Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title that stresses both CPU and GPU, and the measured results for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 reveal a system that is heavily optimized for high-refresh-rate 1440p play while still delivering a smooth 4K experience at high settings. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions, with the combination ranking in the 303rd position out of 1636 tested combos, placing it firmly in the top 20% of all tested configurations. This pairing leverages a top-tier gaming processor with a strong mid-to-high-range graphics card, and the benchmark results indicate that the system's behavior changes character depending on whether the workload is pixel-bound at 4K or more balanced at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals a system that becomes increasingly GPU-limited as resolution climbs. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 208.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 107.2 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a stark 48.6% reduction in performance. This steep decline is a textbook indicator of the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts, as the RTX 5070's rendering workload scales almost linearly with the number of pixels. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is narrower, dropping from 208.4 to 154.8 FPS, which is a 25.7% decrease, suggesting that the CPU can still feed the GPU adequately at 1440p before the pixel throughput demands take over.

The scaling pattern tightens as settings increase. At Ultra settings, the frame rate only drops from 115 FPS at 1080p to 89 FPS at 1440p, a 22.6% reduction, and then further down to 58.2 FPS at 4K, another 34.6% cut. This non-linear scaling at higher quality presets indicates that the game's visual effects, such as ray tracing and complex shading, amplify the GPU's load disproportionately at higher resolutions. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is still a meaningful contributor to overall performance, but by 4K, the RTX 5070's rendering pipeline is the sole limiting factor, with the 9800X3D's high single-thread performance being more than sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is built on the Zen 5 architecture with a Granite Ridge codename, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.20 GHz are notably high, and it is backed by a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is critical for gaming workloads that rely on fast data access. The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its gaming pedigree, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4800 and a multi-core score of 34004, indicating excellent per-thread performance that matters most for game engines like the one powering Control. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 further confirms the processor's ability to handle the primary game thread efficiently.

In this specific game, the CPU's role becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom. The jump from 107.2 FPS at 4K Low to 208.4 FPS at 1080p Low demonstrates that the CPU is capable of pushing frame rates far beyond what the GPU can manage at higher pixel counts. The 9800X3D's performance percentile of 90 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780, places it just behind the Intel Core i5-13600KF in the nearest rivals list, which scores 38028 with a deltaPct of -0.7. This close margin suggests that the 9800X3D provides competitive CPU-bound performance, ensuring that it will not hold back the RTX 5070 in most gaming scenarios, particularly at 1440p where the measured 154.8 FPS at Low settings shows the combo can exceed typical high-refresh-rate monitor capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the definitive performance driver in this configuration, particularly at higher resolutions. It features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, which is ample for the textures and effects in Control. The GPU's boost clock of 2512 MHz and its 6144 shading units provide the raw compute power needed to handle the game's physics and particle effects. The memory clock of 1750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective, ensures that data transfer does not become a bottleneck even at 4K Ultra, where the measured 58.2 FPS indicates a heavy but manageable load.

The RTX 5070's benchmark scores show it is a balanced performer, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 and a Passmark G3D score of 29137. Its percentile rank of 83 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41687, places it in the upper echelon of graphics cards. Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5070 is only 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 in average score, which is a notable finding given the generational leap. In Control, the GPU's role is most evident in the 4K results, where the frame rate at High settings (69.3 FPS) is nearly half of the 1080p High result (132.6 FPS), indicating that the GPU is working at full capacity. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's requirements, as evidenced by the stable performance across all settings without any indication of memory-related stuttering or frame drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 303 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 81.5th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong showing, indicating that the pairing is well-balanced for this title. The rank suggests that while there are faster combos, this system is positioned to deliver a high-quality experience without being bottlenecked by either component. The CPU's high single-core performance complements the GPU's strengths, and the data shows that the combo is particularly effective at 1440p, where the 103 FPS at High settings represents a sweet spot for smooth gameplay.

The ranking also implies that the RTX 5070 is the more limiting factor in this pairing, as the CPU's performance percentile of 90 is significantly higher than the GPU's 83. This is typical for a gaming-focused CPU paired with a mid-range GPU, and the results confirm that the system is not CPU-bound in most scenarios. The combo's rank of 303 is respectable, and it indicates that users can expect consistent frame rates across a variety of settings, with the 4K Ultra result of 58.2 FPS being the only sub-60 FPS outcome, which is still playable for a single-player action title. Overall, the combo ranks as a high-performing setup that prioritizes frame rate over resolution, making it ideal for competitive or fast-paced play.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its CPU-bound potential. The average FPS ranges from 208.4 at Low settings, down to 147.1 at Medium, 132.6 at High, and 115 at Ultra. The large gap between Low and Ultra, a 44.8% reduction, indicates that the GPU is increasingly taxed by the visual effects, but the CPU is still able to maintain high frame rates. At 2560x1440, the results show a more balanced workload, with Low settings hitting 154.8 FPS, Medium at 110 FPS, High at 103 FPS, and Ultra at 89 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 42.5%, showing that the GPU is now the primary limiter, but the CPU still has enough headroom to support these frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck. The average FPS drops to 107.2 at Low, 77.8 at Medium, 69.3 at High, and 58.2 at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is steeper at 45.7%, reflecting the massive pixel workload. The 4K High result of 69.3 FPS is particularly notable, as it indicates that the system can provide a smooth 4K experience with a modest reduction in settings, while the Ultra preset demands a frame rate that is just below the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows that for the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the 1440p High preset at 103 FPS is the optimal configuration, offering a 78% improvement over the 4K Ultra result while still delivering excellent image quality.