Control

Control pairs an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 5700X with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, and the measured frame rates show a combo that is clearly capable of smooth play at 1080p but begins to strain as resolution climbs. The GTX 1080 Ti, a Pascal-generation card with 11 GB of GDDR5X memory, remains the primary performance driver in this pairing, while the Ryzen 7 5700X provides ample headroom. The data across three resolutions and four quality presets reveals a predictable scaling pattern, with the CPU rarely becoming the limiting factor until frame rates reach very high levels.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, which points directly at the GPU as the bottleneck. At High settings, the combo delivers 84 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 64 FPS at 2560x1440, and then drops sharply to 43 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 49% reduction in average frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a clear sign that the GTX 1080 Ti’s pixel throughput is being maxed out. The 4K result of 43 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action, while the 1440p result of 64 FPS hits a much sweeter spot for competitive or responsive play.

Looking at Low settings emphasizes this GPU-bound behavior even more. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 133 FPS, which is an excellent result that shows the CPU can push frames well beyond standard 60 Hz monitors. At 1440p Low, it drops to 101 FPS, still very smooth, but at 4K Low, it falls to 68 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 65 FPS, which is larger in absolute terms than the 41 FPS gap at High settings. This suggests that even when graphical load is reduced, the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading power become the wall at higher resolutions.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with more detail. At 1080p Medium, the average is 95 FPS with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 48 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. The minimum frame rates are particularly telling: at 4K Medium, the 41 FPS minimum is close to the average, indicating that the frame pacing is consistent but the overall performance is low. This consistency suggests a stable GPU load rather than CPU stutter.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, and the scaling shows the GTX 1080 Ti is out of its depth at higher resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 73 FPS, which is still playable. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 55 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 37 FPS. The 37 FPS at 4K Ultra is below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for a smooth experience, so this setting is only viable if you are willing to accept significant compromises. The data indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck in any of these scenarios; the Ryzen 7 5700X has the multi-threaded headroom to feed the GPU, but the GPU simply cannot render enough pixels at 4K.

The overall pattern is clear: this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The 1080p results are all above 70 FPS even at Ultra, and the 1440p results are above 55 FPS at Ultra, which is acceptable. At 4K, only the Low preset achieves a comfortable 68 FPS, while High and Medium hover in the 43-48 FPS range, which is borderline. The limiting component is undoubtedly the GPU, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops with resolution increases across all presets.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the Medium preset at 1440p appears to be the sweet spot. The measured data shows 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum, which provides a smooth and consistent framerate that is well-suited for action-adventure gameplay. The 61 FPS minimum is critical because it means the game rarely dips below 60 FPS, which is a common target for smooth motion. At 1080p Medium, you get 95 FPS average with an 80 FPS minimum, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual fidelity is lower than what the GPU can handle at 1440p.

If you prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, the High preset at 1440p is a viable option, delivering 64 FPS average. However, the lack of a minimum FPS measurement for that row means we cannot confirm frame pacing, but the average is solidly above 60 FPS. At 4K High, the 43 FPS average is playable for a slower-paced game like Control, but it is not recommended for players who are sensitive to frame drops or who want a responsive feel. The Ultra preset at any resolution above 1080p is not recommended, as the 37 FPS at 4K and 55 FPS at 1440p show that the GPU is struggling to maintain high frame rates.

For 1080p users, the High preset at 84 FPS offers a good balance between quality and performance, while the Ultra preset at 73 FPS is also acceptable if you want maximum fidelity. The Low preset at 133 FPS is only useful for competitive play or for pushing very high refresh rates, as the visual quality is significantly reduced. The data suggests that the Medium preset is the most versatile choice across all resolutions because it provides a consistent frame rate that is always above 45 FPS even at 4K, and it is the only preset at 4K that has a measured minimum FPS of 41, which is just above the edge of playability.

In summary, the recommended settings are: for 1080p, use High or Ultra depending on your preference for frame rate or quality; for 1440p, use Medium or High, with Medium being the safest bet for consistent 60+ FPS; and for 4K, stick to Low or Medium if you must play at that resolution, as High and Ultra will likely result in sub-50 FPS averages. The Medium preset at 1440p is the single best recommendation because it combines a strong average FPS of 72 with a minimum of 61, ensuring a smooth experience without the visual compromises of Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2090 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the middle of the pack. This position is somewhat surprising given the age of the GTX 1080 Ti, but it reflects the fact that the GPU still holds up well in this game, which is not heavily reliant on ray tracing or other modern features. The percentile ranking for the GPU is 58, meaning it outperforms 58% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU has a percentile ranking of 79, outperforming 79% of all CPUs. This disparity in percentile rankings confirms that the CPU is the stronger component in this pairing, and the combo’s overall rank is dragged down by the GPU’s age.

When looking at the GTX 1080 Ti’s nearest rivals in the GPU database, the performance is very close. The AMD Radeon R9 M380 has an average score of 15521, which is 0.2% higher than the GTX 1080 Ti’s 15548 average. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 0.8% lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is 1.7% higher. This tight clustering shows that the GTX 1080 Ti is still competitive with much newer cards in synthetic benchmarks, and its real-world performance in Control is consistent with that. The fact that it is only 1.7% behind the RTX 2060 is notable, as the RTX 2060 is a more modern card with better feature support, but the Pascal architecture’s raw compute power keeps it relevant.

