Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Control, but the data reveals a clear hierarchy: the combination is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at 4K, while the CPU begins to emerge as a limiting factor at 1080p. The measured frame rates show a steep performance curve that scales predictably with resolution and settings, making this combo a versatile choice for both high-fidelity and competitive play.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating that the RTX 4090 is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 149.0 at 1920x1080 to 111.8 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 37.2 FPS, and then to 75.1 at 3840x2160, a further drop of 36.7 FPS. This pattern—roughly a 25% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and another 33% decrease from 1440p to 4K—is characteristic of a system where the GPU’s rendering load scales directly with pixel count, and the RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is being fully utilized.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more revealing. The average FPS at 1080p is 228.1, which drops to 206.0 at 1440p (a 22.1 FPS decrease) and then to 139.2 at 4K (a 66.8 FPS decrease). The larger absolute drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings suggests that while the CPU can feed frames adequately at lower resolutions, the sheer pixel throughput required at 4K still overwhelms the GPU’s ability to maintain the same headroom. The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the system is approaching a CPU-bound state, where the Ryzen 5 5600X’s 6 cores and 12 threads are near their limit, as evidenced by the smaller gap between 1080p and 1440p results compared to the 1440p to 4K gap.

Benchmark results show that the most efficient scaling occurs at Medium settings, where the FPS progression is 196.0 (1080p), 147.4 (1440p), and 98.2 (4K). This more linear decline—roughly 25% and 33% steps—indicates a balanced load where neither component is dramatically bottlenecked. In contrast, High settings show a similar pattern to Ultra, with the 4K result of 87.2 FPS representing a 50% drop from the 1080p result of 174.6 FPS. The conclusion is clear: resolution scaling is steep and consistent, with the RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth proving sufficient to avoid memory bottlenecks, but the raw compute demand at 4K still cuts performance nearly in half compared to 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain why it handles Control so effectively. With a boost clock of 2520 MHz and 16384 shading units, the GPU delivers 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which translates directly into the high frame rates observed. The 24 GB VRAM pool, paired with a 384-bit memory bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, ensures that texture streaming and asset loading at 4K Ultra never become a constraint, as evidenced by the playable 75.1 FPS average at the highest settings.

The GPU’s architecture, Ada Lovelace on a 5 nm process, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is relevant for a game like Control that features ray tracing. While the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance, the GPU’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores provide the hardware foundation for such features, and the high rasterization scores—PassMark G3D at 38194—indicate strong baseline performance. The RTX 4090’s 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473, places it well above its nearest rivals in the synthetic tests, though the deltaPct values in the nearestRivals list (e.g., -0.4% vs. NVIDIA Tesla T4) suggest that raw compute scores can be close among top-tier cards.

In practical terms, the GPU’s role is to maintain high FPS across all settings. At 1080p Low, the 228.1 FPS average far exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors, indicating that the RTX 4090 is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The GPU’s pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are more than adequate for the demands of Control, even at 4K, where the 87.2 FPS High setting result remains smooth. The data suggests that the RTX 4090 is over-provisioned for this game at lower resolutions, but at 4K Ultra, it is working near its full capacity, making it the clear bottleneck.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X plays a supporting role that becomes more critical as resolution drops. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, the CPU boosts up to 4.60 GHz and delivers strong single-thread performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622 and PassMark single-thread score of 3364. These numbers indicate that the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s frame generation at 1080p, but the data shows signs of saturation.

At 1080p Low, the 228.1 FPS average is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame delivery capability. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and 2-thread score of 1793 suggest that the game’s main thread, which is typically the bottleneck in action-adventure titles, is being pushed hard. The performance difference between 1080p Low (228.1 FPS) and 1440p Low (206.0 FPS) is only 22.1 FPS, which is smaller than the 66.8 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K. This pattern implies that at 1080p, the CPU is preventing the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates, while at 4K, the GPU’s workload becomes the limiting factor.

The Ryzen 5 5600X’s 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the RTX 4090, but they are not exceptional. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 21858 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18578 show that it is a mid-range performer, ranking in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT with a deltaPct of -0.3%, show that it is competitive with other mid-range options, but it lacks the core count of higher-end processors. In Control, this translates to a situation where the CPU handles the game’s physics and AI logic without issue, but it cannot push frame rates beyond roughly 230 FPS at 1080p, regardless of GPU headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 57th out of 1636 combos in Control. This places it in the top 3.5% of all tested systems, which is an impressive result given the CPU’s mid-range status. The ranking reflects that while the RTX 4090 is a top-tier GPU, the Ryzen 5 5600X holds the combo back from the absolute top positions, which would likely feature newer, higher-core-count CPUs.

