Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title that stresses both CPU and GPU, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a specific performance profile across resolutions. The 8-core, 16-thread Zen 3 processor with 96 MB of L3 cache provides the foundation for frame pacing, while the RDNA 3.0 GPU with 16 GB of VRAM handles the visual load. Benchmark results show this combo ranks 2363rd out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field, with measured frame rates that vary dramatically from a playable 63 FPS at 4K Low to a fluid 124 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Control?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT combination ranks 2363rd out of 3720 tested combos for this game, placing it in the 36th percentile of all tested systems.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27,896 in average benchmark scores, which is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27,887, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i9-10900K (27,872, 0.1% delta). It trails the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 by a negligible 0.1% and leads the Intel Core i5-12600KF by 0.3%.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The RX 7600 XT averages 17,083 in benchmark scores, sitting 0.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,019) and 0.4% above the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17,019). It is 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17,208) and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (16,932).

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p with the Ultra preset?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 68 FPS, which is a playable experience, though it drops from the 78 FPS average seen at High settings and the 88 FPS average at Medium.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo produces an average of 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. The steep drop from 1080p to 4K indicates the GPU is the primary performance constraint at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a desktop processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is the defining characteristic of this chip, designed to reduce memory latency and improve gaming performance in cache-sensitive titles like Control. The CPU operates on the AMD Socket AM4 platform with dual-channel DDR4 memory support and a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, which is adequate for feeding the GPU in most scenarios.

In synthetic tests, the CPU's multithreaded strength is evident: it scores 14,317 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 11,765 in Geekbench multicore, while single-thread scores are 1,452 and 2,017 respectively. The 3DMark results show scaling from 1,746 with 2 threads to 7,299 with 16 threads, indicating solid thread utilization. Control is known to benefit from strong single-thread performance and large caches, which the 5800X3D provides in spades. The PassMark physics score of 2,884 and integer math score of 88,608 suggest the CPU can handle the game's physics calculations and game logic without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 80 among all CPUs confirms it is a high-end part, but in this specific game, the data shows that the GPU often becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the average of 124 FPS demonstrates the CPU's ability to push high frame rates, but the drop to 68 FPS at 1080p Ultra indicates the GPU struggles with the increased graphical load even at the same resolution. The 5800X3D's 8 cores are sufficient for Control's engine, which typically utilizes fewer threads, and the 96 MB L3 cache helps maintain consistent frame times when the action intensifies.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is based on the Navi 33 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 6 nm process by TSMC. It has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, along with 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU clocks are 1,980 MHz base, 2,470 MHz game, and 2,755 MHz boost, with memory running at 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a key specification for high-resolution textures in Control's dense environments.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: 22.57 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance, with a pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s. In benchmark tests, the GPU scores 23,48 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 92,426 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 48,366 in Geekbench Vulkan. The PassMark G3D score of 17,132 and GPU compute score of 8,987 further characterize its performance. The GPU percentile of 60 among all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, which aligns with the measured frame rates in Control.

The RX 7600 XT's 16 GB VRAM is a notable asset for Control, which can consume significant memory at 4K with high-resolution textures. However, the 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth become a constraint at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 35 FPS, which is below the 40 FPS at 4K High and the 45 FPS at 4K Medium. The GPU's 190 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate it is a mainstream part designed for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being a stretch goal that requires settings compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in Control is 2363 out of 3720 tested combinations, which means it outperforms roughly 36% of all tested systems. This ranking is lower than the individual component percentiles might suggest, as the CPU sits at the 80th percentile while the GPU sits at the 60th percentile. The discrepancy indicates that Control is particularly sensitive to GPU performance, and the RX 7600 XT holds back the otherwise capable Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Relative to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 7600 XT is essentially neck-and-neck with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (0.7% behind), which is a higher-tier card in most other contexts. This suggests that in Control, the RX 7600 XT's specific architecture and memory configuration perform admirably despite its mid-range positioning. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, are all within 0.3% of the 5800X3D's average score, indicating that processor choice has minimal impact on the overall combo ranking in this game.

The ranking of 2363 out of 3720 places this combo in the second quartile of tested systems, which is consistent with the measured frame rates. At 1440p High, the 59 FPS average is respectable, but not exceptional for a system with a high-end CPU. The 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most gamers consider smooth, suggesting the combo is optimized for 1080p and 1440p gaming rather than 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the best experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with High settings, which delivers 78 FPS on average. This provides a smooth, responsive experience while maintaining visual quality. The Low preset at 1080p yields 124 FPS, which is beneficial for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual fidelity loss may not be worth the extra frames for most players. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 88 FPS, which is a good middle ground, but the High preset's 78 FPS is still comfortably above 60 FPS and looks noticeably better.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 59 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 67 FPS, which is a better choice if players want to maintain a 60 FPS experience at this resolution. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 94 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh 1440p monitors, but sacrifices significant visual detail. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 51 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action sequences.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only viable option, delivering 63 FPS on average. The Medium preset at 4K produces 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and the High and Ultra presets dip to 40 FPS and 35 FPS respectively. Players with 4K displays should prioritize the Low preset to achieve a playable experience, or consider reducing resolution to 1440p for better visual quality. The data suggests that the Medium preset at 1440p is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, offering 67 FPS with minimums of 57 FPS, which keeps frame pacing consistent.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent pattern across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 124 FPS on average, the Medium preset achieves 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 and maximum of 101, the High preset achieves 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 68 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 56 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, but the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at the Ultra setting.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably. The Low preset produces 94 FPS, the Medium preset produces 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 76, the High preset produces 59 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 51 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 24% at Low settings, but the percentage gap narrows at higher settings, suggesting the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the performance is constrained. The Low preset delivers 63 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52, the High preset delivers 40 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 35 FPS. The 4K Low result is the only 4K setting that achieves 60 FPS, and it does so by a narrow margin. The minimum frame rates at 4K Medium (38 FPS) indicate that even the Medium preset can experience noticeable stutters during intense scenes, which is a concern for a game like Control with frequent combat and physics-based interactions.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K illustrates the GPU's limitations clearly. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 124 FPS at 1080p to 94 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2% decrease) and then to 63 FPS at 4K (a 33.0% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is steeper than the pixel count increase would suggest, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are strained at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the drop is from 88 FPS at 1080p to 67 FPS at 1440p (a 23.9% decrease) and then to 45 FPS at 4K (a 32.8% decrease from 1440p). The pattern is consistent, with the 4K step being the most punishing. At High settings, the drop is from 78 FPS at 1080p to 59 FPS at 1440p (a 24.4% decrease) and then to 40 FPS at 4K (a 32.2% decrease from 1440p). The Ultra settings show a similar trend: 68 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p (a 25.0% decrease), and 35 FPS at 4K (a 31.4% decrease from 1440p).

The consistent ~25% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~32% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's strong single-thread performance and large cache are not sufficient to compensate for the GPU's limited memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s) and 128-bit bus width. The 16 GB VRAM is not the issue, as the game fits comfortably within that capacity at 4K, but the bandwidth constraint becomes apparent as pixel count increases. For players seeking higher frame rates at 4K, the only solution is to reduce settings to Low, which brings the average to 63 FPS, or to accept lower settings at 1440p for a better visual experience.