Control

# Control: AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 — Benchmark Analysis

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a compelling Control experience, with measured frame rates ranging from 52 FPS at 4K Ultra to 185 FPS at 1080p Low. The combo ranks 771st out of 2,888 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top 27% of all systems. The data shows a system that comfortably handles 1440p and 1080p gaming, while 4K requires settings adjustments to maintain smooth gameplay. With the RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and the 7500X3D's 96 MB of shared L3 cache, this pairing demonstrates balanced performance across Control's demanding environments, though the scaling patterns reveal where each component exerts its influence.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution climbs, which is typical for a visually intensive title like Control. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 117 at 1080p to 88 at 1440p, then to 60 at 4K — a 24.8% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 31.8% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline at higher resolutions indicates that the RTX 3080's rendering throughput, not the CPU, becomes the primary limiter as pixel count increases.

The pattern is even more pronounced at Low settings, where the system achieves 185 FPS at 1080p, 140 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 24.3% drop, while 1440p to 4K shows a 32.9% drop. Interestingly, the Low settings curve remains proportionally similar to High settings, suggesting that even at minimal graphical loads, the RTX 3080's fill rate and memory bandwidth constrain performance at higher resolutions rather than any CPU bottleneck.

At Medium settings, the measured data includes min and max FPS values that further illustrate the scaling. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 131 FPS with a range of 111 to 151 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 99 FPS with a range of 84 to 114 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the average falls to 67 FPS with a range of 57 to 77 FPS. The spread between min and max FPS narrows as resolution increases (40 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, 20 FPS at 4K), which suggests that higher resolutions smooth out frame time variance by shifting more work to the GPU's consistent throughput.

The Ultra settings curve shows the most dramatic scaling, with average FPS of 101 at 1080p, 77 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS sits just below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, indicating that this resolution/settings combination pushes the RTX 3080 to its limits. The overall pattern across all settings suggests that 1080p and 1440p are the sweet spots for this combo, with 4K requiring Medium or Low settings to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D brings 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. Its 96 MB of shared L3 cache is the standout feature for gaming workloads, and in Control, this large cache helps maintain consistent frame delivery, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU performance matters more. The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 25,047 and single-thread score of 3,494 place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, demonstrating strong processing capability that prevents bottlenecking in this action-adventure title.

The 7500X3D's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H with an average score of 44,466 and a delta of 0.2%, the Intel Core i9-13950HX at 44,342 with a delta of 0.5%, and the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 at 44,309 with a delta of 0.6%. The Intel Core i5-14600 sits slightly higher at 44,889 with a delta of -0.7%. These tight deltas (all within 0.7%) indicate that the 7500X3D's performance is well-matched against modern competitors, though its advantage in gaming scenarios comes from the 3D V-Cache design rather than raw computational throughput.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the 1080p Low result of 185 FPS. At this resolution and settings level, the GPU has relatively light work, yet the frame rate still reaches nearly 200 FPS, suggesting that the 7500X3D can feed the RTX 3080 with sufficient draw calls and physics calculations to avoid a CPU ceiling. The PassMark physics score of 2,779 and floating-point math score of 43,594 indicate strong computational performance for the game's physics-based destruction and telekinetic combat mechanics.

The 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on the dual-channel DDR5 interface, combined with the massive L3 cache, helps maintain smooth frame pacing in Control's complex environments. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC contribute to efficient operation, though the data does not show thermal throttling impacts. The integrated Radeon Graphics and PCIe Gen 5 support with 24 lanes provide modern connectivity, though the discrete RTX 3080 handles all rendering duties in this configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, built on the GA102 chip with 8 nm Samsung process, brings 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. Its boost clock of 1710 MHz and base clock of 1440 MHz, combined with 8,704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, deliver substantial rasterization performance. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for Control's ray-traced effects, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether ray tracing was enabled in these benchmarks.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 25,086 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,172. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the NVIDIA P106-100 with a delta of -0.3%, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 with a delta of -0.3%, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M with a delta of -0.4%, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X with a delta of -0.4%. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 3080's raw compute performance is closely matched by these competitors, though its advantage in Control comes from its memory bandwidth and driver optimizations.

The GPU's 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate are well-suited for Control's particle effects and environmental details. The 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate helps maintain fill rates at 4K resolutions. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Control's texture-heavy environments at 1440p and 4K, though the data shows that Ultra settings at 4K push the system to 52 FPS, indicating that memory capacity or bandwidth may be a limiting factor at the highest settings.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support with version 12_2 ensures compatibility with Control's modern rendering features, while Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6 provide additional API flexibility. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides adequate bandwidth for data transfer with the CPU. The 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU requirement indicate a power-hungry card, but the measured performance justifies this for high-refresh-rate gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, Low settings produce 185 FPS average, Medium produces 131 FPS with a range of 111 to 151 FPS, High produces 117 FPS, and Ultra produces 101 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 29.2% reduction, from Medium to High is a 10.7% reduction, and from High to Ultra is a 13.7% reduction. This scaling suggests that each settings tier adds meaningful graphical fidelity with a proportional performance cost.

