Control

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread desktop processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm TSMC process. It runs at a 3.90 GHz base clock and boosts to 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This CPU sits in the 81st percentile of all processors tested, with an average benchmark score of 29713. In Cinebench R23, it scores 17528.5 in multi-core and 2183.5 in single-core tests; Geekbench shows 14438 multi-core and 2923 single-core. These numbers place it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals: it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H, 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, and 0.8% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS.

For Control, this CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU. The game's measured FPS at 1080p Low — 226 avg — is the highest in the entire dataset, and at 1080p Ultra the combo still achieves 124 avg FPS. The fact that the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 102 FPS (226 vs 124) suggests the settings are heavily GPU-bound even at the lowest quality; the CPU is never the bottleneck at this resolution. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and 2-thread score of 2456 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for Control's game logic and physics simulation. However, the data shows no scenario where the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities (3DMark max threads: 7590) become a limiting factor — every measured FPS row is constrained by the GPU or the settings preset.

At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 63 avg FPS, which is 50.4% lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 124 avg. This dramatic drop is characteristic of GPU-bound rendering, not CPU limitation. The Ryzen 5 9600X's L3 cache of 32 MB shared and DDR5-89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for Control's streaming and asset loading. The CPU's PassMark integer math score of 89918 and floating point math of 60081 further confirm it handles the game's computational load without strain. In short, the CPU role here is to stay out of the way — and the benchmark data confirms it does.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU (AD104 chip) built on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It operates at a 2310 MHz base clock and 2610 MHz boost, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 40.09 TFLOPS, with 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores for ray tracing and DLSS workloads.

This GPU ranks in the 84th percentile of all GPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 44795. Its nearest rivals show mixed positioning: it is 0.8% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A6000, and 1.7% behind the Intel Arc A730M. In Control, the GPU is the dominant performance driver. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions and settings demonstrates this clearly: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 226 avg FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 63 avg — a 72.1% reduction. The 12 GB VRAM is adequate for Control's High and Ultra presets at all tested resolutions, as the game never shows signs of texture thrashing or stutter in the min FPS data (e.g., 70 min FPS at 4K Medium).

The RTX 4070 Ti's pixel rate and texture rate are the key specs for Control's rendering. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is pushing 3840x2160 pixels with high-quality textures and effects, and the 63 avg FPS reflects the raw compute demand. The 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes more critical at 4K, where larger textures and higher-resolution buffers require faster data movement. The fact that 4K High achieves 73 avg FPS and 4K Medium reaches 82 avg FPS indicates the GPU scales predictably with settings load. The RTX 4070 Ti's 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 is the raw horsepower that enables 115 avg FPS at 4K Low — a result that shows the GPU can handle even 4K when the visual load is reduced.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The data provides four settings presets at each of three resolutions: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. The best experience depends on the target resolution and the balance between average FPS and visual quality. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 161 avg FPS with a min of 136 and max of 185. This is 13.0% faster than High (143 avg) and 29.8% faster than Ultra (124 avg), while being 28.7% slower than Low (226 avg). The Medium preset at 1080p offers a substantial frame rate cushion above 144 Hz displays, making it the recommended choice for competitive play or high-refresh monitors. The min FPS of 136 ensures no drops below 120 FPS, which is critical for smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the Medium preset again stands out: 121 avg FPS with a min of 103 and max of 140. This is 12.0% faster than High (108 avg) and 28.7% faster than Ultra (94 avg). The 103 min FPS keeps the experience above 100 FPS consistently, which is ideal for 1440p gaming on high-refresh displays. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 171 avg FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is severe for only a 41.3% gain over Medium. For most users, Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot — it maintains playable frame rates while preserving enough graphical fidelity for the game's atmospheric environments.

At 4K, the Medium preset delivers 82 avg FPS with a min of 70 and max of 94. This is 12.3% faster than High (73 avg) and 30.2% faster than Ultra (63 avg). The 70 min FPS is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making 4K Medium the only preset at 4K that guarantees a console-like experience without compromise. The Low preset at 4K reaches 115 avg FPS, but the visual downgrade is substantial. The Ultra preset at 4K (63 avg) is technically playable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes, as indicated by the lack of min FPS data suggesting potential dips. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best balance of average FPS, minimum FPS stability, and visual quality. The data shows that Medium provides a 30.2% to 29.8% FPS uplift over Ultra while only sacrificing one settings tier of visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 496th out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places it in the top 13.3% of all combinations in the database. The rank is derived from the measured FPS across all settings and resolutions, weighted by the game's performance demands. The percentile position (84th for the GPU, 81st for the CPU) aligns well with the overall combo rank, indicating that neither component drags the other down significantly.

