Control

# Control — AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

Control is a 2019 action-adventure title that leans heavily on physics-driven combat and destructible environments, and this pairing of an 8-core Zen 3 CPU with a Blackwell 2.0 GPU produces a playable experience across all tested resolutions. The measured frames per second are consistent with what the hardware's synthetic scores suggest, but the scaling pattern between 1080p and 4K reveals a system that is firmly GPU-bound at the highest settings. This analysis covers resolution scaling, the CPU's contribution, the GPU's role, frequently asked questions, settings guidance, and the exact measured FPS rows.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear progression from 1080p to 4K, with the largest drop occurring between 1440p and 2160p. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 206; at 1440p Low it drops to 156, and at 4K Low it falls further to 105. That represents a 24% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern holds across all settings — at High, 1080p yields 130 FPS, 1440p yields 98 FPS, and 4K yields 66 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is consistently larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, which indicates that the RTX 5070 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the measured data includes min and max FPS values, giving more insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the average is 146 FPS with a minimum of 124 and a maximum of 168. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 111 FPS with a minimum of 94 and a maximum of 127. At 4K Medium, the average is 75 FPS with a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 86. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p Medium is a 24% reduction in average FPS, while from 1440p to 4K Medium is a 32% reduction. This is consistent with the Low and High settings results, reinforcing that the pixel count is the dominant variable.

At Ultra settings, the measured averages are 113 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra is 25%, and from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 32%. The 4K Ultra result of 58 FPS is the lowest measured average across the entire dataset, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth action gameplay — by a narrow margin. The 4K Medium average of 75 FPS is more comfortable, and 4K Low at 105 FPS is fully fluid.

The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is still contributing meaningfully to overall performance, since the FPS deltas between settings are smaller than at higher resolutions. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the FPS differences between Low, Medium, High, and Ultra are more compressed relative to the resolution increase. For a 144Hz monitor at 1080p, this system exceeds the refresh rate on Low and Medium settings, and comes close on High. At 1440p, a 120Hz display would be well-served by Medium or High settings, while at 4K, Medium is the practical ceiling for maintaining 75 FPS average.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It operates on a 7 nm process from TSMC, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 96 MB L3 cache, which is the key feature of the X3D variant.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 884 in 3DMark single-thread, 1746 in 2-thread, 3392 in 4-thread, 5906 in 8-thread, and 7285 in max-thread tests. The 16-thread score is 7299, which is nearly identical to the max-thread result, indicating that the processor scales well across all available threads. Cinebench R23 scores are 1452 single-core and 14317 multi-core, while Geekbench scores are 2017 single-core and 11765 multi-core. PassMark results include a single-thread score of 3234 and a multithread score of 28309.

The CPU's percentile ranking versus all CPUs is 80, with an average benchmark score of 27896. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U with an average score of 27887 (0% delta), the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27872 (0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 at 27932 (-0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-12600KF at 27799 (0.3% delta). The 5800X3D sits essentially at parity with these chips in aggregate benchmarks, which means its real-world game performance is driven more by the large L3 cache than by raw compute throughput.

For Control specifically, the game's physics engine and particle effects tend to benefit from higher core counts and faster cache access. The 5800X3D's 96 MB L3 cache is particularly well-suited for this type of workload, as it reduces the penalty of memory latency during scene transitions and heavy combat. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (206 FPS) suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well above 200 FPS in less demanding scenes, and the 1080p Medium result of 146 FPS confirms that the CPU is not a limiting factor at standard settings.

The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1746 and single-thread score of 884 indicate moderate per-core performance, which is typical for the Zen 3 generation. Control is not heavily single-thread-bound, so the processor's balanced multi-core performance is an asset. The 4-thread score of 3392 and 8-thread score of 5906 suggest that the CPU can handle the game's thread distribution across multiple cores, which is important for maintaining consistent frame times during chaotic scenes with multiple enemies and destructible objects.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a GeForce 50-series GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with the chip designation GB205. It is manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a transistor count of 31,100 million and a die size of 263 mm². The GPU has a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s.

The GPU features 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, 80 ROPs, 48 ray tracing cores, and 192 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 201.0 GPixel/s, texture rate is 482.3 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 30.87 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 30.87 TFLOPS (1:1). The card has a TDP of 250 W, requires a single 16-pin power connector, and has a suggested PSU of 600 W. It uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and measures 245 mm in length, 115 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, occupying a dual-slot form factor.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5070 scores 5077 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 172660 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 178923 in Geekbench Vulkan. PassMark results include a G3D score of 29137, a GPU compute score of 15787, and DirectX scores of 180 (DX10), 277 (DX11), 108 (DX12), and 320 (DX9). The GPU's percentile ranking versus all GPUs is 82, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318, 0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, 0.8% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870, -1.2% delta), and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, 2% delta). These rivals are not gaming-focused cards, which suggests the RTX 5070's position in the synthetic ranking is influenced by its compute performance rather than its gaming-specific features.

