Control

Control pairs an 8-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with a 6 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, a combination that places 3,176th out of 3,720 tested combos for this title. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four settings presets reveal a system that is consistently GPU-bound, where the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 12 nm TU116 chip and 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute dictate the experience, while the 5700G’s Zen 3 architecture provides ample headroom. The data shows a clear pattern: lowering resolution or settings yields substantial FPS gains, but the GPU’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus become a limiting factor at higher resolutions, particularly at 3840x2160 where even Low settings drop below 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance cliff when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary bottleneck. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 57 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p, a 24.6% drop, and then to 29 FPS at 4K, a further 32.6% reduction. This non-linear scaling suggests that memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are heavily taxed as resolution increases, with the GPU’s 336.0 GB/s bandwidth and 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate struggling to keep up with the 8.3 million pixels at 4K.

The gap between Low and High settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (91 FPS) and High (57 FPS) is 34 FPS, while at 4K, the same comparison yields only 17 FPS (46 vs 29). This compression of the settings range at 4K is a classic sign of GPU saturation — when the render target becomes so large, the shading workload per pixel dominates, and reducing settings has diminishing returns because the pixel throughput itself is the limiting factor.

At Medium settings, where the dataset includes min and max FPS values, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows 64, 49, and 33 FPS respectively. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 23.4% is milder than the 1440p to 4K drop of 32.7%, reinforcing that the GPU’s compute and memory subsystem degrade faster as resolution grows. The 5700G’s role here is minimal — its 51.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR4 bandwidth and 16 MB L3 cache are more than sufficient for this workload, meaning the data indicates a purely GPU-limited scenario at all measured settings.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark rows suggest that Medium settings at 1920x1080 provide the most balanced experience, with an average of 64 FPS and a min-max range of 55 to 74 FPS. This preset keeps the frame rate comfortably above 60 FPS while maintaining visual quality that is not as stripped-down as Low. Compared to High at the same resolution (57 FPS average), Medium offers 12.3% higher performance, and the min FPS of 55 ensures that transient drops stay within a playable range.

For players targeting 1440p, the data shows that Low settings (69 FPS average) are the only way to achieve a consistently smooth experience, as Medium drops to 49 FPS and High to 43 FPS. The 1440p Low figure is actually higher than 1080p High by 21.1%, suggesting that at this resolution, the GPU’s pixel fill rate is the constraint, and reducing shading complexity via Low settings is the most effective lever. However, the 1440p Medium min FPS of 41 indicates that even this preset can stutter in demanding scenes.

At 4K, none of the presets deliver playable performance by modern standards, with Ultra at 25 FPS, High at 29 FPS, Medium at 33 FPS, and Low at 46 FPS. The Low preset at 4K is the only one that approaches a playable experience, but its 46 FPS average would still feel sluggish in fast-paced action sequences. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p Medium for the best balance, or 1440p Low if resolution is a priority, and avoid 4K entirely unless the user accepts sub-30 FPS visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 3,176 out of 3,720 tested combinations, this CPU-GPU pairing sits in the bottom 14.6% of all tested systems for Control. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GTX 1660 SUPER, which holds a 53rd percentile position among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 5700G sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs. The imbalance between the two components is stark — the processor is well above average, but the graphics card is only marginally better than the median, and in a game like Control, the GPU’s influence on frame rates is overwhelming.

Comparing to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the GTX 1660 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 12,986 is just 0.4% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 (12,928), but 0.7% below the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (13,075). These tiny deltas indicate that the GTX 1660 SUPER is essentially performance-equivalent to several other mid-range options, meaning that the combo’s low rank is not due to an unusually weak GPU sample, but rather because the entire class of GPUs in this performance tier struggles with Control’s demands.

