Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination presents a clear picture for playing Control: it is a 1080p-oriented setup. The measured data shows that the Low preset is the only configuration that consistently delivers a high frame rate, while the Medium preset offers a playable experience with better visual fidelity. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 91 FPS, which is comfortable for fast-paced action. The High preset drops to 57 FPS, still playable, but the Ultra preset falls to 50 FPS, indicating a significant performance cost. For the best balance of smoothness and quality, the Medium preset at 1080p is the recommended starting point, as it holds a 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays above the critical 60 FPS threshold in most scenes. While the Low preset yields the highest frame rates, the Medium preset provides a more visually satisfying experience without sacrificing the smoothness needed for this action-adventure title. At 1440p, the Medium preset’s 49 FPS average is borderline, making it a viable option only if the user prioritizes resolution over frame rate stability. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo, as even the Low preset only manages 46 FPS, and higher settings fall below 33 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is positioned in the lower-middle tier of tested systems for Control. The data shows a combo rank of 2471 out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the 14th percentile of performance. This ranking indicates that while this setup is capable of running the game, the vast majority of tested hardware configurations deliver superior performance. The bottleneck is clear from the individual component benchmarks: the CPU’s average benchmark score of 36945 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU’s average score of 12986 places it in only the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. This significant gap suggests the graphics card is the primary limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU is a strong performer, as evidenced by its nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, which have nearly identical average scores. In contrast, the GPU’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 580, all of which are in a similar performance class. The benchmark results indicate that the GTX 1660 SUPER is holding the combo back from achieving a higher rank, as the CPU has ample headroom to support a more powerful graphics card.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER’s role in this combo is defined by its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit memory bus, which provides a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a critical factor in Control, a game known for its heavy use of textures and visual effects. The GPU’s base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and it operates on a 12 nm process with a TDP of 125 W. The benchmark results show the GPU’s average score of 12986 is only slightly above its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580, which scores 12928. This indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER sits at a performance plateau where incremental changes in clock speed or memory bandwidth do not yield large gains in this title. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the performance scales well with settings, but the jump to 1440p results in a substantial drop in average FPS across all presets. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but it may become a limiting factor at 4K, where the High preset only achieves 29 FPS. The data suggests that the GPU’s compute capabilities, which are rated at 5.027 TFLOPS, are the primary constraint, as the frame rates drop more sharply with increased resolution and settings than would be expected if the CPU were the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows a clear progression across settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 91 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo. The Medium preset drops to 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 74 FPS, indicating a stable experience. The High preset reduces the average to 57 FPS, and the Ultra preset brings it down to 50 FPS. This scaling pattern shows that each step up in settings costs roughly 7-14 FPS, with the most significant drop occurring between Low and Medium. Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 69 for Low, 49 for Medium, 43 for High, and 38 for Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum of 41 and a maximum of 56 FPS, which shows more variance than at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. The Low preset averages 46 FPS, the Medium preset averages 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 and a maximum of 38, the High preset averages 29 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 25 FPS. The data indicates that at 4K, the combo is only viable for low-detail gaming, and even then, the frame rate is below the ideal 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 4K is nearly unplayable, with a 25 FPS average.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, revealing the limiting component of this combo. When comparing the Low settings at each resolution, the average FPS is 91 at 1080p, 69 at 1440p, and 46 at 4K. This represents a 24% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49% drop from 1080p to 4K. For the Medium settings, the drop is from 64 FPS at 1080p to 49 FPS at 1440p (a 23% drop) and then to 33 FPS at 4K (a 48% drop). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not increase proportionally with pixel count. The data shows that as the resolution increases, the GPU has to render more pixels, and its fill rate and memory bandwidth become the bottleneck. The GPU’s pixel rate is 85.68 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 157.1 GTexel/s, which are modest figures for 4K rendering. The 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is also insufficient to feed the GPU’s processing units at higher resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the GTX 1660 SUPER is simply not designed for high-resolution gaming, and the 4K numbers confirm that it is best suited for 1080p or 1440p with adjusted settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F provides a solid foundation for this gaming combo, though its performance is not fully utilized in Control. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 32 MB shared L3 cache. The PassMark multithread score for this CPU is 19236, and its single-thread score is 2872, which are strong numbers that place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The data shows that the CPU’s average benchmark score of 36945 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, which scores 36938. This indicates that the 5600F has more than enough processing power for Control. The measured FPS data supports this, as the frame rates are consistently higher at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. For example, at 1080p Low, the 91 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data, but the GPU’s limitations prevent higher frame rates. The CPU’s 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR4 support are adequate for this game. The data implies that in this combo, the CPU is not the bottleneck; rather, the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting factor, as upgrading the GPU would likely yield significant frame rate improvements without needing to change the CPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a smooth experience at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it delivers a 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS, providing a balance between visual quality and frame rate stability. The Low preset offers a higher 91 FPS average but sacrifices visual detail.

Q: How does this combo perform at 1440p compared to 1080p?

A: At 1440p, the average FPS drops significantly across all settings. The Low preset averages 69 FPS, Medium averages 49 FPS, and High averages 43 FPS. The 1080p Medium preset’s 64 FPS is noticeably smoother than the 1440p Medium preset’s 49 FPS.

Q: Is this combo suitable for 4K gaming in Control?

A: The data indicates that 4K is not a viable option. The highest average FPS at 4K is 46 with the Low preset, while the Medium preset drops to 33 FPS and Ultra falls to 25 FPS. These frame rates are below the threshold for a playable experience.

Q: Which component is the primary bottleneck in this setup?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting factor. Its average benchmark score of 12986 places it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU’s score of 36945 places it in the 85th percentile. The frame rate drops with resolution are characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average score of 12986 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 580, which scores 12928, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which scores 12940. The performance difference is within 1%, indicating these cards are in the same class.

Q: What is the frame rate variance at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 64, with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 74 FPS. This variance of 19 FPS suggests that the experience is stable, but there are moments where the frame rate drops closer to the 55 FPS minimum.