Control

Control on the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination demonstrates a clear pattern: as resolution climbs, the frame rate drops in a way that shows the GPU becoming the primary constraint, while at lower resolutions the CPU's single-thread performance begins to matter more. The measured data spans three resolutions and four quality presets, giving a complete picture of how this pairing handles a 2019 action-adventure title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a substantial performance cost as pixel count increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 156 FPS at 1920x1080 to 118 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 38 FPS, and then further to 79 FPS at 3840x2160, which represents a 49% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4080 is being pushed harder as resolution increases, with the 4K result falling below the 1440p figure by 39 FPS.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more pronounced. The 1080p Low result of 246 FPS drops to 186 FPS at 1440p and then to 126 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is roughly 49%, which is nearly identical to the High preset's drop. This consistency across presets suggests that the resolution scaling is driven primarily by the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than by settings-dependent effects like shading complexity.

At Ultra settings, the 1080p result of 135 FPS falls to 102 FPS at 1440p and 69 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire measured set, confirming that this configuration is most stressed at the highest resolution and quality combination. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is 33 FPS, which is a larger absolute drop than the 29 FPS gap seen at High settings, indicating that Ultra's additional effects amplify the resolution penalty.

The Medium preset shows the smallest absolute differences between resolutions, with 175 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 89 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result includes a minimum frame rate of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, which provides a 27 FPS range. This variance suggests that even at Medium settings, the 4K resolution introduces some frame time inconsistency, though the average remains playable.

The overall pattern points to the RTX 4080 as the limiting component at 4K, where even the Low preset only reaches 126 FPS. At 1080p, the CPU's role becomes more apparent, as the 246 FPS Low result approaches the practical limits of the Ryzen 5 7600X's single-thread capability, given its 3DMark single-thread score of 1060 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1965.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD103 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC. It packs 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz and an effective data rate of 22.4 Gbps.

The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is arranged on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory subsystem is critical for the 4K results in Control, where the High preset averages 79 FPS and Ultra averages 69 FPS. The bandwidth figure explains why the resolution scaling is so consistent across presets: the 716.8 GB/s throughput is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p workloads but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, especially with Ultra effects.

The shading unit count of 9728, along with 304 texture mapping units and 112 render output units, drives the pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s. These specifications align with the measured frame rates: at 4K Ultra, the 69 FPS average requires the GPU to process roughly 530 million pixels per second, which is well within the pixel rate capability but leaves less headroom for the frame time spikes suggested by the Medium preset's 76 FPS minimum.

The 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are present but do not appear to be a bottleneck in this dataset, as the measured results come from standard rasterization presets. The FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS, matching the FP16 figure at a 1:1 ratio, indicates balanced compute that is more than adequate for this title.

The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design suggest substantial power delivery, though the measured frame rates do not indicate thermal throttling, as the 1080p Low result of 246 FPS shows the GPU can sustain high throughput when not resolution-limited. The PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface matches the CPU's Gen 5 capability, though the GPU's bandwidth needs are fully met by the 16 lanes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality for this combination. At 1080p, Medium averages 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and maximum of 201 FPS, which is only 20 FPS below the High preset's 156 FPS average but provides a smoother experience with fewer effects taxing the system.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 132 FPS average, with a minimum of 113 FPS and maximum of 152 FPS. This is 14 FPS higher than High's 118 FPS average and 30 FPS higher than Ultra's 102 FPS. The 113 FPS minimum ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above the 100 FPS threshold that many displays target.

The 4K Medium result of 89 FPS average is the most playable 4K option in the dataset, outperforming High's 79 FPS by 10 FPS and Ultra's 69 FPS by 20 FPS. The minimum of 76 FPS at 4K Medium is still above the 60 FPS baseline, making it a viable choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

The Low preset at 1080p achieves 246 FPS, which is the highest measured result, but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. At 4K, Low reaches 126 FPS, which is 37 FPS higher than Medium but sacrifices the effects that make Control's environments distinctive. The Ultra preset, while visually impressive, drops to 69 FPS at 4K and 102 FPS at 1440p, which may not justify the frame rate cost on displays with high refresh rates.

