Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a robust, high-refresh-rate experience in Control at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a noticeable drop-off when pushing 4K resolutions. This combination ranks in the 723rd position out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The measured frames per second reveal a system that is clearly capable of smooth gameplay at standard resolutions, yet the demands of 4K Ultra settings push it to the edge of playability.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory across resolutions is telling. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 163.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset, the average drops to 123.3 FPS, a decrease of roughly 24%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 81.3 FPS, which is a 34% reduction from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor; the CPU has ample headroom at these lower settings.

However, the scaling becomes more severe as graphical load increases. With the Ultra preset, the 1080p average is 87.2 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, this drops to 67.8 FPS (a 22% loss), and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 45.1 FPS. This represents a 48% performance loss when moving from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra. The steep decline at 4K, particularly with high-fidelity settings, suggests that the RX 7700 XT's memory bandwidth and raw compute power are saturated. The 432.0 GB/s bandwidth and 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are sufficient for 1440p, but the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160 overwhelms the GPU, making it the definitive bottleneck in this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1636 tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 5 9600X and RX 7700 XT holds the 723rd rank. This places it in the 44th percentile of all tested combos, indicating a performance level that is slightly above average but not exceptional. The data suggests that while the components are well-matched for mainstream gaming, they do not represent a top-tier configuration for Control.

The CPU's own benchmark percentile shows it is a strong performer, sitting in the 85th percentile against all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 28246. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13490F, which scores 28173 (a 0.3% difference), and the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS, which scores 28369 (a -0.4% difference). This indicates the 9600X is right in the middle of a tight performance cluster. The GPU, meanwhile, sits in the 73rd percentile against all GPUs with an average score of 30097. Its closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, which scores 30109 (a 0% deltaPct). This near-identical score suggests the RX 7700 XT is a well-positioned mid-range card, but the overall combo rank is dragged down by the fact that Control appears to favor different hardware configurations.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the Medium preset at 1440p emerges as the optimal choice from the measured data. The average of 84.7 FPS provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors, while the visual upgrade over Low settings is substantial. At 1080p, the High preset is the sweet spot, delivering an average of 100.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides excellent fluidity.

Pushing to 4K requires a compromise. The High preset at 4K yields 53.4 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Low preset at 4K achieves 81.3 FPS, making it the only 4K setting that provides a truly comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as the 67.8 FPS at 1440p and 45.1 FPS at 4K introduce noticeable stutter and latency. For those with 4K displays, the data clearly indicates that sticking to Low or Medium settings is necessary to maintain playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of the combo's capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the performance is consistently high across all presets. The Low preset delivers an average of 163.2 FPS, while Medium drops to 112.8 FPS. High achieves 100.2 FPS, and Ultra brings up the rear with 87.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 76 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the extra graphical effects at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the scaling is more pronounced. The Low preset averages 123.3 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth. Medium falls to 84.7 FPS, and High to 75 FPS. Ultra drops to 67.8 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 55.5 FPS, indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the pressure from higher pixel counts.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve flattens significantly. The Low preset averages 81.3 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that clears the 60 FPS hurdle with ease. Medium averages 55.9 FPS, High averages 53.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 45.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 36.2 FPS, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed at this resolution, and the visual gains from Ultra settings do not justify the substantial frame rate sacrifice.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for Control's performance. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is critical for texture streaming at high resolutions. The benchmark data shows that the GPU's role becomes more critical as resolution increases, with the 4K results highlighting its limitations.

The GPU's clock speeds are also relevant. The base clock of 1435 MHz boosts up to 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz. These clocks allow the card to maintain high utilization in Control's demanding scenes. The 54 ray accelerators and 96 ROPs contribute to the card's ability to handle the game's physics and rendering effects, but the 4K Ultra result of 45.1 FPS suggests that the memory subsystem is the bottleneck. The 18 Gbps effective memory speed is not sufficient to feed the GPU's compute units at 4K with maximum settings. In contrast, at 1080p, the GPU has enough bandwidth to deliver 163.2 FPS on Low, proving that the card is well-suited for lower resolutions but is not future-proofed for 4K gaming. The GPU's average benchmark score of 30097 and its 73rd percentile ranking confirm that it is a solid mid-range performer, but the data indicates that it is best paired with 1080p or 1440p displays for a consistently smooth experience in Control.