Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Control with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo delivers 118 FPS on Low settings, 84 FPS on Medium, 74 FPS on High, and 65 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, those numbers drop to 89 FPS (Low), 63 FPS (Medium), 56 FPS (High), and 49 FPS (Ultra). At 4K, the frame rates fall further: 60 FPS on Low, 43 FPS on Medium, 38 FPS on High, and 33 FPS on Ultra.

The scaling between 1080p and 4K shows a roughly 49% reduction in frame rate on Low settings, from 118 FPS down to 60 FPS. On High settings, the drop is slightly steeper, from 74 FPS to 38 FPS, a 49% decrease as well. This consistent percentage drop across settings indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor, not the CPU. The Ryzen 7 9700X has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions, as evidenced by the relatively uniform scaling pattern.

The most telling comparison is between 1440p and 4K on Medium settings. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. At 4K Medium, it falls to 43 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS and a maximum of 49 FPS. That 20 FPS gap represents a 32% reduction in throughput, which aligns with the pixel count increase of 2.25x between 1440p and 4K. The frame time data suggests that the GPU is working at near full capacity at 4K, with the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (36 FPS) falling below the 1440p minimum (54 FPS) by a significant margin.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth likely plays a role in the 4K performance ceiling. Control's detailed environments and particle effects consume VRAM aggressively, and the 4K results indicate the GPU is memory-bound at that resolution. The fact that Low settings at 4K still only reach 60 FPS, exactly half of the 1080p Low result, underscores that resolution scaling is purely a GPU limitation. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost of 5.50 GHz, has enough compute headroom to maintain consistent frame delivery even at 1080p Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1440p on Medium settings offers the best balance, delivering 63 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS. This stays above 60 FPS for most of the experience, whereas 4K on any setting drops below that threshold.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: No. The scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K shows consistent frame rate reductions proportional to pixel count, indicating the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component across all settings. The Ryzen 7 9700X's 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides sufficient throughput.

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

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER scores 18,093 on average across all benchmark tests, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. It sits 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18,159) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18,189), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373) by 1.5% and the Intel Arc A770M (18,383) by 1.6%.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable at 1080p?

A: On Low settings, the combo reaches 118 FPS average at 1920x1080. On Ultra settings, it drops to 65 FPS. The Medium preset provides 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS.

Q: Is the 4K experience playable?

A: At 4K, the only setting that maintains 60 FPS is Low (60 FPS average). Medium drops to 43 FPS, High to 38 FPS, and Ultra to 33 FPS. For a smooth experience, 4K requires Low settings, which sacrifices visual fidelity.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X scores 37,943 on average across all benchmark tests, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs. It is essentially tied with the Intel Core i9-14901E (37,911, 0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37,904, 0.1% delta), Intel Core 5 211E (37,829, 0.3% delta), and AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 (37,804, 0.4% delta).

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is built on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, using TSMC's 4 nm process node. It packs 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. 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. This configuration, paired with dual-channel DDR5 memory support and 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth, provides the foundation for Control's frame delivery.

In CPU-centric benchmarks, the 9700X shows strong single-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2,211, while the multi-core score reaches 20,485. The Geekbench single-core result is 3,023, with a multi-core score of 17,906. These numbers place the CPU in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,943. The 3DMark results further illustrate its scaling: 1,280 in single-thread, 2,525 in 2-thread, 4,869 in 4-thread, 8,184 in 8-thread, and 9,771 in max-thread tests, with 16-thread scoring 9,824.

Control is a game that benefits from strong single-core performance for physics and AI calculations, but it also scales across multiple cores for rendering and asset streaming. The 9700X's 8 cores handle this workload efficiently, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates at 1080p High (74 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (65 FPS) are well above the 60 FPS threshold, despite the GPU being the bottleneck. The PassMark results reinforce this: multi-thread score of 37,161, single-thread score of 4,654, and physics score of 2,241. The data compression score of 437,140 and integer math score of 120,142 indicate strong computational throughput that keeps the GPU fed.

