Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB ranks 1484th out of 1636 tested combos for Control, placing it in the lower tier of systems evaluated. The CPU sits at the 79th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 20875, but the GPU lands at the 50th percentile among all graphics cards. The pairing produces playable frame rates at 1080p, but struggles to maintain smooth performance at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a system that is clearly GPU-bound in most scenarios, with the Ryzen 5 5500's six cores and twelve threads providing sufficient processing headroom while the RTX 3050 4 GB becomes the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1484 out of 1636 places it in the bottom 9% of tested configurations for Control. This ranking reflects a system that can handle the game at lower settings but falls behind most competing hardware pairings. The CPU's performance profile is competitive with its direct rivals; the Ryzen 5 5500 scores within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-12500, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE, and Intel Core i5-12600T, with deltaPct values of -0.1, -0.1, and -0.2 respectively. The processor's 3DMark scores show strong scaling from single-thread (836) to 16-thread (5386) workloads, but its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 indicates mid-range CPU capability.

The GPU's 4 GB VRAM capacity is the primary constraint in Control, a game that can demand more memory at higher resolutions and quality presets. The RTX 3050 4 GB's 192.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 128-bit bus width are modest by modern standards, and its 7.127 TFLOPS FP32 throughput limits raw rendering power. The combination of a mid-range CPU with a constrained GPU results in the system's low percentile ranking; the data shows the CPU could drive higher frame rates if paired with a stronger graphics card, but the GPU's memory and compute limitations cap performance in Control.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that Low settings provide the most consistent experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 81.3 FPS average, which is 39.8% higher than High settings at 51.5 FPS and 73% higher than Ultra at 47 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 22.5 FPS (from 81.3 to 58.8), while Medium to High costs another 7.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 4.5 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns on quality investment at 1080p; Low settings offer the smoothest gameplay, while Medium provides a balance if visual fidelity is prioritized.

At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 62.9 FPS, which remains playable, while Medium drops to 43.5 FPS and High to 42.9 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is negligible (0.6 FPS), making High the better choice if dropping from Low. Ultra at 1440p falls to 36.1 FPS, which is borderline for smooth action gameplay. At 3840x2160, only Low settings reach 40.6 FPS; Medium drops to 32.1 FPS, High to 26.5 FPS, and Ultra to 24.3 FPS, all below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for playability. For 4K, Low settings are the only viable option, and even then, performance is marginal.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Low settings yields 81.3 FPS average, the highest measured frame rate. At 2560x1440, Low settings deliver 62.9 FPS, while 3840x2160 reaches only 40.6 FPS on Low. The 1080p resolution provides the most comfortable margin above playable frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 20875, which is 0.1% below the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900), and 0.1% above the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20845). The differences are minimal, indicating comparable CPU performance within this tier.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The evidence strongly points to GPU limitation. The RTX 3050 4 GB has 4 GB GDDR6 memory with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth, and its 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs contrasts with the CPU's 79th percentile. Frame rate drops of 35-40% when moving from Low to Medium settings across resolutions indicate the GPU cannot sustain higher quality presets.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS achieved is 40.6 on Low settings. Medium drops to 32.1 FPS, High to 26.5 FPS, and Ultra to 24.3 FPS. While Low settings are technically playable, the experience is marginal, and higher presets fall below acceptable thresholds.

Q: What settings provide the best frame rate improvement at 1080p?

A: Lowering from Ultra to Low at 1920x1080 increases average FPS from 47 to 81.3, a gain of 34.3 FPS. The largest single step is from Medium (58.8 FPS) to Low (81.3 FPS), representing a 22.5 FPS improvement, while High to Medium costs 7.3 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At Low settings, 2560x1440 delivers 62.9 FPS versus 81.3 FPS at 1920x1080, a drop of 18.4 FPS. At High settings, the difference is 8.6 FPS (42.9 vs 51.5), and at Ultra, the difference is 10.9 FPS (36.1 vs 47). The percentage loss ranges from 18.4% at High to 22.6% at Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across quality presets. Low settings achieve an average of 81.3 FPS, which is the strongest result in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 58.8 FPS, representing a 27.7% reduction from Low. High settings further decline to 51.5 FPS, a 12.4% drop from Medium. Ultra settings produce 47 FPS, which is 8.8% below High and 42.2% below Low. The 1080p results demonstrate that even at the lowest resolution, the GPU's 4 GB memory and 7.127 TFLOPS compute capacity limit performance, with the gap between Low and Ultra exceeding 34 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. Low settings deliver 62.9 FPS, which is 22.6% lower than the same preset at 1080p. Medium settings produce 43.5 FPS, a 30.8% drop from Low at the same resolution. High settings yield 42.9 FPS, nearly identical to Medium with only a 0.6 FPS difference. Ultra settings fall to 36.1 FPS, which is 16% below High and 42.6% below Low. The near-identical Medium and High results at 1440p suggest the GPU becomes memory-constrained at this resolution, with quality preset changes having minimal impact above Medium.

At 3840x2160, performance degrades significantly across all presets. Low settings achieve 40.6 FPS, which is 35.5% lower than the same settings at 1440p and 50.1% lower than at 1080p. Medium settings drop to 32.1 FPS, a 21% reduction from Low. High settings produce 26.5 FPS, which is 17.4% below Medium. Ultra settings bottom out at 24.3 FPS, only 8.3% below High but 40.1% below Low. The 4K data shows that the RTX 3050 4 GB's 192.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the pixel throughput demands, and even Low settings barely exceed 40 FPS average.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the dominant performance limiter in this configuration. Its 4 GB GDDR6 memory with a 128-bit bus and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth provides adequate capacity for 1080p gaming but becomes insufficient at higher resolutions. The GPU's 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s, yet the FP32 throughput of 7.127 TFLOPS caps raw compute. The 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores are present for ray tracing and DLSS, but the measured FPS data shows no evidence that these features are utilized in the tested configurations.

The GPU's 90 W TDP and 1545 MHz base clock (1740 MHz boost) indicate a power-efficient design, but the 4 GB memory capacity is the critical weakness in Control. The measured frame rates at 1440p and 4K show severe degradation as resolution increases, with 4K Low (40.6 FPS) performing worse than 1080p Ultra (47 FPS). This pattern suggests the GPU runs out of memory bandwidth and capacity before compute limits are reached. The 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the middle of the performance distribution, but in Control specifically, the combination with the Ryzen 5 5500 yields a bottom-10% result. The GPU's predecessor (GeForce 20) and successor (GeForce 40) generations bracket its capabilities, but the 4 GB variant of the RTX 3050 is clearly positioned at the entry level of the 30-series lineup.