Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Control, with the benchmark data showing that this combination is heavily GPU-limited across all tested resolutions. The combo ranks 2551st out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of systems, and the measured frame rates indicate that only the lowest settings at 1080p approach a smooth 60 FPS target. The Arc B390’s integrated-class performance, reflected in its 9th percentile standing among all GPUs, is the primary bottleneck, while the Ryzen 7 5800X’s 81st percentile CPU ranking confirms that processor headroom is not the limiting factor in this title.

FAQ

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

A: The only configuration that achieves an average above 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces 65 FPS. All other tested combinations fall below 60 FPS, with 2560x1440 Low averaging 50 FPS and 3840x2160 Low averaging 33 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its closest GPU rivals based on benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B390’s average benchmark score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443). These deltas are minimal, indicating near-identical performance tiers.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X a capable processor for this game based on synthetic tests?

A: Yes, the Ryzen 7 5800X scores 15476 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1574.5 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 27732. Its average benchmark score of 29123 places it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at Ultra settings across different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the system averages 36 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average drops to 27 FPS. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average falls to 18 FPS, making Ultra settings impractical at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the Arc B390 have dedicated VRAM, and how does that affect performance?

A: The Arc B390 uses System Shared memory with System Shared bandwidth, meaning it relies on the system’s DDR4 memory rather than dedicated graphics memory. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared," and the bandwidth is "System Dependent," which contributes to the GPU’s low performance percentile.

Q: How does the system’s overall ranking in Control compare to its component-level percentiles?

A: The combo ranks 2551st out of 2888 combinations, which is roughly the 12th percentile. This is closer to the GPU’s 9th percentile than the CPU’s 81st percentile, confirming that the graphics solution dictates the gaming experience while the processor remains underutilized.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this system’s Control performance, and the data shows it is fundamentally not designed for demanding AAA titles at high settings. The GPU’s benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being legacy NVIDIA parts like the GT 520MX and GT 710. The B390’s architecture is Xe3-LPG on a 3 nm process, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, yet its integrated nature (classified as IGP with no power connectors) means it shares system memory. The memory configuration is entirely System Shared, with no dedicated VRAM size, type, or bus width specified, and bandwidth is dependent on the host system’s DDR4 memory. This shared-memory design severely limits texture bandwidth and frame buffering, which explains why Control’s asset-heavy environments cause such steep frame rate drops as resolution increases. The GPU’s pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, but these theoretical capabilities do not translate into playable performance at 4K, where Ultra settings average only 18 FPS.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2500 MHz is high for an integrated part, but the data indicates that raw clock speed does not compensate for the lack of dedicated memory bandwidth. The 1536 shading units and 24 ROPs are modest, and while the card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, the measured results show that feature support does not overcome hardware limitations. The 80 W TDP suggests a power-efficient design, but efficiency does not equal performance here. Comparing the B390 to its nearest rivals, the 1.3% delta over the GT 520MX and 2.7% over the GT 710 shows that the B390 sits in a performance class with decade-old discrete GPUs. For Control, a game that stresses GPU compute and memory, the B390’s 9th percentile standing means users must accept significant compromises in visual fidelity to maintain playable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests a single viable path for playable performance: 1920x1080 with Low settings. This configuration yields an average of 65 FPS, which is the only result above the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth for action games. The next best option is 2560x1440 Low at 50 FPS, but this requires dropping resolution and still falls short of 60. For users prioritizing visual quality over frame rate, 1920x1080 High at 41 FPS is the highest settings level that remains semi-playable, though it introduces noticeable judder during fast-paced combat sequences. Medium settings at 1080p produce 46 FPS, which is a middle ground that retains some texture detail but still misses the 60 FPS target. The data shows a clear pattern: Low settings provide a 58% average FPS improvement over High at 1080p (65 vs 41), while Ultra settings at 1080p drop to 36 FPS, making them unsuitable for responsive gameplay. At 1440p, Medium settings average 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 FPS, which is borderline playable but will feel sluggish during intense scenes. At 4K, no settings level is viable, with Low averaging 33 FPS, Medium at 24 FPS (min 20), High at 21 FPS, and Ultra at 18 FPS.

The recommendation is to run Low settings at 1080p as the primary configuration. If the user insists on higher resolution, 1440p Low at 50 FPS is acceptable, but the visual trade-off from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is minimal while the frame rate penalty is substantial (23% reduction). The data does not support any Ultra or High settings at 1440p or above, as the average frame rates of 27 and 31 FPS respectively indicate a slideshow-like experience. The min FPS values for Medium settings (20 FPS at 4K, 30 FPS at 1440p, 40 FPS at 1080p) show that frame pacing is inconsistent, with dips below the average that exacerbate the perceived performance issues. Therefore, the only configuration that meets a standard playability criterion is 1080p Low, with 1440p Low as a fallback for users who prioritize resolution over smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2551st out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 11.7% of all systems. This ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU’s percentile ranking of 81 suggests it is well above average, while the GPU’s 9th percentile is severely below average. The gap between the component percentiles (72 points) indicates a massive imbalance, with the processor capable of far more than the graphics solution can deliver. The combo rank of 2551 means that 337 other combinations perform worse, but the overwhelming majority of systems (2550) outperform this pairing. The data shows that the Arc B390’s nearest GPU rivals all score within 2.7% of each other, clustering around a score of 1450-1482, which places this GPU in a performance tier that is obsolete for modern gaming. In contrast, the Ryzen 7 5800X’s nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (score 29093, delta 0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (score 28940, delta 0.6%), showing that the CPU is competitive with modern mid-range processors. The 2551st rank out of 2888 means the system sits in the 12th percentile overall, which aligns closely with the GPU’s 9th percentile, confirming that the graphics card is the limiting factor and that upgrading the GPU would yield dramatic improvements while keeping the CPU.

