Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a robust 1080p experience in Control, with performance scaling predictably as resolution increases. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures high frame rates at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the RTX 4060's rendering workload scales directly with pixel count. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 88.1 FPS at 1080p to 68.8 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of roughly 22%, and then to 46.3 FPS at 4K, a further 33% decrease from the 1440p figure. This pattern strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K, as the frame rate drop is proportional to the increase in pixel throughput.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution reinforces this GPU-bound conclusion. At 1080p, the spread between Low (140.6 FPS) and Ultra (75.3 FPS) is a massive 65.3 FPS, while at 4K the same spread narrows to 33.1 FPS (72.3 FPS on Low versus 39.2 FPS on Ultra). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions is a classic sign of pixel-fill-rate saturation; the GPU is so busy pushing pixels at 4K that the additional shading work from higher settings has less proportional impact. Conversely, at 1080p, the GPU has headroom, and settings changes translate directly into large FPS swings.

The data implies that the Ryzen 5 5600X is not the bottleneck at any tested resolution. If the CPU were limiting performance, the FPS would stagnate at higher resolutions rather than dropping. The fact that 4K Ultra still yields 39.2 FPS, while 1080p Low reaches 140.6 FPS, indicates the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at lower settings where the GPU has less work per frame. The only scenario where the CPU might become more relevant is at 1080p Low, but even there the 140.6 FPS result shows no sign of a CPU-imposed ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 68.8 FPS. This is a playable result, sitting comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth action.

*Q: How does the RTX 4060's performance in Control compare to its nearest rivals?*

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 23181, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321) and 0.7% higher than the Intel Arc B580 (23021). In game, the RTX 4060's performance is within this tight band, meaning frame rates will be nearly identical to these competitors.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600X a strong match for this game?

A: Yes. The CPU's single-thread benchmark score of 917 in 3dMark and 2622 in Cinebench R23 indicates excellent per-core performance, which is critical for a game like Control that relies on a few heavily loaded threads. Its 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's engine.

*Q: What is the best resolution for playing Control with this combo?*

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 with High settings offers the best balance, delivering 68.8 FPS. This is a significant step up in visual fidelity from 1080p while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS target. At 4K, the frame rate drops to 46.3 FPS on High, which is less ideal for fast-paced combat.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 102.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 50 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This represents a 52.1 FPS reduction, or a 51% performance loss, confirming that the RTX 4060's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are strained by the 4K pixel workload.

Q: Does the combo rank highly among all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 907th out of 1636 tested combos for Control. This places it in the 45th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 55% of other tested CPU-GPU pairings, but is not in the top tier.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 907 out of 1636 tested configurations places it in the lower-middle portion of the database for Control. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths. The Ryzen 5 5600X sits in the 78th percentile among all CPUs, and the RTX 4060 is in the 66th percentile among all GPUs. If component percentiles translated directly, one would expect a higher overall rank.

The discrepancy suggests that the game's engine may not scale perfectly with this specific pairing, or that many of the 1636 tested combos feature higher-tier GPUs that dominate the top ranks. The data shows that the RTX 4060's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks have nearly identical average scores (23321 for the RX 6600M, 23338 for the GTX 780 Ti, and 23021 for the Arc B580), so the combo's rank is likely more a reflection of the GPU's absolute performance tier than any inefficiency in the pairing.

For context, the CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT, has an average benchmark score of 20740, which is only 0.3% higher than the 5600X's 20680. This confirms the CPU is performing as expected relative to its peers, and the rank is almost entirely determined by the GPU's position in the wider market.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4060 delivers a wide range of performance. Low settings produce an average of 140.6 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. Medium settings reduce this to 102.1 FPS, and High settings yield 88.1 FPS. Ultra settings, while visually demanding, still maintain an average of 75.3 FPS, which is fully playable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the GPU's growing workload. Low settings average 108.5 FPS, providing a high-refresh-rate experience. Medium settings drop to 77.2 FPS, High settings to 68.8 FPS, and Ultra settings to 58.5 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that the RTX 4060 is well-suited for this resolution, with even Ultra settings staying close to the 60 FPS mark.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 72.3 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium settings fall to 50 FPS, High to 46.3 FPS, and Ultra to 39.2 FPS. These 4K numbers reveal the limits of the 8 GB VRAM buffer and 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, as the GPU struggles to maintain fluid frame rates at higher quality presets. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is effortless, 1440p is the sweet spot, and 4K requires significant settings compromises.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the data suggests that High settings at 1440p (68.8 FPS) is the optimal configuration. This preset provides a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is 8.8 FPS above the target. If a higher refresh rate is desired, dropping to Medium at 1440p yields 77.2 FPS, a 12.2% improvement over High, with only a modest reduction in visual effects.

At 1080p, all settings are viable. Ultra settings at 75.3 FPS offer the best visual experience for players with 60 Hz monitors, while High settings at 88.1 FPS provide headroom for higher refresh displays. For competitive play, Low settings at 140.6 FPS would maximize responsiveness, but the visual quality loss is significant.

At 4K, the data indicates that Low settings (72.3 FPS) are the only way to achieve a smooth experience. Medium settings (50 FPS) and High settings (46.3 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra (39.2 FPS) is only suitable for slower-paced exploration. Players prioritizing visual fidelity at 4K would need to accept sub-60 FPS performance, as the RTX 4060 lacks the raw throughput for high-quality 4K rendering in Control.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5600X's architecture plays a crucial role in delivering the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, the CPU provides strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18578. However, it is the single-thread performance that matters most for Control.

The 3dmark single-thread score of 917 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622 indicate excellent per-core efficiency. This is critical because Control's engine typically has a few dominant threads handling game logic and physics. The 5600X's 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost clock ensure that these primary threads are processed with minimal latency.

The CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache is another asset. Control features complex environments with many interactive objects, and the large cache helps reduce memory latency when the engine streams in new assets. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth provided by dual-channel DDR4 is sufficient to feed the CPU without bottlenecking the GPU, as the FPS scaling data confirms.

The relative performance against rivals shows the 5600X is well-positioned. Its average benchmark score of 20680 is only 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i7-10700 (20746) and 0.5% lower than the Intel Core i5-12490F (20794). This suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 5600X would perform nearly identically to these alternatives, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary determinant of FPS in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the central component in determining Control's performance across the tested settings. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 39.2 FPS, compared to 72.3 FPS at 4K Low, highlights how memory bandwidth and capacity constraints manifest at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 3072 shading units, clocked at a boost speed of 2460 MHz, deliver 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw power is sufficient for the game's particle effects and physics simulations at 1080p and 1440p. The 96 texture mapping units and 48 ROPs provide a texture fillrate of 236.2 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s, respectively. These figures explain why the GPU can maintain 140.6 FPS at 1080p Low, as the pixel and texture throughput are not yet saturated.

The RTX 4060's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are relevant for Control's ray tracing and DLSS features, though the measured FPS data does not isolate these effects. The GPU's average benchmark score of 23181 places it in the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 23321, a 0.6% difference that is negligible in practical terms. The data shows the RTX 4060 is a capable mid-range GPU that excels at 1080p and handles 1440p well, but its 8 GB VRAM buffer is a clear limitation for 4K gaming.