Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B580 combination delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Control, with the data showing a clear trend: performance scales dramatically as resolution drops, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher settings. The combo ranks in the 22nd percentile overall (1275 out of 1636 tested combinations), placing it in the lower-middle tier for this title, yet the 1080p results show it can still deliver smooth framerates when settings are managed properly.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 113.6 FPS, which drops to 83.9 FPS at 1440p (a 26.1% reduction) and further to 59.5 FPS at 4K (a 47.6% reduction from the 1080p baseline). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario — the Arc B580’s rendering workload increases with pixel count, and the framerate drops accordingly.

The gap between 1080p and 4K widens significantly at higher settings. With Ultra settings, the 1080p result of 63.2 FPS falls to 48.1 FPS at 1440p and then to 32.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 49.2% below the 1080p Ultra figure, demonstrating that the B580’s 12 GB frame buffer and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain fluid motion at the highest resolution and quality combination. The data suggests that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, where the 59.5 FPS average is borderline playable, while 1440p and 1080p offer more headroom.

The scaling from Medium to High shows a consistent pattern across all resolutions: moving from Medium to High costs roughly 10-12% performance, while moving from High to Ultra costs another 10-15%. This indicates that the game’s settings hierarchy has a predictable impact on the rendering pipeline, with each tier adding measurable load to the GPU.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines work with a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth — a configuration that proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 23,021. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which scores 23,181 (a 0.7% advantage for the RTX 4060), while the AMD Radeon 760M trails by 0.1% with 22,999. These margins are razor-thin, indicating that the B580 sits in a competitive performance tier despite its modest percentile ranking.

In Control specifically, the GPU’s 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate translate to the measured results. At 1080p Low, the 113.6 FPS average shows the card can stretch its legs when geometry and effects are simplified. However, the 4K Ultra result of 32.1 FPS suggests that the 80 ROPs and 427.2 GTexel/s texture rate become bottlenecks when the render target quadruples in size. The GPU’s 190 W TDP and dual-slot cooler design indicate it is not a power-constrained part, but the data confirms that resolution scaling, not clock behavior, dictates the experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 5 5500 + Arc B580 combination ranks 1275 out of 1,636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 22nd percentile. This is a below-average result for the game, reflecting that the pairing does not excel in this title despite the CPU’s solid synthetic scores. The Ryzen 5 5500 alone sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 20,875, while the GPU sits at the 66th percentile — yet their combined in-game ranking is significantly lower, suggesting that Control’s engine does not fully utilize the pair’s theoretical capabilities.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i5-12500 (20,897, a 0.1% difference) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20,900, a 0.1% difference), showing that the Ryzen 5 5500 is competitively positioned in general compute. However, the in-game rank of 1275 out of 1,636 indicates that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve better results, likely due to the B580’s driver overhead or the game’s specific engine characteristics. The combo’s ranking is not catastrophic — it still outperforms roughly 361 other tested combinations — but it clearly favors lower resolutions and settings to reach its potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 113.6 FPS, Medium drops to 80.2 FPS, High offers 73.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 63.2 FPS. All four settings exceed the 60 FPS threshold, making 1080p the sweet spot for this pairing. The jump from Low to Medium is a 29.4% performance loss, while Medium to High costs only 8.1%, and High to Ultra costs 14.2% — indicating diminishing returns beyond Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain playable but less comfortable. Low delivers 83.9 FPS, Medium drops to 61.9 FPS, High falls to 54.1 FPS, and Ultra dips to 48.1 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is 23.9% below the 1080p Ultra figure, and the High setting at 54.1 FPS sits just below the 60 FPS target, suggesting that 1440p users should stick to Medium or Low for smooth motion.

At 3840x2160, the story changes dramatically. Low achieves 59.5 FPS, Medium drops to 43.5 FPS, High falls to 36.4 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 32.1 FPS. The 4K Medium result is 45.8% below the 1080p Medium figure, and even the best 4K result (Low at 59.5 FPS) is barely above the 60 FPS line. The 4K Ultra result of 32.1 FPS is 49.2% below the 1080p Ultra score, confirming that this resolution is not viable for high-quality play with this hardware.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K smoothly?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 59.5 FPS. Medium drops to 43.5 FPS, High to 36.4 FPS, and Ultra to 32.1 FPS, none of which provide fluid motion.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1080p is the strongest option, with all four settings (Low 113.6 FPS, Medium 80.2 FPS, High 73.7 FPS, Ultra 63.2 FPS) exceeding 60 FPS. 1440p is viable only at Low (83.9 FPS) or Medium (61.9 FPS).

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to the RTX 4060 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The B580 scores 23,021 on average, while the RTX 4060 scores 23,181, a 0.7% advantage for the NVIDIA card. The AMD Radeon 760M trails the B580 by 0.1% with 22,999.

Q: What is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The 1080p Ultra result is 63.2 FPS, while 4K Ultra is 32.1 FPS, representing a 49.2% reduction in framerate.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a strong CPU in general benchmarks?

A: Yes, it sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs with an average score of 20,875. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, scores 20,897, a 0.1% difference.

Q: What settings should I avoid at 1440p?

A: High (54.1 FPS) and Ultra (48.1 FPS) both fall below 60 FPS, so they should be avoided. Stick to Low (83.9 FPS) or Medium (61.9 FPS) for smooth play.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly favors 1080p as the primary resolution for this combo, with Medium settings offering the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p Medium, the 80.2 FPS average provides comfortable headroom above 60 FPS while still engaging the game’s effects. The jump to High (73.7 FPS) costs only 8.1% performance but adds visual fidelity, making it a viable choice for users who prefer higher quality. Ultra at 63.2 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes.

For 1440p users, Medium (61.9 FPS) is the recommended setting, as it barely maintains 60 FPS while offering better image clarity than 1080p. Low (83.9 FPS) provides a smoother experience but sacrifices visual detail. High and Ultra at 1440p should be avoided due to sub-60 FPS averages.

At 4K, the only acceptable setting is Low (59.5 FPS), which edges close to 60 FPS but may experience dips during intense combat. Medium (43.5 FPS) and above are not recommended for action gameplay, as the framerate drops below 45 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for responsive play in a fast-paced action-adventure title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 contributes 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename) on a 7 nm process from TSMC. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz boosts to 4.20 GHz, with 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support delivering 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16,429 and a single-core score of 2,319, with a Passmark multithread score of 19,330.

The CPU’s performance in Control is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns. At 1080p Low (113.6 FPS), the CPU is likely keeping pace with the GPU, but at 4K Ultra (32.1 FPS), the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and 16-thread score of 5,386 suggest that the CPU has adequate processing power for the game’s physics and AI, but the large frame rate drops at higher resolutions point to the B580 as the limiting component.

The Ryzen 5 5500’s PCIe Gen 3 interface could theoretically limit the B580’s PCIe 4.0 x8 connection, but the measured results do not show an obvious CPU-related bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it a flexible pairing, though the in-game rank of 1275 out of 1,636 suggests that the CPU-GPU combination is not optimally matched for Control’s specific workload. The CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, performs nearly identically in synthetic tests (0.1% difference), so any performance discrepancies in-game are more likely attributable to the GPU or driver behavior than to the processor.