Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Intel Arc B390 pairing presents a striking case study in component imbalance within the game Control. The data shows a CPU with substantial multi-threaded capability paired with a GPU whose benchmark standing is markedly low, resulting in performance metrics that are almost entirely dictated by the graphics solution. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings presets consistently fall below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating a system that is heavily constrained by its visual processing hardware.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a desktop processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It utilizes a 7 nm process from TSMC and is installed in an AMD Socket AM4. The chip contains 8 physical cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. Its thermal design power is rated at 105 W. A defining feature of this processor is its cache hierarchy: it includes 64 KB of L1 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core, but more significantly, it has a large 96 MB shared L3 cache. This cache configuration is traditionally associated with strong gaming performance, as it allows for more data to be stored on-die, reducing the need to access slower system memory.

In the context of Control, which is an action-adventure game known for its physics-heavy environments and destructible scenes, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, AI, and the complex physics simulations. The processor's 3DMark benchmarks show a single-thread score of 884, while its multi-threaded scores scale up to 7299 for 16 threads. This indicates a robust capability for handling both single-threaded game logic and multi-threaded background tasks. However, the actual measured performance in this game, as shown by the frame rates, does not reflect a CPU bottleneck. For instance, at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 65, while at 2560x1440 with Low settings, it drops to 50 FPS. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU limitation, where the workload increases with resolution, and the frame rate drops accordingly, rather than a CPU limitation where frame rates would remain more constant across resolutions.

The CPU's benchmark percentile versus all CPUs is 80, and its average benchmark score is 27896. It sits closely alongside rivals such as the Intel Core i9-10900K, which has an average score of 27872, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, with an average score of 27887. The delta percentages between these processors are minimal, all within 0.3%. This suggests that in a purely CPU-bound scenario, the 5800X3D should perform exceptionally well. Yet, the game's frame rates are consistently low, confirming that the processor's potential is left untapped. The data implies that the Intel Arc B390, with its system-shared memory and low benchmark percentile, is the definitive limiting factor in this configuration, preventing the 5800X3D from demonstrating its full gaming capability in this title.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Intel Arc B390 ranks at position 2551 out of a total of 2888 tested combinations for Control. This places it in the lower percentile of all tested systems, indicating that the overwhelming majority of other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in this game. The rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's weak performance; the Intel Arc B390 scores at the 9th percentile when compared to all other GPUs in the database.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 1482, which is perilously close to its nearest rivals, all of which are older NVIDIA entry-level models. For example, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX has a score of 1463, and the GeForce GT 710 has a score of 1443. The delta percentages are small, with the Arc B390 being 2.7% faster than the GT 710 and 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX. This places the Arc B390 in a performance tier that is fundamentally unsuited for demanding modern gaming titles. Consequently, the combo rank of 2551 is not surprising, as the CPU's high standing is completely negated by the GPU's low standing. The data suggests that any system pairing a high-end CPU with a GPU of this class will inevitably land in this lower ranking bracket for graphically intensive games like Control, as the overall experience is dictated by the weakest link in the chain.

FAQ

Q: What is the best-case scenario for frame rates with this hardware?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded across all tests is 65 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only measured result that approaches a playable threshold, and it still falls short of a 60 FPS minimum for most users.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X3D has an average benchmark score of 27896. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, has a score of 27887, a delta of 0%. The Intel Core i9-10900K is also a near match with a score of 27872 and a delta of 0.1%. This indicates that the CPU is on par with these other processors in synthetic tests.

Q: Does the GPU perform better than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710?

A: Yes, the Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710's score of 1443. However, both GPUs are in the lowest performance percentile, and the difference is negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates observed in the tests?

