Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER pairing delivers a compelling 1440p experience in Control, though 4K Ultra demands compromises. This combination ranks in the 83rd percentile of tested configurations, with measured frame rates that scale predictably with both resolution and preset.

Resolution Scaling

The performance curve from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that remains balanced until the highest resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 213.5 FPS, but this drops to 160.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 107.7 FPS at 4K. That represents a 25% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33% further reduction from 1440p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling is less steep at higher presets: at Ultra, the frame rate falls from 117.5 FPS at 1080p to 87.6 FPS at 1440p (a 25% drop), then to 58.9 FPS at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p). This consistent pattern suggests the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom even at 1080p.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 96 FPS (213.5 vs 117.5), but at 4K that gap narrows to 48.8 FPS (107.7 vs 58.9). This compression indicates that at 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER’s rendering throughput is the dominant constraint, whereas at 1080p, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads can more readily feed the GPU. The Ryzen 5 9600X’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 1253, helps maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions where draw calls are more frequent.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for Control’s demands across all tested settings, with no signs of capacity-related stuttering even at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and 7168 shading units provide substantial compute throughput, reflected in its 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance. These specifications translate into a 3dmark steel nomad dx12 score of 4627, placing the card in the 84th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks include the NVIDIA RTX A6000, which scores 42653 (a delta of -0.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE at 42723 (delta -0.3%). The RTX 4070 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 42576 sits remarkably close to these professional and newer consumer cards, indicating that its architectural efficiency—5 nm process, Ada Lovelace design—compensates for lower raw memory bandwidth compared to some competitors. In Control specifically, the GPU’s 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are not heavily utilized, as the game’s implementation of ray tracing is limited, but the raw rasterization performance carries the load.

At 4K Ultra, the 58.9 FPS result shows the GPU is working near its limit, while at 1080p Low, the 213.5 FPS figure suggests the CPU could push even higher if the GPU were not capping output. The 12 GB frame buffer is never a bottleneck, as even the most demanding preset at 4K stays within memory limits, allowing the card to focus purely on shading and texture processing.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Ryzen 5 9600X and RTX 4070 SUPER achieves rank 277 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 17% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU’s 3dmark max-thread score of 7590 and the GPU’s 3dmark steel nomad score of 4627. The CPU alone sits at the 85th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 28246, while the GPU’s percentile is 84, with an average score of 42576.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks—the Intel Core i5-13490F at 28173 (delta 0.3%), AMD Ryzen 5 230 at 28164 (delta 0.3%), AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS at 28369 (delta -0.4%), and Intel Core i5-14500T at 28377 (delta -0.5%)—all score within 1% of the 9600X. This tight grouping suggests that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo’s rank; instead, the GPU’s performance tier, sitting just below the RTX A6000 and RX 7650 GRE, boosts the overall result. The 277th rank out of 1636 combos indicates that this pairing outperforms most systems, though it falls short of top-tier configurations that would pair higher-end GPUs with similarly strong CPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 213.5 FPS on Low, 153.2 FPS on Medium, 139.2 FPS on High, and 117.5 FPS on Ultra. These figures show that even at the most demanding 1080p preset, the system maintains frame rates well above 100 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. The step from Low to Medium costs 60.3 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 21.7 FPS, indicating diminishing returns as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are 160.7 FPS on Low, 115.9 FPS on Medium, 104.8 FPS on High, and 87.6 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Ultra figure remains comfortably above 60 FPS, making this the sweet spot for the combination. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces frame rate by 34.4 FPS (139.2 to 104.8), a 25% penalty that is acceptable given the resolution increase.

At 3840x2160, the combo produces 107.7 FPS on Low, 75.6 FPS on Medium, 70.6 FPS on High, and 58.9 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result drops below 60 FPS, which may be noticeable on displays with variable refresh rates, but the High preset at 70.6 FPS offers a smoother experience. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is only 5 FPS (75.6 vs 70.6), suggesting that High provides better visual quality for minimal performance cost in this range.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset at 117.5 FPS is the clear choice, as it delivers the highest visual quality while maintaining frame rates that exceed most monitor refresh rates. The 1440p resolution presents a more nuanced decision: Ultra at 87.6 FPS provides a fluid experience, but High at 104.8 FPS offers a 20% performance uplift with only a modest reduction in visual fidelity. Given that the difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is just 17.2 FPS, players prioritizing smoothness should select High, while those with 144Hz displays may prefer Ultra.

At 4K, the measured data shows that Ultra at 58.9 FPS is borderline for consistent 60 FPS gameplay, so High at 70.6 FPS is the recommended preset. This setting provides a 20% frame rate increase over Ultra while retaining most of the visual enhancements that matter in Control’s surreal environments. The Medium preset at 75.6 FPS offers only a marginal gain over High, making it less attractive. For players who demand the highest frame rates at 4K, Low at 107.7 FPS is viable, but it sacrifices too much of the game’s atmospheric lighting and texture detail to be generally recommended. The optimal balance across all resolutions is the High preset, which yields 139.2 FPS at 1080p, 104.8 FPS at 1440p, and 70.6 FPS at 4K—consistent, playable performance at every tier.