Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1324th out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom quarter of the database. This position is not surprising given the hardware mix: an upper-midrange CPU from 2020 paired with an entry-level ray-tracing GPU from 2019. The rank implies that while the processor is capable, the graphics card limits the overall experience in this title, which is known for its heavy visual effects. The data suggests that most other combinations tested, roughly 81% of them, deliver higher average frame rates, which frames this pairing as a compromise setup for 1080p gaming rather than a high-refresh-rate or high-resolution solution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's 1324th rank out of 1636 total configurations is a definitive signal that this system sits near the lower end of the performance spectrum for Control. It outperforms only 312 other tested combos, which places it well below the median. This ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's 58th percentile standing among all graphics cards, while the CPU's 84th percentile ranking indicates it is far less of a bottleneck. In practice, this means that for most other combos, the frame rate is higher because they either have a stronger GPU or a more balanced pairing. The gap between the CPU's strong percentile and the combo's low rank highlights a significant imbalance: the Ryzen 7 5800X has substantial headroom that the RTX 2060 cannot utilize in this game's demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost of 1680 MHz, and it includes 1920 shading units and 30 RT cores. These specifications are modest for Control, which leverages ray tracing and high-resolution textures heavily. The GPU's average benchmark score is 16074, with a percentile rank of 58, placing it slightly above average but nowhere near the top tier. In the measured results, this translates to a maximum average of 109.8 FPS at 1080p Low settings, which is the only configuration that approaches high-refresh-rate territory. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint; at 4K Ultra, the card drops to 31.9 FPS, suggesting that memory bandwidth and capacity are insufficient for the game's larger texture sets and compute demands. The RTX 2060's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, scores 0.5% higher, putting them on par, but the RTX 2060's Turing architecture lacks the newer optimizations found in more recent GPUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is an 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. It has a 32 MB L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory, which is standard for its generation. The CPU's average benchmark score is 27606, ranking in the 84th percentile, and it outperforms its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, by a mere 0.3%. This processing power is largely untapped in this pairing; even at 1080p Low settings, where the CPU is typically most relevant, the GPU still manages to reach 109.8 FPS, but it cannot push significantly higher. The data implies that the Ryzen 7 5800X could easily drive a more powerful GPU in Control, as its multi-threaded capabilities are far beyond what this game requires at lower settings. The 16 threads and high boost clock ensure that frame pacing remains stable, but the bottleneck is clearly the graphics card, especially as resolution increases and the GPU workload grows.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 delivers an average of 109.8 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest score across all configurations. Medium settings reduce this to 77.4 FPS, High comes in at 69.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 59.5 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a 45.8% performance loss, indicating that the GPU is increasingly stressed by the game's visual effects. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages fall to 80.9 FPS (Low), 57.2 FPS (Medium), 53.2 FPS (High), and 44 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p Low score is still respectable, but the Ultra setting dips below 60 FPS, which is a common target for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the card struggles: Low averages 52.4 FPS, Medium 39.7 FPS, High 37 FPS, and Ultra 31.9 FPS. These numbers show a clear pattern where the GPU cannot sustain playable frame rates at 4K beyond the lowest settings, and even that is borderline.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, performance falls from 109.8 FPS at 1080p to 80.9 FPS at 1440p (a 26.3% reduction), and then to 52.4 FPS at 4K (a further 35.2% reduction from 1440p). For Ultra settings, the drop is even steeper: 59.5 FPS at 1080p, 44 FPS at 1440p (26.1% less), and 31.9 FPS at 4K (27.5% less). This scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 2060's fill rate and memory bandwidth are overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count. The CPU's role is minimal here; even at 1080p Low, the processor is not the constraint, as evidenced by the high frame rate. The data indicates that the RTX 2060's 192-bit memory bus and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply not enough for Control's 4K assets, making the GPU the definitive limiting factor across all resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this combo?*

A: 1080p is the only resolution where the RTX 2060 consistently exceeds 60 FPS on High settings (69.1 FPS) and approaches 110 FPS on Low (109.8 FPS). At 1440p, only Low settings remain above 60 FPS (80.9 FPS), while 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the performance at Ultra settings compare to Low?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 59.5 FPS versus 109.8 FPS on Low, a 45.8% reduction. At 4K, the gap widens: Ultra averages 31.9 FPS while Low averages 52.4 FPS, a 39.1% reduction, showing that the GPU's limitations intensify at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck?

A: The data points to the GPU as the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 5800X has an 84th percentile CPU rank, while the RTX 2060 sits at the 58th percentile for GPUs. The large frame rate drops with increased resolution indicate that the graphics card cannot keep up.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which yield 80.9 FPS. Medium settings drop to 57.2 FPS, and High/Ultra fall below 54 FPS, making them less ideal for competitive play but still playable for some users.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals in benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060's average benchmark score is 16074, which is 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) but 1.7% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700 (both 16351). This places it in a tight competitive band.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this setup?

A: The highest measured average is 109.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. No other configuration reaches triple-digit averages, with the next closest being 80.9 FPS at 1440p Low.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended choice, as it delivers 69.1 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay while retaining most of the game's visual fidelity. If a higher frame rate is desired, Medium at 1080p offers 77.4 FPS, a 12% improvement over High with a modest reduction in effects. At 2560x1440, Low settings are the only option that maintains playability, at 80.9 FPS, but this sacrifices much of the game's atmosphere; Medium dips to 57.2 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration. The data shows that Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as they drop below 60 FPS even at 1080p (59.5 FPS) and fall to 44 FPS at 1440p, making it the least efficient preset for this hardware. For 4K, no settings are recommended, as even Low (52.4 FPS) struggles to maintain a stable experience, and the visual downgrade is significant. The optimal experience is clearly at 1080p, where the RTX 2060 can leverage its capabilities without being overwhelmed by pixel count.