Control

Control with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a performance profile that is as much about resolution headroom as it is about raw silicon capability. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, yet still maintains exceptionally high frame rates even when pushing 4K Ultra settings. This pairing of a high-end Blackwell GPU with a Zen 4 8-core processor produces a smooth experience across the board, though the scaling behavior reveals where each component's workload begins and ends.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates illustrate a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the graphics preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 271 at 1920x1080 to 211 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 60 FPS (approximately 22%). The gap widens further when moving to 3840x2160, where the average drops to 142 FPS—a 129 FPS difference from 1080p, representing a 48% decrease in performance. This steep curve indicates that even a GPU as powerful as the RTX 5090 is being tasked heavily at 4K, even with minimal graphical fidelity.

The scaling pattern shifts when examining High settings. At 1080p, the average is 176 FPS, which falls to 133 FPS at 1440p (a 43 FPS drop) and then to 90 FPS at 4K (another 43 FPS drop). Interestingly, the absolute delta between each resolution step is nearly identical, suggesting a linear scaling curve that points to the GPU being the primary limiter across all three resolutions, but with less dramatic percentage losses than at Low settings. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 49%, which is nearly identical to the Low preset's 48% decline.

Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario, with average FPS of 153 at 1080p, 116 at 1440p, and 78 at 4K. The step from 1440p to 4K costs 38 FPS, while the step from 1080p to 1440p costs 37 FPS. This consistency across the resolution ladder indicates that the RTX 5090's compute and memory bandwidth are being utilized in a balanced manner, with no single resolution creating a bottleneck that would cause a disproportionate frame rate collapse. The 4K Ultra result of 78 FPS is particularly telling—it shows that this combination can handle maximum settings at 4K, but just barely misses the 80 FPS threshold that many players consider the floor for high-refresh-rate gaming.

Medium settings offer the only rows with measured minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the average is 198 FPS with a minimum of 168 and maximum of 228, giving a spread of 60 FPS. At 1440p, the average drops to 150 FPS with a range from 127 to 172. At 4K, the average is 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 and maximum of 116. The variance between min and max is consistent across resolutions (roughly 30 FPS), which suggests that frame pacing remains stable and that the system is not experiencing erratic spikes or stutters, even as the resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain why the frame rates remain so high across all measured configurations. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory subsystem is critical for high-resolution gaming, as the data shows that 4K performance degrades less from 1080p than might be expected—the 48-49% drop across presets is relatively modest for a 4x increase in pixel count. The 32 GB capacity also ensures that no texture or asset loading bottleneck will occur in Control, a game known for its dense environments and physics-heavy scenes.

The GPU's clock speeds are set at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, which are relatively conservative for a flagship card but are paired with 21,760 shading units. This combination produces a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s. These figures translate directly into the measured results: the RTX 5090 can fill frames at an extraordinary pace, which is why even at 4K Ultra the system manages 78 FPS. The GPU's FP32 compute of 104.8 TFLOPS also helps with the game's physics calculations, though the CPU handles the primary game logic.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. Its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark data are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (delta 0.3%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (delta 1.1%), but those comparisons are based on aggregate benchmarks, not gaming-specific performance. In Control, the RTX 5090's raw throughput is what drives the high frame rates, and the data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution—the CPU is never the bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, which is playable but sits below the 80 FPS threshold that many high-refresh-rate monitors target. Dropping to High increases the average to 90 FPS, a 15% improvement that brings the experience into the comfortable range for 4K gaming. Medium further raises the average to 101 FPS, but the visual fidelity loss from High to Medium is generally more noticeable than the 11 FPS gain. For 4K, High is the recommended preset—it provides a 12 FPS uplift over Ultra while maintaining most of the graphical features that make Control visually striking.

At 2560x1440, the situation is different. Ultra averages 116 FPS, which is already above the 100 FPS threshold for most high-refresh-rate displays. High increases this to 133 FPS, and Medium to 150 FPS. Given that the Ultra preset at 1440p is already smooth, there is little reason to drop below it unless the player prioritizes maximum frame rates. The data shows that 1440p Ultra offers a 38 FPS improvement over 4K Ultra, making it the sweet spot for players who want maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing frame rate.

At 1920x1080, all presets are above 150 FPS, with Ultra at 153 FPS, High at 176 FPS, Medium at 198 FPS, and Low at 271 FPS. The Ultra preset is perfectly playable on any monitor, and the 23 FPS gain from dropping to High is marginal compared to the visual quality loss. For players with 240 Hz or higher refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset at 198 FPS offers a good compromise, but Ultra remains the recommended choice for most users. The Low preset's 271 FPS is only useful for competitive play, which is not the target audience for a game like Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces results that span from 153 to 271 FPS. The Low preset achieves 271 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium averages 198 FPS with a minimum of 168 and maximum of 228. High averages 176 FPS, and Ultra averages 153 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 118 FPS, demonstrating that the RTX 5090 has significant headroom even at 1080p when settings are reduced.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 211 FPS, Medium at 150 FPS (min 127, max 172), High at 133 FPS, and Ultra at 116 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p costs between 37 and 60 FPS depending on the preset, with Low seeing the largest absolute loss. The Medium preset's minimum of 127 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay, indicating that even the most demanding scenes at 1440p are handled with ease.

At 3840x2160, the averages compress significantly: Low at 142 FPS, Medium at 101 FPS (min 86, max 116), High at 90 FPS, and Ultra at 78 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 86 FPS is the lowest measured value in the dataset, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64 FPS, which shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 80 FPS, but even that result is respectable for a demanding game at maximum settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 88th out of 3,720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 2.4% of all configurations. This high ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's exceptional performance, though the CPU's capabilities also contribute. The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40,081, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (delta 0.1%), Intel Core 5 221E (delta -0.2%), and AMD Ryzen 9 270 (delta -0.4%), indicating that the CPU is squarely in the mid-to-high range of desktop processors.

The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, are sufficient to feed the RTX 5090 in Control without creating a bottleneck. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (83.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide adequate data throughput for the game's streaming needs. The CPU's single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,930 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,525, ensures that game logic and physics calculations are processed quickly.

The GPU's ranking is even more impressive, sitting in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 79,842. The combination of the 7700's solid multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18,760) and the RTX 5090's massive compute resources (104.8 TFLOPS FP32) means that no component is holding the other back. The 88th rank out of 3,720 reflects this balance—the system is not at the very top because there are likely faster CPUs paired with the same GPU, but it is firmly in the elite tier of gaming configurations.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Control at any resolution and settings?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 271, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K Ultra with a playable frame rate?

A: Yes, the average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 78 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay, though it sits below the 80 FPS threshold some players prefer.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 176 at 1920x1080 to 90 at 3840x2160, a 49% reduction.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops as resolution increases. The CPU's performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings across resolutions?

A: The minimum FPS for Medium settings are 168 at 1920x1080, 127 at 2560x1440, and 86 at 3840x2160.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations in Control?

A: This combo ranks 88th out of 3,720 tested combos, placing it in the top 2.4% of all configurations.