Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure title, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with hardware capabilities. This analysis examines the specific performance profile of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F paired with the Intel Arc B370, based exclusively on measured data. The dataset covers three resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K) across four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing a comprehensive view of how this combination handles the game's physics-heavy environments and particle effects. The following sections break down the results to identify where the bottleneck lies and what users can expect from this specific configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, typical for a system where the graphics processor is the primary constraint. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 59 FPS, which drops to 45 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 30 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24% performance loss from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49% loss from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load scales nearly linearly with pixel count in this scenario.

The scaling behavior changes noticeably when moving to higher quality presets. On Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 42 at 1080p to 32 at 1440p (a 24% drop) and then to 21 at 4K (a 34% drop from 1440p). The High preset shows a similar trajectory: 37 FPS at 1080p, 28 at 1440p (24% drop), and 19 at 4K (32% drop). The Ultra preset follows the same pattern with 32, 25, and 17 FPS respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across different quality levels suggests that resolution scaling is largely independent of the specific preset chosen, which points to a uniform rendering pipeline bottleneck.

Notably, the gap between 1440p and 4K becomes proportionally smaller at higher presets. For Low settings, the drop from 1440p to 4K is 33% (45 to 30 FPS), but for Ultra, it’s only 32% (25 to 17 FPS). This subtle difference indicates that at higher quality settings, other factors such as texture memory bandwidth and shading complexity begin to play a more significant role, slightly flattening the resolution curve. The data strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B370, with its system-shared memory architecture, is the limiting component across all tested resolutions, as the CPU's performance headroom does not translate into higher frame rates when pixel count increases.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is a compact integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. Its specifications include 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and boosts up to 2400 MHz, delivering a theoretical FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS. Critically, the memory configuration is "System Shared" for both size and type, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent," meaning the GPU relies on the CPU's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM.

This shared memory arrangement has profound implications for Control's performance. The game is known for its dense environments with destructible objects and dynamic lighting, which require substantial memory bandwidth. The measured frame rates reflect this limitation: even at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 59, barely hitting playable territory, while Ultra at the same resolution drops to 32 FPS. At 4K, the GPU struggles to maintain 30 FPS even on Low settings, and Ultra averages just 17 FPS. The benchmark results place this GPU in the 5th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, putting it in direct competition with legacy parts like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (deltaPct -0.2%) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (deltaPct -0.5%).

The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s sound adequate on paper, but the shared memory bandwidth bottleneck becomes evident in the 4K results. The difference between Low (30 FPS) and Medium (21 FPS) at 4K is substantial, showing that even modest increases in texture detail and shading complexity overwhelm the memory subsystem. The GPU's ray tracing cores are present but provide no measurable benefit in these tests, likely because the integrated design lacks the bandwidth to support real-time ray tracing at any playable frame rate. The data indicates that this GPU is best suited for 1080p gaming with reduced settings, and the measured 4K performance is consistently below 30 FPS across all presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael codename), manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a theoretical bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, which is directly relevant to the GPU's shared memory architecture. Its benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 22799, and single-core hits 3218, placing it in the 77th percentile among all CPUs.

In the context of Control's performance, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 59 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target but not quite there, suggesting the CPU could potentially push higher if the GPU allowed. The single-thread performance, as measured by 3DMark (974 points) and Geekbench (2374 points), is sufficient for the game's physics and AI calculations. However, the frame rates at 1440p and 4K do not improve with lower CPU load, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor in these scenarios.

The processor's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores include the Intel Core i7-11850H (deltaPct 0.1%), AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (deltaPct -0.2%), and Intel Core i7-13620H (deltaPct 0.2%). These close margins indicate that the 7500F offers competitive CPU performance, but in this specific game combo, that performance is untapped due to the GPU constraint. The CPU's 65W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest it could sustain boost clocks under load, but the measured FPS data does not show any CPU-induced frame drops, as the minimum FPS values (18 at 4K Medium, 27 at 1440p Medium, 36 at 1080p Medium) align closely with average FPS, indicating stable frame pacing without stutters.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2657 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's performance, which sits in the 5th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 77th percentile, creating a massive imbalance where the processor's capabilities far exceed what the graphics solution can deliver. The combo rank reflects this mismatch, as the overall system performance is dragged down by the integrated GPU.

