Control

# Control — AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT + Intel Arc B390

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Control, with the benchmark data showing a system that is heavily limited by the integrated GPU. The combo ranks 2551st out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations tested for this title. Across all resolutions and settings, the measured average frame rates range from a low of 18 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 65 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the system can approach playability only under the most favorable conditions.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in Control reveals a profound GPU bottleneck, with frame rates dropping dramatically as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the system produces an average of 65 FPS, which falls to 50 FPS at 1440p Low — a 23% reduction. Moving to 4K Low yields 33 FPS, representing a 49% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that runs out of shading throughput and memory bandwidth as resolution climbs.

For the High preset, the degradation is even more stark in absolute terms. The system averages 41 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The percentage losses are 24% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 32% from 1440p to 4K. This steep curve indicates that the Intel Arc B390, with its 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and shared system memory, is the primary limiter at every resolution above 1080p.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 46 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, drops from 36 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 1440p and finally to 18 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these proportional drops — roughly 25-30% per resolution step — suggests that the GPU's fixed-function units (48 TMUs and 24 ROPs) are saturated, and the system memory bandwidth, which is system-dependent for this integrated part, cannot compensate.

What the data tells us about the limiting component is unambiguous. The Ryzen 5 5600GT's CPU performance — with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17272 and single-core score of 2438 — is far above what Control needs at these frame rates. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would typically have more influence, the 65 FPS average suggests the GPU is still the constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau or even increase at lower resolutions; instead, they scale almost linearly with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the choice of settings is a trade-off between visual fidelity and playable frame rates. At 1080p, the Low preset is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 65 FPS. This is the clear recommendation for competitive or fast-paced play, as it provides a smooth experience with acceptable responsiveness. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS and maximum of 53 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less fluid. High drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS.

At 1440p, no preset achieves 60 FPS. Low is the best option at 50 FPS, which is still below the ideal threshold but playable for a single-player action-adventure title. Medium averages 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40, while High and Ultra deliver 31 and 27 FPS respectively. The 1440p Low setting offers the best balance, providing a 43% improvement over Medium while maintaining visual quality that is still acceptable for a game from 2019.

At 4K, the situation is largely untenable. Low averages 33 FPS, Medium 24 FPS, High 21 FPS, and Ultra 18 FPS. None of these are comfortable for gameplay, though Low could be tolerated for slow-paced exploration if the player prioritizes resolution over smoothness. The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the highest visual quality setting that maintains a playable frame rate, with the 46 FPS average and 40 FPS minimum keeping the experience above the stutter threshold. For players with a 1440p display, Low is the only sensible choice, while 4K should be avoided unless the user is willing to accept sub-30 FPS performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive component in this system's Control performance, and the benchmark data reflects its characteristics in every metric. The GPU is based on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a Panther Lake chip, fabricated on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute rated at 7.680 TFLOPS.

The memory configuration is the most unusual aspect of this GPU: it uses system shared memory with a system-dependent bandwidth. This means the GPU competes with the CPU for the same DDR4 memory bandwidth, which is rated at 51.2 GB/s for the dual-channel configuration of the Ryzen 5 5600GT. This shared bandwidth is likely the primary reason why frame rates drop so steeply at higher resolutions, where the GPU needs to fetch more texture data and geometry from memory.

The GPU's benchmark score is telling: it achieves only 1482 points in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with a score of 1463 (1.3% lower), NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% lower), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% lower), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% lower). These are all entry-level or legacy parts, confirming that the Arc B390 is positioned at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum.

In Control, the GPU's limitations manifest as the steep resolution scaling already documented. The 1536 shading units, while modern in architecture, are simply too few to handle the game's complex rendering at high pixel counts. The 24 ROPs limit fill-rate-bound scenes, and the shared memory bandwidth becomes a severe constraint at 4K. The ray tracing cores, while present, are unlikely to provide usable performance in Control given the overall compute budget.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this system in Control?

A: The data shows 1080p Low averaging 65 FPS is the only configuration exceeding 60 FPS. For higher visual quality, 1080p Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS, which is the highest preset that remains consistently playable.

Q: Can this system handle 4K in Control?

