Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 pairing delivers a highly capable Control experience, balancing strong CPU fundamentals with a modern GPU architecture. The data shows this combo handles the game’s demands well across the tested spectrum, though the balance of components shifts noticeably as resolution increases. This analysis breaks down the measured results, what they mean for your settings choices, and how this specific combination stacks up against the broader field of tested hardware.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. Its base clock runs at 3.40 GHz, boosting up to 4.50 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform and supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, offering a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The standout feature is the 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a key asset for gaming workloads that benefit from large, fast-access data pools. The chip is manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process, with a die size of 74 mm² and 8,850 million transistors.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU shows a clear scaling pattern. Its single-thread score in Cinebench R23 is 1452, while the multi-core score jumps to 14317. The Geekbench results follow a similar shape: a single-core score of 2017 versus a multi-core score of 11765. The 3DMark thread scaling tests are more revealing for gaming. The 2-thread score is 1746, the 4-thread score is 3392, and the 8-thread score is 5906. Notably, the 16-thread score hits 7299, which is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 7285. This indicates that beyond 8 threads, there is minimal additional performance headroom, which is typical for a game like Control that does not scale infinitely with core count. The CPU’s percentile ranking against all tested CPUs is 80, placing it in the top fifth of the database.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 5800X3D is essentially in a dead heat. Its average benchmark score is 27896, with the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U at 27887 (a 0% delta) and the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27872 (a 0.1% delta). The AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 scores 27932, which is a -0.1% delta, meaning the 5800X3D is slightly behind it. The Intel Core i5-12600KF trails slightly at 27799, a 0.3% delta in favor of the 5800X3D. These deltas are within the noise of benchmark variance, meaning the 5800X3D is not a decisive winner in raw CPU throughput against these specific rivals, but it holds its own firmly.

For Control specifically, the CPU is not the bottleneck in most scenarios. The game’s engine is more dependent on GPU throughput for the visual effects that define its atmosphere. The 5800X3D’s large cache and strong multi-threaded performance ensure that frame pacing stays consistent, particularly in scenes with many physics objects or destructible environments. The data suggests that the CPU headroom is sufficient to feed the RTX 4060 at all tested settings, as the FPS deltas between settings are more indicative of GPU load than CPU limitation.

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

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how each preset performs at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 140 FPS, which is an excellent baseline for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset drops to 99 FPS, and the High preset sits at 88 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding 77 FPS. All of these are playable, but the drop from Low to Ultra is a 63 FPS difference, which is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds but the absolute numbers come down. Low averages 106 FPS, Medium 75 FPS, High 67 FPS, and Ultra 58 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS is recorded at 64, with a maximum of 86, showing some variance but remaining above the 60 FPS threshold for most of the run. At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low averages 71 FPS, Medium 51 FPS, High 45 FPS, and Ultra 39 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS, indicating that even the mid-tier settings struggle to hold a locked 60 FPS at this resolution.

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the data points to the High preset at 1080p as the sweet spot. It offers an 88 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS standard, and the visual uplift over Medium is noticeable in a game like Control, which relies heavily on lighting and texture detail. At 1440p, the Medium preset at 75 FPS is the better choice, as the High preset’s 67 FPS average is still acceptable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. At 4K, the Low preset at 71 FPS is the only option that stays comfortably above 60 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. If you prioritize fidelity at 4K, the Medium preset at 51 FPS is the highest setting that remains consistently playable, though it will dip below 60 FPS.

The recommendation is to favor High at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K for a locked 60+ FPS experience. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where its 77 FPS average is still smooth, but the performance cost over High is steep for what is often a marginal visual gain in this title.

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

The FPS scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p High, the average is 88 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 67 FPS, a 24% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 45 FPS, a 33% reduction from 1440p and a 49% reduction from 1080p. This steep curve indicates that the RTX 4060 is the primary limiter as resolution increases.

The Low preset shows a similar but slightly less severe slope. At 1080p Low, the average is 140 FPS. At 1440p Low, it is 106 FPS, a 24% drop. At 4K Low, it is 71 FPS, a 33% drop from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets is telling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to plateau at lower resolutions, but the data shows continuous scaling, meaning the GPU is doing the heavy lifting throughout.

The Medium preset’s min/max FPS data reinforces this. At 1080p, the range is 84 to 114 FPS. At 1440p, it narrows to 64 to 86 FPS. At 4K, it tightens further to 43 to 58 FPS. As resolution rises, the frame time variance decreases because the GPU is working closer to its full capacity, leaving less room for CPU-induced stutters or frame pacing issues. This is a clear sign that the 5800X3D is not holding the system back; the RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is what governs the upper limits.

