Control

# Control Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers strong frame rates across all tested configurations in Control, with the combo ranking 71st out of 1,636 tested combinations in this game. This places the pairing in the top 4.3% of all tested systems, indicating excellent overall performance headroom for this action-adventure title. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 5 architecture, posts a 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 89th percentile against all GPUs, creating a balanced platform where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other in typical gaming scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 71 out of 1,636 tested combos in Control places it firmly in elite territory, outperforming the vast majority of systems tested. This ranking reflects the synergy between the 9800X3D's strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities and the RTX 5080's substantial graphics throughput. The CPU's average benchmark score of 37,780 places it nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6353P (37,811, just 0.1% higher) and Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37,831, 0.1% higher), while slightly trailing the Intel Core i9-13900HK by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-13600KF by 0.7%. These minuscule deltas indicate that at the CPU level, this processor competes directly with top-tier Intel offerings in aggregate benchmarks.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59,188 shows it leads the Intel Arc A570M by 1.6% and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X by 2.6%, while the Intel Arc Pro A60 posts a score 1.9% higher. These rival deltas suggest the graphics card sits in a competitive mid-to-high range for synthetic workloads, yet in Control specifically, the measured frame rates demonstrate the real-world advantage of this pairing. The 89th percentile GPU ranking combined with the 90th percentile CPU ranking indicates that the system as a whole is well-matched for this game's demands, which include physics-heavy environments and particle effects typical of the action-adventure genre.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured FPS across all settings presets reveals a clear optimal configuration for different priorities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 260.1 FPS average, which far exceeds the refresh rate of most displays and provides maximum responsiveness for competitive play. However, the Medium preset at 185.1 FPS and High at 163.8 FPS both offer substantial frame rates while improving visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 146.4 FPS still maintains a very high frame rate, making it viable for high-refresh monitors.

At 2560x1440, the picture shifts toward High as the sweet spot. The High preset delivers 124.7 FPS, comfortably above the 120Hz threshold for smooth gameplay, while Ultra drops to 108.5 FPS, still excellent but potentially below the maximum refresh rate of 144Hz displays. Medium at 143.7 FPS offers a strong middle ground, while Low at 198.2 FPS provides maximum performance for competitive scenarios. For 3840x2160, High at 86 FPS represents the best balance between visual quality and smoothness, as Ultra falls to 71.9 FPS and Medium to 95.1 FPS, with Low reaching 134.4 FPS. The data suggests that High settings provide the most consistent experience across all resolutions, maintaining playable frame rates even at 4K while offering superior image quality compared to lower presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about system bottlenecks. At High settings, performance drops from 163.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 124.7 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 23.9% reduction) and then to 86 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 31.0% further reduction). This progressive decline indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly stressed at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance (evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1,212 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,430) prevents it from becoming a limiting factor even at 1080p.

The scaling pattern for Low settings is particularly telling: 260.1 FPS at 1080p drops to 198.2 FPS at 1440p (23.8% reduction) and then to 134.4 FPS at 4K (32.2% further reduction). This consistent proportional drop across all settings suggests that the RTX 5080's rendering capabilities scale predictably with resolution, with the 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 4K performance at Low settings, while still substantial, shows the expected workload increase from rendering four times the pixels of 1080p. The data indicates a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, the system may still have CPU headroom given the processor's high benchmark scores.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves 260.1 FPS average, which represents the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings reach 185.1 FPS, High hits 163.8 FPS, and Ultra maintains 146.4 FPS. These numbers demonstrate that even the most demanding preset at 1080p provides frame rates well above the requirements for smooth gameplay on high-refresh monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows expected scaling. Low settings produce 198.2 FPS, Medium delivers 143.7 FPS, High reaches 124.7 FPS, and Ultra maintains 108.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 89.7 FPS, representing a 45.3% reduction from the lowest to highest quality preset. This spread indicates that graphical settings have a significant impact on performance at 1440p, with Ultra consuming nearly half the frame rate of Low.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 134.4 FPS, Medium reaches 95.1 FPS, High produces 86 FPS, and Ultra maintains 71.9 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K reduces performance by approximately 32-36% across settings, with Ultra seeing the smallest absolute drop of 36.6 FPS. These 4K numbers suggest that the combination can handle 4K gaming comfortably, with High settings providing the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness at 86 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080's specifications directly influence these results. With a boost clock of 2617 MHz and a base clock of 2295 MHz, the GPU operates at high frequencies that contribute to its strong performance in Control. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory provides ample capacity for the game's textures and assets at all tested resolutions, while the 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that data transfer does not bottleneck rendering. The 10752 shading units and 112 ROPs deliver the raw compute and pixel throughput necessary for the game's visual effects.

The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0 on TSMC's 5 nm process, includes 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, which may accelerate certain rendering features in Control. The measured frame rates at 4K, particularly the 86 FPS average at High settings, demonstrate that the graphics card can handle the resolution's demands without requiring reduction to lower quality presets. The pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s provide theoretical ceilings that align with the observed performance scaling. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 36,565 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,637 support the notion that this card is well-suited for modern game workloads, and the measured FPS data confirms this in practice.