Control

Control, a 2019 action-adventure title, stresses the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti in a predictable manner, with the benchmark data showing a clear transition from a CPU-limited state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state at 4K. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that can deliver smooth gameplay at 1080p but struggles to maintain playable performance at higher pixel counts, with the data indicating that the GTX 1660 Ti's 6 GB VRAM and the Ryzen 5 5600F's six-core configuration are the primary determinants of the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep and consistent across all settings, highlighting the GPU as the limiting component at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 57 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p, a 24.6% reduction, and then to 29 FPS at 4K, a further 32.6% reduction from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is being overwhelmed by pixel count, with the 4K Ultra preset delivering an average of just 25 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play.

The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases, which is a direct indicator of GPU saturation. At 1080p, the difference between Low (91 FPS) and Ultra (50 FPS) is 41 FPS, while at 4K, the difference between Low (46 FPS) and Ultra (25 FPS) is 21 FPS. This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are fully utilized, leaving little headroom for quality improvements without a significant frame rate penalty. The 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are simply insufficient for the 8.3 million pixels of 4K, especially with the game's demanding visual effects.

The Ryzen 5 5600F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to be more than adequate for this workload at 1080p, as the performance scaling from Low to Ultra is substantial, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. However, the 4K results, where even Low settings only yield 46 FPS, confirm that the GTX 1660 Ti is the bottleneck, as reducing the resolution to 1080p at Low settings doubles the frame rate to 91 FPS. The data suggests that for this combo, the optimal resolution is 1080p, where the GPU can maintain a playable frame rate across all presets, while 1440p is only viable with Low or Medium settings, and 4K is not a practical option for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 14.4th percentile of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which sits at the 41st percentile against all GPUs in the benchmark database, while the CPU performs much better, ranking at the 85th percentile against all CPUs. The data indicates that this is a mismatched pairing for this specific game, with the CPU's capabilities far exceeding what the GPU can deliver in practice.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, with a delta of 0%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, which is 0.2% faster. These comparisons show that the Ryzen 5 5600F is a mid-to-high-tier processor in terms of raw compute, but its performance is wasted in this configuration because the GTX 1660 Ti cannot translate that compute power into higher frame rates, especially at higher resolutions. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon 540 (0.7% faster) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (1.9% faster), are all entry-level or older cards, which underscores the GTX 1660 Ti's position as a budget-oriented solution.

The low combo rank is a direct result of the GPU's limitations. The GTX 1660 Ti, with its 1536 shading units and 48 ROPs, is a 1080p-class card, and Control's demanding rendering engine exposes its weaknesses. The data shows that the combo's performance is far below what the top configurations achieve, with the 4K Ultra preset averaging only 25 FPS, a figure that is clearly unacceptable for a smooth experience. This ranking indicates that users seeking higher frame rates or higher resolutions would need to pair a more powerful GPU with the Ryzen 5 5600F to unlock its full potential.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which yields an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. This preset provides a good balance between visual quality and performance, maintaining a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS target for most of the time, with only occasional dips. The High preset at 1080p, averaging 57 FPS, is also acceptable, but it lacks the headroom of Medium and may result in more noticeable stutters during intense action sequences.

For users who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p, averaging 91 FPS, is the best choice, as it provides a significant performance buffer. However, the visual downgrade is substantial, and the Medium preset is generally the recommended starting point for this hardware. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat. The Low preset at 1440p, averaging 69 FPS, is a better option for maintaining a high frame rate, but it sacrifices many of the game's visual effects.

The data clearly shows that 4K is not a viable option for this combo, as even the Low preset only averages 46 FPS, and the Medium preset drops to 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS. These frame rates are too low for a smooth experience, and users should avoid 4K unless they are willing to accept significant compromises in both settings and playability. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where it averages 50 FPS, but the performance hit compared to High is not justified by the marginal visual improvements, making High or Medium the more sensible choices.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Control?

A: The benchmark data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo can consistently achieve playable frame rates across all settings. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 50 (Ultra) to 91 (Low), while at 1440p, it drops to 38-69 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 25-46 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti perform at 4K in Control?

A: The data indicates that 4K performance is poor, with the Ultra preset averaging only 25 FPS and the High preset averaging 29 FPS. Even the Low preset at 4K only reaches 46 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600F a bottleneck for the GTX 1660 Ti in this game?

