Control

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Control with the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 296 FPS average, which drops to 225 FPS at 1440p and 152 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 32% reduction from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load scales predictably with pixel count.

Moving to Medium settings, the same trend persists but with slightly different magnitudes. The 1080p Medium average of 211 FPS falls to 160 FPS at 1440p (24% drop) and 108 FPS at 4K (33% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that the limiting factor remains the GPU's rasterization throughput rather than any CPU-side bottleneck, even at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 290 FPS.

High settings show a similar scaling pattern: 188 FPS at 1080p, 142 FPS at 1440p (24% drop), and 96 FPS at 4K (32% drop from 1440p). Ultra settings follow suit with 163 FPS at 1080p, 124 FPS at 1440p (24% drop), and 83 FPS at 4K (33% drop). The uniformity of these scaling ratios across all four quality presets strongly indicates that the RTX 5090 D's GPU pipeline is the primary constraint throughout the resolution range tested.

The fact that 1080p Low achieves 296 FPS while 4K Low achieves 152 FPS demonstrates that even at the lightest settings, the GPU is still the dominant factor. If the CPU were limiting performance, we would expect to see diminishing returns when lowering resolution — the data shows no such plateau. The 4K to 1080p FPS ratio remains roughly 1:2 across all settings, which is consistent with pixel-count scaling (4K has 4 times the pixels of 1080p, but the 2x FPS improvement suggests other bottlenecks like memory bandwidth or draw call overhead also play a role). The RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 512-bit bus width are substantial, yet the scaling pattern confirms that pixel throughput remains the key constraint.

# How This Combo Ranks

In Control, this configuration of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 16th out of 2,888 tested combinations. This top-0.6% placement reflects the exceptional performance ceiling of this pairing, though it is notable that 15 other combos outperform it in this specific title. The ranking position suggests that while this hardware is near the apex of current capabilities, Control's engine may favor certain architectural characteristics that other configurations possess in greater measure.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 87 against all processors indicates that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is strong but not the absolute highest performer in general compute workloads. Its average benchmark score of 39,768 places it in close competition with several rivals: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS scores 39,603 (0.4% lower), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40,048 (0.7% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 scores 39,485 (0.7% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 scores 40,081 (0.8% higher). These tight margins — all within 1% — suggest that the 9800X3D's performance is competitive but not dominant in synthetic benchmarks.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090 D holds a 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76,904 (1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78,940 (1.6% lower), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79,396 (2.1% lower), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79,605 (2.4% lower). The fact that these rival GPUs are within 2.4% of the RTX 5090 D's average score is striking, given the massive architectural differences between consumer GeForce parts and data-center Tesla accelerators.

The 16th place ranking in Control, despite the GPU's 92nd percentile standing, implies that the game's workload does not perfectly align with the RTX 5090 D's strengths. It is also importantly the combo rank considers both components together, so the CPU's 87th percentile may be dragging the overall position slightly. The deltaPct values for both CPU and GPU rivals show that the competition is extremely tight at this performance tier, meaning small architectural advantages can shift rankings significantly.

# FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 296 FPS average. The Medium preset delivers 211 FPS, High delivers 188 FPS, and Ultra delivers 163 FPS at the same resolution.

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

A: The 4K Ultra average is 83 FPS, while 1080p Low reaches 296 FPS. This represents a 72% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lightest 1080p load to the heaviest 4K load.

Q: What minimum FPS data is available for this combo?

A: Min FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 180 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 136 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 92 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Control?

A: The combo ranks 16th out of 2,888 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.6% of all configurations.

Q: What is the FPS difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, High settings deliver 142 FPS average while Ultra delivers 124 FPS. This is an 18 FPS difference, representing a 13% performance cost for the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM provide any measurable benefit in Control?

A: The measured FPS data does not indicate any VRAM-related performance limits, as even the highest settings at 4K maintain playable frame rates. The 32 GB GDDR7 memory capacity exceeds what this game's rendering demands at the tested resolutions.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target display resolution. At 1080p, all presets deliver well above 60 FPS, with even Ultra maintaining 163 FPS average. For players with high-refresh-rate 1080p displays, the Low preset at 296 FPS provides the smoothest experience, but the Medium preset at 211 FPS offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 188 FPS still exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates, making it a strong choice for competitive play.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 160 FPS average with a minimum of 136 FPS, which comfortably supports 144 Hz monitors. High settings at 142 FPS also remain above 120 FPS, providing excellent smoothness. Ultra at 124 FPS is still highly playable and may be preferable for those who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates. The Low preset at 225 FPS is excessive for most displays, making Medium or High the recommended choices at this resolution.

