Control

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a robust Control experience, with benchmark data showing a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. This analysis examines the measured FPS data, component roles, and scaling characteristics to provide a precise picture of this pairing’s capabilities.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, and it carries a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 24 CPU lanes. This configuration provides strong single-thread and multi-thread headroom, which is relevant for Control’s engine that benefits from high IPC and responsive core scheduling.

Benchmark scores place this CPU in the 90th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (average score 37811, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (average score 37831, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core i9-13900HK (average score 38020, delta -0.6%), and the Intel Core i5-13600KF (average score 38028, delta -0.7%). The data shows this CPU is effectively tied with those competitors, with deltas under 1%, meaning any performance differences in Control are unlikely to stem from CPU capability alone.

For Control specifically, the measured FPS data indicates the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 191.8 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the processor can feed the GPU adequately even in less demanding scenes. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 and multi-thread score of 10081 reinforce that the 9800X3D has ample compute headroom. The large L3 cache is particularly beneficial for game logic and draw call processing, which can be demanding in action-adventure titles with dynamic environments. Overall, the CPU’s role here is to ensure consistent frame pacing, and the data shows it does so without introducing notable limitations until the GPU becomes saturated at higher settings.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). It includes 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 64 ROPs, 46 ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores. The card’s FP32 performance is 29.15 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 37283, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (average score 37507, delta -0.6%), the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (average score 38008, delta -1.9%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (average score 38135, delta -2.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (average score 36371, delta 2.5%). These deltas are small, but the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM and high bandwidth are more than sufficient for Control’s demands, which include high-resolution textures and physics effects.

In Control, the GPU is the clear limiting factor as resolution and settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 54, while at 1080p Low it reaches 191.8 FPS. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload at higher quality presets. The RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s supports the game’s asset streaming without visible stutter, and the 12 GB capacity avoids VRAM overflow even at 4K Ultra. The data indicates that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are the primary determinants of performance above 1080p Medium, with the CPU providing stable support.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 403rd out of 1636 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the upper quartile of all systems. This rank reflects a balanced configuration where the CPU’s high-end capabilities complement the GPU’s mid-to-high-end performance. The rank of 403 suggests that many other combos, likely those with higher-tier GPUs, outperform this pairing in absolute frame rates, but the 9800X3D ensures that this combo is not held back by processor limitations.

Relative to the CPU’s rivals, the 9800X3D’s performance is essentially identical to the Intel Xeon 6353P and Core Ultra 5 225, with deltas of -0.1%. This means that pairing the RTX 4070 with those CPUs would yield nearly the same Control results, assuming no other system differences. The GPU’s rivals, such as the RX Vega 56, are within 2.5% in average score, but the RTX 4070’s modern architecture and higher VRAM capacity give it a practical edge in Control’s demanding scenes. The combo’s rank of 403 out of 1636 indicates that it is competitive with a wide range of systems, and the measured data confirms that it delivers playable frame rates at all tested settings except for the most demanding 4K Ultra preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 191.8 FPS on Low, 138.5 FPS on Medium, 123.2 FPS on High, and 104.5 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that even at the highest 1080p preset, the system maintains well above 100 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The gap between Low and Ultra is 87.3 FPS, indicating that settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 148.1 on Low, 101.7 on Medium, 92.3 on High, and 81.9 on Ultra. The drop from 1080p is consistent, with the Ultra preset falling below 90 FPS. This resolution is still very playable, with all presets exceeding 80 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 66.2 FPS, showing that the GPU is beginning to feel the load but still has headroom.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more demanding: 98.8 FPS on Low, 72 FPS on Medium, 62.5 FPS on High, and 54 FPS on Ultra. The High and Ultra presets dip below 63 FPS, which may require adaptive sync or reduced settings for a smooth experience. The Low preset maintains nearly 100 FPS, demonstrating the GPU’s capability when quality effects are minimized. The spread between Low and Ultra is 44.8 FPS, the smallest absolute difference across resolutions, indicating that the GPU is becoming the dominant constraint at 4K.

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

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 191.8 at 1080p to 148.1 at 1440p (a 22.8% decrease), and then to 98.8 at 4K (a 33.3% decrease from 1440p). At Ultra settings, the drop is from 104.5 at 1080p to 81.9 at 1440p (21.6% decrease), and then to 54 at 4K (34.1% decrease from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU’s rendering workload scales linearly with pixel count, which is expected for a rasterization-heavy game like Control.

The data suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves nearly 200 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to expose any CPU bottleneck if present. The fact that the 9800X3D maintains this performance, combined with its 90th percentile ranking, confirms that the processor is not the constraint. Conversely, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 54 FPS, which is a direct result of the RTX 4070’s compute and memory limits. The GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the raw shading throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS is the primary determinant of 4K performance.

The scaling behavior also shows that the RTX 4070 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it delivers 104.5 FPS or higher at Ultra settings. At 4K, the card requires settings adjustments to maintain playability, with High and Ultra presets falling below 63 FPS. The measured data indicates that for 4K gaming, users should opt for Medium or Low settings to achieve 72 FPS or higher. Overall, this combo provides a balanced experience for Control, with the CPU offering headroom for future upgrades and the GPU delivering solid performance across most configurations tested.