Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a compelling Control experience across all tested resolutions, with the data revealing a system that transitions from CPU-bound at 1080p to firmly GPU-bound at 4K. The combo ranks 499th out of 1,636 tested configurations in this title, placing it comfortably in the upper third of all systems. The RTX 3080, built on the Ampere architecture with 8,704 shading units and 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, provides the graphical muscle, while the 9800X3D's Zen 5 architecture with 8 cores and 16 threads ensures the CPU never becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured frames per second across twelve distinct resolution and settings combinations paint a detailed picture of how this pairing behaves under varying loads.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a pronounced GPU-bound scaling pattern, with average frame rates dropping by approximately 68% from the lowest to the highest resolution at identical settings. At High settings, the system delivers 119.3 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 89.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 58.4 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 25% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 35% additional reduction moving from 1440p to 4K. The frame rate decline is not linear, indicating that the RTX 3080's memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s and its 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute become increasingly strained as pixel count grows.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts dramatically. The system achieves 184.9 FPS at 1080p, 141 FPS at 1440p, and 93.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is 50% higher than the 4K High result, suggesting that at Low settings the GPU has ample headroom and the frame rate is still limited by rendering workloads rather than CPU throughput. However, the 1080p Low result of 184.9 FPS compared to the 1440p Low result of 141 FPS shows a 31% drop, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 34%, indicating a relatively consistent scaling curve at lower settings.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the most severe resolution scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 100.2 FPS, which drops to 77.5 FPS at 1440p and 54.4 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p reduction is 23%, while the 1440p to 4K reduction is 30%. This pattern suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU's 10 GB frame buffer and its 68 RT cores are working near their limits, with the 4K Ultra result of 54.4 FPS falling below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth for action-adventure titles. The data clearly shows that resolution scaling in Control is dominated by GPU workload, with the CPU's role diminishing as pixel count increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on which preset delivers the optimal experience at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 119.3 FPS offers a strong balance, providing a 19% improvement over Ultra's 100.2 FPS while maintaining visual fidelity well above Medium's 129.6 FPS. The Medium preset at 129.6 FPS is only 8% faster than High, making High the recommended choice for 1080p gaming where the visual upgrade outweighs the modest frame rate cost.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 89.6 FPS emerges as the best option, sitting comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and delivering 16% more performance than Ultra's 77.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is faster, but the visual degradation from High to Medium is noticeable in a game like Control with its detailed environments. The 1440p High result of 89.6 FPS provides enough headroom for demanding scenes without compromising the experience.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The High preset at 58.4 FPS falls just short of 60 FPS, while Medium at 64.6 FPS crosses that threshold with a 11% improvement. The Low preset at 93.3 FPS is significantly faster but sacrifices substantial visual quality. For 4K, the Medium preset at 64.6 FPS represents the best measured option, as it maintains playable frame rates while retaining more graphical detail than Low. Ultra at 54.4 FPS is not recommended at this resolution, as the 11% drop below High's already marginal 58.4 FPS makes for a less stable experience.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 3080 perform relative to its closest rivals in this system?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35,787, placing it in the 80th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores 35,860, which is 0.2% higher, while the AMD Radeon 880M trails by 0.4% at 35,646. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE leads by 0.9% at 36,101.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark standing compared to similar processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D achieves an average benchmark score of 37,780, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. It trails the Intel Xeon 6353P by 0.1% (37,811) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 by 0.1% (37,831), while the Intel Core i9-13900HK leads by 0.6% at 38,020.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: No. The measured 4K High result is 58.4 FPS, which falls 2.7% short of the 60 FPS target. However, dropping to Medium settings at 4K yields 64.6 FPS, which clears the threshold by 7.7%.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its single-threaded results?

A: The 9800X3D scores 34,004 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,800 in single-core, a ratio of approximately 7.1:1. In 3DMark, the 16-thread score of 10,081 is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 10,067, indicating that the 8-core, 16-thread configuration scales effectively up to its thread count.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: The High preset at 89.6 FPS offers the best balance, providing 15.6% more performance than Ultra's 77.5 FPS while maintaining higher visual quality than Medium's 99 FPS. The 89.6 FPS result provides a 49% margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the RTX 3080's VRAM capacity limit performance at 4K?

A: The 10 GB GDDR6X frame buffer, paired with 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, appears sufficient for 4K at Medium settings (64.6 FPS) but struggles at Ultra (54.4 FPS). The 19% drop from High to Ultra at 4K suggests memory capacity or bandwidth constraints become relevant at the highest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 499th out of 1,636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 69.5th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a system that is well above average but not at the extreme high end, consistent with the RTX 3080's 80th percentile GPU standing and the CPU's 90th percentile CPU ranking. The gap between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's lower rank indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions.

The combo's position relative to other tested systems suggests that while the 9800X3D provides ample processing headroom, the RTX 3080's performance ceiling prevents the pairing from reaching the top tier. The GPU's nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 0.2% higher average score, the AMD Radeon 880M at 0.4% lower, and the RX 7900 GRE at 0.9% higher — all fall within a tight performance band, indicating that this GPU class delivers consistent results across different architectures. The 499th rank out of 1,636 means that 1,137 tested combos perform worse, while 498 perform better, positioning this system in the upper-middle tier of Control performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 4 nm process with 8,315 million transistors. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.20 GHz, combined with a 96 MB shared L3 cache, provide substantial single-threaded and multi-threaded capabilities. In 3DMark testing, the CPU scores 10,081 in the 16-thread test and 1,212 in single-thread, while Cinebench R23 results show 34,004 multi-core and 4,800 single-core scores. These figures indicate strong performance scaling across thread counts, with the max-thread 3DMark score of 10,067 nearly matching the 16-thread result.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes more evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 184.9 FPS, which is 98% higher than the 4K Low result of 93.3 FPS, suggesting that the CPU can drive frame rates well above what the GPU delivers at higher resolutions. The 1080p High result of 119.3 FPS compared to the 4K High result of 58.4 FPS shows a 104% difference, further indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking and its benchmark scores place it among the top processors, and its 120 W TDP with a 4 nm process node ensures efficient operation. The 9800X3D's nearest CPU rivals, including the Intel Core i9-13900HK at 38,020 average score (0.6% higher) and the Core i5-13600KF at 38,028 (0.7% higher), all perform within 1% of this chip, confirming that the 9800X3D sits at the top of the CPU performance hierarchy.