Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, presents a demanding environment for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination. The measured frame rates reveal a system where the graphics card is the clear performance bottleneck, while the processor’s substantial headroom ensures consistent frame pacing across most settings. This analysis interprets the measured FPS data to understand how this specific pairing handles the game’s physics-heavy combat and shifting environments, providing a clear picture of expected performance without relying on speculation.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable yet steep performance drop as resolution increases, confirming the GPU-bound nature of this title for this combo. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 67.6 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops the average to 50.9 FPS, a 24.7% reduction. The jump to 3840x2160 High yields just 36.6 FPS, which is 45.9% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is the classic signature of a system limited by the graphics processor.

The data suggests that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus are being saturated as pixel count increases. At 1080p, the card can push frames quickly, but the 4K resolution demands significantly more fill rate and memory bandwidth. The performance gap between Low and Ultra settings further emphasizes this. At 4K, the gap between Low (55.5 FPS) and Ultra (29.5 FPS) is 26 FPS, a 46.8% performance swing. At 1080p, the same settings gap is 45.8 FPS (107.5 vs 61.7), which is a 42.6% difference. The absolute drop is larger at 1080p, but the relative cost of Ultra is proportionally similar, indicating that even at lower resolutions, the GPU is still the primary constraint.

Since the CPU’s 3DMark scores show strong multi-threaded performance, it is unlikely to be the limiting factor at any resolution. The consistent scaling from 1080p to 4K points directly to the GPU’s compute and memory limitations. For a 1440p monitor, this combo appears to be the sweet spot, but for 4K gaming, the data indicates that only Low settings approach playable territory.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Control, this pairing of the Ryzen 7 5800XT and RTX 2060 holds a rank of 1331 out of 1636 tested combos. This places it in the 19th percentile of all tested systems, which is a low position overall. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range standing more than the CPU’s capability. The RTX 2060’s percentileVsAllGpus is 58, meaning it outperforms 58% of all GPUs, but in the context of a demanding title like Control, this translates to a lower overall standing.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is not a top-tier performer, it is not at the very bottom either. It is important to contextualize this rank against the components’ individual benchmarks. The CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, has a deltaPct of 0.1, showing near-identical CPU performance. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, is 0.5% slower. This means the combo’s rank is primarily a function of the GPU’s absolute performance level, not a mismatch between the two components. In a game with lighter graphical demands, this same CPU-GPU pairing would likely rank much higher.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the combo averages 67.6 FPS, while at 2560x1440 High, it drops to 50.9 FPS. This is a 16.7 FPS reduction, indicating a significant but manageable hit for higher resolution.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800XT the bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The 8-core, 16-thread CPU with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz provides ample processing power. The FPS scaling patterns across resolutions point to the RTX 2060 as the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 61.7. This is playable for most users, but it is the lowest average at that resolution, suggesting the GPU is working near its limit.

Q: How does the 4K Low experience compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: 4K Low yields 55.5 FPS, while 1080p Ultra yields 61.7 FPS. The 4K Low setting provides a higher resolution image but with lower graphical fidelity, and the frame rate is 6.2 FPS lower.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo based on the data?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the optimal resolution. At Medium settings, it achieves 60.5 FPS, which balances visual quality and performance better than 1080p or 4K.

Q: Does the GPU’s memory capacity affect performance?

A: The RTX 2060 has 6 GB of VRAM. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 29.5, which is likely influenced by the GPU hitting its memory bandwidth and capacity limits, as well as its compute limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear matrix of performance. At 1920x1080, the combo is most comfortable. Low settings produce an average of 107.5 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this system. Medium settings drop to 74.6 FPS. High settings average 67.6 FPS. Ultra settings bring the average down to 61.7 FPS. This resolution shows a wide range of playability, from very high refresh rates on Low to a solid 60+ FPS on Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the load on the GPU increases noticeably. Low settings still provide a smooth 82.8 FPS. Medium settings average 60.5 FPS, which is right at the standard 60 FPS target. High settings drop to 50.9 FPS, and Ultra pushes the average down to 44.7 FPS. The data shows that 1440p requires a settings compromise to maintain high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060 is heavily taxed. Low settings yield 55.5 FPS. Medium settings drop to 38.8 FPS. High settings average 36.6 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the system to its lowest point at 29.5 FPS. The 4K results are generally below the 60 FPS target, with only Low settings approaching a playable range.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for a 60 FPS target is at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, which averages 60.5 FPS. This configuration offers a resolution that is noticeably sharper than 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is smooth for most action games. Pushing to High settings at this resolution drops the average to 50.9 FPS, which may still be acceptable but introduces a risk of noticeable stutter in intense combat sequences.

For users with 1080p displays, the data supports using High settings, which averages 67.6 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium with a comfortable frame rate margin. Ultra at 1080p is also viable at 61.7 FPS, but the performance headroom is smaller, and the visual difference between High and Ultra may not justify the 5.9 FPS cost.

For 4K displays, the data strongly recommends Low settings (55.5 FPS). Any higher preset results in an average below 40 FPS, which is generally considered too choppy for a fast-paced action game. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K costs 16.7 FPS, which is a steep price for the graphical improvements. The data clearly indicates that this combo is not suited for high-fidelity 4K gaming in Control.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT’s role in this combo is to provide a stable foundation. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, it has the multi-threaded muscle to handle Control’s physics and AI calculations without becoming a bottleneck. The benchmark data supports this, as the CPU’s 3DMark max-thread score is 7680, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 23794. These scores indicate a processor that can feed frames to the GPU faster than the GPU can render them in this title.

The CPU’s boost clock of 4.80 GHz is crucial for maintaining high minimum frame rates, which are not recorded in the data but are inferred from the consistent average FPS. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 86, meaning it is more powerful than 86% of all CPUs. This high percentile, combined with the GPU’s lower 58th percentile, suggests the processor is not the limiting factor. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS, show a deltaPct of -0.3, meaning the 5800XT is slightly faster. This performance headroom ensures that the frame rate is determined by the GPU’s rendering capabilities, not the CPU’s processing speed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is unequivocally the performance-limiting component in this pairing. Its 6 GB of VRAM and 192-bit memory bus provide a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at higher resolutions. The GPU’s boost clock of 1680 MHz and 1920 shading units deliver 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is modest by modern standards. The benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 14111, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

The data shows that the GPU’s performance scales directly with resolution and settings. The 4K Ultra result of 29.5 FPS is a clear indication that the card is overwhelmed. The gap between 1080p Low (107.5 FPS) and 4K Low (55.5 FPS) is 52 FPS, highlighting the GPU’s sensitivity to pixel count. The RTX 2060’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, is only 0.5% faster, confirming that this is a mid-range tier of performance. The GPU’s 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present, but the data suggests that the standard rasterization performance is what dictates the frame rates in this test, as enabling ray tracing would likely drop the averages even further.