The CPU’s nearest rivals show a similar story of parity. The Intel Core i5-12600K has an identical average score of 27578, which is a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800 is 0.2% higher, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is 0.2% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is 0.3% higher. This means the Ryzen 7 5700X is effectively tied with several newer and more expensive CPUs in synthetic multi-threaded benchmarks, which reflects the efficiency of the Zen 3 architecture. In Control, this CPU strength means that the combo is never CPU-limited, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of frame rates.

The combo’s rank of 2090 out of 3720 suggests that it is a solid mid-range option, not a top-tier performer but far from a weak one. The data indicates that the combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it falls behind combos with newer GPUs at 4K. If you are considering this pairing, the rank tells you that it is a dependable choice for high-refresh-rate 1080p or smooth 1440p, but you should not expect it to compete with modern flagship GPUs in 4K scenarios. The CPU’s high percentile ranking also suggests that upgrading the GPU in the future would yield significant performance gains without needing to replace the processor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: The data shows 1440p with Medium settings provides the best balance, with a 72 FPS average and a 61 FPS minimum. 1080p is also excellent, with all presets above 73 FPS, but 4K is only playable at Low settings with 68 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The frame rate drops by 49% from 1080p to 4K at High settings, while the CPU’s performance percentile (79) is much higher than the GPU’s (58), indicating the processor has plenty of headroom.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p, where it delivers 73 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 55 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 37 FPS, which is below the 40 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, it is virtually tied with the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (0.8% lower), and it is only 1.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum FPS is 61, with an average of 72 and a maximum of 82. This indicates consistent frame pacing that stays above 60 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU’s 8-core configuration help in this game?

A: Yes, the Ryzen 7 5700X has a 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12600K, has an identical average score. This ensures the game is not CPU-limited, even at high frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the defining component in this combo’s performance in Control. Its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus provides 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for the game’s textures and assets at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show that the card’s 3584 shading units are the limiting factor. The base clock of 1481 MHz boosts to 1582 MHz, and the memory runs at 1376 MHz with an 11 Gbps effective rate, giving the card a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s. These figures translate to a measured FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS, which is the theoretical ceiling for compute work.

In Control, the GPU’s role is to render the game’s physics-heavy environments and particle effects, and the data shows that it does so effectively at lower resolutions. The 1080p results, ranging from 73 FPS at Ultra to 133 FPS at Low, demonstrate that the GPU has enough raw power to handle the game’s demands. However, the 4K results, which drop to 37 FPS at Ultra, reveal that the card’s 88 ROPs and 224 TMUs are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at that pixel count. The 11 GB of VRAM is rarely a concern, as the game does not appear to exceed that limit based on the consistent performance, but the compute load is what causes the frame rate to plummet.

The GPU’s benchmark scores paint a picture of a card that is aging but still capable. Its PassMark G3D score of 18600 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 15548 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15521) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679). The fact that it is only 1.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 in average score shows that the Pascal architecture’s high clock speeds and memory bandwidth keep it competitive with newer cards that have more features like ray tracing. In Control, which does not heavily use those features, the GTX 1080 Ti’s raw performance is what matters, and the data shows it is a solid choice for 1080p and 1440p.

The 250 W TDP and the requirement for a 600 W power supply are worth noting for system planning, but the card’s dual-slot design and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are standard. The 16 nm process node and 11,800 million transistors make it a large die, but the performance per watt is still reasonable. The GPU’s role in this combo is to be the workhorse, and it does that job well up to 1440p, but at 4K, its age shows. The data suggests that if you want to play Control at 4K, you would need a more powerful GPU, but for the vast majority of players, the GTX 1080 Ti is more than adequate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its role in Control is to ensure that the GPU is never starved of data. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, the CPU has a substantial amount of multi-threaded throughput. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 4,150 million transistors on a 7 nm process node give it a significant advantage over older processors, and its benchmark scores reflect this. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13184 and single-core score of 1499 are strong, and the Geekbench multi-core score of 10779 shows it can handle heavy workloads.

In Control, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU’s, as the game is primarily GPU-bound at most settings. However, the CPU’s performance ensures that frame rates remain stable even when the GPU is pushing high FPS at 1080p. The 133 FPS result at 1080p Low proves the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU quickly, as a weaker processor would likely cause frame drops or stuttering at that level. The 3DMark scores, including 6858 for 16 threads and 921 for single thread, indicate that the CPU has a balanced profile that is well-suited for gaming, where both single-threaded and multi-threaded performance are important.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database show that it is competitive with newer and more expensive options. The Intel Core i5-12600K has an identical average score of 27578, which is a 0% delta, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 is only 0.2% higher. This means that in synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 7 5700X is indistinguishable from these alternatives, and its 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is a high-performing part. In Control, this translates to consistent frame times, as the game does not appear to be CPU-limited in any of the measured scenarios.

The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node make it an efficient choice, and its support for DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game’s needs. The 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the GPU, although the GTX 1080 Ti only uses PCIe 3.0, which is fine since the card is not bandwidth-hungry. The CPU’s role in this combo is to be a stable, high-performance foundation that does not bottleneck the GPU, and the data shows that it succeeds in this role, allowing the GTX 1080 Ti to be the sole determinant of performance. If you were to upgrade the GPU in the future, the Ryzen 7 5700X would likely not hold back a more powerful card, making it a future-proof component.