Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 7 7700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a measured performance profile in Control that places this combo at rank 1071 out of 3720 tested combinations. Across the twelve measured FPS data points, the system ranges from 52 FPS at 4K Ultra to 185 FPS at 1080p Low, with the GPU increasingly becoming the primary constraint as resolution climbs. This analysis breaks down the CPU and GPU contributions, the combo's standing relative to other tested systems, and the exact measured frame rates across settings and resolutions.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on Zen 4 architecture (codename Raphael) using a 5 nm TSMC process. It carries a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 105 W. The CPU supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and it uses the AMD Socket AM5 platform with PCIe Gen 5 (24 lanes, CPU only). The integrated Radeon Graphics are present, though irrelevant for this discrete-GPU configuration. The processor was released on 2022-09-26 with a launch MSRP of $399.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 7 7700X demonstrates strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. Its 3DMark scores scale from 2112 at 2 threads to 8859 at 16 threads and 8852 at max threads, showing near-linear scaling across its core count. Cinebench R23 results show 19088 in multi-core and 1987 in single-core, while Geekbench reports 12451 multi-core and 2289 single-core. PassMark scores include 35686 in multithread and 4190 in single-thread. The processor's percentile vs all CPUs is 85, with an average benchmark score of 35909.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 7700X leads the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 by a delta of 0.3% (35802 average score), the Intel Core 7 250H by 0.5% (35728), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 by 0.5% (35719), and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.7% (35670). These deltas are small, indicating the 7700X sits at the top of a tight cluster of comparable CPUs.

For Control, an action-adventure game released on 2019-08-26, the CPU's role is most visible at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates exceed 100 FPS. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 185 FPS, which demands strong per-thread performance; the 7700X's single-thread score of 1090 in 3DMark and 1987 in Cinebench R23 single-core support this. The 8-core/16-thread configuration ensures that background threads and game logic do not bottleneck even at high frame rates, as evidenced by the 3DMark 16-thread score of 8859 being nearly identical to the max-thread score of 8852, indicating no thread-count saturation within this game's workload.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is based on the GA102 chip with Ampere architecture, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It features 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 68 RT cores, and 272 tensor cores. The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 1440 MHz, boost clock is 1710 MHz, and memory clock runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The card has a TDP of 320 W, uses a dual-slot design with a 1x 12-pin power connector, and requires a suggested 700 W PSU. It supports PCIe 4.0 x16, with display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GPU was released on 2020-08-31 with a launch MSRP of 699 USD, and it is now end-of-life, with the GeForce 20 as predecessor and GeForce 40 as successor.

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 3080 scores 4407 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 152423 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 33620 in Geekbench Vulkan. PassMark results include 25086 in G3D and 14397 in GPU compute. Its percentile vs all GPUs is 68, with an average benchmark score of 23172. The nearest rivals are clustered closely: NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, delta -0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250, delta -0.3%), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273, delta -0.4%), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23276, delta -0.4%). These near-identical scores indicate that the RTX 3080's average benchmark position is surrounded by a dense field of GPUs, though the absolute differences are within noise.

For Control, the GPU's 10 GB VRAM is sufficient at all tested settings, as the game's texture loads at 4K Ultra do not exceed this capacity in the measured data. The 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth is a key asset at 4K, where the pixel throughput demand is highest. The GPU's 68 RT cores enable hardware ray tracing, though the measured FPS data does not isolate ray tracing effects; the scores reflect standard rasterization at the given presets. The FP32 compute of 29.77 TFLOPS (and matching FP16 at 1:1) provides the raw shading power needed for Control's particle effects and physics-based destruction at high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a combo rank of 1071 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control. This places the system in the upper third of all tested configurations, though not at the very top tier. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's high-end but not flagship status; systems with newer or higher-tier GPUs (e.g., RTX 4090-class) would rank higher, while those with older or lower-end cards would fall below.

Given the CPU's 85th percentile vs all CPUs and the GPU's 68th percentile vs all GPUs, the combo's rank of 1071/3720 (approximately 71st percentile within the tested set) indicates that the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU is capable of pushing frame rates higher, but the RTX 3080 caps the system's absolute performance, particularly at 4K. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 185 FPS, suggesting the CPU can sustain very high frame rates, but at 4K Ultra the 52 FPS result shows the GPU is the bottleneck. This rank is consistent with a mid-to-high-end gaming rig that excels at 1440p and handles 4K at playable settings.

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

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), for a total of twelve data points. All values are average FPS unless noted, with min and max values available only for Medium settings.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 185 FPS average
• Medium: 131 FPS average, with min 111 and max 151
• High: 117 FPS average
• Ultra: 101 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 140 FPS average
• Medium: 99 FPS average, with min 84 and max 114
• High: 88 FPS average
• Ultra: 77 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 94 FPS average
• Medium: 67 FPS average, with min 57 and max 77
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with reported min/max values, providing a range of variability. At 1080p Medium, the variance is ±20 FPS around the average; at 1440p Medium, ±15 FPS; at 4K Medium, ±10 FPS. This tighter spread at higher resolutions suggests that GPU-bound scenarios produce more consistent frame times, while CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions show more fluctuation.

