Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination delivers an exceptionally powerful experience in Control, with measured frame rates that place it among the top performers across all tested hardware configurations. The data shows a system capable of handling the game’s demanding physics and particle effects at high resolutions and detail levels, though the performance scaling reveals interesting nuances about where the bottleneck lies depending on the chosen settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination in Control indicates that the High preset offers the most balanced experience for visual fidelity and performance. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 176 FPS, which is a substantial 23 FPS higher than the Ultra preset at 153 FPS, while still providing the enhanced visual effects that the High setting entails. Moving to 2560x1440, High yields 133 FPS, comfortably above the 116 FPS seen at Ultra, and at 3840x2160, High produces 90 FPS versus Ultra’s 78 FPS. The performance delta between High and Ultra is remarkably consistent across all resolutions, suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces a fixed additional workload that does not scale with resolution.

For players prioritizing maximum smoothness on high-refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset presents a compelling alternative. At 1920x1080, Medium achieves 198 FPS, which is 22 FPS higher than High and 45 FPS higher than Ultra. The Medium preset at 2560x1440 reaches 150 FPS, and even at 3840x2160 it maintains 101 FPS. The data shows that Medium provides a significant FPS uplift over High while likely retaining most of the core visual quality, making it the optimal choice for competitive play or for users with 144Hz or 165Hz displays who wish to maximize frame rates without dropping to the visually stripped-down Low preset.

The Low preset offers the highest raw performance, with 234 FPS at 1080p, 211 FPS at 1440p, and 142 FPS at 4K. However, given that the Medium preset already delivers frame rates well above 100 FPS at all tested resolutions, the visual compromises of Low are difficult to justify except in extreme scenarios. The Ultra preset, while producing the lowest frame rates, still remains playable at every resolution, with the 4K result of 78 FPS being near the threshold for smooth gameplay on standard 60Hz displays. The recommended path forward is High for most users, with Medium as a strong fallback for those seeking higher refresh rates, as the data clearly indicates that the performance cost of Ultra over High is disproportionately large compared to the expected visual gain.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 plays the dominant role in shaping Control’s performance across all measured configurations. The GPU’s massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient to handle the game’s texture streaming and particle effects at any resolution. The memory configuration is particularly relevant at 3840x2160, where the GPU’s capacity ensures no texture swapping or stutter occurs even at Ultra settings, as evidenced by the consistent average frame rates without reported minimum FPS drops in most presets.

The clock speeds of 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, combined with the Blackwell 2.0 architecture’s 21,760 shading units, drive the raw compute throughput needed for Control’s physics-heavy combat sequences. The data shows that the GPU is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions, as demonstrated by the frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system achieves 176 FPS, but this drops to 133 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 90 FPS at 3840x2160. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 5090’s compute resources are being fully utilized as pixel count increases, with the GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance being the key driver of these results.

The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate its in-game performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 39,650 and average benchmark score of 79,842 place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% higher). This positioning suggests that while the RTX 5090 is exceptionally fast, there are other GPUs in its performance tier, yet none of these rivals appear in the measured FPS data for Control, making direct comparisons impossible. The GPU’s 32 GB memory capacity is a forward-looking feature that future-proofs the system against upcoming titles with higher VRAM demands, though Control itself does not appear to be constrained by memory capacity given the smooth performance even at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 144 FPS?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 at Medium settings achieves 198 FPS, which is the highest frame rate above 144 FPS. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (211 FPS) and Medium preset (150 FPS) exceed 144 FPS, while High settings at 1440p produce 133 FPS, falling short of that target.

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

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 176 FPS at 1920x1080 to 133 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 90 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 48.9% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost over High?

A: The data shows Ultra consistently delivers 23-25 FPS lower than High across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra achieves 153 FPS compared to High’s 176 FPS, and at 4K, Ultra drops to 78 FPS versus High’s 90 FPS. The consistent delta suggests that Ultra adds a fixed rendering workload that might not justify the frame rate hit for most players.

Q: Does this combo ever dip below 60 FPS at 4K?

A: The only 4K setting with a reported minimum FPS is Medium, which shows a minimum of 86 FPS. All other 4K presets report only average FPS, with the lowest average being 78 FPS at Ultra. The data indicates the system never drops below 60 FPS at any tested 4K setting.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44,573, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, scores 44,466 (0.2% lower), while the Intel Core i5-14600 scores 44,889 (0.7% higher). The differences are minimal, indicating these processors are statistically equivalent in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS in the measured data is 234 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 211 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, showing that the Low preset provides the maximum performance headroom regardless of resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 114th out of 2,888 tested combinations for Control. This places the combo in the top 4% of all configurations in the database, highlighting its exceptional performance capability. The ranking is particularly noteworthy given the CPU’s relatively modest specifications compared to high-core-count processors, yet the 6-core, 12-thread design with 96 MB of shared L3 cache proves highly effective for this game’s workload.

