Control

Control’s benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination provide a clear picture of how this flagship pairing handles the game’s demands. Measured data spans three resolutions and four quality presets, revealing a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings while showcasing the CPU’s headroom at lower resolutions. The analysis below breaks down the scaling behavior, component roles, and optimal configurations based strictly on the recorded frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a pronounced and consistent drop in average frame rates across every preset, confirming that resolution scaling directly taxes the rendering pipeline. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 172 at 1920x1080 to 130 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 42 FPS, and then further to 88 at 3840x2160, another 42 FPS drop. This linear degradation from 1080p to 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and shading throughput are the primary limiting factors as pixel count increases.

Low settings exhibit the steepest relative scaling loss. The average FPS at 1080p is 272, which drops to 206 at 1440p (a 66 FPS decrease) and then to 139 at 4K (a 67 FPS decrease). The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the absolute frame rates remain high enough to suggest that the CPU still has reserve capacity. At 4K Low, the 139 FPS average is still well above typical display refresh rates, yet the gap between 1080p and 4K grows larger in percentage terms compared to higher presets.

Medium settings follow a similar pattern, with averages of 194 FPS at 1080p, 146 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The delta between each step is 48 FPS and then 47 FPS, showing remarkable consistency. Ultra settings yield the lowest absolute numbers, starting at 149 FPS for 1080p, dropping to 113 FPS at 1440p, and finally 76 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 36 FPS and the 1440p-to-4K drop of 37 FPS again show a steady slope.

The data reveals that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, particularly on Low settings, frame rates exceed 270 FPS, which is far beyond what the RTX 4090’s raw compute would bottleneck at if the CPU were weak. Instead, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s strong single-thread performance keeps the pipeline fed, allowing the GPU to operate near its ceiling. At 4K, the average FPS across all presets compresses into a narrower band—76 to 139 FPS—compared to the 1080p range of 149 to 272 FPS. This compression is a classic sign of GPU saturation, where the graphics card’s pixel and texture processing limits dominate, regardless of CPU capability.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 272, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates the CPU and GPU combination can push very high refresh rates when graphical load is minimized.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra experience compare to 1080p Low?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 76, while at 1080p Low it is 272. This represents a 196 FPS difference, or a 72% reduction in frame rate, demonstrating the massive impact of resolution and settings on the rendering workload.

Q: Is there a measurable minimum frame rate for any configuration?

A: Yes, the only rows with minFps data are the Medium presets. At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 165 FPS; at 2560x1440 Medium, it is 124 FPS; and at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 84 FPS. These minimums show the worst-case dips during the benchmark run.

Q: Which resolution provides the most consistent frame pacing according to the data?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p shows a min of 124 FPS and a max of 168 FPS, which is a spread of 44 FPS. The 1080p Medium has a larger spread of 58 FPS (165 to 223), while 4K Medium has a spread of 30 FPS (84 to 114), making the 4K Medium the tightest range relative to its average.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combination ranks 121st out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of all configurations evaluated for Control. This position in the overall ranking reflects a high-performance pairing.

Q: Does the data show any scenario where the CPU becomes the bottleneck?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 272, which is exceptionally high and suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter. If the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would plateau at a lower value. The consistent scaling across resolutions points to GPU-bound behavior throughout.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) and manufactured on a 4 nm process. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, and it features 96 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications contribute to its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23230 and a single-core score of 2080.

In Control, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low—272 FPS average—demonstrate that the processor can handle high command throughput without becoming a limiting factor. If the CPU were weak, we would expect to see a ceiling around 150-200 FPS, but the data shows no such plateau. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 and the PassMark single-thread score of 4430 corroborate strong per-core performance, which is critical for games that rely on a main render thread.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23230 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 18696, are not fully utilized by Control, which typically scales with fewer threads. However, the presence of 16 threads ensures that any background tasks or secondary game systems do not starve the render thread. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 8252 shows scaling efficiency, but the game’s performance is more dependent on the single-thread speed, which the 9800X3D delivers.

The CPU’s position relative to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 with an average score of 40081 and a deltaPct of -0.8, shows it is comparable in synthetic benchmarks. However, in gaming workloads like Control, the 9800X3D’s cache hierarchy and clock speeds provide the responsiveness needed to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions. The data does not show any configuration where the CPU drags down performance; even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 76 is more attributable to GPU limits than to CPU inadequacy.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 121 out of 3720 tested configurations places it in the top 3.3% of all combinations evaluated for Control. This percentile positioning indicates that the pairing of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 4090 is exceptionally well-suited for this game, delivering frame rates that exceed the vast majority of tested systems.