A: No, the data suggests the opposite. The CPU ranks at the 85th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 41st percentile. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, as reducing the resolution significantly increases frame rates.

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Control?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 91, which is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is followed by 69 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings and 64 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Medium and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 64 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. This represents a 14 FPS difference, or a 21.9% reduction in performance when moving from Medium to Ultra.

Q: Does the combo rank well compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the lower 14.4% of all configurations. This low ranking is due to the GTX 1660 Ti's performance, which is only at the 41st percentile against all GPUs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti plays a decisive role in determining the frame rates for this combo in Control, as the data consistently shows that its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit memory bus are insufficient for the game's demands at higher resolutions. The GPU's 1536 shading units and 48 ROPs, operating at a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, provide a raw compute capacity of 5.437 TFLOPS, which is adequate for 1080p but quickly becomes overwhelmed as pixel count increases. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical limitation, as Control's high-resolution textures and effects can easily exceed this amount, leading to texture streaming issues and reduced performance.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, achieved through a 192-bit bus and 12 Gbps effective memory speed, is another bottleneck. At 4K, the pixel throughput demands are enormous, and the 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate is insufficient to maintain smooth frame rates, as evidenced by the average of 29 FPS at 4K High settings. The benchmark results for the GPU show a PassMark G3D score of 12871, placing it at the 41st percentile against all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being entry-level cards like the AMD Radeon 540 and the Intel Arc A310. This positioning confirms that the GTX 1660 Ti is a budget-oriented card that is not designed for high-resolution gaming.

The data shows that the GPU's performance is the primary reason for the combo's low rank in the game. At 1080p, the GPU can deliver 91 FPS at Low settings, but this drops to 50 FPS at Ultra, indicating that the card is being pushed to its limits. At 1440p, the performance falls to a range of 38-69 FPS, and at 4K, it drops below playable levels. The GPU's 120 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it is a power-efficient card, but its raw performance is simply not enough for Control's demanding rendering engine, which requires a more powerful GPU to achieve high frame rates at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, provides a solid foundation for this combo, but its role in Control is largely secondary to the GPU. The CPU's base clock of 3.00 GHz and boost clock of 4.00 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its PassMark single-thread score of 2872 and its 85th percentile ranking against all CPUs. The benchmark data shows that the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's physics and AI calculations, as the frame rates at 1080p are consistently higher than at 1440p or 4K, indicating that the CPU is not the limiting factor.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, with performance deltas of 0% and -0.2%, respectively. This places the Ryzen 5 5600F in a competitive position among mid-range processors, and its 12 threads provide ample parallelism for modern games. The CPU's memory support for DDR4 with a dual-channel interface and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the GTX 1660 Ti, as the GPU's 6 GB VRAM is the primary memory bottleneck. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node make it an efficient processor, but its performance in Control is constrained by the GPU's inability to render frames fast enough at higher resolutions.

The data indicates that the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery at lower resolutions, which it does effectively. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the GPU is able to reach 91 FPS at Low settings. However, the CPU's performance is underutilized at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, and the CPU's 85th percentile ranking is not reflected in the overall combo rank. This suggests that pairing the Ryzen 5 5600F with a more powerful GPU would yield significantly better results in Control, as the CPU has the headroom to support higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low settings achieve 91 FPS, Medium settings achieve 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, High settings achieve 57 FPS, and Ultra settings achieve 50 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each increase in quality level reduces performance by approximately 7-14 FPS, with the largest drop occurring between Low and Medium.

At 2560x1440, the performance decreases significantly. Low settings average 69 FPS, Medium settings average 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS, High settings average 43 FPS, and Ultra settings average 38 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 31 FPS, which is a larger absolute gap than at 1080p, but the relative drop is similar. The Medium preset at 1440p provides the minimum FPS of 41, which is still playable but close to the edge of what is considered smooth.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly hampered. Low settings average 46 FPS, Medium settings average 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 38 FPS, High settings average 29 FPS, and Ultra settings average 25 FPS. The 4K results show that the combo cannot maintain a stable 30 FPS at any setting above Low, with the Ultra preset dipping to an average of 25 FPS. The data also shows that the minimum FPS values at 4K Medium (28 FPS) are below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for playable performance, indicating that the GTX 1660 Ti is severely overtaxed at this resolution.