For Control, the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for 4K textures, and the 672 GB/s bandwidth provides ample throughput for the game's high-resolution assets. The boost clock of 2512 MHz is relatively modest for a modern GPU, but the Blackwell architecture's efficiency compensates. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (58 FPS) indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint at the highest settings, while at 4K Low (105 FPS), the system has headroom for higher refresh rates.

The ray tracing capabilities of the RTX 5070, with 48 dedicated RT cores, are relevant for Control's reflective surfaces and volumetric lighting, though the measured FPS data does not distinguish between ray tracing enabled or disabled. The tensor cores (192 in number) support DLSS and other AI-accelerated features, which could be used to improve performance at 4K, but the measured rows reflect native rendering only.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, at Medium settings the average FPS is 75 with a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 86. At High settings, the average drops to 66 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 58 FPS. For consistent 60 FPS gameplay, Medium is the safest choice at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for a high-refresh-rate monitor?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 206, which exceeds most 144Hz and even 240Hz displays. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 156 FPS, still suitable for 144Hz. For 1080p High, the average is 130 FPS, which is acceptable for a 120Hz screen.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score is 40377, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318), 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063), 1.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870), and 2% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568). These are not direct gaming competitors, but they place the GPU in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800X3D a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck in Control. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 206 is close to the CPU's practical limit, but at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 3DMark max-thread score of 7285 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14317 indicate sufficient compute headroom for this game.

Q: What are the frame time variations at Medium settings?

A: The measured data includes min and max FPS for Medium settings. At 1080p, the range is 124 to 168 FPS (average 146). At 1440p, the range is 94 to 127 FPS (average 111). At 4K, the range is 63 to 86 FPS (average 75). The spread narrows as resolution increases, suggesting more consistent frame pacing at higher pixel counts.

Q: Does the CPU's large L3 cache impact Control's performance?

A: The 96 MB shared L3 cache is a distinctive feature of the 5800X3D, and it is likely to benefit Control's physics-heavy gameplay by reducing memory latency. However, the measured FPS data alone does not isolate this effect; the CPU's overall benchmark parity with rivals like the Intel Core i9-10900K suggests that cache size is one factor among many.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear guide to settings selection based on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, the system is capable of exceeding 200 FPS on Low settings, which is ideal for competitive play or very high refresh rate displays. For a more balanced visual experience, Medium settings deliver 146 FPS average (min 124, max 168), which is well above 120 FPS and suitable for most gaming monitors. High settings produce 130 FPS, and Ultra yields 113 FPS — both are playable, but the difference between High and Ultra is not large in terms of average FPS.

At 1440p, the same pattern holds but with lower overall numbers. Low settings reach 156 FPS, Medium averages 111 FPS (min 94, max 127), High averages 98 FPS, and Ultra averages 85 FPS. For a 1440p 144Hz display, Medium settings are the sweet spot, as they maintain an average above 100 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS, which is close to the refresh rate. High settings are acceptable for 100Hz monitors, and Ultra is best for 60Hz panels.

At 4K, the choices are more constrained. Low settings average 105 FPS, which is excellent for a 100Hz 4K display. Medium settings average 75 FPS (min 63, max 86), which is the minimum recommended for smooth action gameplay on a 60Hz or 75Hz screen. High settings drop to 66 FPS, which is borderline — the average is above 60, but frame drops could be noticeable. Ultra at 58 FPS is not recommended for sustained gameplay, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Based on the measured rows, the best overall experience for most players would be 1440p Medium, which balances visual quality with a high average FPS and a minimum that stays above 90 FPS. For players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low provides the highest headroom. For 4K enthusiasts, Medium is the only setting that combines a playable frame rate with reasonable visual fidelity. The RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM and 672 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for all tested settings, so there is no memory-related reason to avoid Ultra at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table summarizes the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination, along with min and max values where available.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 206 FPS average
• Medium: 146 FPS average (min 124, max 168)
• High: 130 FPS average
• Ultra: 113 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 156 FPS average
• Medium: 111 FPS average (min 94, max 127)
• High: 98 FPS average
• Ultra: 85 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 105 FPS average
• Medium: 75 FPS average (min 63, max 86)
• High: 66 FPS average
• Ultra: 58 FPS average

The dataset includes min and max FPS only for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the frame time range is 44 FPS (124 to 168), which is a 35% spread relative to the average. At 1440p Medium, the range is 33 FPS (94 to 127), a 30% spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 23 FPS (63 to 86), a 31% spread. This consistency suggests that frame pacing is stable across resolutions, with no unusual stuttering or spikes.

The overall combo rank for this CPU-GPU pairing in Control is 780 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21% of all configurations. The data is marked as measured, meaning it comes from actual benchmarking rather than estimation. The combination of an 8-core, 16-thread CPU with a 12 GB GPU delivers a well-rounded performance profile that scales predictably with resolution and settings.