Control

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a desktop processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. It ships with 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The CPU's 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a defining feature, though this game's measured frame rates suggest that cache size does little to overcome the graphics bottleneck present in this pairing.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 9800X3D posts strong results: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800. Its Geekbench multicore result is 18413, with a single-core score of 3341. The 3DMark 16-thread test yields 10081, and the max-thread score is 10067. These numbers place the CPU at the 90th percentile among all processors in the database, indicating that compute throughput is not the limiting factor in this system.

The measured game data confirms this. At 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate is 47.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops to 33.8 FPS, and 4K Low yields 21.2 FPS. The CPU's capability is far beyond what these numbers imply — the 9800X3D's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Xeon 6353P (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i9-13900HK (deltaPct -0.6), and Intel Core i5-13600KF (deltaPct -0.7). All of these processors score within 0.7% of the 9800X3D, yet none would exhibit such low frame rates in this title if paired with a suitable GPU.

The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than adequate for Control's threading model. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2394 and 4-thread score of 4669 show strong scaling at lower thread counts, which matters for older game engines that rely on fewer threads. The Passmark single-thread score of 4430 reinforces that per-core performance is high. However, the frame rate data indicates that the processor is essentially idle waiting on the GPU. The delta between 1080p Low (47.9 FPS) and 4K Low (21.2 FPS) is a 26.7 FPS drop, a pattern consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a Pascal-architecture part from the GeForce 10-series, built on Samsung's 14 nm process. It features a base clock of 1291 MHz and a boost clock of 1392 MHz, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. Its FP32 throughput is 2.138 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 44.54 GPixel/s.

The 1050 Ti sits at the 30th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 5316. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (deltaPct 0), NVIDIA GeForce 940M (deltaPct 0.4), AMD Radeon R7 240 (deltaPct 0.7), and AMD Radeon R7 M445 (deltaPct -0.8). These are entry-level or mobile-class parts, which contextualizes the 1050 Ti's position. The Passmark G3D score of 6340 and the DirectX 12 score of 26 highlight the GPU's age and limited modern API performance.

In Control, the 1050 Ti is clearly the bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the average frame rate is 23.8 FPS; at 1080p High it is 28 FPS; at 1080p Medium it is 34.7 FPS; and at 1080p Low it reaches 47.9 FPS. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is likely a constraint at higher settings, given that Control is a texture-heavy title. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s is modest, and the 7 Gbps effective memory speed limits how quickly textures can be streamed.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305 is particularly low, indicating that the GPU struggles with modern DirectX 12 workloads. Control uses DX12, and this is reflected in the measured results. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 19851 is comparatively better, but the game's engine appears to favor the older API path. The GPU's end-of-life production status and 2016 release date mean it lacks hardware features that newer titles increasingly rely on, though Control itself is from 2019.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides four settings presets at each of three resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 47.9 FPS. Medium follows at 34.7 FPS, High at 28 FPS, and Ultra at 23.8 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 13.2 FPS, which is substantial. Between Medium and High the gap narrows to 6.7 FPS, and between High and Ultra it is 4.2 FPS.

At 1440p, Low yields 33.8 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches playability. Medium drops to 21.7 FPS, High to 19.5 FPS, and Ultra to 21.9 FPS. Notably, Ultra at 1440p outperforms High by 2.4 FPS, which is an anomaly in the data — likely a driver or scene variance artifact rather than a meaningful performance characteristic. Still, the practical takeaway is that 1440p is only viable at Low settings for this combination.

At 4K, all presets fall below playable thresholds. Low averages 21.2 FPS, Medium 19.2 FPS, High 17.2 FPS, and Ultra 12.6 FPS. Even the best 4K result is below 30 FPS, so 4K is not recommended for this pairing. The data suggests that the 1080p Low preset provides the best balance of smoothness and visual fidelity, with 47.9 FPS being the only measured configuration that clears a 45 FPS threshold. If a higher visual quality is desired, Medium at 1080p (34.7 FPS) is the next step, but the frame rate drop is significant. The 1440p Low preset (33.8 FPS) is comparable to 1080p Medium, offering nearly the same frame rate with a higher resolution — a reasonable alternative if the display supports it.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1623 out of 1636 tested combinations in Control. That places it in the bottom 1% of all tested configurations, which is a stark result given the CPU's pedigree. The 9800X3D is a top-tier processor — its 90th percentile standing among all CPUs and its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 put it in elite company. The 1050 Ti, by contrast, sits at the 30th percentile among GPUs.

The rank of 1623 out of 1636 is driven entirely by the GPU. The 1050 Ti's average benchmark score of 5316 is comparable to mobile-class parts, and its DirectX 12 performance (Passmark score of 26) is among the lowest in the database. The data shows that pairing a high-end CPU with an entry-level GPU produces a result that is effectively CPU-independent in this game. The combo rank reflects the geometric mean of the two components' capabilities, and the GPU's low absolute performance drags the combined result down.

Only 13 tested combinations rank lower than this one. Those combinations would necessarily involve even weaker GPUs than the 1050 Ti, as the CPU side is already near the top of the hierarchy. The 9800X3D's nearest rival processors — the Intel Xeon 6353P, Intel Core Ultra 5 225, Intel Core i9-13900HK, and Intel Core i5-13600KF — all score within 0.7% of the AMD part, but when paired with a suitable GPU, those combinations would rank far higher. This underscores that the combo rank is a function of the weakest link, and in this case, that link is the GPU by a wide margin.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At Low settings, the progression is 47.9 FPS at 1080p, 33.8 FPS at 1440p, and 21.2 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 14.1 FPS (a 29.4% reduction), and from 1440p to 4K is 12.6 FPS (a 37.3% reduction). This consistent decline as pixel count increases indicates that the GPU is saturated at all resolutions — the CPU has no trouble feeding frames, and the limiting factor is the 1050 Ti's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

At Medium settings, the scaling is 34.7 FPS at 1080p, 21.7 FPS at 1440p, and 19.2 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 13 FPS (37.5%), while the 1440p to 4K drop is only 2.5 FPS (11.5%). The smaller relative drop at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is already so constrained at 1440p that additional pixel count has diminishing impact — the bottleneck has shifted from pixel throughput to some other fixed cost, likely memory bandwidth or shader capacity.

High settings show 28 FPS at 1080p, 19.5 FPS at 1440p, and 17.2 FPS at 4K. The 8.5 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (30.4%) and 2.3 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K (11.8%) mirror the Medium pattern. Ultra settings yield 23.8 FPS at 1080p, 21.9 FPS at 1440p, and 12.6 FPS at 4K. Here, the 1080p to 1440p drop is minimal (1.9 FPS, or 8%), but the 1440p to 4K drop is 9.3 FPS (42.5%). This irregular pattern at Ultra suggests that the 4 GB VRAM capacity is being exceeded at 4K Ultra, causing a more severe performance collapse.

The overall scaling behavior — where the frame rate decreases monotonically with resolution at every preset — confirms that the CPU is not the limiting component. If the 9800X3D were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain roughly constant across resolutions, since the CPU's workload is resolution-independent. Instead, the data shows a strong resolution sensitivity, which is the signature of a GPU-limited system. The 1050 Ti's 112.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 4 GB VRAM are simply insufficient for Control at higher resolutions and settings.