Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title that stresses both the CPU and GPU, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and Intel Arc B580 combination reveals a system that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions but begins to show its limits as pixel counts climb. The benchmark results across the twelve tested configurations paint a clear picture of a pairing where the graphics card is the primary bottleneck at higher settings, while the processor's strong multi-threaded performance ensures the system never feels CPU-bound at 1080p. The data indicates that users will need to make deliberate trade-offs between visual fidelity and frame rate, particularly when targeting 4K output.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show a clear hierarchy where the "Ultra" preset consistently delivers the lowest average frame rates, while "Low" provides the highest. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 63.1 FPS, which is playable, but the jump to the High preset at 71 FPS offers a smoother experience with only a minor visual compromise. The data suggests that High is the optimal preset for 1080p, as it provides a substantial 12.5% performance uplift over Ultra while maintaining most of the graphical enhancements that make Control's environments so detailed.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation becomes more nuanced. The High preset yields 54 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider the target for a fluid experience. The Medium preset, at 63.2 FPS, crosses that threshold and appears to be the sweet spot for this resolution, offering a balance between visual quality and responsiveness. The Low preset at 86.2 FPS is exceptionally fast but strips away many of the game's atmospheric effects, making Medium the more sensible choice for a quality-focused experience.

At 3840x2160, the data becomes more restrictive. The High preset manages 35.5 FPS, and the Medium preset is only slightly better at 38.5 FPS, both of which are below the standard for smooth gameplay. The Low preset, at 57.8 FPS, is the only option that approaches playability, though it still falls short of 60 FPS. For 4K users, the recommendation is to use the Low preset and accept the visual downgrade, as the performance gains are substantial enough to justify the trade-off. Alternatively, users may consider using a lower resolution and relying on the system's capabilities to upscale, but the measured data does not include such options.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 with the High preset offers the best balance, achieving 71 FPS. This resolution allows the system to maintain high visual quality while staying well above 60 FPS, which is not achievable at higher resolutions with the same settings.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 86.2 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 45.8 FPS. This represents a 40.4 FPS difference, or roughly 88% more performance from the Low preset, indicating that the Ultra settings impose a significant load on the GPU.

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

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, even the High preset only reaches 35.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 30.5 FPS. The Low preset achieves 57.8 FPS, which is the only configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, but it requires substantial visual compromises.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The resolution scaling suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. As resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops by roughly half or more at each preset, while the CPU's performance remains constant. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How does the Arc B580's performance compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In the average benchmark score, the Arc B580 scores 23021, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon 760M at 22999, and 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA P106-100 at 22950. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which scores 23181, by 0.7%.

Q: What is the impact of the Ryzen 7 5800X's multi-threaded performance on gaming?

A: The CPU's multi-threaded score of 23571 in Cinebench R23 indicates strong parallel processing capability. In a game like Control, which can utilize multiple cores, this ensures the CPU does not become a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p even with the Low preset.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the GPU has a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for the textures and effects in Control at 1080p and 1440p. However, at 4K, the increased memory pressure and pixel throughput requirements expose the GPU's limitations, as seen in the significant FPS drops across all presets.

The GPU's clock speeds are consistent, with a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, and its 2560 shading units deliver a peak FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS. These figures are adequate for the game's physics and particle effects, but the data shows that the Ultra preset at 4K (30.5 FPS) and even the High preset at 1440p (54 FPS) struggle to maintain high frame rates. The GPU's 20 ray tracing cores are also relevant, as Control supports ray-traced reflections and shadows, though the measured data does not specify whether these features were enabled in the tested settings.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 66 versus all GPUs places it in the upper-midrange tier. Its average benchmark score of 23021 is closely matched by the AMD Radeon 760M (22999) and NVIDIA P106-100 (22950), but it is 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (23181). This competitive positioning suggests that the Arc B580 is a solid performer, but it is not a high-end card, which is consistent with the observed FPS drops at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 1295 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all possible pairings, indicating that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it is also far from the bottom. The rank suggests that many other combinations, likely featuring more powerful GPUs, can achieve higher frame rates in this game.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is a key factor in this ranking. The Ryzen 7 5800X has an average benchmark score of 27606, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27708, where the 5800X is actually 0.4% lower). It also trails the Intel Core i7-13700H (27716) by 0.4% and the Intel Core i5-12600KF (27827) by 0.8%. These small deltas indicate that the CPU is well-matched to its peers, meaning the ranking is likely influenced more by the GPU's performance.

The combo's rank of 1295 out of 1636 implies that roughly 80% of tested configurations outperform it in this specific game. This is a sobering statistic for users expecting high-end performance, but it aligns with the GPU's midrange positioning and the demanding nature of Control at higher settings. The data suggests that to improve this ranking, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, as the CPU provides adequate headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear pattern of FPS degradation as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound workload. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 114.3 at 1080p to 86.2 at 1440p (a 24.6% decrease) and then to 57.8 at 4K (a 32.9% decrease from 1440p). This consistent decline indicates that the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated.

For the High preset, the FPS drops from 71 at 1080p to 54 at 1440p (a 23.9% decrease) and then to 35.5 at 4K (a 34.3% decrease). The percentage drops are similar across presets, but the absolute values become lower, making the impact of resolution more pronounced at higher settings. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 63.1 FPS at 1080p falling to 45.8 FPS at 1440p (a 27.4% decrease) and then to 30.5 FPS at 4K (a 33.4% decrease).

This scaling behavior strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution. The fact that FPS drops by roughly one-third at each resolution step indicates that the Arc B580 is being pushed to its limits, particularly at 4K where even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. The Low preset achieves 114.3 FPS, the Medium preset reaches 79 FPS, the High preset hits 71 FPS, and the Ultra preset manages 63.1 FPS. This resolution is clearly the sweet spot for this combo, with all presets providing playable frame rates. The gap between Low and Ultra is 51.2 FPS, demonstrating the significant cost of high-end settings.

At 2560x1440, the numbers drop noticeably. The Low preset delivers 86.2 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 63.2 FPS, the High preset reaches 54 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 45.8 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS, suggesting that users with 1440p monitors should avoid High and Ultra unless they are willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. The Low preset is the only option that approaches playability at 57.8 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 38.5 FPS, the High preset falls to 35.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 30.5 FPS. None of these configurations achieve 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is barely playable. The data clearly indicates that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo in Control with the tested settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a powerful 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for gaming workloads. The CPU's multi-threaded performance is strong, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 score of 23571 and Geekbench multi-core score of 10220, which ensure that it can handle the game's background tasks and physics calculations without becoming a bottleneck.

In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's complex physics and AI systems. The measured data suggests that the Ryzen 7 5800X is more than capable of this task, as the FPS at 1080p with the Low preset (114.3 FPS) is high enough to indicate that the CPU is not limiting performance. Even at the Ultra preset, the 63.1 FPS at 1080p is likely bound by the GPU, not the CPU.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 84 versus all CPUs places it in the top 16% of processors, and its nearest rivals show that it is competitive with modern chips like the Intel Core i7-13700H and i5-12600KF. The 5800X's single-thread score of 3327 in Cinebench R23 is also strong, which is important for games that rely on a few heavily-threaded tasks. Overall, the data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, and users looking to improve performance in Control should focus on upgrading the GPU rather than the processor.