The combo’s rank reflects the GPU’s dominance in this game. The RTX 4090’s 91st percentile ranking among GPUs drives the overall performance, while the CPU’s 78th percentile ranking is less influential. The data indicates that in Control, the GPU is responsible for the majority of the performance variance, as evidenced by the steep resolution scaling. A combo with a weaker GPU but stronger CPU would likely rank lower, while a combo with a stronger CPU and the same GPU would rank higher—but the measured FPS numbers show that the RTX 4090 is already delivering near-maximum frame rates at 1440p and 4K.

Compared to the average of all combos, this pairing is exceptional. The 57th rank out of 1636 means that 1579 other combinations perform worse, which is a strong endorsement for gamers who prioritize high refresh rates at 1440p or smooth 4K gameplay. However, the rank also highlights a potential imbalance: the CPU is not fully utilizing the GPU at 1080p, where the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings (228.1 vs. 149.0) suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor in the lower settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 228.1 at Low to 149.0 at Ultra. The progression is: Low 228.1, Medium 196.0, High 174.6, and Ultra 149.0. This represents a 79.1 FPS difference between the lowest and highest settings, or a 34.7% reduction in performance from Low to Ultra. The step between Low and Medium is 32.1 FPS, between Medium and High is 21.4 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 25.6 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 206.0 at Low to 111.8 at Ultra. The progression is: Low 206.0, Medium 147.4, High 131.6, and Ultra 111.8. The difference between Low and Ultra is 94.2 FPS, a 45.7% reduction. The step from Low to Medium is 58.6 FPS, which is the largest single-step drop in the entire dataset, indicating that Medium settings at 1440p impose a significant additional GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 139.2 at Low to 75.1 at Ultra. The progression is: Low 139.2, Medium 98.2, High 87.2, and Ultra 75.1. The difference between Low and Ultra is 64.1 FPS, a 46.0% reduction. The step from Low to Medium is 41.0 FPS, which is again the largest drop, while the steps from Medium to High (11.0 FPS) and High to Ultra (12.1 FPS) are much smaller, indicating that the GPU is becoming saturated at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 149.0.

*Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in Control?*

A: This combo ranks 57th out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3.5%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the limiting factor, as the FPS drops significantly with higher settings, from 139.2 at Low to 75.1 at Ultra, showing the GPU’s rendering load is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the largest single-step FPS drop in the dataset?

A: The largest single-step drop is 58.6 FPS, occurring from Low to Medium settings at 2560x1440, where FPS falls from 206.0 to 147.4.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 5600X bottleneck the RTX 4090 at 1080p?

A: The data suggests a partial CPU bottleneck at 1080p, as the FPS difference between Low (228.1) and Ultra (149.0) is 79.1 FPS, but the GPU still delivers high frame rates, indicating the CPU limits the maximum FPS ceiling.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1440p High and 4K High?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 131.6 at 2560x1440 to 87.2 at 3840x2160, a difference of 44.4 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset at 1440p is the optimal choice. This combination yields an average FPS of 147.4, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and provides a significant visual upgrade over Low settings. The 58.6 FPS drop from Low to Medium is steep, but the resulting 147.4 FPS is still high enough for most high-refresh-rate monitors, and the Medium preset offers a substantial improvement in texture and lighting quality over Low.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is also recommended, with an average FPS of 98.2. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and provides a much better experience than Low settings (139.2 FPS) without the performance penalty of High (87.2 FPS) or Ultra (75.1 FPS). The data shows that the step from Medium to High at 4K is only 11.0 FPS, so users with 60 Hz displays can safely choose High for better visuals, but Medium is the sweet spot for maintaining headroom.

At 1080p, the High preset (174.6 FPS) is the best choice for competitive play, as it offers high frame rates with improved visuals over Medium (196.0 FPS). The Ultra preset at 1080p (149.0 FPS) is still playable, but the 25.6 FPS reduction from High to Ultra is not worth the marginal visual gains in a fast-paced action game. For users with 144 Hz monitors, the High preset at 1080p is the clear recommendation, as it delivers frame rates well above the refresh rate while maintaining a high level of detail.