Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a strong showing in Control, ranking 486th out of 1,636 tested combos, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. The pairing leverages an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 processor with a 10 GB Ampere GPU, producing frame rates that range from comfortably playable at 4K to exceptionally high at 1080p. The data indicates a balanced system where the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial single-thread performance keeps the pipeline fed at lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 486 out of 1,636 tested configurations places it in the 70th percentile of all pairings evaluated for Control. This is a respectable position, though not a top-tier result, reflecting the RTX 3080's status as a previous-generation GPU rather than a current flagship. The ranking suggests that this system sits comfortably above the median gaming experience, delivering frame rates that satisfy both competitive and visual-fidelity priorities.

When contextualized against the individual component standings, the combo's performance aligns closely with expectations. The Ryzen 7 9700X holds an 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, indicating that the processor is far more capable than the average chip in the database. The RTX 3080, by contrast, sits at the 80th percentile among all GPUs. The gap between these two percentiles hints that the graphics card is the limiting factor in this pairing, a conclusion reinforced by the measured FPS data across resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-14500HX, which trails by just 0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, which is 0.6% behind. Meanwhile, the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and Intel Core Ultra 5 225H lead by 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the 9700X offers no meaningful advantage or disadvantage over these competitors in Control. For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE leads by 0.9%, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile trails by 1%, showing that the RTX 3080 remains competitive with much newer silicon in aggregate compute tasks.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It carries 10 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 320-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz with an effective data rate of 19 Gbps, while the GPU core operates between a base of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1710 MHz.

In Control, the GPU's role is decisive at higher resolutions. The 10 GB frame buffer proves sufficient for the game's demands, as no memory-related stutters or capacity failures manifest in the measured data. The 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores provide hardware support for the game's advanced lighting effects, though the benchmark results here reflect standard rasterization performance rather than RT-specific workloads. The GPU's 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample raw throughput for the game's particle-heavy combat sequences and destructible environments.

The RTX 3080's 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 35,787, positions it as a capable but not exceptional performer in 2024. Its nearest rivals in aggregate scoring include the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (0.2% behind) and the AMD Radeon 880M (0.4% ahead), showing that the 3080's compute capabilities remain relevant despite its end-of-life production status. The GPU's 320 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a power-hungry component, but the measured FPS data shows this energy translates into playable frame rates even at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X represents the Zen 5 architecture on the Granite Ridge codename, fabricated on TSMC's 4 nm process. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it operates at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boosts to 5.50 GHz, all within a 65 W TDP. The processor's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache, providing 89.6 GB/s of dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth.

In Control, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant, as the game's physics and AI systems rely heavily on strong per-core throughput. The 9700X's 3DMark single-thread score of 1,280 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,459 indicate exceptional single-thread capability, which helps maintain high frame rates even when the GPU is not fully saturated. The processor's multi-threaded scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 31,588 and Geekbench multi-core of 17,002, show that the 8-core configuration provides ample headroom for background tasks without impacting game performance.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 36,029, places it in elite company. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are all within 1% of its score, indicating that the 9700X delivers performance essentially equivalent to the Intel Core i5-14500HX and Core Ultra 9 185H in synthetic tests. For Control specifically, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU's workload decreases and the processor's ability to feed frames becomes the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 184 FPS, Medium reaches 130.7 FPS, High achieves 116.1 FPS, and Ultra maintains 105 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 79 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not fully taxed even at the highest settings. The 1080p results show that this system is capable of driving high-refresh-rate monitors without compromise, with even Ultra settings exceeding the 100 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain impressive but begin to show the GPU's limitations. Low settings average 142.9 FPS, Medium drops to 103.1 FPS, High reaches 86 FPS, and Ultra settles at 78.9 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra settings costs 26.1 FPS, a 24.9% reduction that indicates increasing GPU dependency. At this resolution, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all settings, though the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 64 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 96.8 FPS, Medium drops to 64.6 FPS, High achieves 60.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 51.2 FPS. The 4K results show that the RTX 3080 is stretched thin at this resolution, with only Low settings exceeding the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 45.6 FPS, demonstrating that settings adjustments have less impact at higher resolutions due to the GPU's limited pixel throughput.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 105 FPS at 1080p to 78.9 FPS at 1440p to 51.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 51.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is less severe than the 4x pixel count increase would suggest, indicating that the CPU is partially limiting performance at 1080p.

At Low settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 184 FPS at 1080p falls to 142.9 FPS at 1440p and 96.8 FPS at 4K, a 47.4% total reduction. The smaller percentage drop at Low settings compared to Ultra suggests that the CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the sole constraint at 4K. The fact that Low settings at 4K (96.8 FPS) outperforms Ultra at 1080p (105 FPS) by a narrow margin highlights how settings and resolution interact.

The data shows that the Ryzen 7 9700X provides sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck until frame rates exceed approximately 180 FPS, which only occurs at 1080p Low. At all other configurations, the RTX 3080's rendering throughput determines the final frame rate. This balance means that users targeting 1440p or 4K can expect consistent scaling with settings, while 1080p users may find the CPU limiting in less demanding scenes. The 4K results, with Ultra producing 51.2 FPS and High at 60.6 FPS, indicate that the RTX 3080 is at the edge of playability at this resolution, though the launch MSRP of $359 for the CPU and 699 USD for the GPU reflects a system that was designed for high-refresh 1440p gaming rather than 4K supremacy.