Control

# Control — AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a strong Control experience across all tested resolutions, with the GPU clearly dominating performance scaling from 1080p through 4K. The data shows a system that remains highly playable even at maximum settings in 4K, though the frame rate progression reveals where the CPU begins to matter and where the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor. With a combo rank of 182 out of 2,888 tested combinations, this pairing sits comfortably in the top tier for this title, and the measured frame rates confirm that Control is far more demanding on the graphics card than on the processor.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Control?

A: This combo ranks 182nd out of 2,888 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 6.3% of all tested pairings for this game. That is a strong result, though not the absolute top tier, reflecting the fact that Control’s engine rewards raw GPU throughput more than CPU headroom.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500X3D compare to its nearest CPU rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37,018 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36,945) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (36,938), and 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37,093). The Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.3% higher at 37,112. These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU sits in a very tight performance cluster.

Q: What is the RTX 4090’s position relative to its nearest GPU rivals in average benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4090 averages 60,347, which is essentially tied with the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% higher). The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% higher at 61,896, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% lower at 58,657. The RTX 4090 sits in the middle of this group.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS recorded for this combo in Control, and at which settings?

A: The highest average frame rate is 196 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 178 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 139 FPS. The lowest average recorded is 76 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the RTX 4090 have enough VRAM for Control at maximum settings?

A: Yes, the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on the RTX 4090, with a 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, is far more than Control requires. Even at 4K Ultra, the measured average FPS of 76 indicates the GPU is compute-bound rather than memory-bound, as no frame rate collapses or stutter patterns suggest VRAM capacity issues.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the average FPS goes from 196 on Low to 149 on Ultra, a drop of 47 FPS or about 24%. This is a relatively mild penalty for a full settings swing, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom at 1080p that even Ultra settings leave substantial performance on the table.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing for Control. With 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, the GPU’s raw compute resources are immense. The 128 ray tracing cores and 512 tensor cores further extend its capability, though Control’s benchmark rows here do not specify ray tracing settings, so the measured numbers reflect conventional rasterization performance. The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz, paired with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, give it ample resources to push high frame rates even at 4K.

In Control, the GPU role is most evident in the scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 165, while at 1440p High it drops to 130, and at 4K High it falls to 88. That is a 77 FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K, a 47% decrease, which is a typical pattern for a GPU-bound title. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are the key drivers here, allowing it to maintain playable frame rates even when pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate is particularly relevant for Control, as the game’s particle effects and physics-based destruction require high fill rates.

The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is excessive for Control, which was released in 2019 and does not require anywhere near that amount of memory. However, the bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is more relevant, as it ensures that texture streaming and memory access do not bottleneck the GPU’s compute units. The measured frame rates show no evidence of memory-related stuttering, even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS of 76 remains consistent. The GPU’s 450 W TDP and triple-slot design reflect its performance class, but those are physical characteristics rather than performance metrics, and the benchmark data confirms that the RTX 4090 is the primary engine driving Control’s frame rates.

The GPU percentile of 88 versus all GPUs indicates that the RTX 4090 is well above average, though not in the absolute top percentile. Its average benchmark score of 60,347 puts it in a tight cluster with several workstation-oriented cards, as shown in the nearest rivals data. For Control specifically, the GPU’s role is to render the game’s complex environments and physics interactions, and the measured FPS across all settings shows that it does so with significant headroom at lower resolutions, becoming the clear limiting factor at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling in Control for this combo reveals a classic GPU-bound progression. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 196, which drops to 178 at 1440p Low and then to 139 at 4K Low. That is a 57 FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K, or a 29% performance loss. The pattern is similar at High settings: 165 FPS at 1080p, 130 at 1440p, and 88 at 4K, a 77 FPS drop (47%). At Medium settings, the numbers are 172, 146, and 99 respectively, a 73 FPS reduction (42%). For Ultra, the progression is 149 FPS at 1080p, 113 at 1440p, and 76 at 4K, a 73 FPS drop (49%).

The fact that the absolute FPS drop from 1080p to 4K grows as settings increase (from 57 FPS on Low to 77 FPS on High) indicates that higher settings add more GPU work per pixel, amplifying the resolution penalty. However, the relative drop percentage stays within a narrow range of 29% to 49%, which is characteristic of a GPU that scales linearly with pixel count. The CPU, a Ryzen 5 5500X3D with 6 cores and 12 threads, has a 96 MB shared L3 cache and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, but its PassMark multithread score of 20,363 and single-thread score of 2,941 are modest. In a game like Control, which is not heavily CPU-threaded, the CPU is unlikely to bottleneck at 1080p, where frame rates are highest.

The data suggests that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU may be approaching its limits, given the 196 FPS ceiling on Low settings. At 4K, the GPU is unquestionably the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops to 76 FPS on Ultra, a level that is still playable but far from the 165 FPS seen at 1080p High. The fact that 4K Low (139 FPS) is nearly double 4K Ultra (76 FPS) shows that even at high pixel counts, settings have a massive impact on GPU load. This indicates that for players targeting 4K, the RTX 4090’s raw power is sufficient for high refresh rates at lower settings, but Ultra settings will cap the experience at around 76 FPS.

The medium settings at each resolution provide the only rows with min and max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the min is 146 and max is 198, with an average of 172. At 1440p Medium, min is 124 and max is 168, averaging 146. At 4K Medium, min is 84 and max is 114, averaging 99. These ranges show that frame pacing is consistent, with the gap between min and max FPS being roughly 50-60 FPS at each resolution, indicating no sudden spikes or drops that would suggest CPU or memory bottlenecks.

