Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Control. At 1080p, this combo is firmly in smooth territory, but 4K Ultra demands compromise. The data indicates the RX 6600 XT is the limiting component across all tested configurations, with the CPU's substantial headroom never becoming the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second show a steep decline as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 76.7 at 1080p to 54.3 at 1440p, then further to 35.7 at 4K. That represents a 53.4% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at High quality, which is a classic signature of GPU-bound performance.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling at Ultra settings. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 65.6, at 1440p Ultra it falls to 46.8, and at 4K Ultra it bottoms out at 31.6. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is roughly 51.8%, nearly identical to the High preset's drop. This consistency across presets confirms that the RX 6600 XT's rendering throughput, not the CPU or memory subsystem, is the dominant constraint.

Conversely, the Low preset shows the least severe scaling. From 119.4 FPS at 1080p to 87.3 at 1440p and 61.7 at 4K, the 4K-to-1080p ratio is about 48.3% reduction. Even at Low settings, the GPU still governs performance, but the smaller absolute drop suggests the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth of the 8 GB GDDR6 buffer become less stressed when texture and shading workloads are reduced.

The 1440p-to-4K transition is particularly punishing. At Medium settings, moving from 1440p (60.8 FPS) to 4K (44.5 FPS) costs 26.8% of the average frame rate. At High, the same transition costs 34.3%. This nonlinear scaling points to the 128-bit memory interface and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth being saturated at 4K, where the 8 GB frame buffer must handle significantly larger render targets.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1248 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower third of all configurations in the database. The percentile position reflects the RX 6600 XT's mid-range standing rather than any CPU deficiency. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D sits in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 6600 XT lands in the 71st percentile among all GPUs.

The combo's rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's aggregate benchmark score of 27985, which places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (scores 27956) and 0.4% above the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (27883). Interestingly, the RX 6600 XT trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 by 0.9% (28238) and the AMD FirePro S7150 by 1.5% (28409) in raw average benchmark score, which explains why this combo does not climb higher in the Control ranking.

Given the game's release date of 2019-08-26, the RX 6600 XT was designed well after Control's launch, yet the measured results show it still struggles at 4K. The combo rank of 1248 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average FPS in this title, particularly those with more powerful GPUs that can leverage the 9800X3D's strong single-thread performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using the Navi 23 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. These clocks are relatively high for the segment, enabling a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s.

In Control, the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a critical factor at higher resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K High (35.7) and 4K Ultra (31.6) indicates that memory capacity and bandwidth are stretched, as the game's high-resolution textures and effects overwhelm the modest bus width. The 4K Low result of 61.7 FPS shows that reducing texture quality and shadow complexity can bring the frame rate into playable territory, but the GPU still cannot achieve the 119.4 FPS seen at 1080p Low.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS and FP16 of 21.21 TFLOPS (2:1) provide adequate compute for Control's physics and particle effects at 1080p and 1440p. However, the 32 ray tracing cores are likely underutilized given the game's implementation, and the data suggests traditional rasterization is the primary workload. The DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) API support is present, but Control's measured results do not show a dramatic benefit from this feature set at the tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 119.4 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings yield 81.8 FPS, High settings 76.7 FPS, and Ultra settings 65.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 53.8 FPS, representing a 45.1% performance penalty for maximum quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decline across all presets. Low settings still achieve 87.3 FPS, making 1440p Low a viable option for high-refresh displays. Medium drops to 60.8 FPS, High to 54.3 FPS, and Ultra to 46.8 FPS. The 1440p results show that the RX 6600 XT can handle Control at medium-to-high quality around 60 FPS, but Ultra requires sacrificing frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Only Low settings break the 60 FPS barrier with 61.7 FPS. Medium averages 44.5 FPS, High 35.7 FPS, and Ultra 31.6 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is barely above 30 FPS, which is often considered the minimum for console-like playability, but it falls short of the smoothness expected from a desktop setup. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 48.8% reduction in average FPS, indicating that each preset tier adds meaningful GPU workload at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a Zen 5 architecture processor on the Granite Ridge codename, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The 96 MB shared L3 cache is a defining feature, providing substantial on-die storage for game data. This CPU's single-thread benchmark scores are exceptional: 1212 in 3dmark single-thread, 483 in cinebench R15 single-core, 2016 in cinebench R20 single-core, and 4800 in cinebench R23 single-core.

In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics updates. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (119.4) is likely approaching the CPU's frame-rate ceiling, but the fact that 1080p Ultra (65.6) is much lower indicates the GPU is still the primary limiter. The 9800X3D's multi-threaded scores—34004 in cinebench R23 multi-core and 18413 in geekbench multi-core—ensure that even the most demanding CPU-bound scenes in Control will not cause frame drops.

The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780, places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811) and 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831). This puts the 9800X3D in elite company, but the GPU's 71st percentile standing means the combo's overall performance in Control is capped by the RX 6600 XT. For players upgrading from a weaker CPU, the 9800X3D ensures no CPU-induced stutter at any resolution tested.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K smoothly?

A: Only at Low settings, which produce an average of 61.7 FPS. Medium averages 44.5 FPS, High 35.7 FPS, and Ultra 31.6 FPS, so 4K at higher presets will feel sluggish.

Q: What is the best resolution for 60 FPS gameplay?

A: At 1920x1080, all presets from Low (119.4 FPS) to Ultra (65.6 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (87.3 FPS) and Medium (60.8 FPS) achieve 60 FPS or better.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 27985, which is 0.1% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956) and 0.4% above the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (27883), but 0.9% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (28238).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D the bottleneck in this combo?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 71st percentile. The FPS scaling across resolutions indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 76.7 at 1920x1080 to 35.7 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 41.0 FPS or approximately 53.4%.

Q: Does the CPU's large L3 cache help in Control?

A: The 96 MB shared L3 cache likely reduces memory latency, but the measured results show that GPU limitations dominate. The CPU's cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34004 indicates ample processing headroom for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the data points to 1920x1080 with High settings. This preset delivers 76.7 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while retaining substantial visual fidelity over Medium (81.8 FPS) and Low (119.4 FPS). The step from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 11.1 FPS (down to 65.6), which may not justify the marginal visual improvements for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide 60.8 FPS, making this the highest preset that maintains a 60 FPS average. Dropping to Low yields 87.3 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh 1440p monitors. High and Ultra at 1440p fall to 54.3 and 46.8 FPS respectively, which are playable but not consistently smooth.

For 4K, Low settings are the only option for 60 FPS gameplay at 61.7 FPS. Those who prioritize visual quality over frame rate can consider Medium (44.5 FPS) or High (35.7 FPS), but the 4K Ultra preset at 31.6 FPS is best avoided unless a stable 30 FPS cap is acceptable. The overall recommendation is to play at 1080p High for the best experience, or 1440p Medium if a higher resolution is preferred over maximum quality.