For 4K gaming, the RTX 5090 D's performance is more constrained. Ultra settings drop to 83 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. High settings at 96 FPS provide a more comfortable margin while retaining substantial visual quality. Medium at 108 FPS offers the best combination of frame rate and fidelity for 4K displays, with a minimum of 92 FPS ensuring consistent performance. Low settings at 152 FPS are only recommended for those with 120 Hz or higher 4K displays who prioritize frame rate above all else.

The data suggests that Medium is the "sweet spot" preset across all resolutions, as it consistently delivers frame rates that are roughly 55-60% higher than Ultra while maintaining respectable visual quality. The measured min FPS values for Medium (180 at 1080p, 136 at 1440p, 92 at 4K) indicate that this preset avoids the frame-time spikes that can occur at higher settings.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset achieves 296 FPS average, followed by Medium at 211 FPS with a minimum of 180 FPS and maximum of 243 FPS. High settings reach 188 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 163 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 133 FPS, indicating that the quality presets have a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still manages 225 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 160 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS and maximum of 184 FPS. High settings achieve 142 FPS, and Ultra produces 124 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 101 FPS at 1440p, showing that resolution scaling compresses the performance difference between quality levels.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens further. Low settings achieve 152 FPS average, Medium delivers 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS, High reaches 96 FPS, and Ultra produces 83 FPS. The total spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 69 FPS, less than half the spread observed at 1080p. This compression indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases, reducing the relative impact of quality settings.

The Medium preset is the only settings level with complete min/max data across all resolutions. The min-to-max FPS ranges are 180-243 at 1080p, 136-184 at 1440p, and 92-124 at 4K. These ranges represent 30%, 30%, and 30% of their respective averages, showing consistent frame time variance across resolutions. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (92) is notably close to the High average (96), suggesting that Medium provides the most stable experience at 4K.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. It features a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, with a 120 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache — a configuration that provides substantial on-die storage for game data.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 9800X3D scores 23,230 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,080 in single-core, along with 18,696 in Geekbench multicore and 2,964 in single-core. These scores translate to an 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39,768. The nearest rivals show extremely tight competition: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS trails by 0.4%, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 trails by 0.7%, while the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 leads by 0.7% and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 leads by 0.8%.

For Control specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, given that frame rates scale consistently with resolution. However, the high boost clock of 5.20 GHz and the large 96 MB L3 cache likely contribute to maintaining the high minimum FPS values observed. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10,081 and single-thread score of 1,212 suggest strong per-core performance that can handle the game's draw call submission and physics calculations without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's 4 nm process node and 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die indicate high efficiency, though the 120 W TDP requires adequate cooling. The DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient memory throughput for feeding the GPU's demands. At 1080p Low settings, where the GPU has less work per frame, the CPU's ability to maintain 296 FPS demonstrates that its per-thread performance is more than adequate for this game.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. The GPU includes 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The memory subsystem is a defining feature: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This massive memory capacity and bandwidth ensure that Control's texture streaming and high-resolution assets never exceed available VRAM, even at 4K Ultra settings. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput necessary for the frame rates observed in the measured data.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D scores 14,326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 310,674 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its PassMark G3D score is 44,065, with a GPU compute score of 28,396. These results place the GPU at the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. The nearest rivals are notably close: the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT leads by 1.1%, while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT trails by 1.6%, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB trails by 2.1%, and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB trails by 2.4%.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS (with FP16 at 104.8 TFLOPS 1:1) provides substantial compute headroom for Control's particle effects and physics simulations. The 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU rating indicate that this is a power-hungry component, though the measured FPS data shows that the power draw translates into effective frame rates across all tested resolutions. The dual-slot design with a single 16-pin power connector and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensure compatibility with modern systems, while the 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs support high-refresh-rate 4K displays.