Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT pairing delivers a highly capable Control experience, with benchmark results showing a clear progression from 4K Ultra at 54 FPS up to 1080p Low at 193 FPS. The data suggests this combination is well-balanced for the game, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 92 FPS, placing it comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 54, while at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS jumps to 106 — a 52 FPS increase that indicates significant resolution scaling pressure on the GPU.

Q: What is the highest recorded average FPS in the dataset?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 193 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, demonstrating the combo's ability to drive very high refresh rates at lower graphical loads.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Medium and High settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows a 15 FPS difference: Medium averages 137 FPS while High averages 122 FPS at 1920x1080, suggesting that the jump from Medium to High carries a modest performance cost.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS recorded is 88, with a maximum of 119 FPS, indicating that even in demanding moments the frame rate stays well above typical playable thresholds.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Control?

A: The combo ranks 670th out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the top 23.2 percent of all recorded results for this game.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the driving force behind the frame rates observed in Control, and its specifications explain the performance scaling. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s — a figure that proves sufficient for the game's texture-heavy environments at all tested resolutions. The RDNA 4.0 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC, includes 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, which directly translate to the pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds play a critical role in the measured results. The GPU's base clock is 1660 MHz, but the boost clock reaches 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. This boost behavior explains why the card can deliver 98 FPS at 4K Low settings — the high boost clock compensates for reduced graphical complexity, allowing the rendering pipeline to operate at maximum efficiency. The memory clock of 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) ensures that the 16 GB frame buffer is fed quickly enough to avoid stutters, as evidenced by the minimum FPS of 59 recorded at 4K Medium.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 48.66 TFLOPS is substantial, and the data suggests that Control's visual effects — which include physics-based destruction and particle systems — are well-served by this compute throughput. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 54, which is just below the 60 FPS ideal, but the fact that the card maintains playable frame rates at this demanding setting indicates that the 9070 XT's 128 ROPs are not overwhelmed by the game's resolution demands. The transition from 4K High (62 FPS) to 4K Medium (70 FPS) shows only an 8 FPS gain, suggesting that the GPU is operating near its limits in this resolution band regardless of preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its 6 cores and 12 threads are well-matched to Control's threading model. The CPU's base clock of 3.00 GHz and boost clock of 4.00 GHz, combined with the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), deliver a Passmark single-thread score of 2941 and a multithread score of 20363. These scores indicate strong per-core performance, which is essential for a game that relies heavily on a primary rendering thread.

The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a notable feature of this processor, and it likely contributes to the consistent frame times observed in the data. Control features complex scene loading and physics calculations, and the large cache helps reduce memory latency when accessing frequently used data. The CPU's 7 nm process node and 74 mm² die size allow for efficient operation within its 105 W TDP, with the memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4 providing adequate throughput for game data.

Benchmark results show the CPU sits at the 85th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 37018. In relation to its nearest rivals, the 5500X3D is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0.2 percent ahead), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (0.2 percent behind), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (0.2 percent ahead), and Intel Core i9-12900T (0.3 percent behind). This tight grouping suggests that the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo — its role is to provide stable, sufficient processing power without becoming a bottleneck.

The data supports this interpretation. At 1080p Low, where GPU load is minimized, the combo achieves 193 FPS, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate the rendering pipeline. The fact that 1080p Ultra (106 FPS) and 4K Low (98 FPS) are close in performance further suggests that the CPU maintains consistent frame delivery even as GPU load shifts dramatically.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all tested combinations for Control, this pairing achieves a rank of 670 out of 2888 combos, placing it in the upper quartile of results. This ranking reflects a balance between the CPU's 85th percentile standing and the GPU's 55th percentile among all GPUs — the CPU is clearly above average, while the GPU is slightly above the median, yet the combined result is strong due to the game's scaling behavior.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are significantly older or lower-tier parts, including the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (0.1 percent ahead), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (0.2 percent ahead), NVIDIA P106-090 (0.5 percent ahead), and AMD Radeon Pro 555 (1 percent ahead). These deltas are small, but they reflect the GPU's average benchmark score of 13543, which is pulled down by compute and older API tests. In contrast, the Passmark G3D score of 26795 shows the GPU's true gaming capability, which is why the combo ranks as high as 670th despite the GPU's modest overall percentile.

The rank of 670 out of 2888 indicates that roughly 78 percent of tested combos perform worse in Control, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The data implies that the combo is well-suited for 1440p gaming, where it delivers 80 to 103 FPS across settings, and can handle 4K with adjustments. The ranking also suggests that the CPU's 96 MB L3 cache provides a meaningful advantage in this game, as the combo outperforms what the GPU's raw benchmark scores might predict.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that identifies the GPU as the primary limiting component. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 122 to 92 — a 24.6 percent decrease. From 1440p to 4K at High settings, the average FPS drops from 92 to 62 — a 32.6 percent decrease. This accelerating decline is classic GPU-bound behavior, where pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The combo achieves 193 FPS at 1080p, 146 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 47 FPS (24.4 percent), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 48 FPS (32.9 percent). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline is scaling predictably with resolution, and the CPU is not introducing variability.

The data also reveals that the CPU has significant headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 193 FPS, but there is no corresponding 1080p Low minimum FPS recorded, suggesting the frame rate is likely limited by the game's engine or the GPU's output rather than the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across resolutions at the same settings, but the 4K Low result of 98 FPS is nearly half the 1080p Low result, confirming that GPU fill rate is the dominant constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 193 FPS, Medium produces 137 FPS with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 157, High produces 122 FPS, and Ultra produces 106 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 15 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 16 FPS, indicating that each preset tier carries a similar performance cost at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low settings average 146 FPS, Medium averages 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 119, High averages 92 FPS, and Ultra averages 80 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most noticeable at the high end — Low loses 47 FPS, Medium loses 34 FPS, High loses 30 FPS, and Ultra loses 26 FPS. This pattern shows that lower settings are more sensitive to resolution increases because they are less GPU-bound.

At 3840x2160, the combo begins to struggle at the highest settings. Low settings still manage an average of 98 FPS, but Medium drops to 70 FPS with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 80, High drops to 62 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 59 FPS is the only sub-60 minimum recorded in the dataset, indicating that this is the threshold where the GPU's capabilities start to show limitations.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the data suggests that 1440p with High settings (92 FPS) offers an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. This combination provides a 60 percent frame rate improvement over 4K High (62 FPS) while maintaining the visual fidelity that High settings offer. The 1440p Ultra setting (80 FPS) is also viable, but the 12 FPS gain from dropping to High is not worth the visual loss for most players.

At 1080p, the Medium preset (137 FPS) is the recommended choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, as it delivers a 15 FPS advantage over High (122 FPS) while remaining well above the 100 FPS mark. For players with 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors, 1080p Low (193 FPS) is the only preset that can fully saturate those refresh rates, but the visual compromise is significant.

For 4K gaming, the data indicates that Medium (70 FPS) is the most balanced preset, providing a minimum FPS of 59 that stays just above the 60 FPS threshold on average. High (62 FPS) and Ultra (54 FPS) are playable but risk dropping below 60 FPS in demanding scenes, as evidenced by the 4K Medium minimum of 59 FPS. Players prioritizing smoothness over fidelity should select 1440p High, while those with 4K displays should accept Medium settings to maintain consistent performance.