The CPU's 65 W TDP is notably low for an 8-core part, which allows for sustained boost clocks without thermal throttling in most systems. The 4 nm process node from TSMC, with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die, contributes to this efficiency. In the context of Control, the CPU's role is to maintain consistent frame pacing, particularly in scenes with many destructible objects or complex physics interactions. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU-induced frame drops, as the minimum FPS values at 1440p Medium (54 FPS) and 1080p Medium (71 FPS) are close to their averages, indicating stable delivery.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for this combo. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 84 FPS average with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS. This is the sweet spot for most users, as it maintains frame rates well above 60 FPS while preserving visual quality. The High preset at 1080p drops to 74 FPS, still playable, but the Medium preset's 10 FPS advantage comes with minimal visual degradation in most scenes. Ultra at 1080p yields 65 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play but acceptable for a single-player action game.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is again the recommended choice, delivering 63 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS. This is just below the 60 FPS mark on average, but the minimum of 54 FPS indicates occasional dips. The High preset at 1440p drops to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS. For users with 1440p monitors, Medium is the only preset that keeps the average above 60 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 89 FPS, but the visual trade-off is significant given the game's atmospheric lighting and particle effects.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset achieves 60 FPS, which is technically playable, but Medium (43 FPS), High (38 FPS), and Ultra (33 FPS) all fall below smooth gameplay thresholds. Given that the RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of VRAM, the 4K Medium result of 43 FPS suggests that the GPU is memory-limited. Users with 4K displays should either accept Low settings or consider a resolution scale to 1440p, where Medium delivers the best experience.

The optimal experience across all resolutions is 1440p Medium, offering 63 FPS with acceptable visual quality. For 1080p users, Medium at 84 FPS is the best choice, as it provides a 19 FPS buffer over High settings. The data shows diminishing returns beyond Medium settings on this GPU, with Ultra providing only 65 FPS at 1080p versus Medium's 84 FPS—a 23% performance cost for incremental visual gains.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2,650 out of 3,720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 71st percentile of all hardware configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's age relative to the game's requirements, as the RTX 2060 SUPER is an end-of-life product with a 62nd percentile standing among all GPUs. The CPU, in contrast, is a current-generation part with an 86th percentile ranking.

The combination's position in the rankings is primarily driven by the GPU's performance ceiling. The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18,093 is modest by modern standards, and its nearest rivals include the RTX 3060 Mobile (18,159, 0.4% faster) and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18,189, 0.5% faster). The GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for 1080p gaming but struggle at higher resolutions.

The CPU's contribution to the ranking is less limiting. The Ryzen 7 9700X's average benchmark score of 37,943 places it in the top 14% of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its performance. This means the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo; the GPU is. The ranking of 2,650 out of 3,720 suggests that this combo is positioned in the lower-middle range of tested systems, which aligns with the GPU's mid-range status.

In practical terms, this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at high settings or 1440p at medium settings, as the measured FPS data confirms. For users with 4K displays, the combo will require significant settings reductions to maintain playable frame rates. The ranking reflects this reality, positioning the combo as a capable but not high-end solution for Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of the combo's performance in Control. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 118 FPS, Medium reaches 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS, High delivers 74 FPS, and Ultra produces 65 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression: each step up in settings costs approximately 10-15 FPS, with Low to Medium being the largest jump at 34 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 89 FPS, Medium reaches 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS, High drops to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS. The 1440p results show a similar pattern to 1080p, but with lower absolute values. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 26 FPS, and the gap between Medium and High is 7 FPS, suggesting that the Medium-to-High transition is less impactful than Low-to-Medium.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 60 FPS, Medium delivers 43 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS and a maximum of 49 FPS, High reaches 38 FPS, and Ultra drops to 33 FPS. The 4K results show the GPU's limitations most clearly: the gap between Low and Medium is 17 FPS, and the gap between Medium and High is 5 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (36 FPS) is below the 1080p Ultra average (65 FPS) and the 1440p Ultra average (49 FPS), indicating that the GPU is heavily stressed at this resolution.

The only settings that include minimum and maximum FPS values are the Medium presets across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 71-96 FPS, a 25 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 54-73 FPS, a 19 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 36-49 FPS, a 13 FPS spread. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's frame time variability decreases as it becomes more consistently saturated, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios.

The data shows that the combo's performance ceiling in Control is 118 FPS at 1080p Low, and its floor is 33 FPS at 4K Ultra. The average across all measured configurations is approximately 66 FPS, with the median around 60 FPS. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience, users should target 1080p Medium or better, or 1440p Medium, which averages 63 FPS. The 4K resolution is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 60 FPS average provides no headroom for demanding scenes.