Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a distinctly mid-pack result in Control, ranking 933rd out of 1636 tested combos. This places the pairing in the 57th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating that while it is not a top-tier performer, it offers a solidly playable experience across most settings and resolutions, with the CPU and GPU sharing the workload in a balanced manner that reflects their respective market positions.

FAQ

Q: How well does this combo perform compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 933rd out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This indicates that while it is not a top performer, it outperforms roughly 43% of all tested configurations, making it a competent but not exceptional pairing for this title.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for smooth gameplay?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 137.8 FPS, which is the highest measured result. For a balance between visual quality and performance, 2560x1440 with High settings yields a solid 65.7 FPS average, while 1920x1080 at Ultra delivers 79.6 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU perform in synthetic benchmarks relative to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 28246, placing it 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13490F and the AMD Ryzen 5 230, but 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and 0.5% behind the Intel Core i5-14500T. This shows it is essentially tied with its closest competitors.

Q: What is the GPU's standing among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4060 holds a percentile rank of 66 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.7% faster), and the Intel Arc B580 (0.7% slower).

Q: Does the combo favor higher resolutions or lower ones based on the data?

A: The performance scales as expected with resolution. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 39.8 (Ultra) to 68.5 (Low), while at 1920x1080, it ranges from 79.6 (Ultra) to 137.8 (Low). The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens at lower resolutions, suggesting a GPU-bound scenario at 4K and a more balanced load at 1080p.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU and GPU?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X has a launch MSRP of $279, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 has a launch MSRP of 299 USD.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 933 out of 1636 tested configurations places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos in Control. This is a significant data point because it shows that the pairing is not a high-end enthusiast setup, nor is it a low-budget compromise. The rank suggests that the Ryzen 5 9600X and RTX 4060 combination hits a performance plateau that is common for mainstream hardware, where the GPU's capabilities are the primary limiter at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance allows it to keep up at lower settings.

Analyzing the rank in context, the combo sits just above the midpoint of the database. This means that in a head-to-head comparison, it would beat slightly more than half of all other configurations tested. The data implies that for a game like Control, which is known for its physics-heavy gameplay and demanding visual effects, this combo provides a stable foundation. The CPU's high single-core score of 1253 in 3DMark and 3603 in Cinebench R23 single-core ensures that the game's logic and physics calculations are handled promptly, while the GPU's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but begins to struggle at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 plays the dominant role in shaping the frame rate, particularly as resolution increases. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the GPU provides a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. In Control, this memory configuration is adequate for 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, but at 3840x2160, the data shows a clear drop-off. The average FPS at 4K High is 46.4, which is 29% lower than the 1440p High result of 65.7 FPS. This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity become limiting factors at higher pixel counts.

The GPU's core clocks, with a base of 1830 MHz and a boost of 2460 MHz, allow it to maintain respectable performance in lighter scenes. The measured FPS at 1080p Low of 137.8 FPS demonstrates the GPU's raw capability when not bound by memory constraints. However, the transition from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p shows a 42% performance drop (from 137.8 FPS to 79.6 FPS), highlighting how the game's graphical features, such as ray tracing and high-resolution textures, stress the 8 GB frame buffer. The GPU's 24 RT cores are present, but the data suggests they are not fully utilized at lower settings, as the most significant FPS gains come from reducing resolution rather than adjusting specific RT options.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the combo's scaling across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 137.8 FPS on Low, 101.5 FPS on Medium, 87.9 FPS on High, and 79.6 FPS on Ultra. This shows a smooth degradation curve, with each settings tier costing roughly 15-20% performance. The 1080p results are all above the 60 FPS threshold, making this resolution the most comfortable for the combo, even at maximum settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 107.6 on Low, 73.2 on Medium, 65.7 on High, and 56.4 on Ultra. The High setting remains playable at 65.7 FPS, but Ultra falls below the 60 FPS mark, indicating that users seeking a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 1440p should stick to High or lower. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 48%, a slightly larger spread than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU's compute resources are being taxed more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the results are more challenging. The average FPS is 68.5 on Low, 51.6 on Medium, 46.4 on High, and 39.8 on Ultra. None of the settings at 4K achieve a 60 FPS average, and even Low settings fall short. This indicates that the RTX 4060 is not suited for 4K gaming in Control without significant compromises. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is 42%, consistent with the 1080p spread, but the absolute numbers are much lower, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X provides a strong foundation for this combo, with its 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The CPU's architecture, Zen 5 on a 4 nm process, delivers excellent single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3603. In Control, which relies on a single primary game thread for many simulation tasks, this single-thread strength is crucial for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also relevant, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25525 and a Geekbench multicore score of 15182. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the 137.8 FPS result likely approaches the CPU's limit, as the GPU has ample headroom. At 4K, the FPS drops to 68.5 on Low, indicating that the GPU's rendering time dominates the frame time, and the CPU's performance becomes less critical.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory with 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth ensure that data feeding is not a bottleneck. The combo's rank of 933 suggests that the CPU is performing as expected for its class, with its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks being the Intel Core i5-13490F and the AMD Ryzen 5 230, both of which are within 0.3% of its average score. This parity in CPU performance means that the RTX 4060 is the deciding factor in Control's frame rates, and the data consistently shows this pattern across all tested settings.