Control

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Control, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 84 out of 1636 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the top 5% of all tested configurations for this title, a strong showing that reflects the GPU's dominance. The RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 5500 ranks in the 79th percentile among all CPUs. The gap between those two percentile positions hints at the central dynamic of this pairing: an exceptionally powerful graphics card working alongside a more modest processor.

The rank of 84 means that approximately 95% of tested combos deliver lower average performance in Control. However, this is not a uniform story across all settings and resolutions. The data reveals that the combo's standing is heavily influenced by the GPU's ability to stretch its legs at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the CPU begins to assert its presence. The measured FPS figures show a spread from 79.5 frames per second at 4K Ultra to 203.2 at 1080p Low, indicating that the system has a wide operational envelope. The overall rank is impressive, but the shape of the performance curve — where FPS gains from lowering settings shrink as resolution drops — tells a more nuanced story about where this combo excels and where it leaves performance on the table.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache layout includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 16 MB L3 pool. Memory support is dual-channel DDR4 with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and the chip uses a PCIe Gen 3 interface. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor scores 16,429 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,319 in single-core, while its average benchmark score across all tests is 20,875.

For Control, the CPU's role becomes most apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 203.2 FPS, but this is only a 16% improvement over the 1080p High result of 174.7 FPS. The relatively small gain from dropping settings suggests that the CPU is beginning to limit frame rates at this resolution — the GPU could likely push higher, but the processor's single-thread performance (2,319 in Cinebench R23 single-core) caps the output. The 3dmark single-thread score of 836 and the 2-thread score of 1,645 reinforce this pattern, showing that the CPU's strength lies in its multi-threaded capacity (5,386 in 16-thread test) rather than raw single-core speed. In a game like Control, which relies on a mix of physics and rendering tasks, the 6-core/12-thread configuration is adequate but not overwhelming.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i5-12500 (20,897, deltaPct -0.1), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20,900, deltaPct -0.1), and the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20,845, deltaPct 0.1). These deltas are all within 0.2%, meaning the Ryzen 5 5500 sits in a tightly competitive band of processors. For Control, the practical effect is that the CPU neither boosts nor cripples the experience — it provides enough throughput to keep the RTX 4090 fed at 1440p and 4K, but at 1080p the frame rates plateau, suggesting the CPU becomes the bottleneck in the most GPU-light scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the centerpiece of this combo, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. It packs 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory sits on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The card's raw compute capabilities include 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, and it draws a 450 W TDP with a suggested 850 W PSU. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 38,194 in Passmark G3D and 9,223 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, with an average benchmark score of 66,473.

The RTX 4090's role in Control is dominant, but the data shows that its massive headroom is only partially utilized at lower resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 79.5 FPS, which is a demanding workload where the GPU's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are fully engaged. The GPU's benchmark percentile (91st) reflects its position near the top of all graphics cards, and its nearest rivals in average score — the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733, deltaPct -0.4), NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66,127, deltaPct 0.5), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097, deltaPct -0.9), and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67,320, deltaPct -1.3) — are all within a narrow band, but none approach the RTX 4090's gaming-specific strengths. The GPU's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are the specifications that translate directly to frame rate performance in a visually dense game like Control.

At 4K, the GPU is the clear limiting factor, with FPS scaling predictably from Low (140.5) to Medium (102.2) to High (86.4) to Ultra (79.5). This 1.77x difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is almost entirely GPU-bound. The RTX 4090's Ada Lovelace architecture, with its 128 RT cores, also handles Control's ray-traced effects efficiently, though the measured data does not separate ray tracing on and off — the settings presets likely include these effects at higher tiers. The GPU's performance is consistent with its top-tier status, and it carries this combo's rank at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (2560x1440, 1920x1080, 3840x2160) and four settings tiers (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing a full matrix of 12 data points. At 1080p, the combo delivers 203.2 FPS on Low, 180.5 on Medium, 174.7 on High, and 149.6 on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 53.6 FPS, or 26.4% of the Low value. At 1440p, the results are 187.9 FPS on Low, 144.7 on Medium, 133.2 on High, and 112.6 on Ultra. The spread here is 75.3 FPS, or 40.1% of Low. At 4K, the results are 140.5 FPS on Low, 102.2 on Medium, 86.4 on High, and 79.5 on Ultra. The spread is 61.0 FPS, or 43.4% of Low.

