Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Control across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is overwhelmingly bound by the graphics card. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers 110.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 79.2 FPS, a 28.6% reduction in performance. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 55.5 FPS, which is exactly 50% of the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where the CPU has ample headroom and the rendering load dictates the final output.

The gap between resolutions narrows as settings increase, which is a classic sign of pixel and shading pressure overwhelming the GPU. At High settings, the frame rate goes from 65.9 FPS at 1080p to 49 FPS at 1440p, then to 37.8 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 42.6%, which is smaller than the 50% drop seen at Low. This indicates that at lower settings, the GPU is more fully utilized, making resolution the primary variable; at higher settings, the additional visual effects and shading work become the dominant cost, somewhat flattening the resolution curve.

Ultra settings show the most severe impact. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 59.9 FPS, which is a playable frame rate but noticeably lower than the 79.3 FPS at Medium. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 45.8 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 31.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure represents a 47.1% reduction from 1080p Ultra. The data suggests that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and its Turing architecture are being pushed to their limits, with the 4K Ultra result falling below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for consistent gameplay. The CPU is not the limiting factor here; the Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is capable of far higher frame rates in this title, as evidenced by the 110.9 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the most consistent choice. At High settings, the average is 65.9 FPS, and even at Ultra it stays above 60 FPS with 59.9 FPS. The 1440p High result of 49 FPS is also viable for those prioritizing image clarity over frame rate.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 handle 4K in this game?

A: The data shows that 4K is demanding for this GPU. At Low settings, the average is 55.5 FPS, but at High it drops to 37.8 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 31.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only one below 30 FPS, indicating that the card is at its limit.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X holding back the RTX 2060?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate the opposite. The CPU is not a bottleneck. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a significant frame rate drop, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload. The Ryzen 7 9700X has a single-thread score of 1280 in 3DMark and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588, suggesting it has ample processing power.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Medium produces an average of 58.3 FPS, while High produces 49 FPS. This is a difference of 9.3 FPS, or roughly 16%. The visual fidelity upgrade from Medium to High may be worth the frame rate cost for some players, but the data shows a clear trade-off.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 16074. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, scores 15996, which is 0.5% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M scores 16351, which is 1.7% higher. This places the RTX 2060 in a competitive mid-range position.

Q: What does the combo rank tell us about this hardware pairing?

A: The combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 2060 ranks 1318 out of 1636 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower 20% of all pairings, which is expected given the GPU’s age and mid-range status relative to more modern parts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the primary driver of performance in Control for this pairing. The card’s specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. It features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz. These clocks, combined with the 192-bit memory bus and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, yield a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The card’s FP32 performance is rated at 6.451 TFLOPS.

The VRAM capacity is a critical factor at higher resolutions and settings. Control is a game that uses substantial texture data, and the 6 GB frame buffer can become a constraint. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 31.7, which is low, but the card is also likely hitting memory limits. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but at 4K, the demand for texture streaming and pixel data increases, and the card’s 6 GB capacity and bandwidth struggle to keep up.

The RTX 2060’s Turing architecture includes 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. While Control does support ray tracing, the data in this pack does not include specific ray-traced benchmarks. The standard rasterization performance shows that the card is capable of 65.9 FPS at 1080p High, which is a solid result. However, the card’s overall benchmark percentile is 58, meaning it performs better than only 58% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 16074 is closely matched by the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, which is only 0.5% slower, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, which is 1.7% faster. This puts the RTX 2060 in a narrow performance band where small gains or losses are common.

The boost clock of 1680 MHz is a low-to-mid range figure for modern GPUs, and it appears to be the ceiling for sustained performance in this title. The data shows that the card is the bottleneck, as the CPU is not the limiting factor. The 4K Low result of 55.5 FPS highlights that the GPU is still capable of decent frame rates when the pixel count is high but the settings are lowered. The RTX 2060 is a 12 nm part from TSMC with a die size of 445 mm², which is large for its performance class, and its 160 W TDP reflects that. The card is end-of-life, which makes sense given its age, but its performance in Control is still respectable for 1080p and 1440p gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for this hardware. For a target of 60 FPS or higher, the only viable configuration at 1080p is Low, which produces 110.9 FPS, or Medium, which produces 79.3 FPS. High settings at 1080p produce 65.9 FPS, which is above 60, but Ultra drops to 59.9 FPS, just below the target. For the smoothest experience, Medium at 1080p is the recommended preset, as it offers a substantial improvement over Low in visual quality while maintaining a high frame rate.

At 1440p, the situation changes. Low settings produce 79.2 FPS, which is excellent, but Medium drops to 58.3 FPS, and High falls to 49 FPS. Ultra is the lowest at 45.8 FPS. For a balanced experience at 1440p, Medium is the best choice, as it stays above 55 FPS and provides a good middle ground between the visual leap from Low and the performance hit of High. Players with a 144 Hz monitor may prefer Low to reach 79.2 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant.

At 4K, the data shows that the RTX 2060 is not ideal for high settings. Low settings produce 55.5 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium drops to 40.1 FPS, and High falls to 37.8 FPS. Ultra is the only preset below 30 FPS, at 31.7 FPS. For 4K, the recommendation is to use Low settings if the player wants a playable frame rate, or to consider dropping to 1440p for a better experience. The difference between High and Medium at 4K is only 2.3 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is heavily saturated and the extra visual features of High have a marginal cost but also marginal benefit.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, which offers a frame rate of 79.3 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a balance of visual fidelity and smoothness. For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p High at 65.9 FPS is a solid alternative, but the drop to Ultra is not worth the 6 FPS loss. The data consistently shows that Medium is the sweet spot for this GPU, as it provides the largest frame rate jump from High while keeping the game looking good.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1318 out of 1636 tested combinations for Control. This places the pairing in the 19th percentile of all combos, meaning that over 80% of other tested CPU and GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this game. This is a low ranking, but it is not surprising given the RTX 2060’s age and its position in the GPU market.

The CPU itself is a strong performer. The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14500HX, which scores 35940 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, which scores 36165 (0.4% higher). This indicates that the CPU is not a weak link. In contrast, the RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its performance is closely matched by the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, which is 0.5% slower.

The disparity between the CPU’s high percentile (89) and the GPU’s mid-range percentile (58) explains the combo’s low rank. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with data far faster than the GPU can render frames. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 110.9 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 31.7 FPS, a clear sign that the GPU is the limiting factor. The combo rank of 1318 out of 1636 suggests that for Control, this pairing is significantly underpowered compared to what is possible with a higher-tier GPU.

The ranking reflects that the RTX 2060 is not a suitable match for the Ryzen 7 9700X in this game, especially at higher resolutions. The CPU’s power is wasted when paired with a GPU that cannot keep up. While the combo is playable at 1080p, the data indicates that a more balanced pairing would involve a lower-end CPU or a higher-end GPU to achieve a better frame rate-to-hardware ratio. The 89th percentile CPU and 58th percentile GPU create a bottleneck that is evident in every resolution above 1080p Medium.