The high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU’s overwhelming performance, as the RTX 5090’s 92nd percentile standing among all GPUs ensures that the graphics subsystem is never a limiting factor. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking among all processors further reinforces that this combo represents a pairing of two top-tier components. The rank of 114 out of 2,888 means that only 113 other combinations achieve higher frame rates in Control, which is an impressive feat considering the diversity of hardware configurations in the database.

The gap between this combo and the top-ranked systems likely stems from CPUs with higher core counts or faster single-thread performance, as Control can benefit from additional processing power in certain physics-heavy scenarios. However, the measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 234 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is not severely bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions. The 114th rank, while excellent, indicates that there is still headroom for even more powerful combinations, but for the vast majority of users, this combo delivers an exceptional Control experience.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D’s role in this combo is to provide sufficient processing power to keep the RTX 5090 fed with data, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU’s frame output is highest. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock of 4.00 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz, combined with 96 MB of shared L3 cache, provide strong single-threaded performance that is critical for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU’s benchmark results show a Passmark single-thread score of 3,494 and a multithread score of 25,047, with an average benchmark score of 44,573. These figures place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.5% higher average) and the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (0.6% higher). The data suggests that the 7500X3D is highly competitive with much more expensive and higher-core-count processors, thanks to its large L3 cache which is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads that exhibit high cache locality.

In Control, the CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU can produce very high frame rates. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 234 FPS, which requires the CPU to process game logic and submit draw calls at a rate of nearly 4 times per second per frame. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration appears sufficient for this task, as the frame rates scale smoothly from 1080p to 4K without any anomalous drops that would indicate CPU bottlenecks. The CPU’s 65W TDP and 5 nm process also contribute to a thermally efficient system that can sustain high clocks during extended gaming sessions, though the data does not include thermal or power measurements.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 234 FPS average, which is the maximum recorded for any configuration. Medium settings produce 198 FPS with a minimum of 168 FPS and maximum of 228 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. High settings yield 176 FPS, while Ultra drops to 153 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent 23-25 FPS reduction per step, indicating predictable scaling of the game’s graphics workload.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains very high but begins to show the GPU’s workload increasing. Low settings achieve 211 FPS, a 23 FPS drop from 1080p, while Medium reaches 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS and maximum of 172 FPS. High settings produce 133 FPS, and Ultra delivers 116 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 95 FPS, which is larger than the 81 FPS delta at 1080p, indicating that the higher resolution amplifies the performance difference between settings.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more moderate but remain highly playable. Low settings achieve 142 FPS, which is still above the 144 FPS target by a small margin. Medium settings produce 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS, providing a smooth experience. High settings deliver 90 FPS, and Ultra drops to 78 FPS. The 4K data shows that even at the highest settings, the combo maintains frame rates above 60 FPS, ensuring a playable experience without any compromises.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals critical insights about the system’s bottleneck characteristics. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 176 at 1080p to 133 at 1440p (a 24.4% reduction) and then to 90 at 4K (a 32.3% reduction from 1440p). This pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated as pixel count rises, with the scaling factor being roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count. The transition from 1080p to 1440p represents a 78% increase in pixels, while the FPS drop is only 24%, suggesting that the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p.

At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic, with FPS dropping from 234 at 1080p to 211 at 1440p (a 9.8% reduction) and then to 142 at 4K (a 32.7% reduction from 1440p). The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests that the CPU is becoming a limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the GPU has enough performance headroom to handle the increased pixel count without a proportional FPS decrease. However, the larger drop from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU becomes the bottleneck once again at higher resolutions.

The data implies that for this combo, the optimal operating range is between 1440p and 4K, where the GPU is fully utilized without being overwhelmed. At 1080p, the system is partially CPU-limited, particularly at lower settings, which means that users with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors may not fully utilize the RTX 5090’s capabilities. Conversely, at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, and the CPU has sufficient headroom to support the graphics workload without constraining performance. This balanced scaling profile suggests that the combo is best suited for 1440p or 4K gaming, where it delivers exceptional performance without any component being underutilized.