Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a solid, if not spectacular, experience in Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title. The measured frame rates show this pairing is capable of smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p with most settings, while 4K demands careful adjustments. This analysis draws exclusively from the provided benchmark data to explore how this specific CPU and GPU work together in this game, what settings offer the best balance, and where the performance limits lie.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best experience across all three tested resolutions, providing a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate stability. The data shows that Medium settings deliver an average of 99 FPS at 1920x1080, 75 FPS at 2560x1440, and 51 FPS at 3840x2160. Notably, this is the only settings tier where minimum and maximum FPS values were recorded, with the 1080p run showing a range of 84 to 114 FPS, and the 1440p run showing 64 to 86 FPS. This consistency suggests the combination handles the game’s workload evenly, avoiding the sharp dips that can plague higher presets.

The High preset is a close second, with 88 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. While High offers better shadows and textures, the drop from Medium is noticeable—a loss of 11 FPS at 1080p, 8 FPS at 1440p, and 6 FPS at 4K. For players with 144Hz monitors, High at 1080p remains viable, but Medium provides more headroom. Low settings push performance to 140 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K, but the visual compromise is severe, reducing the atmospheric lighting and particle effects that define Control’s aesthetic. Ultra is the most demanding tier, yielding 77 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K—the latter falling below the 40 FPS threshold for comfortable play.

The data strongly suggests that Medium is the sweet spot. At 1080p, the 99 FPS average easily exceeds the 60 FPS standard, and even the minimum of 84 FPS stays well above it. At 1440p, the 75 FPS average is smooth, with the 64 FPS minimum still playable on most displays. At 4K, the 51 FPS average is borderline, but the 43 FPS minimum (the only recorded minimum for 4K) suggests occasional stutter; players targeting 4K might consider dropping to Low for a more consistent 71 FPS. For the majority of users, Medium at 1440p or 1080p offers the most reliable experience without sacrificing the game’s core visual identity.

FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500X3D’s performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D has an average benchmark score of 37018, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Core Ultra 5 225, and 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 and 0.3% behind the Intel Core i9-12900T. These deltas are negligible, indicating this CPU sits in a tightly competitive mid-range bracket.

Q: What is the RTX 4060’s standing among GPUs based on its benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4060 achieves an average benchmark score of 17639, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (0.2% ahead), AMD Radeon 780M (0.3% behind), AMD Radeon Pro 560 (0.5% behind), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (0.7% behind). This shows the 4060 is a mainstream performer, not a high-end part, which aligns with its measured FPS in Control.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of FPS and visual quality?

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 with Medium settings offers the best balance. It delivers a 75 FPS average with a 64 FPS minimum, which is smooth on most monitors. At 1080p, Medium hits 99 FPS, but the visual upgrade to 1440p is significant. At 4K, Medium only manages 51 FPS, so 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination.

*Q: Is the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM a limiting factor in Control?*

A: The data does not directly indicate VRAM limitations, but the FPS drops from Medium to High and Ultra suggest memory bandwidth or capacity pressure. The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 128-bit bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 39, which is likely due to the game’s high-resolution textures overwhelming the memory subsystem, though the CPU could also be a factor.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1515 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 52nd percentile. This means it performs slightly better than half of all tested systems, reflecting its mid-range positioning.

Q: What are the CPU’s key specifications that affect gaming?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. It features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a 5000-series chip. Its PassMark single-thread score is 2941, and its multithread score is 20363, both of which are above average for its class.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination holds the 1515th position out of 2888 tested combos in Control—a rank that places it just above the median of all tested systems. This is a telling statistic: for a game released in 2019, this pairing is neither a top-tier contender nor a budget afterthought. The rank suggests that while the components are well-matched for 1080p and 1440p gaming, they do not have the raw power to push into the upper echelons of performance charts.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 85 among all CPUs indicates it is a strong processor, but the GPU’s 61st percentile rank is more modest. This disparity hints that the RTX 4060 is the limiting factor in this combo. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system hits 140 FPS, which is high but not exceptional for a modern GPU. At 4K Ultra, the 39 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target, reflecting the GPU’s mid-range positioning. The combo’s rank of 1515 suggests that many systems with faster GPUs—even those with weaker CPUs—outperform this setup in Control.