The ranking also reflects the system’s inability to handle Control’s demanding rendering, as the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (18 FPS) is nearly unplayable, and even 1080p Ultra (36 FPS) fails to reach a smooth standard. The combo’s poor performance is not due to CPU limitations, as the Ryzen 7 5800X’s 3DMark scores (7586 for 16 threads, 7578 for max threads) show substantial multi-threaded capability. Rather, the B390’s 1482 Steel Nomad score is the bottleneck, and the data indicates that this GPU is comparable to entry-level parts from over a decade ago. For the benchmark database, this combination serves as a cautionary example of pairing a high-end CPU with an integrated-class GPU, resulting in a system that ranks near the bottom despite having a capable processor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X plays a supporting role in this system, and its performance headroom is largely wasted in Control due to the GPU bottleneck. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer), with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It has a 32 MB L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. Synthetic benchmarks show strong results: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 15476, single-core scores 1574.5, and Geekbench multi-core scores 11036. The Passmark multithread score of 27732 and the 3DMark 16-thread score of 7586 indicate that the CPU can handle heavy workloads without breaking a sweat. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 29123 places it at the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with rivals like the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (29093) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28940) performing within 0.6% of the 5800X. This means that for Control, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the game’s physics and AI logic are easily handled by the 8-core/16-thread configuration.

However, the measured FPS data reveals that the CPU’s capabilities are irrelevant at higher settings because the GPU cannot keep up. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 65 FPS, which is a reasonable CPU-bound result, but at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 36 FPS, indicating that the GPU is saturated. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.70 GHz provides strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 1574.5, 3DMark single-thread 943), which is beneficial for games like Control that rely on a primary thread for game logic. The data shows that the CPU’s single-thread performance is sufficient to drive the GPU to its maximum at Low settings, but once the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity are exceeded, adding CPU power does not help. The 105 W TDP and 7 nm process node make this an efficient processor, but efficiency does not translate into higher FPS when the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU’s 4,150 million transistors and 74 mm² die size are impressive specs, yet they have no bearing on the frame rate outcomes in this pairing. In essence, the Ryzen 7 5800X is a high-end CPU from 2020 that remains competitive, but it is paired with a GPU that is fundamentally incapable of leveraging its potential, resulting in a system where the CPU’s role is to wait for the GPU to finish rendering each frame.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this system in Control shows a consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution and settings increase, with the GPU being the sole determinant of frame rates. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its best results: Low settings average 65 FPS, Medium averages 46 FPS (with a minimum of 40 FPS and maximum of 53 FPS), High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium represents a 29% drop in performance (65 to 46 FPS), while the drop from Medium to High is only 11% (46 to 41 FPS), and from High to Ultra is 12% (41 to 36 FPS). This suggests that Low settings are significantly less demanding, likely reducing texture resolution and shadow quality, while the difference between High and Ultra is less pronounced. The minimum FPS for Medium at 1080p is 40 FPS, which is still above the 30 FPS playability threshold, but the average of 46 FPS means there will be noticeable stutter during intense action.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop substantially: Low settings average 50 FPS, Medium averages 35 FPS (with a minimum of 30 FPS and maximum of 40 FPS), High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The difference between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 23% (65 to 50 FPS), while the difference between 1080p High and 1440p High is 24% (41 to 31 FPS). This indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the higher pixel count. The Medium settings at 1440p have a minimum FPS of 30, which is exactly at the playability threshold, but the average of 35 FPS suggests that the experience will feel unstable. Ultra settings at 1440p average 27 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS minimum for acceptable playability, making this configuration not recommended.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates at any setting: Low averages 33 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS (with a minimum of 20 FPS and maximum of 27 FPS), High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low is 34% (50 to 33 FPS), while the drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 33% (27 to 18 FPS). The Medium settings at 4K have a minimum FPS of 20, which is below the 30 FPS threshold, and the maximum of 27 FPS is still below 30, meaning even the best-case scenario is unplayable. The data shows that the GPU’s 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate is insufficient for 4K resolutions, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rates do not scale linearly, indicating memory bandwidth limitations. In summary, the only playable configuration is 1080p Low with 65 FPS, while 1440p Low at 50 FPS is borderline, and all 4K settings are effectively unplayable. The measured FPS values are consistent with the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking, confirming that this system is not suitable for Control beyond low-resolution, low-settings gameplay.