At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 39 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. The GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 24 RT cores are simply overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and ultra settings in Control’s demanding scenes. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, the RTX 4060 is a capable card for medium settings, but it is not a 4K ultra-class GPU. For 1080p and 1440p, the scaling indicates a well-balanced system where the CPU provides ample headroom and the GPU delivers predictable performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Control, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds a rank of 2008 out of 3720 total combos. This places it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms just over half of the combinations in the database. This is a solid, middle-of-the-pack result.

The rank is influenced by the GPU’s position in the overall hierarchy. The RTX 4060’s percentile ranking against all GPUs is 61, which is slightly above the combo’s overall rank. Its average benchmark score is 17639, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (a -0.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (a 0.3% delta). These deltas are minuscule, indicating that the RTX 4060 is performance-equivalent to these very different cards in synthetic tests, though their gaming characteristics may differ widely.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 80 is significantly higher than the GPU’s 61, which means the CPU is the stronger component in this pairing. This imbalance is typical for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end previous-generation CPU. The combo ranks lower than the CPU alone would suggest, and higher than the GPU alone, reflecting the combined effect. In practice, this means the system is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming where the GPU is sufficient, but it will not compete with systems featuring higher-tier GPUs at 4K.

The 5800X3D’s nearest rivals show that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this rank. The Intel Core i9-10900K, which is a comparable CPU in terms of average score, would likely produce similar combo ranks when paired with the same GPU. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield a much larger improvement in this combo’s rank than upgrading the CPU, as the CPU is already performing near the top of its class.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with the Low preset achieving 140 FPS and High achieving 88 FPS. At 2560x1440, High drops to 67 FPS, and at 3840x2160, High falls to 45 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 1080p is the recommended target.

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

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 71, which is playable. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 39 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS, 4K Low is the only viable preset.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D has an average benchmark score of 27896. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, scores 27887, a 0% delta. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872, a 0.1% delta. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 scores 27932, which is -0.1% relative to the 5800X3D. Performance is effectively identical among these.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across presets, indicating GPU-bound performance. The CPU’s percentile rank of 80 versus the GPU’s 61 confirms that the RTX 4060 is the weaker component.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU and GPU?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D had a launch MSRP of $449. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 had a launch MSRP of 299 USD.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 75, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS. This is the most balanced preset for 1440p in terms of playability.

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

The measured FPS data is organized by resolution and settings preset. The following breakdown lists every recorded value from the dataset.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average 140 FPS
• Medium: Average 99 FPS, Minimum 84 FPS, Maximum 114 FPS
• High: Average 88 FPS
• Ultra: Average 77 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average 106 FPS
• Medium: Average 75 FPS, Minimum 64 FPS, Maximum 86 FPS
• High: Average 67 FPS
• Ultra: Average 58 FPS

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average 71 FPS
• Medium: Average 51 FPS, Minimum 43 FPS, Maximum 58 FPS
• High: Average 45 FPS
• Ultra: Average 39 FPS

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all resolutions, providing a fuller picture of frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 30 FPS (84 to 114), at 1440p Medium it is 22 FPS (64 to 86), and at 4K Medium it narrows to 15 FPS (43 to 58). This tightening spread at higher resolutions confirms the GPU is becoming the bottleneck, reducing the variability that can occur when the CPU has spare capacity.

The jump from Low to Medium at each resolution is substantial: at 1080p it is a 41 FPS drop, at 1440p a 31 FPS drop, and at 4K a 20 FPS drop. This indicates that the Medium preset introduces significant graphical effects that tax the GPU. The step from High to Ultra is smaller: 11 FPS at 1080p, 9 FPS at 1440p, and 6 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Ultra settings offer diminishing returns, as the performance cost is relatively lower compared to the jump from Low to Medium, but the visual difference may be less noticeable in fast-paced action.

For the RTX 4060, the data shows that its 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are adequate for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is a clear indicator that the card is out of its depth at the highest fidelity settings. The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and 3072 shading units are sufficient for the mid-range, but the pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are strained by 4K resolutions. The measured FPS values align with the GPU’s percentile rank of 61, showing a capable but not top-tier performer.

The 5800X3D’s role is to ensure these FPS numbers are stable. With a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14317 and a PassMark physics score of 2884, the CPU can handle the game’s physics and AI calculations without introducing stutter. The 96 MB L3 cache is particularly effective in this game, as Control’s environments often reuse textures and assets, and the large cache reduces memory latency. The FPS data does not show any signs of CPU-induced frame drops, such as sudden dips in the minimum FPS values, which supports the conclusion that the CPU is performing its role without issue.