The 496th rank out of 3720 combos means there are 495 combinations that outperform this setup in Control, but there are 3224 combinations that perform worse. This is a strong result for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The GPU's 84th percentile is slightly higher than the CPU's 81st percentile, which suggests the RTX 4070 Ti is the more performance-relevant component in this game. The nearest GPU rivals (RTX 5090 Mobile at -0.8%, Radeon Pro 5500 XT at -1.3%) are all within 1.7% of the RTX 4070 Ti's average score, so the ranking could shift with driver updates or game patches. However, the measured FPS data is definitive: this combo delivers playable frame rates at all resolutions, with only 4K Ultra dipping to 63 avg.

The combo rank of 496/3720 is particularly impressive given that the CPU is a 6-core part. Many combos above it likely pair higher-core-count CPUs with similarly powerful GPUs, but in Control, the data shows the CPU core count has minimal impact on FPS. The 1080p Low result of 226 avg FPS and 1440p Low of 171 avg FPS demonstrate that even the most CPU-light scenarios are GPU-bound. This means the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU's capability, and the RTX 4070 Ti's 84th percentile positioning is the driving factor.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At High settings, the combo delivers 143 avg FPS at 1080p, which drops to 108 avg at 1440p (a 24.5% reduction) and further to 73 avg at 4K (a 48.9% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is consistent with GPU-bound rendering, where the number of pixels being processed quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 32.4%, which is less than the 50% that would be expected if the GPU were purely pixel-limited, suggesting some memory bandwidth or cache effects come into play.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic: 226 avg FPS at 1080p, 171 avg at 1440p (24.3% drop), and 115 avg at 4K (49.1% drop from 1080p). This near-linear scaling with pixel count confirms the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's role remains constant across resolutions — it feeds the same game logic regardless of output resolution. The fact that the FPS drops nearly proportionally with pixel count (1080p to 4K is 4x pixels, and FPS drops by roughly half at High settings) indicates the RTX 4070 Ti is fully utilized at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 161 avg at 1080p, 121 avg at 1440p (24.8% drop), and 82 avg at 4K (49.1% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets is the strongest evidence that the GPU is the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we would see the FPS plateau at higher resolutions, but instead the FPS continues to drop steadily. The 4K Ultra result of 63 avg FPS is 49.2% lower than 1080p Ultra's 124 avg, again confirming the GPU-bound nature. The min FPS data at Medium (70 at 4K, 103 at 1440p, 136 at 1080p) shows that frame pacing remains stable even under load, with no signs of CPU-induced stutter.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Control?

A: This AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 496th out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top 13.3% of all combinations in the database.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance of FPS and visual quality?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice across all resolutions. At 1080p it delivers 161 avg FPS (min 136, max 185), at 1440p it achieves 121 avg FPS (min 103, max 140), and at 4K it reaches 82 avg FPS (min 70, max 94). Medium is 30.2% faster than Ultra at 4K and 29.8% faster at 1080p.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Control?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting component. The FPS drops nearly proportionally with pixel count: at High settings, 143 avg FPS at 1080p drops to 73 avg at 4K, a 48.9% reduction. This pattern holds across all presets, confirming the RTX 4070 Ti is the bottleneck.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Control?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, it delivers 82 avg FPS with a 70 min FPS, which is smooth. At 4K High, it achieves 73 avg FPS. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 63 avg FPS, which is playable but leaves no headroom. The 4K Low preset reaches 115 avg FPS for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44795, placing it in the 84th percentile. It is 0.8% behind the RTX 5090 Mobile, 1.3% behind the Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 1.6% ahead of the RTX A6000, and 1.7% behind the Intel Arc A730M.

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to its closest competitors?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X scores 29713 on average benchmarks (81st percentile). It is 0.2% ahead of the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, 0.5% behind the Ryzen 7 7840H, 0.6% behind the Ryzen 7 5800XT, and 0.8% behind the Ryzen 7 8845HS.