Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and Radeon RX 6600 XT combination delivers a highly playable Control experience at 1080p, with performance degrading predictably as resolution increases. The data reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance ensures smooth frame pacing at lower settings. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to understand the balance between the 6-core Zen 4 processor and the RDNA 2 graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 74 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p, a 24.3% reduction, and then further to 38 at 4K, representing a 48.6% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling behavior indicates that the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are progressively overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count.

The Low settings row provides the most dramatic illustration of resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 118 FPS, which drops to 89 at 1440p (-24.6%) and 60 at 4K (-49.2%). The fact that 4K Low still achieves 60 FPS exactly suggests that the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling that scales almost linearly with pixel count, a hallmark of fill-rate-bound scenarios. The 128-bit memory bus and 64 ROPs are likely the limiting factors here, as the shading units have relatively less work per pixel at lower settings.

Medium settings show the most complete data with min/max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 84 FPS with a range of 71-96 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium drops the average to 63 FPS (min 54, max 73), and 4K Medium yields 43 FPS (min 36, max 49). The frame time consistency appears reasonable, with roughly a 30% spread between min and max at each resolution, suggesting no severe stuttering issues.

Ultra settings reveal the system's limits most clearly. The 1080p Ultra average of 65 FPS is respectable, but 1440p Ultra falls to 49 FPS, and 4K Ultra produces just 33 FPS. This sub-40 FPS result at 4K Ultra indicates that the RX 6600 XT's 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is insufficient for maximum quality at 4K in Control. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra represents a 49.2% performance drop, nearly identical to the Low settings scaling, which suggests the bottleneck shifts from memory bandwidth to raw compute as settings increase.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 84 FPS average with a 71 FPS minimum provides a comfortable margin above typical 60 FPS display refresh rates. The 1440p Medium result of 63 FPS average (54 min) is also playable, though it leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

For users targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the data shows that 1440p High at 56 FPS average falls short of this threshold, making Medium the recommended setting for 1440p gameplay. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve exactly 60 FPS average, with no minimum FPS data recorded to indicate consistency. The 4K Medium result of 43 FPS suggests that 4K gaming on this combo requires accepting sub-60 FPS performance or dropping to Low settings.

The Ultra preset provides diminishing returns relative to its performance cost. At 1080p, the jump from High (74 FPS) to Ultra (65 FPS) costs 12.2% performance, while at 1440p the drop is from 56 to 49 FPS (12.5%). At 4K, Ultra's 33 FPS is only 13.8% slower than High's 38 FPS, but both are below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider minimum playability. The data suggests that High settings are the practical ceiling for this combination, with Ultra reserved for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.

GPU Role

The RX 6600 XT's specifications provide context for the measured results. With a boost clock of 2589 MHz and a game clock of 2359 MHz, the card's 2048 shading units deliver 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears to be the primary constraint at 4K resolution where the measured FPS drops to 38 at High settings.

The GPU's 32 ray tracing cores and 64 ROPs are relevant to Control's rendering workload. The game's use of ray-traced reflections and other effects likely explains why Ultra settings at 4K produce only 33 FPS, as the RT cores are tasked with additional work. The 165.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 331.4 GTexel/s texture rate suggest the card can handle geometry and texture processing adequately, but the memory subsystem becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The 160 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate this is a mid-range power draw card, and the measured performance aligns with that positioning. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 70 places it above the median, and its nearestRivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher score) and Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower score). Interestingly, the RTX 2080 SUPER is listed as a rival with only 1.1% higher average benchmark score, suggesting the RX 6600 XT punches above its class in synthetic tests, though Control's measured results show it struggling at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the complete FPS data shows a clear hierarchy across settings. Low settings produce 118 FPS average, Medium achieves 84 FPS (min 71, max 96), High reaches 74 FPS, and Ultra drops to 65 FPS. The 53 FPS spread between Low and Ultra represents a 44.9% performance range, giving players substantial flexibility in choosing between frame rate and visual quality.

The 2560x1440 results compress this range. Low settings yield 89 FPS, Medium produces 63 FPS (min 54, max 73), High achieves 56 FPS, and Ultra drops to 49 FPS. The 40 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is a 44.9% range, similar to 1080p, but the absolute values are notably lower. The Medium settings min FPS of 54 at 1440p is particularly relevant — it suggests that even at medium quality, there are scenes that push the system close to 50 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher settings. Low settings produce exactly 60 FPS average, Medium achieves 43 FPS (min 36, max 49), High drops to 38 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 33 FPS. The 27 FPS spread from Low to Ultra represents a 45% performance range, consistent with the other resolutions, but the absolute values mean that only Low settings provide a reliable 60 FPS experience at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 2054 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 71st percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking reflects the RX 6600 XT's mid-range positioning — the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 70 aligns closely with the combo's overall percentile, suggesting the GPU is the primary determinant of this ranking.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 83 is notably higher than the combo's overall rank, indicating that the Ryzen 5 7400F is capable of feeding more powerful GPUs without bottlenecking. The 6-core, 12-thread processor with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz provides strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3072 and multi-core score of 21765.

Compared to the CPU's nearestRivals, the Ryzen 5 7400F's average benchmark score of 32750 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, 0.1% higher) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812, 0.2% lower). This tight clustering suggests that the CPU choice has minimal impact on Control's performance at the tested settings, as the GPU is the limiting factor.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 7400F's Zen 4 architecture on TSMC's 5 nm process provides 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for Control's requirements, as the measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking even at 1080p Low where the GPU produces 118 FPS.

The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3689 and multithread score of 25645 indicate strong performance for gaming workloads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 places it well above the median for desktop processors, and the 65 W TDP suggests efficient power delivery. The fact that the combo ranks 2054th out of 2888 in Control, while the CPU ranks in the 83rd percentile overall, reinforces that game performance is GPU-limited.

The processor's nearestRivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-14600T (0.1% higher score) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (0.3% higher), all within a 0.5% performance band. This clustering means that swapping the 7400F for any of these alternatives would produce no measurable difference in Control's frame rates, confirming the GPU as the performance ceiling.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p Medium (84 FPS average) or High (74 FPS) provide the best balance of performance and quality. At 1440p, Medium (63 FPS) is the highest setting that maintains a 60 FPS average, while 4K requires Low settings (60 FPS) for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score of 24442 is 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24277), 0.8% higher than the Intel Arc A350M (24647, where the Intel card is 0.8% higher), and 1.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24170).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7400F bottlenecking the RX 6600 XT in Control?

A: No. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking versus the combo's 71st percentile ranking in Control indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. Even at 1080p Low (118 FPS), the CPU maintains frame delivery without becoming a constraint.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 71-96 FPS (average 84). At 1440p Medium, it produces 54-73 FPS (average 63). At 4K Medium, the range is 36-49 FPS (average 43). The roughly 30% spread between min and max FPS is consistent across all resolutions.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 7400F's average score of 32750 is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707), 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (32697), 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812), and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662).

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Control?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings where the measured average is exactly 60 FPS. Medium settings at 4K produce 43 FPS average (min 36), High yields 38 FPS, and Ultra drops to 33 FPS, all below the 60 FPS threshold.