Given that there are 3720 combos total, a rank of 121 means there are 3599 configurations below it. The data shows that higher-ranked combos likely incorporate even more specialized hardware or overclocked variants, but the measured FPS numbers for this combo are already very high. For context, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 39768 places it near the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, which has a deltaPct of -0.7, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS with a deltaPct of 0.4. These synthetic scores are within 1% of each other, yet the 9800X3D’s gaming performance in Control is what matters here.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 60347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60, which has a deltaPct of 0, but the RTX 4090’s real-world gaming performance is far superior due to its architectural advantages. The rank of 121 is a strong indicator that this combo is not just a paper tiger; it produces measurable frame rates that place it among the best for Control. The gap between this combo and those ranked higher is likely small in terms of FPS, but the data only provides the rank, not the delta to the top.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates range from 149 FPS on Ultra to 272 FPS on Low. The High preset delivers 172 FPS, while Medium sits at 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 and a maximum of 223. These numbers show that even at the highest quality setting, the system maintains over 149 FPS, which is sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop but remain robust. Low settings produce 206 FPS, High yields 130 FPS, Medium records 146 FPS (min 124, max 168), and Ultra falls to 113 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 93 FPS, indicating that the settings preset has a significant impact on performance even at a higher pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 139 FPS for Low, 99 FPS for Medium (with a min of 84 and max of 114), 88 FPS for High, and 76 FPS for Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 63 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions. This compression suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s fixed-function units are saturated, and increasing settings from Low to Ultra adds less relative overhead than at 1080p where the CPU has more headroom.

The Medium preset is the only one that provides min and max values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the min of 165 FPS and max of 223 FPS show a variance of 58 FPS. At 1440p, the min of 124 FPS and max of 168 FPS have a variance of 44 FPS. At 4K, the min of 84 FPS and max of 114 FPS have a variance of 30 FPS. This narrowing variance at higher resolutions indicates more stable frame delivery, likely due to the GPU becoming the consistent bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers an average of 272 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play on 240Hz or 360Hz displays. However, the visual quality is minimal, and the data shows that Medium at 1080p still provides 194 FPS, which is more than enough for most high-refresh monitors while offering better visuals.

At 1440p, the High preset at 130 FPS is a strong balance, but Medium at 146 FPS offers a 16 FPS advantage with only a slight reduction in visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 113 FPS is also viable for 120Hz displays, though it sacrifices some headroom. The Medium preset’s min of 124 FPS ensures that frame drops do not fall below the 120Hz threshold, making it the safest choice for a consistent experience.

For 4K gaming, the Ultra preset at 76 FPS is playable on a 60Hz display, but the High preset at 88 FPS provides a smoother experience with more headroom above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is the best option for 4K, as it maintains an average near 100 FPS and has a minimum of 84 FPS, which avoids noticeable stutter on 90Hz or 120Hz panels. The Low preset at 139 FPS is overkill for most 4K displays and sacrifices too much visual quality.

Overall, the Medium preset emerges as the most versatile choice across all resolutions. It delivers 194 FPS at 1080p, 146 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K, with the only recorded minimum frame rates in the data showing it never drops below 84 FPS even at 4K. This consistency makes Medium the recommended preset for a balanced experience, though High at 1440p and 4K also offers strong performance for users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines. Its boost clock is 2520 MHz, and it has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The GPU’s raw compute is rated at 82.58 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

In Control, the GPU’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling with resolution. At 4K, the average FPS across all settings is below 140, which is a direct result of the increased pixel count demanding more fragment shading and texture fetches. The 24 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Control’s textures, so memory size is not a limiting factor. Instead, the memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s and the 176 ROPs determine the fill rate, which affects resolution scaling.

The GPU’s benchmark scores, such as a PassMark G3D score of 38194 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, reflect its strong performance. The RTX 4090’s nearest rival, the Intel Arc Pro A60, has a deltaPct of 0, but the real-world gaming performance in Control shows the RTX 4090’s advantage, as the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (76 FPS) is respectable for a demanding title.

The GPU’s clock speed of 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost ensures high sustained performance. At 1080p Low, the 272 FPS average indicates the GPU is not bottlenecked by the CPU, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s shading units and texture units become the primary constraint. The transition from 1080p to 4K at High settings results in a 84 FPS drop (from 172 to 88), which is a 49% reduction, attributable to the fourfold increase in pixel count.

The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in Control, which is not a ray-tracing-heavy title in this data set. The GPU’s 450 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate high power draw, but the benchmark results show that this power translates directly into frame rate. The data confirms that the RTX 4090 is the determining factor for performance at 4K, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom at lower resolutions to avoid leaving performance on the table.