At 1440p, the same settings progression yields 140 FPS at Low, 99 FPS at Medium (range of 84 to 114 FPS), 88 FPS at High, and 77 FPS at Ultra. The percentage drops from Low to Medium, Medium to High, and High to Ultra are 29.3%, 11.1%, and 12.5%, respectively. The consistency of these percentages across 1080p and 1440p indicates that the settings tiers impose similar relative costs regardless of resolution, confirming that the GPU's workload scales uniformly.

At 4K, the results show 94 FPS at Low, 67 FPS at Medium (range of 57 to 77 FPS), 60 FPS at High, and 52 FPS at Ultra. The Low-to-Medium drop is 28.7%, Medium-to-High is 10.4%, and High-to-Ultra is 13.3%. The 4K results maintain the same relative scaling pattern, but the absolute values place Medium at 67 FPS and High at 60 FPS, both of which are playable. Ultra at 52 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making it borderline for smooth gameplay.

The Medium settings data provides the most complete picture with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the 111 to 151 FPS range shows a 40 FPS spread, indicating some frame time variability. At 1440p Medium, the 84 to 114 FPS range narrows to a 30 FPS spread, and at 4K Medium, the 57 to 77 FPS range narrows further to a 20 FPS spread. This pattern suggests that higher resolutions reduce CPU-related frame spikes, as the GPU becomes the dominant factor in frame production.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p High at 88 FPS provides a strong balance of visual quality and performance, while 1080p Ultra at 101 FPS offers a higher frame rate with maximum settings. For 4K, High at 60 FPS is the highest playable setting, with Ultra at 52 FPS falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080's PassMark G3D score of 25,086 places it at 68th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA P106-100 with a delta of -0.3%, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 with a delta of -0.3%, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M with a delta of -0.4%, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X with a delta of -0.4%. These deltas indicate very close synthetic performance, though real-world game performance can differ.

Q: Does the 7500X3D bottleneck the RTX 3080 at any resolution?

A: The frame rate scaling suggests the CPU does not bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the 185 FPS result indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively, but the relatively small frame rate gains from 1440p to 1080p (from 140 to 185 FPS at Low) suggest some CPU limitation at lower resolutions, as a purely GPU-bound system would show larger gains.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at different resolutions?

A: The Medium settings data shows a 40 FPS spread between min and max at 1080p (111-151 FPS), a 30 FPS spread at 1440p (84-114 FPS), and a 20 FPS spread at 4K (57-77 FPS). This indicates that frame time consistency improves as resolution increases, likely because the GPU's steady throughput becomes the dominant factor at higher pixel counts.

Q: How does the 7500X3D's synthetic performance compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44,573, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H at 44,466 (delta 0.2%), the Intel Core i9-13950HX at 44,342 (delta 0.5%), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 at 44,309 (delta 0.6%). The Intel Core i5-14600 scores 44,889 (delta -0.7%). All deltas are within 0.7%, showing very close synthetic performance.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this configuration?

A: Yes, but with settings limitations. At 4K Low, the system averages 94 FPS, at Medium it averages 67 FPS, at High it averages 60 FPS, and at Ultra it averages 52 FPS. For smooth 60 FPS gameplay, High settings are the maximum viable option, while Medium at 67 FPS provides a small performance buffer.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to 1440p High as the optimal experience for this combo, delivering 88 FPS average while maintaining the visual fidelity that Control's atmospheric environments deserve. This settings level provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring smooth gameplay during intense combat sequences with particle effects and physics interactions. The step from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 11 FPS (from 88 to 77 FPS), which is a 12.5% performance reduction for likely subtle visual improvements that may not be noticeable during fast-paced action.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1080p Low at 185 FPS provides an extremely responsive experience that takes full advantage of high-refresh-rate monitors. This setting is particularly suitable for players who value competitive responsiveness over graphical fidelity. The 1080p Medium setting at 131 FPS offers a strong middle ground, with the 111 to 151 FPS range indicating occasional frame dips but overall smooth performance.

At 4K, the recommendation is Medium settings at 67 FPS, which provides a 7 FPS buffer above the 60 FPS target and stays within a 57 to 77 FPS range. High at 60 FPS sits right at the threshold, which risks dropping below 60 FPS during demanding scenes, while Ultra at 52 FPS is likely to produce noticeable stutter. Players with 4K displays should accept Medium settings to maintain consistent frame delivery, as the data shows the 4K Medium range of 57 to 77 FPS is more stable than the 4K High result with no min/max data available.

The Ultra settings at 1080p (101 FPS) and 1440p (77 FPS) remain viable for players who prioritize maximum visual quality, as both stay above the 60 FPS threshold. However, the diminishing returns from High to Ultra suggest that most players will find High settings to be the sweet spot across all resolutions, offering the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom. The overall data indicates that this system excels at 1440p, with the 88 FPS High result representing the best combination of resolution, settings, and frame rate for the majority of Control players.