Control

Control with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an exercise in extreme imbalance, but the measured data shows it is a highly effective pairing for this title. The combination ranks 60th out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.7% of all configurations in the database for this game. The RTX 4090 is clearly the dominant component, driving frame rates that range from very playable at 4K to exceptionally high at 1080p. The Ryzen 5 5600, while not a bottleneck at higher resolutions in most settings, does cap performance in lighter loads, creating a distinct pattern in scaling that reveals the interaction between these two very different tiers of hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS deltas between 1080p and 4K clearly illustrate where the performance ceiling lies for this combo. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 219.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 139.8 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 36.3%. This relatively modest drop for a 4x increase in pixel count strongly indicates that the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p; the GPU is being held back from its full potential. As resolution increases, the load shifts to the GPU, which is why the frame rate does not fall as steeply as it would if the graphics card were the sole constraint.

The scaling pattern changes at Ultra settings. Here, the average FPS goes from 149.3 at 1080p down to 75.4 at 4K, a 49.5% reduction. This steeper drop shows that at Ultra, the RTX 4090 is finally being tasked heavily enough to become the main bottleneck. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is stark: 139.8 FPS versus 75.4 FPS, a 46.1% performance penalty for maxing out the settings. This indicates that while the CPU is holding back low-resolution performance, the GPU's massive compute resources are the deciding factor when visual fidelity is prioritized.

The intermediate resolutions confirm this trend. At 1440p, the Low setting hits 198.9 FPS, while Ultra still manages 113.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows from 70.0 FPS at 1080p to 64.4 FPS at 4K, suggesting the CPU's influence wanes as resolution climbs. The data shows a combo that is GPU-bound at 4K, CPU-bound at 1080p, and in a balanced state at 1440p where both components contribute to the final result. For a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor, this pairing delivers over 113 FPS at Ultra, which is a strong outcome.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 60 out of 1636 tested combos for Control, this configuration sits in the upper echelon of all tested pairings. This places it ahead of the vast majority of systems in the database. The RTX 4090 alone has a percentile rank of 91 against all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 66473 places it near the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, which scores 67097 (a 0.9% difference). This context shows that the GPU is a top-tier part, and the CPU, while ranking in the 79th percentile against all CPUs, is a mid-range part that is not dragging the combo down to a significant degree.

The combo's rank is more reflective of the GPU's immense power than the CPU's contribution. The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 21765, which is comparable to the Intel Core i7-11700F, which scores 21957 (a 0.9% difference). In this pairing, the CPU is sufficient to feed the GPU at high resolutions, but it is not a perfect match. The data suggests that this combo is a case of a very fast graphics card being paired with a competent, but not top-tier, processor, resulting in a rank that is excellent but not number one. The 1080p Low result of 219.3 FPS is likely near the CPU's maximum output for this game, which caps the combo's overall potential in lighter scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo hit 60 FPS at 4K in Control?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 87.9. Even at Ultra settings, the average FPS is 75.4, which is well above the 60 FPS target.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for 1080p gaming with this CPU?

A: Benchmark results indicate a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. At Low settings, the frame rate is 219.3 FPS, but at High it drops to 175.7 FPS, showing that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution; the CPU is holding back performance.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in this game?

A: The most balanced results are at 2560x1440. The average FPS at High settings is 133.8, and at Ultra it is 113.2, which combines high visual quality with frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most monitors.

Q: How much performance is lost going from High to Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 87.9 at High settings to 75.4 at Ultra settings. This is a 14.2% reduction in average frame rate for the highest visual preset.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at 4K?

A: The data suggests it does not. At 4K, the FPS difference between Low and Ultra is 64.4 FPS, which is a significant gap. This indicates the GPU is the primary driver of performance at this resolution, as the CPU has enough headroom to keep up.

Q: What are the lowest framerates recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded in the measured data is 75.4 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. No minimum or maximum frame rate data is provided.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 149.3 at Ultra to 219.3 at Low. The Medium setting yields 190.8 FPS, while High results in 175.7 FPS. The variance across settings is 70.0 FPS, which is the largest of any resolution, pointing to the CPU limiting the GPU at lower settings.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS starts at 113.2 for Ultra and climbs to 198.9 for Low. Medium produces 146.4 FPS, and High achieves 133.8 FPS. The spread here is 85.7 FPS, showing that the GPU is beginning to have a greater influence on performance as the pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 75.4 for Ultra, 87.9 for High, 100.8 for Medium, and 139.8 for Low. The difference between the lowest and highest settings is 64.4 FPS. This is the tightest spread, indicating that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at 4K, as its workload becomes significantly more demanding.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the clear performance driver in this combo. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Control at any resolution. The GPU's clocks are listed with a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz. These high clocks, combined with 16384 shading units, allow it to process the game's effects at very high rates.

The data shows that the GPU is not fully utilized at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low average of 219.3 FPS is likely a CPU limit, as the GPU could theoretically output more frames. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck, with the average FPS dropping to 75.4. This is consistent with a card that has a massive compute throughput, as indicated by its FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS, being tasked with rendering a high pixel count.

The GPU's performance in this game aligns with its high benchmark scores. Its Passmark G3D score of 38194 places it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, and its performance is comparable to the NVIDIA Tesla P40, which scores 66127 (a 0.5% difference). The RTX 4090's 128 RT cores also suggest it is well-prepared for any ray-traced effects the game may use, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether ray tracing is enabled.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 plays a supporting role in this combo. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it is a solid mid-range processor that provides enough throughput for most gaming workloads. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz are adequate for keeping up with the GPU at higher resolutions. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache is a typical amount for this class of processor.

The benchmark results show that the CPU's performance is a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low average of 219.3 FPS is likely near the maximum that this CPU can produce in Control. As the resolution increases, the CPU's role diminishes. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and single-core score of 2584 indicate a capable processor, but one that is far less powerful than the GPU in this pairing.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node make it an efficient part, but its performance is what matters here. In the context of this game, the Ryzen 5 5600 is sufficient to avoid being a major bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, but it does prevent the combo from reaching its absolute maximum frame rate potential at 1080p. The data shows that a more powerful CPU would likely yield higher FPS at lower resolutions, but for most users playing at 1440p or 4K, this CPU provides a solid foundation.