Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti pairing delivers a broad performance envelope in Control, with measured frame rates that shift dramatically based on resolution and quality settings. At 1080p, the combination is clearly capable of high-refresh gameplay, while 4K demands compromises in visual fidelity to maintain smooth motion. The data reveals a system that scales predictably, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a steep performance gradient across all quality presets, confirming that the RTX 3080 Ti is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 119.5 FPS at 1080p to 90.6 FPS at 1440p, then drops further to 62.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 47.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a substantial hit that underscores the sheer pixel throughput required by Control’s particle-heavy combat and environmental effects.

The Low preset shows the most extreme scaling. At 1080p, the combo reaches 194.7 FPS, which drops to 144.2 FPS at 1440p and 99.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is still well above playable thresholds, but the 49% decline from 1080p indicates that even at minimal settings, the GPU is working hard to fill 8.3 million pixels per frame. Medium settings follow a similar trajectory: 137.2 FPS at 1080p, 105.6 FPS at 1440p, and 68.3 FPS at 4K.

Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute numbers, with 107.2 FPS at 1080p, 78.3 FPS at 1440p, and 54.2 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Ultra result is notable because it approaches the 1440p High figure of 90.6 FPS, suggesting that at 1080p the CPU still has enough headroom to feed the GPU fully. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate dips below 60 FPS, which is a critical threshold for action games. The scaling pattern across resolutions indicates that the Ryzen 7 5800X’s eight cores are sufficient at 1080p, but the RTX 3080 Ti’s memory bandwidth and shading capabilities become the limiting factor as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X is a Zen 3 part with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 32 MB L3 pool. In Control, a game that relies heavily on physics simulation and AI pathfinding, the CPU’s single-thread performance is critical. The processor scores 943 in 3dmark_single_thread and 3327 in cinebench_r23_singlecore, indicating strong per-core throughput that helps maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions.

At 1080p, the CPU’s contribution is evident in the gap between Low and Ultra settings. The jump from 194.7 FPS at Low to 107.2 FPS at Ultra shows that the CPU can drive the GPU to very high output when pixel work is light. The 16 threads are also relevant; Control can utilize multiple cores for streaming and physics, and the 5800X’s 3dmark_16_threads score of 7586 suggests it has the multi-threaded muscle to avoid stutter during intense scenes. However, the data shows that this CPU does not bottleneck the RTX 3080 Ti at 1080p, as the 119.5 FPS High result is well below the theoretical maximum of the GPU.

The processor’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is adequate for this workload. The 5800X’s percentileVsAllCpus of 84 places it in the upper tier of desktop processors, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (deltaPct 0.3) and Intel Core i5-12600KF (deltaPct -0.8). These close margins indicate that the CPU is not a differentiator in Control at higher resolutions, where the GPU workload dominates. At 1440p and 4K, the frame rate differences between presets are primarily driven by the GPU, not the processor.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gameplay, the measured data shows that High settings at 62.5 FPS is the only preset that stays above the 60 FPS mark, though just barely. Ultra at 54.2 FPS is playable but will exhibit noticeable frame pacing issues during fast camera movements. Medium at 68.3 FPS provides a safer margin, and Low at 99.4 FPS offers a high-refresh experience if visual fidelity is sacrificed. Given that Control’s atmosphere relies on volumetric lighting and reflective surfaces, High preset is the recommended balance, as it retains most visual features while maintaining an acceptable frame rate.

At 1440p, the situation is more comfortable. High settings deliver 90.6 FPS, which is smooth for a third-person action title. Ultra drops to 78.3 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual uplift from High to Ultra may be worth the 12.3 FPS cost. For players with 144Hz monitors, Low at 144.2 FPS nearly maxes out the refresh rate, but Medium at 105.6 FPS is a better compromise between fluidity and image quality. The data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, as it allows Ultra settings without sacrificing playability.

At 1080p, the CPU-GPU balance is such that even Ultra at 107.2 FPS is highly playable. High at 119.5 FPS and Medium at 137.2 FPS offer incremental gains, but the visual differences are less impactful than at higher resolutions. Low at 194.7 FPS is overkill for most displays, so the recommendation is to use Ultra or High, depending on whether the player prefers maximum effects or a slight frame rate cushion. Across all resolutions, the data indicates that High is the most consistent preset, offering the best combination of fidelity and performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 5800X and RTX 3080 Ti ranks 444 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 27% of all pairings. This is a strong showing, but not elite; the ranking reflects the RTX 3080 Ti’s position in the GPU hierarchy. The graphics card scores 26896 in passmark_g3d and has a percentileVsAllGpus of 83, which is lower than its raw performance might suggest due to the presence of newer and higher-end cards. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (deltaPct -0.5) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (deltaPct -0.9), indicating that the 3080 Ti is within a few percentage points of more expensive or workstation-oriented parts.

The combo’s rank of 444 out of 1636 means it outperforms the majority of tested configurations, but it falls short of the top tier occupied by multi-GPU setups or flagship CPUs paired with the fastest cards. The 5800X’s avgBenchmarkScore of 27606 and percentileVsAllCpus of 84 contribute to this result, but the CPU is not the limiting factor in Control. The ranking is more indicative of the GPU’s 83rd percentile standing, which is solid but not dominant. For context, the RTX 3080 Ti’s avgBenchmarkScore of 41224 is just 0.5% below the RTX 3090, yet the 3090 would likely rank higher due to its larger memory pool and bandwidth. Still, the 444th rank out of 1636 demonstrates that this combo is well above average for Control.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080 Ti is an Ampere-generation part built on Samsung’s 8 nm process, featuring 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for Control, which uses high-resolution textures and real-time ray tracing effects that consume VRAM aggressively. The 12 GB capacity is sufficient for 4K Ultra, though the 54.2 FPS result suggests that memory bandwidth, not capacity, is the limiting factor at that setting.

The GPU’s fp32 throughput of 34.10 TFLOPS and texture rate of 532.8 GTexel/s are directly relevant to Control’s particle effects and destructible environments. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU scales almost linearly with resolution when settings are held constant. For example, at High settings, the 4K frame rate of 62.5 FPS is 30.9% lower than the 1440p result of 90.6 FPS, which itself is 24.2% lower than 1080p’s 119.5 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences across resolutions, with the CPU providing a stable foundation.

The RTX 3080 Ti’s percentileVsAllGpus of 83 and its passmark_directx_12 score of 110 suggest that while it is a high-end card, it is not top-of-the-line in the current landscape. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3090, is only 0.5% ahead in avgBenchmarkScore, yet the 3090’s larger memory (24 GB vs 12 GB) may offer more headroom for future titles. In Control, the 3080 Ti’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are adequate for the game’s optional ray tracing features, though the measured data does not isolate those effects. The GPU’s tdp of 350 W and suggested PSU of 750 W are consistent with its performance class, and the 1,199 USD launch MSRP reflects its positioning as a high-end part at release. The data shows that this GPU, paired with the 5800X, delivers a strong 1440p experience and a passable 4K experience, with the Ultra preset at 4K being the only configuration that falls short of smooth playability.