Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, with average frame rates ranging from 86 FPS at 1440p Ultra to 208 FPS at 1080p Low. Benchmark data indicates the pairing is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming at mainstream resolutions, though 4K Ultra demands more than the GPU can sustain at 60 FPS.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 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 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. The CPU features a 32 MB shared L3 cache, with 512 KB of L2 and 64 KB of L1 per core. Memory support includes dual-channel DDR4 with a theoretical bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and the processor connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 5600 achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and a single-core score of 2584. Its Geekbench results show 9158 multicore and 1936 single-core points. The processor's Passmark multithread score is 21541, and its Passmark physics score is 1285. These figures place the CPU in the 74th percentile against all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 20468. Its nearest rivals in average score include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V at 20454 (0.1% slower), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G at 20425 (0.2% slower), the AMD EPYC 9454P at 20422 (0.2% slower), and the AMD EPYC 7713 at 20363 (0.5% slower).

For Control, an Action Adventure title, the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient to feed the GPU at the tested settings. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combination produces 208 FPS on average, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck even when the GPU workload is lighter. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 58 FPS, which is a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 882 and Cinebench R15 single-core score of 260, supports high frame rates without introducing stutter. The processor's 3dmark 16-thread score of 5641 and max-thread score of 5659 are nearly identical, suggesting that the game does not scale beyond the available threads, but the 12 threads provide enough headroom for background tasks.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using the Navi 31 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1387 MHz, with a boost clock of 2394 MHz and a game clock of 2025 MHz. Memory operates at 2500 MHz, which translates to 20 Gbps effective. The card includes 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation pipelines, along with 84 ray tracing cores. Its peak pixel rate is 459.6 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 804.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7900 XT scores 5623 in 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12, 12756 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 71068 in Geekbench Vulkan. Passmark results show a G3D score of 29009 and a GPU compute score of 16828. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 55, with an average benchmark score of 13745. Its nearest rivals in average score include the AMD Radeon 660M at 13812 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile at 13821 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871 (0.9% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 13543 (1.5% lower).

For Control, the 20 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for the highest textures at any resolution tested. The GPU's raw throughput is evident in the measured FPS: at 1080p Low, the card produces 208 FPS, while at 4K Low it still manages 106 FPS. The memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s ensures that texture streaming at 4K Ultra does not cause frame time spikes; the data shows a minimum FPS of 64 at 4K Medium, indicating stable delivery. The GPU's boost clock of 2394 MHz allows it to scale with resolution demands, though the transition from 1440p to 4K shows a significant drop in frame rates across all settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—across three resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 208 FPS, Medium yields 148 FPS, High yields 131 FPS, and Ultra yields 114 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is 60 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 17 FPS, and High to Ultra is another 17 FPS. For players with a 144 Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a substantial improvement in visual quality over Low while still exceeding 144 FPS, making it the best balance of fidelity and performance. The High preset at 1080p, at 131 FPS, is also viable for high-refresh displays, but Medium provides more headroom.

At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 157 FPS, Medium achieves 112 FPS, High achieves 99 FPS, and Ultra achieves 86 FPS. The Medium preset is the sweet spot here, as it delivers over 110 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, and the step to High costs 13 FPS for marginal visual gains. The Ultra preset, at 86 FPS, is still playable but does not maintain a 100 FPS average. At 4K, the Low preset delivers 106 FPS, Medium delivers 75 FPS, High delivers 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58 FPS. For 4K, the Medium preset is recommended, as it breaks the 60 FPS barrier with a 75 FPS average and a minimum of 64 FPS, while High at 67 FPS is close to the 60 FPS threshold but risks dipping below in demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended for a consistently smooth experience, as its 58 FPS average falls short of 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 740th out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This places the pairing in the top 20% of all combinations tested, indicating that while it is not the absolute top-tier setup, it outperforms the vast majority of configurations. The rank of 740 out of 3720 suggests a strong synergy between the CPU and GPU for this game, where the CPU does not hold back the GPU's capabilities.

The percentile data for the individual components provides context: the CPU is in the 74th percentile, and the GPU is in the 55th percentile. The combination's rank of 740 out of 3720 (approximately the 80th percentile) is higher than the GPU's individual percentile, suggesting that the CPU's strong single-thread performance compensates for the GPU's mid-range standing in synthetic tests. The data shows that the GPU's real-world performance in Control is better than its generic percentile might imply, as the measured FPS at 1080p and 1440p are high. The combo's rank indicates that in this specific title, the pairing is more effective than in general-purpose benchmarks, likely due to the game's engine scaling well with the CPU's cache and clock speeds.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 131 FPS.

Q: Does the RX 7900 XT have enough VRAM for 4K Ultra in Control?

A: Yes, the GPU has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is ample for the game at 4K Ultra. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 58 FPS, but the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600 compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 20468, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V at 20454, and 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 7713 at 20363.

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

A: The minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 95 FPS, with a maximum of 128 FPS and an average of 112 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 106 at Low to 58 at Ultra, showing that the GPU's workload scales significantly with resolution, while the CPU maintains sufficient frame delivery.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU in this combo?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 has a launch MSRP of $199.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data is comprehensive, covering three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 208 FPS. The Medium preset yields an average of 148 FPS, with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 170 FPS. The High preset results in an average of 131 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers an average of 114 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression: stepping from Low to Medium costs 60 FPS, Medium to High costs 17 FPS, and High to Ultra costs another 17 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 157 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 99 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers an average of 86 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 45 FPS, Medium to High is 13 FPS, and High to Ultra is 13 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces an average of 106 FPS. The Medium preset yields an average of 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS. The High preset results in an average of 67 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers an average of 58 FPS. The differences are 31 FPS between Low and Medium, 8 FPS between Medium and High, and 9 FPS between High and Ultra.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one at 4K with a recorded minimum FPS (64), while other settings do not have min/max values listed. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data, providing insight into frame time consistency.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial across all settings, revealing the GPU-bound nature of the system at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 208 at 1080p to 157 at 1440p (a 24.5% drop), and then to 106 at 4K (a 32.5% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 102 FPS, or 49.0%.

At Medium settings, the averages are 148 at 1080p, 112 at 1440p, and 75 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36 FPS (24.3%), and from 1440p to 4K is 37 FPS (33.0%). The total drop is 73 FPS, or 49.3%. At High settings, the averages are 131 at 1080p, 99 at 1440p, and 67 at 4K. This represents a 32 FPS drop (24.4%) from 1080p to 1440p, and a 32 FPS drop (32.3%) from 1440p to 4K, totaling 64 FPS or 48.9%. At Ultra settings, the averages are 114 at 1080p, 86 at 1440p, and 58 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28 FPS (24.6%), and from 1440p to 4K is 28 FPS (32.6%), totaling 56 FPS or 49.1%.

The consistency of the percentage drop—hovering around 24-25% from 1080p to 1440p, and 32-33% from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the scaling is uniform across settings. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the rendering resolution dictates the frame rate. The CPU's performance is sufficient to maintain the same relative FPS at each resolution, as evidenced by the similar percentage drops regardless of graphical preset. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would plateau at lower resolutions, but the data shows a continuous decline with resolution, confirming the GPU is the primary limiting component when moving to 4K. The RX 7900 XT's 20 GB VRAM and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth handle the increased memory pressure at 4K, but the compute load from the higher pixel count reduces FPS proportionally.