Control

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

The measured frame rates for Control with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 show a steep, predictable decline as resolution increases, but the shape of that curve reveals which component governs performance at each setting tier. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 182 FPS at 1920x1080 to 137 FPS at 2560x1440, a 24.7% reduction, and then to 93 FPS at 3840x2160, another 32.1% drop from the 1440p figure. That near-linear scaling with pixel count — 1080p to 1440p is roughly 1.78 times the pixels, and the frame rate drops by roughly a quarter — points to the GPU becoming the primary constraint even at Low, though the absolute numbers remain high enough that the CPU is not fully idled.

At Medium settings, the same pattern holds but with slightly smaller proportional losses: 129 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p (a 24.0% drop), and 66 FPS at 4K (a 32.7% drop from 1440p). The High preset shows 115 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p (24.3% down), and 59 FPS at 4K (32.2% down). Ultra is the slowest tier, with 100 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p (25.0% down), and 51 FPS at 4K (32.0% down). Across all four settings, the percentage loss from 1440p to 4K is consistently around 32%, while the loss from 1080p to 1440p hovers near 24-25%. That consistency is the signature of a GPU-bound workload: the frame rate scales almost exactly with the pixel count ratio, and the CPU's headroom is not exposed until frame rates climb well above 150 FPS.

The limiting component is therefore the Radeon RX 9070, not the Ryzen 5 5600X. The CPU, a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 part with a 3.70 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost clock, delivers a 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and a multi-thread score of 5588, which places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. In a game like Control, which is not heavily threaded and relies on single-core performance for scene traversal and physics, the 5600X is more than capable of feeding the GPU at these resolutions. The evidence is that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be most stressed, the GPU still manages 182 FPS — far above the 60 FPS target — and the scaling remains smooth rather than hitting a CPU-imposed plateau.

The data suggests that if a user were to pair the RX 9070 with a weaker CPU, the 1080p results might show a ceiling, but with the 5600X there is no such ceiling visible in the measured rows. Conversely, the GPU's 4K results at Ultra dip to 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the RX 9070's rendering throughput is the binding constraint at the highest settings. The resolution scaling analysis therefore concludes: the Ryzen 5 5600X is sufficient for Control at any resolution in this dataset, and the RX 9070 determines the playable envelope.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 48 chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC, and it carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The memory clock runs at 2518 MHz, which translates to 20.1 Gbps effective, yielding a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. For Control, a game released in 2019 that does not demand excessive memory capacity, the 16 GB pool is far beyond what the title requires, and the bandwidth is more than sufficient to feed the 3584 shading units and 224 texture mapping units. The GPU's pixel rate is 322.6 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 564.5 GTexel/s, with a FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS.

The GPU's base clock is 1330 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The gap between base and boost — roughly a 90% increase — indicates that under sustained gaming load, the card will spend most of its time near the boost ceiling, which is what drives the high frame rates seen in the measured data. At 1080p Medium, the card averages 129 FPS, and at 1080p Low it reaches 182 FPS, which are figures consistent with a modern upper-midrange GPU when paired with a capable CPU. The boost clock behavior is not directly measured in the FPS rows, but the fact that the card can sustain over 100 FPS at 1080p Ultra without dropping below 100 FPS in the average suggests that thermal and power limits are not throttling performance in this title.

The GPU's 56 ray tracing cores are present, but Control's ray tracing features are not reflected in the measured FPS rows, which use standard rasterization settings. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (feature level 12_2) means it can handle Control's DX12 mode, but the benchmark results do not separate DX11 from DX12 paths. The VRAM capacity is irrelevant here — Control's textures are not large enough to stress 16 GB, and the 644.6 GB/s bandwidth is more than double what the game's asset streaming requires at 4K. The GPU's role in this pairing is therefore purely compute-bound: the shading units and texture units determine the frame rate, not memory capacity or bandwidth.

The GPU's average benchmark score across all tests is 23877, which places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER with an average score of 24170 (a 1.2% difference), the AMD Radeon RX 6800S at 24063 (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile at 23628 (1.1% lower). These close margins suggest that the RX 9070 sits in a well-populated performance tier, and its Control results — 51-182 FPS across the tested matrix — are in line with that positioning. The card's 220 W TDP and dual-slot cooler, with two 8-pin power connectors and a suggested 550 W power supply, mean it is a substantial but not extreme power draw, and the 4 nm process helps keep thermals manageable.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the benchmark database, the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 in Control ranks 1134 out of 3720 tested combos. That places this pairing in the top 30.5% of all CPU-GPU combinations tested for this game. The rank is determined by the measured FPS across the full resolution and settings matrix, and it reflects that while the GPU is a strong performer, the CPU is not the absolute fastest available, and the game itself is not the most demanding title in the database.

What that rank means in practice: there are 2586 combos that score lower, and 1133 that score higher. The combos above this one will typically feature faster GPUs, such as the RX 9070's higher-tier siblings or NVIDIA's top-end cards, or faster CPUs that can push higher frame rates at 1080p. However, the rank is not a measure of playability — it is a measure of where this pairing sits in the distribution. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, but at 4K High it averages 59 FPS, just under the line, and at 4K Medium it hits 66 FPS, which is above. So the rank reflects that this combo can play Control at high settings at 4K only with some compromises, while at 1440p it has no such issues.

