Control

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 in Control produces a dataset that clearly delineates the boundaries of each component’s influence. At 1080p, the combination delivers frame rates above 140 FPS on Low settings, but the scaling curve demonstrates that the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution and graphical fidelity increase. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, contextualizes the CPU’s synthetic benchmark standing, and examines how this specific combo ranks among the 1,636 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces an average of 140.3 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops the average to 105.9 FPS, a reduction of approximately 24.5%. The jump to 4K at Low settings further reduces the average to 70.9 FPS, which is a 49.5% decline from the 1080p figure. This pattern indicates that the CPU, with its high single-thread and multi-thread capabilities, is not the limiting factor here; instead, the RTX 4060’s rendering throughput dictates the upper bounds.

The scaling becomes more severe when examining the High and Ultra presets. At 1080p High, the average is 89.2 FPS, which falls to 67.6 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2% drop) and then to 46.2 FPS at 4K (a 48.2% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 78.9 FPS at 1080p, 58.4 FPS at 1440p, and 41.1 FPS at 4K. The consistent roughly 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings strongly suggests that the GPU is saturated, while the CPU has ample headroom. The data shows that 4K Ultra is only playable at 41.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, while 1440p High (67.6 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (78.9 FPS) remain smooth experiences.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Control?*

A: Based on the measured averages, 1920x1080 with High settings (89.2 FPS) or 2560x1440 with High settings (67.6 FPS) offer the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. For 4K gaming, only the Low preset (70.9 FPS) achieves a clearly playable average, while the Medium preset (50.6 FPS) is borderline.

Q: How does the CPU’s synthetic benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has an average benchmark score of 37,780. This places it 0.1% behind the Intel Xeon 6353P (37,811) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37,831), and 0.6% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HK (38,020). It is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600KF (38,028), though the delta is negative, indicating the rival scores higher.

*Q: Is the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Control at 4K?*

A: The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 41.1, indicating the GPU is under heavy load. While the VRAM capacity is not explicitly tested in the FPS data, the significant frame rate drops at higher settings suggest that memory bandwidth and capacity may contribute to performance limits alongside the GPU’s compute capabilities.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 rank against its closest competitors in synthetic tests?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 23,181. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6600M by 0.6% (23,321) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti by 0.7% (23,338). Conversely, it leads the Intel Arc B580 by 0.7% (23,021) and the AMD Radeon 760M by 0.8% (22,999).

Q: Does the CPU’s 3DMark performance align with its overall percentile?

A: The CPU sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,780. Its 3DMark multi-thread score of 10,081 and single-thread score of 1,212 are consistent with a high-end processor that should not bottleneck the RTX 4060 in most gaming scenarios.

Q: What is the expected frame rate for 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured average for 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 73.3 FPS. This is higher than the High preset (67.6 FPS) but lower than the Low preset (105.9 FPS), showing a clear performance gradient based on graphical settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, serves as the definitive performance gate in this benchmark. With a boost clock of 2460 MHz and a base clock of 1830 MHz, its compute throughput is substantial for its class, yet the data shows it is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, which is a limiting factor when pushing 4K resolutions with high-detail textures.

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU’s role shifts from adequate to strained as the resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU can maintain high frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 140.3 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is feeding the GPU well, and the GPU is able to process frames quickly due to lower pixel count. However, at 4K, the pixel throughput demand quadruples, and the GPU’s average FPS drops to 70.9 on Low and 41.1 on Ultra. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores do not appear to offset the raw fill-rate limitations, as the pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s, which is insufficient for high-refresh 4K gaming in this title.

The GPU’s synthetic scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,302 and Passmark G3D score of 19,545 place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. The data shows that while the RTX 4060 is capable of handling 1440p gaming effectively, it is not designed for 4K Ultra settings in demanding action-adventure games like Control. The GPU’s TDP of 115 W and dual-slot design indicate an efficiency-focused card, but the frame rate data confirms that efficiency does not translate to high-end 4K performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers a wide performance envelope. Low settings produce an average of 140.3 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh monitors. Medium settings yield 100.7 FPS, High settings drop to 89.2 FPS, and Ultra settings settle at 78.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 61.4 FPS, showing that the CPU has enough headroom to let the GPU’s settings changes dictate the final output.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are more constrained. Low settings hit 105.9 FPS, Medium drops to 73.3 FPS, High falls to 67.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 58.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 47.5 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s rendering capabilities are becoming more critical. At this resolution, the system can still achieve 60 FPS on High, but Ultra settings miss the mark by a narrow margin.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low settings average 70.9 FPS, which is playable, but Medium falls to 50.6 FPS, High drops to 46.2 FPS, and Ultra is only at 41.1 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is stark; for instance, the High preset loses 43 FPS on average when moving up in resolution. The data shows that 4K gaming is only viable with the lowest settings, and even then, the frame rate is far from the 144 FPS achievable at 1080p Low.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Control, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 4060 ranks 920 out of 1,636 total combos. This places the configuration in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, which is consistent with the GPU’s performance ceiling. The CPU is a top-tier part, ranking in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, but the GPU’s 66th percentile standing drags the overall combo down.

The rank of 920 suggests that while this system is not a top performer for Control, it is also far from the bottom. The data implies that the combination is balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as the measured FPS at those resolutions is generally above 60 FPS for most settings. However, the 4K results are below the average for many other combos, which likely explains the mid-pack ranking. The CPU’s high benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34,004 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3,341, do not translate into a higher ranking because the GPU cannot keep pace at higher resolutions. The combo’s rank is effectively a function of the GPU’s limitations, as the CPU provides more than enough processing power to avoid being a bottleneck.