The pattern across resolutions shows that the settings impact widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is relatively modest, indicating that the CPU is constraining the upper bound — the GPU cannot fully flex its muscles when the CPU is providing frames at 200+ FPS. At 1440p, the settings impact becomes more pronounced, and at 4K it is the largest, confirming that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences at higher resolutions. The High settings tier offers a balanced midpoint: at 1080p it reaches 174.7 FPS, at 1440p 133.2 FPS, and at 4K 86.4 FPS. These numbers are all well above playable thresholds, with even the most demanding 4K Ultra configuration staying above 75 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

Examining how FPS changes as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component at each setting tier. On Low settings, the combo drops from 203.2 FPS at 1080p to 187.9 at 1440p (a 7.5% decrease) and then to 140.5 at 4K (a 25.2% decrease from 1440p). On High settings, the progression is 174.7 to 133.2 (23.8% decrease) to 86.4 (35.1% decrease). On Ultra settings, the progression is 149.6 to 112.6 (24.7% decrease) to 79.5 (29.4% decrease). On Medium, the values are 180.5 to 144.7 (19.8% decrease) to 102.2 (29.4% decrease).

The Low settings data is the most revealing. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p (15.3 FPS) suggests that at Low, the CPU is the bottleneck at both resolutions — the GPU has enough headroom to handle the lower graphical load, but the processor cannot feed it more frames. The larger drop from 1440p to 4K (47.4 FPS) indicates that the GPU begins to take over as the limiting factor at 4K even on Low settings. This pattern shows that the Ryzen 5 5500 caps the system at roughly 200 FPS in Control, while the RTX 4090 can sustain far higher frame rates if given a stronger CPU. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the drops are more uniform across resolution steps, with the GPU clearly being the limiting component throughout — the CPU is capable of keeping up with the GPU's demands when the graphical load is heavy.

The resolution scaling data indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1440p or 4K, where the GPU's power is harnessed. At 1080p, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration and its 3.60 GHz base clock (4.20 GHz boost) become the ceiling, preventing the RTX 4090 from reaching its full potential. The data shows a diminishing return on lowering settings at 1080p — the jump from Medium to Low yields only 22.7 FPS, while the same jump at 4K yields 38.3 FPS. This suggests that users seeking maximum frame rates should prioritize higher resolutions with this pairing, as the CPU will hold back performance at 1080p regardless of settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings tier depends on the target resolution and frame rate preference. At 4K, the High preset delivers 86.4 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while Ultra drops to 79.5 FPS — a 8% reduction for presumably marginal visual gains. The Medium preset at 4K yields 102.2 FPS, offering a 18% improvement over High. For 4K users, High provides the best balance: it stays above 85 FPS while likely preserving the visual features that matter most in Control's atmospheric environments. The Low preset at 4K (140.5 FPS) is excessive for most displays, and the visual compromise is not justified when High already achieves high frame rates.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 133.2 FPS, which is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or above). The Ultra preset at 112.6 FPS still clears the 100 FPS mark, but the 15.4% drop from High suggests that High is the more efficient choice. Medium at 1440p (144.7 FPS) offers only an 8.6% gain over High, making it a marginal improvement for those who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. For 1440p, High is the recommended preset — it provides a smooth experience with headroom for demanding scenes, and the data shows that the GPU has enough power to maintain this level without strain.

At 1080p, the situation is different. The High preset (174.7 FPS) and Medium (180.5 FPS) are close, with Low (203.2 FPS) pushing into very high frame rate territory. However, the CPU limitation becomes apparent: the gap between Medium and Low is only 22.7 FPS, indicating that the processor is the bottleneck. For 1080p users, High is the sensible choice, as it delivers 174.7 FPS — far beyond what most displays can show — while the jump to Low (203.2 FPS) provides no practical benefit for typical 60Hz or 144Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 1080p (149.6 FPS) is also viable, but the 14.4% drop from High is not worth the visual gains for most users. Across all resolutions, the High preset emerges as the most balanced option, offering strong frame rates without the diminishing returns of Ultra or the visual sacrifices of Medium and Low.