When examining the GPU's nearest rivals, the deltaPct values are small: -0.2% against the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, -0.5% against the ATI Radeon HD 5770, and -0.7% against the AMD Radeon HD 7650M. These are all legacy discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, yet they perform nearly identically to the modern Arc B370 in this game. This context highlights the GPU's fundamental limitation for a title like Control, which requires significant fill rate and memory bandwidth. The combo's rank also suggests that most other tested configurations, whether using older CPUs or different GPU tiers, outperform this pairing.

The data shows that the combo's performance is consistent with its component rankings: the CPU contributes positively to the overall score, but the GPU's percentile ranking dominates the outcome. For users considering this combo, the rank serves as a warning that Control is not a game where this setup can shine, even at 1080p. The system is effectively a CPU-bottlenecked platform in reverse—the GPU cannot keep pace with the CPU's ability to feed frames, resulting in a system that feels underpowered for this specific game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest tested resolution, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 59 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium settings drop to 42 FPS, with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48, showing some frame variability. High settings average 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 32 FPS. None of the 1080p presets reach a consistent 60 FPS, and even the minimum FPS values stay above 30, indicating no severe drops but also no headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings average 45 FPS, which is a 24% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 32 FPS (minimum 27, maximum 37), High averages 28 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium settings (27) approaches the 30 FPS threshold, suggesting that gameplay could feel choppy during intense scenes. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 20 FPS, showing that quality presets have a significant impact on frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable. Low settings average 30 FPS, which is borderline, but Medium drops to 21 FPS (minimum 18, maximum 25), High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 13 FPS, indicating that the GPU is so constrained that reducing quality has diminishing returns. The measured data includes minimum and maximum values only for Medium settings across all resolutions, providing insight into frame pacing: at 1080p Medium, the range is 36-48 FPS, at 1440p it's 27-37 FPS, and at 4K it's 18-25 FPS. These ranges are narrow, suggesting stable performance without large spikes or drops, but the absolute values are too low for a smooth experience at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable configuration for playable frame rates is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which yields 59 FPS. This is the sole preset that approaches the standard 60 FPS target, and even then, it falls just short. Users seeking a smoother experience may need to accept slightly lower frame rates with Medium settings at 1080p, which average 42 FPS and provide a minimum of 36 FPS, ensuring that the game remains responsive during action sequences. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a balanced trade-off between visual quality and performance, as the minimum FPS of 36 is above the 30 FPS threshold typically considered the minimum for playability.

At 1440p, no preset achieves an average above 45 FPS, and the Ultra setting drops to 25 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p (45 FPS) is the only option that approaches playable levels, but it sacrifices most visual fidelity. For 4K, all presets fall below 30 FPS, making this resolution unsuitable for this combo. The data suggests that users should prioritize 1080p with Low or Medium settings, and avoid High and Ultra presets entirely, as the performance gains from lowering quality are minimal once the GPU is saturated. Specifically, at 1080p, moving from Ultra (32 FPS) to Low (59 FPS) provides a 84% improvement, whereas at 4K, the same preset change only yields a 76% improvement (17 to 30 FPS), reinforcing that the GPU's limitations are more pronounced at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system?

A: The best measured result is 1920x1080 with Low settings, averaging 59 FPS. For better visuals, 1080p Medium averages 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS, which is the highest quality preset that maintains frame rates above 30 FPS.

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

A: No, the data shows no 4K preset reaches 30 FPS on average. The best 4K result is Low settings at 30 FPS, while Ultra averages just 17 FPS, making 4K unplayable.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has an average 3DMark score of 1184, which is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, deltaPct -0.2%) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, deltaPct -0.5%). It sits in the 5th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: No, the CPU ranks in the 77th percentile with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22799, but the GPU's 5th percentile ranking limits overall performance. The frame rates do not improve at lower resolutions, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What are the frame time consistency results?

A: At 1080p Medium, FPS ranges from 36 to 48; at 1440p Medium, 27 to 37; and at 4K Medium, 18 to 25. These narrow ranges indicate stable frame pacing without major stutters.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 2657 out of 2888 combos, placing it in the bottom 8%. The CPU's high percentile (77th) does not compensate for the GPU's low percentile (5th) in this game.