Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX pairing delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Control, with the data showing a clear hierarchy between settings presets. This combination ranks 202nd out of 1636 tested combos, placing it comfortably in the top 12.4% of all systems evaluated for this title, a strong result for a game that blends physics-heavy combat with demanding visual effects.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080, the combination delivers between 124.9 and 224.2 FPS depending on settings. At 2560x1440, the range drops to 95.7–170.6 FPS, while 3840x2160 yields 61.5–117.2 FPS. The 2560x1440 resolution offers the best balance for high refresh rates, with Ultra still exceeding 95 FPS.

Q: How much performance is gained by dropping from Ultra to Low settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 117.2 FPS, which is 55.7 FPS higher than the Ultra preset's 61.5 FPS. This represents a 90.6% improvement in average frame rate when moving from the highest to the lowest settings.

Q: Does the CPU hold the GPU back at 1080p?

A: The data does not indicate any bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 224.2 FPS, and with High settings it maintains 144.2 FPS. The 16-thread Ryzen 7 9800X3D with a 5.20 GHz boost clock provides ample headroom for this game's demands.

Q: How does the GPU's 24 GB of VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This capacity is sufficient for Control at 3840x2160, where the Ultra preset still achieves 61.5 FPS, indicating the memory subsystem is not a limiting factor.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Medium produces 122.7 FPS while High produces 104.4 FPS, a difference of 18.3 FPS. The gap narrows at higher resolutions, with only a 10.0 FPS difference at 4K between these two presets.

Q: Is this combo better suited for competitive or cinematic play?

A: The measured results show it handles both. At 1080p Low, it hits 224.2 FPS for competitive play, while at 4K Ultra it produces 61.5 FPS for a cinematic experience. The 1440p High preset at 104.4 FPS offers a middle ground.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 202nd out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the 87.6th percentile of all systems measured. This is a strong result for a game released in 2019, indicating the hardware is far ahead of what the title requires for smooth play. The ranking suggests that only 201 other combos deliver higher average frame rates in Control, which is remarkable given the raw power of this pairing.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 37780 places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Xeon 6353P and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, and 0.6% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HK. This proximity in synthetic scores does not translate to a measurable difference in Control's gameplay, as the game's engine favors the 3D V-Cache architecture of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The GPU's average score of 44019 sits 0.8% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile and 1.6% above the NVIDIA Quadro M6000, while trailing the AMD Radeon Pro 580 by 0.4%.

Within the game itself, the combo's rank of 202 out of 1636 means it outperforms 87.6% of all tested systems. This is particularly notable because Control features heavy use of physics simulations and particle effects, which can stress both CPU and GPU simultaneously. The data shows this combo does not compromise in either area, delivering consistent frame rates across all settings tiers.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the primary driver of frame rates in Control, with its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth proving ample for the game's texture streaming and visual effects. The GPU's boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz are well-suited to the title's moderate engine demands, allowing the card to scale performance efficiently across resolutions.

The 384-bit memory bus and 192 ROPs ensure that even at 4K, the card maintains playable frame rates. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 61.5 FPS, which is on the edge of smooth play but becomes comfortable with the Medium preset at 83.4 FPS. The GPU's 96 ray tracing cores are not heavily utilized in this title, as Control's implementation is optional and the benchmark data does not include ray tracing results.

The card's 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate suggest substantial headroom for this game. The measured results confirm this, with the card achieving 224.2 FPS at 1080p Low, which is likely limited by the game engine's frame rate cap rather than the GPU's capability. The GPU's score in the 85th percentile of all GPUs indicates it is a top-tier performer, and its 0.8% lead over the RTX 4090 Mobile in average benchmark score demonstrates its competitiveness.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that High settings provide the best balance between visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 2560x1440, High delivers 104.4 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while 1920x1080 High reaches 144.2 FPS, ideal for 144Hz monitors. For 4K displays, High at 73.4 FPS is acceptable, though Medium at 83.4 FPS offers a more comfortable margin for demanding scenes.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1440p or lower, where it achieves 95.7 FPS, or for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate at 1080p with 124.9 FPS. At 4K, Ultra drops to 61.5 FPS, which is playable but may cause noticeable stutter in action-heavy sequences. Low settings are unnecessary for this hardware, as even 4K Medium produces 83.4 FPS, which is well above the standard 60 FPS target.

For competitive play, the 1080p Low preset at 224.2 FPS offers the lowest input latency, but the game's visual effects are significantly reduced. The Medium preset at 1080p provides 161.9 FPS while retaining more of the game's atmosphere. The sweet spot for most players will be 1440p High, which combines a high frame rate with the visual richness that Control is known for.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160: The Ultra preset yields 61.5 FPS, High yields 73.4 FPS, Medium yields 83.4 FPS, and Low yields 117.2 FPS. The jump from Ultra to Low represents a 90.6% increase in frame rate, demonstrating the significant cost of the highest settings at 4K.

2560x1440: Ultra produces 95.7 FPS, High produces 104.4 FPS, Medium produces 122.7 FPS, and Low produces 170.6 FPS. The difference between Ultra and High is 8.7 FPS, which is relatively small, making High the more efficient choice.

1920x1080: Ultra delivers 124.9 FPS, High delivers 144.2 FPS, Medium delivers 161.9 FPS, and Low delivers 224.2 FPS. At this resolution, all presets exceed 120 FPS, with Low nearly doubling the frame rate of Ultra.

The scaling pattern shows diminishing returns at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 99.3 FPS, while at 4K, it is 55.7 FPS. This indicates the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor at higher resolutions, which is expected given the increased pixel count.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with its 8 cores and 16 threads provides the foundation for this combo's performance. Its 96 MB of shared L3 cache is particularly beneficial for games like Control that rely on large, frequently accessed data sets. The CPU's boost clock of 5.20 GHz and base clock of 4.70 GHz are high for a desktop processor, and its 4 nm process node from TSMC ensures efficient operation.

The CPU's benchmark scores show it is a top-tier performer. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 and single-core score of 4800 place it well ahead of most desktop processors. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10081 indicates strong multi-threaded performance, while the single-thread score of 1212 confirms it excels at tasks that require high clock speeds.

In Control, the CPU's role is to handle the game's physics simulation and AI logic, which are typically single-threaded or lightly threaded. The 3D V-Cache technology helps reduce memory latency, which can improve frame times in scenes with complex geometry. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at any resolution, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings changes.

The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support ensure that data can be fed to the cores quickly, preventing stalls in game logic. The 16 threads are more than sufficient for Control, which does not typically scale beyond 8 threads. This leaves headroom for background tasks and streaming software without impacting game performance.