Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a frame-rate curve in Control that clearly pivots from a GPU-bound experience at 4K to a progressively more balanced profile as resolution drops. The measured results show a predictable scaling pattern, but the percentage drops between tiers reveal where this combination starts to strain.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K shows a steep, consistent decline in average frame rates across all settings. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 68 at 1920x1080 to 52 at 2560x1440, a drop of roughly 23.5%. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High, the average drops further from 52 to 35 FPS, a 32.7% reduction. This accelerating decline as resolution increases is a classic indicator of a system becoming more heavily dependent on the GPU's rendering throughput.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 108, which falls to 82 at 1440p (a 24.1% drop) and then to 55 at 4K (a 32.9% drop from 1440p). The percentage losses are nearly identical between Low and High settings, suggesting that the relative workload scaling is consistent regardless of the quality preset.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data, showing a 49 to 67 FPS range at 1440p and a 65 to 88 range at 1080p. At 4K Medium, the range tightens to 33 to 45 FPS. The spread between minimum and maximum frame rates grows as resolution decreases, from a 12 FPS spread at 4K to a 23 FPS spread at 1080p. This widening variance at lower resolutions points to the CPU becoming a more significant factor, as frame delivery becomes less consistent when the GPU is not the sole bottleneck.

The data implies that at 1080p, the Ryzen 7 9700X has enough headroom to feed the RX 6600 effectively, but the GPU is still the limiting component. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, with even the Low preset only managing 55 FPS. The 4K Ultra average of 30 FPS is exactly at the edge of playability, and the High preset at 35 FPS is not far behind. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra shows a 49.2% reduction in average FPS, which is the steepest drop among all presets, indicating that the Ultra settings add a disproportionate load on the GPU at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is listed at 2491 MHz, with a game clock of 2044 MHz. These specs place it in the 63rd percentile against all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 19036.

The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database are the NVIDIA Quadro K6000, which scores 19030 (a 0% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 (a -0.1% delta). The RX 6600's score is also close to the NVIDIA Tesla K20m at 19089 (-0.3%) and the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation at 18954 (0.4%). This tight clustering suggests that the RX 6600 sits in a narrow performance band where minor architectural differences translate into negligible benchmark deltas.

In Control specifically, the 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for the measured settings, as no data points suggest a memory capacity bottleneck. The game was released in 2019, and the 8 GB allocation is adequate for the texture loads at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, the frame rate drops are more attributable to raw compute throughput than memory limitations, given that the Low preset at 4K still achieves 55 FPS. The GPU's FP32 performance of 8.928 TFLOPS and its 1792 shading units provide the raw processing power, but the 4K results indicate this is not enough for high-quality rendering at that resolution.

The RX 6600's pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s are relevant to Control's visual effects, which include heavy particle systems and destructible environments. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the GPU manages 59 FPS, suggesting that the fill rate is adequate for the game's demands at that resolution but becomes insufficient as pixel count increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and the RX 6600 ranks 2904 out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, indicating that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it is also far from the bottom. The percentile position suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in this title.

The CPU's benchmark performance is notably strong, with the Ryzen 7 9700X sitting in the 86th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14901E with a 0.1% delta and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with an identical 0.1% delta. The CPU's average benchmark score of 37943 is remarkably close to these rivals, indicating that the processor itself is not the weak link in this pairing.

The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking is the more limiting factor in the combo's overall position. The rank of 2904 out of 3720 combos implies that the RX 6600 holds back the Ryzen 7 9700X significantly in Control. If the CPU were paired with a higher-performing GPU, the combo rank would likely improve substantially, as the processor has demonstrated strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities in synthetic benchmarks.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 108 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 77 at Medium, followed by 68 at High and 59 at Ultra.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Control?

A: The data shows 4K averages ranging from 30 FPS at Ultra to 55 FPS at Low. The Medium preset at 4K averages 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS, suggesting that only Low settings provide a consistently playable experience at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 37943, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i9-14901E's score of 37911 and also 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370's score of 37904.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 68 at 1920x1080 to 52 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 16 FPS or approximately 23.5%.

Q: Does the RX 6600 have a higher benchmark score than the NVIDIA RTX 4050 Mobile?

A: The RX 6600 scores 19036 in the average benchmark, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4050 Mobile's score of 19049. The delta is negative, indicating the RTX 4050 Mobile is slightly ahead.

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

A: The minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 49, with a maximum of 67 and an average of 58.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-threaded performance with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2211. Multi-threaded performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20485 and a 3DMark max-thread score of 9771. The Geekbench multicore score of 17906 further confirms the processor's capability in heavily threaded workloads.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened. At 1080p Low, the 108 FPS average suggests the CPU can drive the GPU to its maximum output. However, the lack of min/max data for Low settings prevents a full analysis of frame time consistency. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a 65 to 88 FPS range, with the 77 FPS average indicating that the CPU maintains reasonably stable frame delivery.

The CPU's 86th percentile ranking against all CPUs means it outperforms a significant majority of processors in synthetic benchmarks. The nearest rivals show only 0.1% to 0.4% deltas in average benchmark scores, confirming that the 9700X is at the top of its performance class. This suggests that in the tested combo, the CPU is providing ample headroom for the RX 6600, and any performance limitations in Control are primarily due to the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which settings offer the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset averages 68 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth. The Ultra preset drops to 59 FPS, which is close but slightly below that threshold. Given that High achieves a better average and the visual difference between High and Ultra in many games is minimal, High appears to be the optimal choice at 1080p for a smooth experience.

At 1440p, the High preset averages 52 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset offers 58 FPS, which is a better balance between quality and performance. The Low preset at 82 FPS is the smoothest option but sacrifices significant visual fidelity. For 1440p, Medium provides the best compromise, with a minimum FPS of 49 ensuring that frame drops are not severe.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset averages 55 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches smooth playability. The Medium preset averages 39 FPS, and High drops to 35 FPS, with Ultra at 30 FPS. For 4K, Low is the recommended preset, as it provides a playable frame rate while the other settings fall below acceptable levels for most users.

The data suggests that users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity should select Low at any resolution, as it consistently delivers the highest averages. Those seeking a balance should choose High at 1080p and Medium at 1440p. At 4K, only Low is viable for consistent performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS across settings ranges from 59 to 108. The Low preset achieves 108 FPS, Medium reaches 77 FPS with a minimum of 65 and maximum of 88, High delivers 68 FPS, and Ultra manages 59 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 45.4% reduction in average FPS, indicating that each settings tier adds a significant GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 82 FPS for Low, 58 FPS for Medium (with a 49 to 67 range), 52 FPS for High, and 45 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 45.1%, nearly identical to the 1080p percentage. This consistency suggests that the relative cost of each settings tier is uniform across resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 55 FPS for Low, 39 FPS for Medium (with a 33 to 45 range), 35 FPS for High, and 30 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 45.5%, again matching the pattern seen at lower resolutions. However, the absolute numbers are much lower, with even the Low preset barely exceeding the 60 FPS threshold.

The complete dataset shows a consistent scaling factor across all resolutions and settings. The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data, which reveals that frame time variance increases as resolution decreases. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 23 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 18 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 12 FPS. This trend indicates that the CPU has more influence on frame pacing at lower resolutions, while the GPU dominates at 4K.