Control

Control on the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lives in this Action Adventure title. The measured FPS rows, spanning three resolutions and four quality presets, show a GPU that is decisively in charge of the experience, with the CPU’s six Zen 3 cores providing consistent headroom rather than becoming a limiting factor. The data positions this combo at rank 1454 out of 1636 tested combinations, which places it in the lower third of the database, but the exact frame rates across settings reveal a nuanced picture of playability rather than a simple verdict of inadequacy.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic and consistent drop in measured average FPS across every settings preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 91.7 FPS at 1080p to 68.1 FPS at 1440p, then down to 46.9 FPS at 4K. That represents a 48.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a steep decline that strongly indicates the rendering workload is scaling with pixel count in a way that taxes the GPU’s fixed resources. At High settings, the same progression goes from 59.3 FPS at 1080p to 40.5 FPS at 1440p to 31.1 FPS at 4K — a 47.6% drop. The similarity in these percentage declines across presets suggests that resolution scaling behaves predictably regardless of quality level, pointing to a component that is saturated by raw pixel throughput rather than by specific graphical features.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p is consistently larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K in percentage terms. For example, at Medium settings, the drop from 1080p (66.4 FPS) to 1440p (47.8 FPS) is a 28.0% reduction, while the drop from 1440p to 4K (33.3 FPS) is a 30.3% reduction. This near-linear scaling pattern implies that the limiting factor is not a sudden cache or bandwidth cliff, but rather a steady throughput constraint. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 compute are the resources being consumed, and the data shows no evidence of the CPU stepping in to relieve pressure at higher resolutions. If the Ryzen 5 5600X were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p to shrink as the GPU becomes more loaded; instead, the consistent declines indicate the GPU is the sole arbiter of performance here.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER brings 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a boost clock of 1785 MHz and a base clock of 1530 MHz. These specifications directly explain the 4K results. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 25.0, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 6 GB frame buffer is likely a contributing factor at this resolution, as the higher preset demands more memory for textures and geometry, and the data shows a steep falloff from Low (46.9 FPS) to Ultra (25.0 FPS) at 4K — a 46.7% penalty. The GPU’s 48 ROPs and 88 TMUs, combined with its 157.1 GTexel/s texture rate, are handling the rasterization workload, but the 4K Ultra result suggests the card is overwhelmed by the combined pressure of resolution and quality.

At 1080p, the GPU shows its strengths. Low settings produce 91.7 FPS, which is comfortably above 60 FPS, and even High settings reach 59.3 FPS — just shy of a locked 60. The boost clock of 1785 MHz is being utilized effectively at this resolution, where the pixel count is more manageable. The GPU’s 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs, based on an average benchmark score of 14286, places it as a mid-range part, and the measured game data aligns with that positioning: it can handle 1080p with high fidelity, but 1440p Ultra (37.2 FPS) and 4K any preset above Low (33.3 FPS or lower) fall short of ideal smoothness. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) provides the bandwidth needed for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results indicate the 192-bit bus is a limiting factor at extreme resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1454 out of 1636 tested combinations places this pairing firmly in the lower quartile of the database. This ranking reflects the GTX 1660 SUPER’s position as an older, end-of-life product (released 2019-10-28) paired with a newer, capable CPU (released 2020-11-04). The GPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314 avg score, -0.2% delta) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315 avg score, -0.2% delta), but those are integrated or low-power parts that would not be expected to perform at this level in a demanding game like Control. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389 avg score, -0.7% delta) is a closer direct competitor, and the data suggests the GTX 1660 SUPER is statistically indistinguishable from it in synthetic benchmarks.

The CPU’s ranking is much stronger. The Ryzen 5 5600X sits at the 78th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20680. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT (20740 avg score, -0.3% delta) and the Intel Core i7-10700 (20746 avg score, -0.3% delta), showing that it is competitively positioned against both AMD and Intel offerings. This disparity between CPU and GPU rankings — the CPU in the top 22% and the GPU in the bottom half — explains why the combo rank is so low. The CPU is capable of feeding a much faster GPU, but the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting factor. In a game like Control, which relies heavily on GPU effects, this imbalance becomes the defining characteristic of the measured performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces playable results. Low settings average 91.7 FPS, Medium averages 66.4 FPS, High averages 59.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 50.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 25.3 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 9.2 FPS, showing diminishing returns at the top end. For a 60 Hz display, High settings are the boundary — anything above that sacrifices smoothness for minor visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes. Low settings still deliver 68.1 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 47.8 FPS, High to 40.5 FPS, and Ultra to 37.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 20.3 FPS, nearly identical to the 1080p gap, indicating that the GPU’s compute units are the limiting factor rather than memory bandwidth. At 3840x2160, only Low settings (46.9 FPS) approach playability. Medium averages 33.3 FPS, High averages 31.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 25.0 FPS. The 4K results are consistently below 50 FPS, making this resolution impractical for anything but the lowest preset.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets remain above 50 FPS, with Low reaching 91.7 FPS and Ultra at 50.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings (68.1 FPS) stay above 60 FPS.

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

A: The GPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314 avg score) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315 avg score), both within 0.2% of the GTX 1660 SUPER’s score. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389 avg score) is 0.7% ahead, but these differences are marginal.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600X holding back the GTX 1660 SUPER?

A: No. The CPU has a 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU has a 55th percentile ranking. The measured FPS declines with resolution scaling indicate the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 91.7 FPS, while Ultra averages 50.1 FPS — a difference of 41.6 FPS, representing a 45.4% reduction in performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Control?

A: At 3840x2160, even Low settings only reach 46.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25.0 FPS. The data indicates 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay, regardless of preset.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1454 out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 11.1% of the database, reflecting the GPU’s mid-range position.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to 1920x1080 with High settings as the optimal balance for this pairing. At this configuration, the average FPS is 59.3, which is just shy of a 60 Hz refresh rate but still smooth. Dropping to Medium yields 66.4 FPS, a 12.0% improvement, while losing some visual fidelity. Ultra at 1080p delivers 50.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and not worth the 15.5% performance hit from High. For users with a 144 Hz display, Low settings at 1080p (91.7 FPS) are the only option that approaches triple-digit frame rates, but the visual sacrifice is significant.

At 2560x1440, Low settings (68.1 FPS) are the only viable option for smooth gameplay, but this comes with a substantial quality reduction. Medium at 1440p (47.8 FPS) is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The data suggests that 1080p High is the sweet spot, as it provides the best combination of visual quality and frame rate that stays near the 60 FPS target. At 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS, so this resolution should be avoided entirely for this game with this hardware.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5600X’s six cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, are far more than this game requires at the tested settings. The CPU’s Zen 3 architecture, built on a 7 nm process, delivers strong single-thread performance as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622. This is relevant because Control’s gameplay logic and physics benefit from strong single-core performance, but the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is always the limiting factor. The CPU’s 32 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for the GTX 1660 SUPER to feed.

The CPU’s percentile ranking of 78th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20680, places it well above the GPU’s 55th percentile. This asymmetry means that in Control, the Ryzen 5 5600X is effectively idle relative to its capacity. The 3dmark single-thread score of 917 and multi-thread score of 5588 confirm that the CPU has headroom for more demanding scenarios, but this game does not push it. If a faster GPU were paired with this CPU, the combo rank would likely improve significantly, as the CPU would not be the constraint. The data shows no evidence of CPU-induced frame pacing issues or stuttering — the FPS drops are smooth and predictable across resolutions, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.