A: The measured results indicate no. At 4K Low, the average is 33 FPS, and every other preset at 4K falls below 25 FPS, with Ultra at just 18 FPS. These frame rates are too low for comfortable gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the GT 710. This places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: The 1440p Medium preset averages 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 FPS and maximum of 40 FPS. This 10 FPS spread is relatively tight, but the 30 FPS minimum is close to the stutter threshold.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The Ryzen 5 5600GT has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17272 and single-core score of 2438, which is more than sufficient for Control. The frame rate scaling with resolution indicates a GPU bottleneck at all tested settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for Control?

A: This combination ranks 2551st out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2551 out of 2888 places this system in the 12th percentile of all tested configurations for Control, meaning 88% of tested systems deliver better performance. This is a low ranking, but it is consistent with the component specifications. The Ryzen 5 5600GT is a mid-range CPU from the 5000 series with a 74th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the Intel Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU percentiles is instructive. The 5600GT, with its 6 cores and 12 threads running at base 3.60 GHz and boost 4.60 GHz, is more than capable of driving Control's physics and AI systems. Its 3DMark scores — 5523 for 16 threads, 1794 for 2 threads, and 913 for single thread — indicate solid multi-threaded headroom. The GPU, however, is the limiting factor, and its low percentile ranking drags the entire combo down.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system would be best suited for 1080p gaming at low-to-medium settings, which the measured data confirms. The rank of 2551 suggests that most users with discrete GPUs, even older ones, will outperform this configuration in Control. The only scenario where this combo makes sense is for users who prioritize CPU performance for other tasks and are willing to accept limited gaming capability from the integrated graphics.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT plays a supporting role in Control, providing sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any resolution or setting. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename), fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process with 10,700 million transistors and a die size of 180 mm². It operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5600GT demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance for its class. It scores 17272 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2438 in single-core, along with 7254 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 1023 in single-core. Geekbench results show 7986 multi-core and 1843 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score is 20325, with single-thread at 3348. These scores place the CPU at the 74th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20733.

The nearest CPU rivals provide context. The Intel Core i5-12490F scores 20802, which is 0.3% higher; the Intel Xeon 6325P scores 20821 (0.4% higher); the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U scores 20826 (0.4% higher); and the AMD EPYC 7J13 scores 20845 (0.5% higher). These are all within 0.5% of the 5600GT, indicating that the CPU is well-matched to its peers in general compute performance.

In Control specifically, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core provide adequate data locality for the game's assets. The dual-channel DDR4 memory with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth is shared with the GPU, which is a potential bottleneck, but the CPU itself does not appear to be the constraint. The frame rate scaling pattern — where FPS drops proportionally with resolution — confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for Control with this system is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: average 65 FPS
• Medium: average 46 FPS, minimum 40 FPS, maximum 53 FPS
• High: average 41 FPS
• Ultra: average 36 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: average 50 FPS
• Medium: average 35 FPS, minimum 30 FPS, maximum 40 FPS
• High: average 31 FPS
• Ultra: average 27 FPS

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: average 33 FPS
• Medium: average 24 FPS, minimum 20 FPS, maximum 27 FPS
• High: average 21 FPS
• Ultra: average 18 FPS

The data shows a clear hierarchy: at every resolution, Low is the fastest preset, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra in descending order. The gaps between presets are consistent — Medium is typically 15-25% slower than Low, High is 10-15% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 10-15% slower than High. This suggests that each preset tier adds a similar amount of rendering work to the GPU.

The minimum and maximum FPS data for Medium settings provides insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 40-53 FPS around a 46 FPS average, indicating a 13 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 30-40 FPS around 35 FPS average, a 10 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 20-27 FPS around 24 FPS average, a 7 FPS spread. The tighter ranges at higher resolutions suggest that the GPU is consistently saturated, with less variance in frame times.

For the other presets, only average FPS is available, but the pattern is clear. The 1080p Low result of 65 FPS is the only measurement above 60 FPS, and it represents the best-case scenario for this system. The 1440p Low result of 50 FPS is the only other measurement above 45 FPS. All 4K results fall below 35 FPS, making 4K gaming impractical for anything but static scenes or screenshots. The 4K Ultra result of 18 FPS is barely above a slideshow, and even 4K Low at 33 FPS would be difficult to play comfortably.