A: Minimum frame rate data is only available for the Medium settings preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum FPS is 40; at 2560x1440, it is 30; and at 3840x2160, it is 20. These figures highlight the severe performance drop at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the 5800X3D a bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: No. The data indicates the opposite. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 18 on Ultra to 33 on Low. Since the frame rate scales with resolution and settings, it demonstrates that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU. The processor has ample headroom that is not being utilized.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS on Low settings is 65, while on Ultra settings, it drops to 36. This represents a significant 29 FPS difference, showing that the graphical settings have a substantial impact on performance with this GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of the system's performance envelope. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 65 FPS, Medium settings yield 46 FPS with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 53, High settings yield 41 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 36 FPS. This shows a clear and steep decline in performance as visual fidelity increases.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop considerably. Low settings average 50 FPS, Medium settings average 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 40, High settings average 31 FPS, and Ultra settings average 27 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows slightly to 23 FPS, but the overall performance is worse. Finally, at 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 33 FPS, Medium settings average 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27, High settings average 21 FPS, and Ultra settings average 18 FPS. The data reveals that at 4K, even the lowest settings cannot reach 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is nearly unplayable, averaging below 20 FPS.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B390 is a mobile-class graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by Intel. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Crucially, this GPU uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it does not have its own dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent," which means performance is heavily reliant on the system's main memory and its bandwidth. The GPU's thermal design power is a low 80 W, and it is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors, designed for portable devices.

This architecture explains the weak performance in Control. The game requires substantial memory bandwidth and capacity, especially at higher resolutions and settings. A shared memory setup competes with the CPU for the same memory resources, and the bandwidth is dependent on the system's configuration. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, placing it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are entry-level discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, such as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GT 625 OEM. In practical terms, the Arc B390's compute power, rated at 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32, is simply insufficient for the demands of Control. The low pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s further corroborate this, as they directly limit the fill rate needed for high-resolution rendering. The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as performance scales directly with both resolution and graphical settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings preset is dependent on the user's resolution and performance priorities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset provides the only average frame rate above 60 FPS, at 65 FPS. This is the only configuration that offers a consistently smooth experience. The Medium preset, at 46 FPS, is a compromise, providing better visuals but with a framerate that may be acceptable to some but not ideal for fast-paced action. High and Ultra presets dip to 41 and 36 FPS, respectively, which are less desirable for a game that requires responsive controls.

At 2560x1440, no preset achieves a 60 FPS average. The Low preset is the most playable at 50 FPS, while Medium (35 FPS), High (31 FPS), and Ultra (27 FPS) all fall into a range that is generally considered too low for a smooth experience. For 4K resolution, the situation is dire. All presets, from Low (33 FPS) to Ultra (18 FPS), are below 35 FPS, which is typically below the threshold for comfortable play. Given this data, the only reasonable recommendation for a playable experience is to use the Low settings preset at 1920x1080. For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a slightly better compromise, but it still comes with a significant performance cost. The data suggests that to achieve higher frame rates at this resolution, one would need to accept the lowest possible graphical quality.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The scaling of frame rates across resolutions provides clear evidence of a GPU-bound system. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 41 at 1920x1080 to 31 at 2560x1440, a 24% decrease, and then to 21 at 3840x2160, a further 32% decrease from the 1440p figure. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For instance, at Low settings, the average FPS goes from 65 at 1080p to 50 at 1440p (a 23% drop) and then to 33 at 4K (a 34% drop). This scaling is nearly linear with the increase in pixel count. Moving from 1080p to 1440p increases the pixel count by 78%, and from 1440p to 4K by 125%.

This consistent and significant drop in performance as resolution increases is a classic indicator of a GPU bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see frame rates that are relatively stable across resolutions, as the CPU's workload (game logic, physics) does not increase with resolution. The fact that the frame rate plummets with every resolution increase shows that the graphics processor is saturated and is the component that cannot keep up with the rendering demands. The Intel Arc B390's system-shared memory and low fill rate are the primary contributors to this limitation, as higher resolutions require exponentially more memory bandwidth and pixel processing power. The data conclusively shows that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is not the performance ceiling in this configuration; rather, the Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor that limits the experience in Control.