Interestingly, the CPU’s nearest rivals are all within 0.3% of its average score, meaning any of them would yield nearly identical results. The GPU’s rivals, however, include integrated graphics like the Radeon 780M, which underscores the 4060’s position as a entry-level discrete GPU. The combination of a high-percentile CPU with a mid-percentile GPU creates a bottleneck where the CPU is rarely stressed, but the GPU is frequently at its limit. This is particularly evident in the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K, where the drop is steep and consistent across settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 140 FPS on Low, 99 FPS on Medium, 88 FPS on High, and 77 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, indicating a stable frame time distribution. Low settings offer the highest headroom, but the visual compromise is significant. Ultra, while playable, drops to 77 FPS, which is still smooth but leaves little margin for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings hit 106 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS with a 64 FPS minimum and 86 FPS maximum, High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 24-30% performance across all settings, which is typical for a resolution increase. The Medium preset’s 75 FPS average is the most balanced, offering a high refresh rate experience without dipping below 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings deliver 71 FPS, Medium averages 51 FPS with a 43 FPS minimum and 58 FPS maximum, High drops to 45 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The 4K Medium data is the only 4K run with min/max values, showing a wide range that suggests occasional stuttering. Low settings at 4K are the only tier that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, but the visual quality is noticeably degraded. Ultra at 4K is the worst-case scenario, with an average below 40 FPS making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals critical insights about the limiting component in this system. At 1080p Low, the system hits 140 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low yields 106 FPS, a 24.3% decrease. At 4K Low, the FPS falls to 71, a 49.3% decrease from 1080p. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound workload: as resolution increases, the pixel fill rate demand grows, and the RTX 4060’s 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate and 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance become the bottleneck.

The same pattern holds for Medium settings: 99 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p (24.2% drop), and 51 FPS at 4K (48.5% drop). High settings show 88 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p (23.9% drop), and 45 FPS at 4K (48.9% drop). Ultra settings follow suit: 77 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p (24.7% drop), and 39 FPS at 4K (49.4% drop). The near-consistent ~24% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~49% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings strongly indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor.

If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to plateau at higher resolutions, since the CPU workload remains constant while the GPU load increases. Instead, the FPS scales inversely with resolution in a predictable manner, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D, with its 6 cores, 12 threads, and 96 MB L3 cache, is more than capable of feeding the RTX 4060 at these settings. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield significant FPS gains at all resolutions, while upgrading the CPU would provide little benefit in this specific game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename) using a 7 nm TSMC process. Its base clock is 3.00 GHz, boosting to 4.00 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The standout feature is the 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is unusually large for a mid-range chip and is designed to reduce memory latency in gaming workloads. The CPU’s PassMark scores show a single-thread score of 2941 and a multithread score of 20363, with a physics score of 2282.

In Control, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s physics, AI, and draw calls. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the system achieves 140 FPS—a figure that indicates the CPU is not holding back performance. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, and its near-identical performance to rivals like the Ryzen 5 5600F and Core Ultra 5 225, confirms it is a capable gaming processor. The large L3 cache likely helps in Control’s complex environments, which feature destructible objects and dynamic physics.

However, the CPU’s performance is not the limiting factor in this combo. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is almost purely a GPU function, as evidenced by the consistent percentage drops. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.00 GHz is modest but sufficient for a 2019 title. The 12 threads ensure smooth multitasking, but Control is not a heavily threaded game, so the CPU’s multithread score of 20363 is more than adequate. In summary, the Ryzen 5 5500X3D provides a robust foundation, but its high percentile ranking is not fully utilized in this pairing because the GPU cannot keep up at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture (AD107 chip) using a 5 nm TSMC process. It features 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz. Memory consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, and it has 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores for ray tracing and DLSS. Its TDP is 115 W, with a launch MSRP of 299 USD.

In Control, the RTX 4060 is the primary determinant of frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU can deliver up to 140 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 77 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 71 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The GPU’s 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its mid-range status, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics, which is a telling comparison.

The 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are potential bottlenecks in Control, especially at 4K where high-resolution textures require more memory bandwidth. The GPU’s 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest for 4K gaming, which explains the steep FPS drop. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s also limits fill-rate-heavy scenes at high resolutions. The RTX 4060’s performance in Control is consistent with its specifications: it excels at 1080p and 1440p where its memory bandwidth is sufficient, but struggles at 4K where the demands exceed its capabilities. The GPU’s role is clear—it is the bottleneck in this system, and its mid-range specs cap the overall experience.