Control

Control is an action-adventure title that stresses both the CPU and GPU depending on the settings and resolution chosen. The data for the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination shows a system that delivers high frame rates across the board, with the gap between the fastest and slowest tested configurations being substantial. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance, component roles, and scaling behavior using only the provided benchmark results.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Control?

A: This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 241st out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 6.5% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 246 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the fastest result in the entire measured dataset for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D has an average benchmark score of 58386. Its closest rival is the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M with a score of 58323, making the AMD part 0.1% faster. The next closest, the Intel Core i9-14900, scores 58115, which is 0.5% slower.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average score of 54247. The nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER with a score of 54209, making the 4080 just 0.1% faster. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB trails by 2.6% with a score of 55698.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system records an average FPS of 132, with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS. This is the only resolution where min/max data is available for that setting.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance stand out?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D scores 2228 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is far below its multi-core score of 22807. This gap is typical, but the single-core score remains high enough to support high frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with 9728 shading units. For Control, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases, which is evident from the measured frame rates.

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the primary bottleneck. The difference between Low and Ultra settings at 3840x2160 is 57 FPS (126 vs 69), showing how much headroom the GPU has when graphical load is reduced. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is sufficient for this title, as no memory-related stutters would be expected given the capacity. The raw compute power of 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 allows the card to push high frame rates even at 4K, but the data shows that Ultra settings at that resolution still yields a playable, if not extreme, 69 FPS average.

The RTX 4080's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209), indicating that the two cards are essentially interchangeable in raw compute terms. The 4080 is also slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828) by 1.1% and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698) by 2.6%, showing a tight cluster of competing products.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 241 out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places the system in the top 6.5% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a high-end desktop pairing. The rank reflects the balance between the 8-core CPU and the flagship-tier GPU, where neither component severely limits the other in most scenarios.

In practical terms, this ranking means the system will outperform the vast majority of other tested hardware for this specific game. The top 6.5% placement indicates that only about 241 other combinations deliver higher average frame rates, likely featuring more powerful GPUs like the RTX 4090 or newer generation parts. However, the 4080's performance is sufficient to place this combo well ahead of mid-range and even many high-end systems.

The CPU's percentile of 92 versus all CPUs suggests it is not the limiting factor in this ranking. Similarly, the GPU's 86th percentile ranking indicates it is a strong contributor, but the combo rank of 241/3720 (93.5th percentile) is higher than either component's individual percentile, suggesting the pairing is well-matched for Control's specific demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 246 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 and a maximum of 201. High settings yield 156 FPS, while Ultra settings still manage 135 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 111 FPS, showing that even at the most demanding setting, the system maintains over 100 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but show a clear step down. Low settings average 186 FPS, while Medium settings average 132 FPS with a minimum of 113 and a maximum of 152. High settings produce 118 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 102 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 84 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is starting to become more of a factor.

At 3840x2160, the impact of resolution is significant. Low settings still deliver 126 FPS, which is impressive, but Medium drops to 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 and a maximum of 103. High settings yield 79 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 69 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 57 FPS, the smallest of the three resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a Zen 5 architecture processor on the Granite Ridge codename, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This substantial L3 cache is a key feature for gaming performance, as it reduces latency when accessing frequently used data.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228. In Passmark tests, the CPU scores 41318 in multithread and 4704 in single-thread, with a physics score of 4171. The CPU's average benchmark score of 58386 places it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a top-tier processor.

For Control, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p, the difference between Low (246 FPS) and Ultra (135 FPS) settings is 111 FPS, which is less than the 1440p difference of 84 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is able to feed the GPU enough data to reach very high frame rates, but the GPU's workload still scales with settings. The CPU's 16 threads and high boost clock ensure that even in physics-heavy scenes typical of action-adventure games, the processor does not become a limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High setting (156 FPS) offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, but Medium (175 FPS) is also excellent. For players seeking maximum smoothness, Low (246 FPS) provides an exceptionally high frame rate, though visual quality is reduced.

At 1440p, High settings (118 FPS) are the recommended choice for a high-refresh-rate experience, as they maintain over 100 FPS without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. Medium (132 FPS) is also viable, but the jump to High is relatively small in terms of performance loss (14 FPS) while offering better visuals. Ultra (102 FPS) is still playable but approaching the lower limit for competitive play.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts. High settings (79 FPS) provide a solid experience for a 60 Hz monitor, but Medium (89 FPS) is the better choice for those with a 90-120 Hz display. Ultra (69 FPS) is playable but falls below the 72 FPS threshold that some consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. Low (126 FPS) is available for those prioritizing frame rate above all, but the visual compromise is substantial. For most users at 4K, Medium settings offer the best combination of visual quality and performance.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 246 at 1080p to 186 at 1440p (a 24.4% decrease) and then to 126 at 4K (a 32.3% decrease from 1440p). This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is being increasingly taxed as pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the drop is more pronounced: 175 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p (a 24.6% decrease), and 89 FPS at 4K (a 32.6% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 156 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p (a 24.4% decrease), and 79 FPS at 4K (a 33.1% decrease from 1440p). Ultra settings show the same trend: 135 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p (a 24.4% decrease), and 69 FPS at 4K (a 32.4% decrease from 1440p).

These consistent percentage drops across all settings strongly indicate that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The CPU's performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 1080p, but as the pixel count increases, the GPU's workload grows proportionally, leading to the observed frame rate reductions. The RTX 4080's 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key factors driving this scaling behavior.