, while 4K High yields 19 FPS and 4K Medium 21 FPS. Even at 4K Low, the average is only 30 FPS. The 1080p results are better but still modest: 32 FPS at Ultra, 37 FPS at High, 42 FPS at Medium, and 59 FPS at Low. The GPU's 25 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate it is designed for low-power integrated use cases, not demanding action-adventure gaming. The data shows that this GPU cannot provide acceptable frame rates in Control at any resolution above 1080p Low, and even at 1080p, only the Low preset approaches playable levels.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the system delivers its best performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves 59 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate for this combo. Medium produces 42 FPS average with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48. High drops to 37 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 32 FPS. The 27 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates the significant impact of graphical settings on this GPU, with each step up in quality costing approximately 5-17 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440 resolution, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings yield 45 FPS average, a 14 FPS drop from 1080p Low. Medium averages 32 FPS with a range of 27 to 37. High produces 28 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 25 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 20 FPS, with the Low preset remaining the only option above 30 FPS. The 1440p Medium results show that even the minimum frame rate of 27 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold, making gameplay at this resolution and setting marginal at best.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the system struggles across all presets. Low settings produce 30 FPS average, which is exactly at the minimum playable threshold. Medium drops to 21 FPS average with a range of 18 to 25, High falls to 19 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 17 FPS. The 4K results show a compressed range of only 13 FPS between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU is so heavily constrained at this resolution that even dramatic settings reductions provide limited benefit. The Medium preset at 4K shows the lowest minimum frame rate of 18 FPS, which would result in noticeable stuttering during action sequences.

The complete data set reveals a consistent pattern: each resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p to 4K costs roughly 14-19 FPS at Low settings, and similar proportional drops occur at other presets. The 1080p Low result of 59 FPS is the only measured configuration that approaches smooth gameplay, while all other settings and resolutions fall below 50 FPS, with most falling below 40 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 plays a secondary role in this system's Control performance. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it offers solid multi-threading capabilities for a desktop processor. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. The Zen 3 architecture on the 7 nm process node from TSMC includes 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 16 MB L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU performing well relative to its peers. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and single-core score of 2319 indicate strong performance for a 6-core part. Geekbench scores are 7976 multicore and 1730 single-core. The 3DMark thread tests show scaling from 836 single-thread to 5411 max-threads, demonstrating good multi-thread utilization. The PassMark multithread score of 19330 and single-thread score of 3058 further confirm the CPU's capability. Its average benchmark score of 19593 places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals all within 0.7% performance delta.

Despite this solid CPU performance, the measured FPS in Control shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see frame rates remain relatively constant across resolutions, but instead they drop by roughly half from 1080p to 4K. This resolution-dependent scaling is the hallmark of GPU limitation. The CPU's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR4 support are adequate for feeding the GPU, but the GPU's System Shared memory configuration means it relies on the same memory bus, potentially creating contention that further limits performance.

The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking contrasts sharply with the GPU's 5th percentile, suggesting that the processor has significant headroom to drive a more powerful graphics card. In Control, the Ryzen 5 5500's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for the game's physics and AI workloads, which is why the data shows consistent FPS drops as resolution increases rather than CPU-related stuttering or frame time inconsistencies. The 16 MB L3 cache and Zen 3 architecture provide responsive single-thread performance that would benefit from a stronger GPU, but with the Arc B370, that potential is never realized.