The CPU's individual percentile (75th) and the GPU's percentile (69th) both sit in the upper half, but the combo rank of 1134 out of 3720 (top 30.5%) is slightly better than either individual percentile would suggest, because the game's engine scales well with the CPU and GPU combination. The Ryzen 5 5600X's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark are the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (0.1% higher average score), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (0.5% lower), the Intel Core i7-11700 (0.5% lower), and the AMD EPYC 9554P (0.6% lower) — all within 0.6% of the 5600X's average score of 21771. The GPU's nearest rivals are similarly close, with deltas of 1.2% or less. This homogeneity means that the combo rank is driven more by the GPU's absolute performance in Control than by any CPU bottleneck, and the 1134th position is a fair representation of the hardware's capability.

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

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions and four quality presets, with all rows reporting average FPS and some rows also reporting minimum and maximum values. The following is the complete breakdown.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 182 FPS with no min or max recorded. The Medium preset averages 129 FPS, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 148 FPS. The High preset averages 115 FPS, with no min or max. The Ultra preset averages 100 FPS, with no min or max. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 82 FPS, meaning the Ultra preset delivers 54.9% of the Low preset's frame rate. The Medium preset's recorded range of 110-148 FPS shows a 38 FPS swing, indicating that while the average is solid, there are moments of lower performance that could be noticeable on a high-refresh monitor.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 137 FPS, with no min or max. The Medium preset averages 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS. The High preset averages 87 FPS, with no min or max. The Ultra preset averages 75 FPS, with no min or max. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 62 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 54.7% of the Low preset's frame rate, nearly identical to the 1080p ratio. The Medium preset's range of 83-112 FPS is a 29 FPS swing, narrower than at 1080p, which is consistent with the GPU becoming more uniformly loaded at higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 93 FPS, with no min or max. The Medium preset averages 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. The High preset averages 59 FPS, with no min or max. The Ultra preset averages 51 FPS, with no min or max. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 42 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 54.8% of the Low preset's frame rate — again, the same ratio as the other resolutions. The Medium preset's range of 56-76 FPS is a 20 FPS swing, and the minimum of 56 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that even Medium at 4K can dip under the target.

The pattern across all resolutions is that the ratio of Ultra FPS to Low FPS remains constant at roughly 55%, regardless of resolution, which reinforces the conclusion that the GPU's compute units are the sole scaling factor. The CPU's contribution is constant, and the frame rate differences between presets are purely a function of the GPU's workload.

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

Based on the measured data, the best experience for a 60 FPS target at 1440p or 1080p is the High preset, as it delivers 87 FPS at 1440p and 115 FPS at 1080p, both well above the threshold with headroom for dips. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 75 FPS, which is also above 60, but the 12 FPS difference between High and Ultra is not worth the visual gain for most users, and the High preset's lower load will also reduce power draw and thermals. At 1080p, the High preset's 115 FPS is comfortable for a 120 Hz monitor, and the Ultra preset's 100 FPS is only 15 FPS lower — both are acceptable, but High is the safer choice for sustained performance.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. The High preset averages 59 FPS, which is just under the 60 FPS target, and the Medium preset averages 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that stays above 60 FPS on average at 4K, but its minimum is still below the target. The Low preset at 4K averages 93 FPS, which is well above 60, but the visual quality loss from Low is significant. The recommendation for 4K is Medium as the default, with High as an option for users who can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS, given that the High average is 59 FPS and the game will feel mostly smooth on a VRR display.

The Low preset is not recommended at any resolution for a quality-focused experience, as the difference between Low and Medium is 53 FPS at 1080p (182 vs 129), 39 FPS at 1440p (137 vs 98), and 27 FPS at 4K (93 vs 66) — the Medium preset offers a substantial visual improvement for a relatively modest frame rate cost. The Ultra preset is only advisable at 1080p, where the 100 FPS average is still high, and at 1440p for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate. At 4K, Ultra's 51 FPS is below the playable threshold for most, so it is not recommended.

In summary: 1080p High or Ultra, 1440p High, and 4K Medium are the best matches to the measured rows. The data does not include ray tracing settings, so these recommendations apply to the standard rasterization presets only.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for Control at 1080p with the High preset using this CPU-GPU combo?

A: The average FPS is 115 at 1920x1080 with the High preset, with no minimum or maximum recorded.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with the Ultra preset?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, the average FPS is 51, which is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 4K averages 66 FPS, making it the minimum preset for a 60 FPS average.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600X compare to its nearest CPU rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600X has an average benchmark score of 21771. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, scores 21749, which is 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U scores 21874, which is 0.5% higher than the 5600X.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the Radeon RX 9070, and does it affect Control's performance?

A: The RX 9070 has a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s via a 256-bit bus with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. In Control, this bandwidth is not a limiting factor, as the game's asset streaming demands are well below this figure, and the frame rates are determined by the GPU's compute throughput.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairs in Control?

A: The combo ranks 1134 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 30.5% of all pairs tested for this game.

Q: At which resolution and preset does the combo's minimum FPS fall below 60?

A: At 3840x2160 with the Medium preset, the minimum FPS is 56, which falls below 60. This is the only measured row with a recorded minimum below 60 FPS; the other rows with recorded minimums (1080p Medium at 110 FPS and 1440p Medium at 83 FPS) are all above 60.