How This Combo Ranks

At rank 182 out of 2,888 tested combinations, this Ryzen 5 5500X3D and RTX 4090 pairing is in the top 6.3% of all tested combos in Control. That is an impressive position, but it is not the top, and the data explains why. The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 2,941 and multithread score of 20,363 are decent but not exceptional, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, meanwhile, is in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Both components are above average, but neither is in the top few percentiles, which means the combo as a whole lands in the upper tier without reaching the very peak.

The nearest CPU rivals for the Ryzen 5 5500X3D are all within a 0.3% delta in average benchmark score, which means that swapping to a Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, Intel Core Ultra 5 225, or Intel Core i9-12900T would have virtually no impact on Control’s frame rates. This reinforces the conclusion that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance in this game. The RTX 4090’s nearest GPU rivals are similarly close in average score, with deltas ranging from -2.5% to +2.9%, meaning that even significant GPU changes would only shift Control’s frame rates by a few FPS.

The combo rank of 182 out of 2,888 means that there are 181 other pairings that perform better in Control, likely combinations of even higher-end CPUs with the same or better GPUs. However, given that the RTX 4090 is already an end-of-life product with a successor available, the realistic upgrade path would not yield massive gains in this specific game. The rank also indicates that this combo is better than roughly 93.7% of all tested pairings, which is a strong endorsement for Control players who want high frame rates at any resolution.

It is importantly the combo rank is specific to Control, and the same pairing could rank differently in other titles. But within this game’s data, the high rank is driven by the GPU’s ability to maintain playable FPS at 4K Ultra (76 FPS) and exceed 100 FPS at 1440p Ultra (113 FPS). The CPU’s contribution is minimal, as evidenced by the tight clustering of rival CPUs and the fact that even a 0.3% CPU performance difference would not change the outcome.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the best experience depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, all settings are playable, with even Ultra averaging 149 FPS. For players with a 144Hz monitor, High settings at 165 FPS are ideal, while Medium at 172 FPS offers a small FPS boost with likely similar visual quality. Low at 196 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing maximum frame rates on a 240Hz display. For 1080p, High or Medium are the sweet spots, as they stay well above the 144 FPS threshold for most high-refresh monitors.

At 1440p, the choices become more nuanced. Ultra averages 113 FPS, which is playable on a 120Hz display but not on a 144Hz one. High at 130 FPS is better suited for 144Hz, while Medium at 146 FPS is the best option for players with a 144Hz or 165Hz monitor who want to stay above refresh rate. Low at 178 FPS is overkill but available for competitive play. The recommendation here is Medium for the best balance of visuals and speed, or High if the player prefers higher quality and has a 120Hz display.

At 4K, the data shows a clear tradeoff. Ultra averages 76 FPS, which is acceptable for a 60Hz display but leaves no headroom for frame drops. High at 88 FPS is better for 60Hz, providing a cushion above the refresh rate. Medium at 99 FPS is the best choice for 4K, as it approaches 100 FPS and gives smooth performance on 60Hz displays with room to spare. Low at 139 FPS is excessive for most 4K monitors, but it is the only setting that would support 120Hz or 144Hz at this resolution. For most players, Medium at 4K is the recommended preset, as it delivers 99 FPS average with a min of 84 and max of 114, ensuring consistent performance.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with min and max FPS data, which is useful for evaluating worst-case scenarios. At 4K Medium, the min FPS of 84 means that even in the most demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 60 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min of 124 ensures no drops below 120 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, the min of 146 keeps everything above 144 FPS. These numbers confirm that Medium is the safest choice for maintaining smooth frame rates across all resolutions, and it is the recommended preset for this combo in Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS ranges from 196 on Low to 149 on Ultra. The Low setting achieves 196 FPS, which is the highest average recorded for this combo. Medium averages 172 FPS, with a minimum of 146 and maximum of 198. High averages 165 FPS, and Ultra drops to 149 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 47 FPS, or a 24% reduction, which is relatively small compared to the scaling at higher resolutions. The min and max data for Medium shows a range of 52 FPS (146 to 198), indicating very stable frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS starts at 178 on Low and falls to 113 on Ultra. Medium averages 146 FPS, with a min of 124 and max of 168, giving a range of 44 FPS. High averages 130 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 65 FPS, or 37%. Compared to 1080p, the 1440p numbers are lower by 18 FPS on Low (196 to 178), 26 FPS on Medium (172 to 146), 35 FPS on High (165 to 130), and 36 FPS on Ultra (149 to 113). This consistent reduction across settings suggests that the GPU is scaling predictably with pixel count, with no sudden bottlenecks appearing.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 139 on Low to 76 on Ultra. Medium averages 99 FPS, with a min of 84 and max of 114, a range of 30 FPS. High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 76 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 63 FPS, or 45%. Compared to 1440p, the 4K numbers are lower by 39 FPS on Low (178 to 139), 47 FPS on Medium (146 to 99), 42 FPS on High (130 to 88), and 37 FPS on Ultra (113 to 76). The fact that the absolute drops between 1440p and 4K are similar to the drops between 1080p and 1440p for most settings confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, as its performance scales almost linearly with resolution.

The highest average FPS across all measured rows is 196 at 1080p Low, while the lowest average is 76 at 4K Ultra, a difference of 120 FPS. The Medium settings provide the only complete min/max data, and across all three resolutions, the min FPS is always at least 84 (at 4K), which means that even the worst-case scenes remain playable. The overall data shows that this combo can handle Control at any resolution and settings combination tested, with the only potential limitation being a desire for higher than 100 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is not achievable with the measured 76 FPS average.