The step from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 54 FPS (from 185 to 131), while from Medium to High costs 14 FPS (131 to 117), and from High to Ultra costs 16 FPS (117 to 101). At 1440p, the steps are 41 FPS (140 to 99), 11 FPS (99 to 88), and 11 FPS (88 to 77). At 4K, the steps are 27 FPS (94 to 67), 7 FPS (67 to 60), and 8 FPS (60 to 52). The diminishing returns from each settings increase are clear: the largest drop always occurs between Low and Medium, while subsequent upgrades yield smaller absolute losses.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Control?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 185, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K High settings the average FPS is 60, and at 4K Medium it is 67 FPS (with a min of 57). At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 52 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 117 at 1080p to 88 at 1440p to 60 at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K (from 117 to 60 FPS).

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor with this combo?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 88 FPS average, Medium delivers 99 FPS, and Ultra delivers 77 FPS. High provides a good balance, but if a higher frame rate is desired, Medium at 99 FPS is the better choice.

Q: Does the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM cause issues in Control?

A: Based on the measured data, the 10 GB VRAM is sufficient at all tested settings and resolutions, as no out-of-memory or stutter-induced performance degradation is indicated in the FPS numbers.

Q: How does this combo compare to the CPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700X has an average benchmark score of 35909, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802), 0.5% higher than the Intel Core 7 250H (35728), 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35719), and 0.7% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (35670). These differences are minimal in real-world gaming performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and frame rate preference. For 1080p, all presets exceed 100 FPS, making Ultra the best choice for maximum visual quality while still maintaining 101 FPS average. The 185 FPS at Low is unnecessary for most displays, and the jump from Low to Medium (54 FPS loss) is steep, but the step from High to Ultra (16 FPS loss) is more reasonable for the visual uplift.

For 1440p, the High preset at 88 FPS offers a smooth experience for most players, but Medium at 99 FPS provides a 12.5% frame rate increase with only a modest visual reduction. Ultra at 77 FPS is still playable, but the 11 FPS gain from Ultra to High is likely worth the visual trade-off. If a 144 Hz monitor is in use, Medium is the only preset that approaches that refresh rate (99 FPS), though it still falls short.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. High at 60 FPS is the sweet spot, providing exactly 60 FPS average, which matches standard 60 Hz display refresh. Medium at 67 FPS offers a small headroom buffer, while Ultra at 52 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stutter on a 60 Hz panel. Low at 94 FPS is viable but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a marginal gain.

The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance across all resolutions if variability is a concern, as it is the only preset with reported min/max values. At 4K Medium, the min of 57 FPS and max of 77 FPS indicate that the system stays within a playable range without severe dips. For users prioritizing visual fidelity, High at 4K is the recommended choice, as it holds exactly 60 FPS. At 1440p, Medium or High both work well, with the choice depending on whether frame rate or image quality is the priority.

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

The resolution scaling data reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this combo. From 1080p to 1440p at each preset, the FPS drops are as follows: Low from 185 to 140 (a 24.3% reduction), Medium from 131 to 99 (24.4%), High from 117 to 88 (24.8%), and Ultra from 101 to 77 (23.8%). From 1440p to 4K, the drops are: Low from 140 to 94 (32.9%), Medium from 99 to 67 (32.3%), High from 88 to 60 (31.8%), and Ultra from 77 to 52 (32.5%). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is consistent across presets: Low drops 49.2%, Medium 48.9%, High 48.7%, and Ultra 48.5%.

These percentages are remarkably uniform across settings, indicating that the frame rate scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. The consistent ~49% reduction from 1080p to 4K suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at all resolutions, as the CPU's performance headroom (evidenced by 185 FPS at 1080p Low) is not exhausted until frame rates approach that ceiling. The 4K-to-1080p pixel count ratio is 4:1, but the FPS does not drop by 75% (which would be perfect scaling); instead, it drops by ~49%, indicating that the system is not purely pixel-bound. This partial scaling points to memory bandwidth (760.3 GB/s) and pixel fill rate (164.2 GPixel/s) as the constraining factors, rather than raw compute, since the FP32 throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS is sufficient for higher fill rates.

The fact that the 1080p Low result (185 FPS) is nearly double the 4K Low result (94 FPS) confirms that the GPU's shading and memory subsystems are the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 3DMark 8-thread score of 7057 and single-thread score of 1090, is capable of feeding the GPU at these frame rates, but the RTX 3080 cannot maintain proportionally higher FPS as pixel count increases. For users considering a display upgrade, the data shows that this combo is best suited for 1440p, where it delivers 77–140 FPS across settings, and is acceptable for 4K at Medium or High, but not Ultra. The limiting component is unambiguously the GPU, as the CPU's benchmark percentile (85th) far exceeds the GPU's (68th), and the resolution scaling pattern matches GPU-bound behavior.