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 7 5700G’s average benchmark score of 27,051 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-9900K (27,097, delta -0.2%) and the Intel Core i5-14400T (27,166, delta -0.4%). This places the 5700G in the company of much newer and more expensive processors, yet the game’s frame rates show no evidence of CPU limitation — the 5700G’s 8 cores and 16 threads are far beyond what Control requires at these settings, confirming that the combo rank is a direct reflection of GPU performance alone.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the dataset provides a complete picture across all four settings. Low settings yield 91 FPS average, Medium delivers 64 FPS with a range of 55 to 74 FPS, High produces 57 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 29.7% reduction, while Medium to High is an 10.9% reduction, and High to Ultra is a 12.3% reduction. This pattern shows that the biggest performance cost comes from enabling the first tier of visual enhancements, while subsequent tiers have more modest impacts.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 69 FPS (Low), 49 FPS (Medium, with min 41 and max 56), 43 FPS (High), and 38 FPS (Ultra). The percentage drops from 1080p are 24.2% for Low, 23.4% for Medium, 24.6% for High, and 24.0% for Ultra — remarkably consistent across all settings, reinforcing that resolution scaling is resolution-bound rather than settings-bound. The 1440p Medium min FPS of 41 is notably lower than the 1080p Medium min of 55, a 25.5% degradation that highlights how 1440p pushes the GPU closer to its limits.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 46 FPS (Low), 33 FPS (Medium, with min 28 and max 38), 29 FPS (High), and 25 FPS (Ultra). The 4K Low to Medium gap is 13 FPS, Medium to High is 4 FPS, and High to Ultra is 4 FPS — the settings range compresses to just 21 FPS between Low and Ultra, compared to 41 FPS at 1080p. This compression is the clearest evidence that the GPU’s 5.027 TFLOPS and 6 GB memory are exhausted at 4K, where even the lowest settings cannot escape the pixel throughput bottleneck.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER’s specifications directly explain its performance in Control. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at 1440p and 4K where larger frame buffers and higher-resolution textures demand more memory throughput. The 48 ROPs and 85.68 GPixel/s pixel rate are particularly relevant for a game like Control, which features heavy post-processing effects and particle systems that stress fill-rate limits.

The GPU’s clock behavior shows a base of 1530 MHz and a boost of 1785 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the raw shading capability, and the 157.1 GTexel/s texture rate supports the game’s detailed environments. In the benchmark data, the GPU scores 12,699 on Passmark G3D and 5,076 on Passmark GPU Compute, placing it at the 53rd percentile — just above average, but clearly not enough for Control’s demanding rendering at high resolutions.

The GPU’s nearest rivals include the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% higher average score) and the RX 580 (0.4% higher), which means the 1660 SUPER is effectively in a dead heat with those cards. The data shows that Control’s performance at 1080p High (57 FPS) is right at the edge of playable, and the 6 GB memory capacity is adequate for 1080p but likely causes texture swapping or reduced texture quality at 4K, explaining why Low settings at 4K (46 FPS) still cannot break 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5700G brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR4 bandwidth are strong for a desktop APU, and the 65W TDP indicates efficient operation. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 12,830.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1,494 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 24,419 and a single-thread score of 3,283.

Compared to its nearest CPU rivals, the 5700G is within 0.6% of the Intel Core i7-1370P and within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445, meaning its computational power is competitive with much newer mobile and desktop parts. However, in Control, the CPU’s utilization is likely low because the game’s frame rates are capped by the GPU. The 5700G’s 3DMark scores — 6,629 for 16 threads and 6,627 for max threads — show strong scaling, but the game does not appear to leverage more than a few cores given the GPU bottleneck.

The CPU’s 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs is a stark contrast to the GPU’s 53rd percentile, and this mismatch is the defining characteristic of the combo. The data suggests that the 5700G could drive a much more powerful GPU without becoming a bottleneck, as its 16 threads provide ample headroom for future upgrades. In Control specifically, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data, but the measured FPS at all settings and resolutions is so low that the CPU is never the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for playable performance?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings yields an average of 64 FPS with a min of 55 FPS, making it the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS. At 1440p, Low settings achieve 69 FPS average, but Medium drops to 49 FPS, so 1080p Medium is the most reliable choice.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 12,986 is 0.4% higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and RX 580, and 0.7% lower than the Tesla M2090. These differences are negligible, meaning the 1660 SUPER performs essentially identically to these cards in raw compute.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5700G holding back the GTX 1660 SUPER?

A: No, the CPU is not a limiting factor. The 5700G ranks in the 79th percentile among all CPUs, and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12,830.5 is within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-14400T. The GPU’s 53rd percentile ranking indicates it is the bottleneck.

Q: Why does performance drop so sharply at 4K?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K rendering. The 4K Medium preset averages 33 FPS with a min of 28 FPS, and even Low settings only reach 46 FPS, showing that pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are exhausted.

Q: What is the combo’s overall standing among tested systems?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 3,176th out of 3,720 tested combos for Control, placing it in the bottom 14.6% of all systems. This low rank is almost entirely due to the GPU’s mid-tier performance relative to the game’s demands.

Q: Does the CPU’s 8-core/16-thread configuration help in Control?

A: The data suggests it does not provide any measurable benefit, as the GPU is the limiting component at all settings. The CPU’s Passmark multithread score of 24,419 is strong, but the game’s FPS is capped by the GPU’s 5.027 TFLOPS, making the extra threads irrelevant for this title.