For most users, the Medium preset at 1440p or 4K provides the best measured experience, with the 132 FPS and 89 FPS averages respectively offering smooth gameplay without the frame rate penalties of higher presets. The High preset is a reasonable middle ground for those prioritizing visual quality, but the data shows diminishing returns compared to Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 241st out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 6.5% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the pairing's strong overall performance, though it is not at the absolute top tier, which would require a more powerful GPU or a CPU with higher single-thread performance.

The RTX 4080's individual ranking shows it at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, a delta of 0.1%, meaning the standard 4080 is essentially neck-and-neck with its SUPER variant in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher, and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, 2.7% higher.

The Ryzen 5 7600X ranks at the 79th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27636. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X at 27578, a 0.2% delta, and the Intel Core i5-12600K at 27578, also 0.2% behind. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712, which is 0.3% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 scores 27535, 0.4% lower.

The combination's 241st place ranking out of 3720 suggests that while both components are strong individually, the pairing is not optimized for maximum Control performance. The 4K results, particularly the 69 FPS Ultra average, indicate that a higher-tier GPU would push this combination higher in the rankings, while the 1080p results show the CPU keeping pace adequately.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with the Raphael codename. It operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 105 W. The CPU is manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC, containing 6,570 million transistors on a 71 mm² die.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. This cache configuration, combined with the dual-channel DDR5 memory support and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth, provides sufficient data throughput for the game's physics and logic calculations. The measured benchmark scores show a single-thread 3DMark score of 1060 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1965, which are crucial for Control's frame rate at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low settings, the 246 FPS average approaches the CPU's practical limit, as the game's simulation and draw call processing become the bottleneck when the GPU is not fully utilized. The 1080p High result of 156 FPS and Ultra result of 135 FPS indicate that the CPU has ample headroom for these settings, with the GPU taking over as the primary constraint.

The multi-threaded performance, shown by the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15236 and 3DMark 16-thread score of 6879, is sufficient for the game's background tasks but does not significantly impact the measured frame rates. The PassMark multithread score of 28390 and physics score of 1824 confirm that the CPU handles parallel workloads competently, though Control's reliance on single-thread performance means the 5.30 GHz boost clock is more relevant.

The Ryzen 5 7600X's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27636, places it slightly above the Ryzen 7 5700X and Core i5-12600K, both at 27578, and just below the Ryzen 5 8500GE at 27712. This positioning shows that the 7600X is a solid mid-range performer that does not bottleneck the RTX 4080 in most scenarios, though the 1080p Low result suggests a ceiling at very high frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The 1440p Medium preset provides the best balance, with 132 FPS average and a 113 FPS minimum. At 4K, Medium averages 89 FPS with a 76 FPS minimum, which is also playable. The 1080p Low preset reaches 246 FPS but sacrifices visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209 but 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's 54828, 2.6% lower than the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB's 55698, and 2.7% lower than the AMD Radeon 8060S's 55757.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The 4K Ultra average of 69 FPS and 4K Low average of 126 FPS show that the RTX 4080's rendering capacity limits performance, as the CPU's single-thread score of 1060 in 3DMark is sufficient for these frame rates.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 156 FPS at 1080p to 118 FPS at 1440p and 79 FPS at 4K, a total reduction of 77 FPS from the 1080p result, representing a 49% decrease.

Q: How does this combination rank among all tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 241st out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 6.5% of all configurations tested.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium is 76 FPS, with an average of 89 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, providing a 27 FPS range that indicates some frame time variance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination covers three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 246 FPS average, Medium achieves 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and maximum of 201 FPS, High achieves 156 FPS, and Ultra achieves 135 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression, with Low being 71 FPS higher than Medium and 111 FPS higher than Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset reaches 186 FPS average, Medium reaches 132 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS and maximum of 152 FPS, High reaches 118 FPS, and Ultra reaches 102 FPS. The 1440p results follow the same ordering as 1080p, with Low being 54 FPS higher than Medium and 84 FPS higher than Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 126 FPS average, Medium achieves 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 103 FPS, High achieves 79 FPS, and Ultra achieves 69 FPS. The 4K results show the smallest gaps between presets, with only 20 FPS separating Low from Medium and 57 FPS separating Low from Ultra.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum data across all three resolutions, showing 149-201 FPS at 1080p, 113-152 FPS at 1440p, and 76-103 FPS at 4K. These ranges indicate that the Medium preset's frame time consistency degrades as resolution increases, with the 4K range being nearly double the 1080p range in absolute terms.