Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 lands at rank 1365 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. That places this pairing in the lower 17% of all configurations, a result that reflects the stark imbalance between the two components. The CPU is a top-tier processor, sitting in the 90th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU rests at just the 58th percentile against all GPUs. The data shows a classic bottleneck scenario: the processor is vastly overqualified for the workload the graphics card can deliver. This combo is not competitive for high-refresh-rate play, but the benchmark results indicate it remains functional for 60 FPS gaming at lower settings and resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The rank of 1365 out of 1636 combos is a decisive statement about the pairing's overall capability in Control. This is not a mid-pack result; it is a clear indication that the system will struggle to deliver smooth frame rates in demanding scenarios. The culprit is unambiguous: the RTX 2060 holds the entire system back. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, is a processor designed to eliminate CPU-side limitations. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34004 and single-core score of 4800 place it in a performance tier that is overkill for a 2019 title like Control. The GPU, however, is a Turing-era part with a 6 GB GDDR6 memory buffer and a 192-bit memory bus. The average benchmark score of 16074 for the GPU, compared to the CPU's 37780, quantifies the massive gap in raw compute capability between the two. Consequently, the system's rank is effectively predetermined by the GPU's ceiling. The CPU's performance headroom is irrelevant when the graphics card cannot translate that power into rendered frames. The data suggests that any performance gains from the 9800X3D's 96 MB of shared L3 cache are entirely masked by the GPU's inability to keep up, making this a configuration where the processor's strengths are wasted in this specific title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the defining component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured performance ceiling. The card operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with 1920 shading units and 120 texture mapping units. It has 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, though Control may not fully leverage these features at the settings tested. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a significant limiting factor at higher resolutions. The card's FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, and its pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s further define its rendering limits. The GPU's average benchmark score of 16074 places it just 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, according to the nearestRivals data. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7%. These marginal deltas indicate that the RTX 2060 is a mid-range part from its generation, and its age shows in Control. The 6 GB VRAM buffer is particularly problematic; at 4K resolution, the card is forced to manage textures and geometry with limited memory, which contributes to the low frame rates observed. The card's percentile of 58 against all GPUs confirms that it is an average performer in the broader market, and this pairing with a top-tier CPU does not change that fundamental limitation.

FAQ

Q: Why is this combo ranked so low (1365 out of 1636) when it uses a top-tier CPU?

A: The rank is driven by the GPU. The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074 and sits in the 58th percentile, while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D scores 37780 and is in the 90th percentile. The GPU's performance ceiling determines the frame rates, making the CPU's power irrelevant in this context.

Q: What is the difference in average benchmark scores between the CPU and GPU?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 37780, while the GPU's average benchmark score is 16074. This represents a roughly 57% higher score for the CPU, indicating a massive compute capability mismatch where the CPU is significantly more powerful than the GPU.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark performance?

A: The RTX 2060 scores 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). It is 1.7% slower than both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (both at 16351).

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components in this combo?

A: The CPU has a launch MSRP of $479. The GPU has a launch MSRP of 349 USD.

Q: Does the CPU's high L3 cache (96 MB) help improve frame rates in this game?

A: The benchmark results do not support that conclusion. Despite the 96 MB of shared L3 cache, the measured FPS are consistently low, particularly at high resolutions, indicating that the GPU's limitations are the controlling factor, not the CPU's cache.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The GPU has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This limited 6 GB capacity is a likely contributor to the low minimum frame rates and overall poor performance at 4K resolution, where memory pressure is highest.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers its most playable results. With Low settings, the average frame rate is 110.3 FPS, which is the only setting that breaks the 100 FPS barrier. Medium settings produce 77.2 FPS, High settings yield 68.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58.6 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression: as graphical fidelity increases, the frame rate decreases by approximately 10-15 FPS per step, with the largest single drop occurring from Low to Medium (a 33.1 FPS difference). Moving to 1440p, the performance degrades significantly. Low settings still manage 78.7 FPS, but Medium falls to 59.3 FPS, High to 51.2 FPS, and Ultra to 42.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 19.4 FPS, showing that the GPU begins to struggle with the increased pixel count. At 4K, the results are largely unplayable for smooth gaming. Low settings produce 53.2 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 40 FPS. Medium drops to 37.4 FPS, High to 34.1 FPS, and Ultra to 31.2 FPS. The data indicates that the RTX 2060 is only suitable for 4K at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is marginal. The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: the GPU is the bottleneck, with the CPU's performance having no measurable impact on the outcome.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the extent to which the GPU is the limiting factor. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 68.5 at 1080p to 51.2 at 1440p (a 25.3% decrease) and then to 34.1 at 4K (a 50.2% decrease from 1080p). This near-linear scaling with pixel count is a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU is not the constraint; if it were, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions. For Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The frame rate goes from 110.3 at 1080p to 78.7 at 1440p (a 28.6% drop) and then to 53.2 at 4K (a 51.8% drop from 1080p). This steep decline indicates that even at the lowest graphical settings, the GPU's raw rendering power is insufficient to maintain high frame rates as resolution increases. The data strongly suggests that the RTX 2060's 6 GB of VRAM and 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth are overwhelmed at higher resolutions, as the texture and geometry data exceeds the card's capacity. The CPU, with its 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 96 MB of L3 cache, is never the limiting factor in this scenario. The conclusion from the resolution scaling data is that this combo is only viable for 1080p gaming at Medium or High settings, or 1440p at Low settings, with 4K being reserved for the least demanding visual presets. The 9800X3D's performance headroom is entirely untapped, as the GPU's limitations dominate the system's behavior in Control.