Control

Control with the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and Intel Arc B580 pairing shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and presets. The data indicates this combo sits in the 76th percentile of all tested combinations (rank 2816 out of 3720), placing it in a solidly mid-to-upper tier for this title. The measured results reveal that while the system can handle high refresh rates at 1080p, it struggles to maintain playable framerates at 4K with maximum detail, making preset selection critical to the overall experience.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the best raw performance at 114 FPS average, but the drop to High at 72 FPS suggests diminishing returns. The Medium preset at 81 FPS offers the best balance for competitive play, providing a 12.5% improvement over High while remaining well above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra at 62 FPS is perfectly playable and represents the best visual experience at this resolution, as the 4K data shows the GPU becomes the limiting factor only when resolution scales up.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 61 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it maintains smooth gameplay with only a 20% reduction from Low's 86 FPS. The High preset at 54 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced exploration, but the Ultra setting at 47 FPS dips below the ideal 60 FPS target. Based on the measured data, 1440p Medium represents the sweet spot where visual quality and performance converge without requiring compromises in either direction.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset at 58 FPS is the only option that approaches the 60 FPS target, while Medium drops to 41 FPS and High falls to 37 FPS. Ultra at 32 FPS is not recommended for general play, as the framerate variability from 35 to 48 FPS in the Medium preset indicates the GPU is working at its limits. For 4K, the data suggests sticking with Low settings to preserve playability, or accepting Medium with the understanding that average framerates will hover around 40 FPS.

The measured FPS ranges for Medium settings across resolutions—69 to 93 FPS at 1080p, 52 to 70 FPS at 1440p, and 35 to 48 FPS at 4K—show that the combo's performance scales predictably with resolution. This consistency makes preset recommendations straightforward: 1080p Ultra for visual fidelity, 1440p Medium for balanced play, and 4K Low for maximum smoothness.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580's memory configuration plays a significant role in Control's performance at higher resolutions. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a bottleneck at 4K. The data shows a 28% performance drop from 1440p Medium (61 FPS) to 4K Medium (41 FPS), indicating that memory bandwidth constraints amplify as resolution increases.

The GPU's clock behavior is straightforward, with base and boost clocks both at 2670 MHz. This consistency suggests the card maintains stable clocks under load, which is reflected in the relatively predictable FPS scaling across settings. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Ultra costs 52 FPS (114 to 62), while at 1440p the same settings change costs 39 FPS (86 to 47), showing that the GPU's shading units—2560 in total—have more headroom at lower resolutions.

The Arc B580's 20 ray tracing cores and 80 ROPs contribute to its ability to handle Control's visual effects, though the measured data shows the card prioritizes raw rasterization performance. The 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability translates to strong 1080p performance, but the 4K results indicate that fill rate limitations become apparent beyond 1440p. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s provide context for why the card delivers 62 FPS at 1080p Ultra but only 32 FPS at 4K Ultra—a 48% reduction that tracks with the increased pixel workload.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 places it within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, -0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, -0.7% delta). This positioning suggests the GPU delivers competitive performance in this title, though the measured FPS data shows it excels at 1080p and holds its own at 1440p before trailing off at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2816 out of 3720 tested configurations places it in the top 24% of all combinations for Control. This positioning is notable because the CPU and GPU individually rank at different percentiles—the Ryzen 9 5900X at 87th percentile among CPUs and the Arc B580 at 68th percentile among GPUs—yet their combined performance in this game is stronger than the GPU's standalone percentile might suggest.

This rank indicates the combination works well together in Control, likely because the game's engine scales effectively with the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads while the GPU's 12 GB memory capacity prevents VRAM-related stuttering. The gap between the combo's performance and the GPU's individual percentile (68th) suggests the CPU is providing ample headroom, preventing bottlenecks that could drag down overall framerates.

The nearest rival CPUs to the Ryzen 9 5900X—the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% delta) and Intel Core i7-14650HX (-0.5% delta)—have similar average benchmark scores, indicating that the 5900X's performance in this combo is not exceptional for its class. However, the GPU's rivals, including the RTX 2080 (0.6% delta) and RTX 3080 (-0.7% delta), show that the Arc B580 holds its own against older and newer NVIDIA offerings in synthetic benchmarks.

The rank suggests that for Control specifically, this combo outperforms its overall hardware percentile ranking. This is a positive signal for owners, as it means the pairing extracts more performance from the hardware than typical workloads would indicate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is playable. Low delivers 114 FPS average, Medium 81 FPS (with a range of 69 to 93 FPS), High 72 FPS, and Ultra 62 FPS. The 52 FPS difference between Low and Ultra represents a 84% performance swing, giving users substantial flexibility depending on their refresh rate and visual preferences.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but the gap between settings narrows. Low produces 86 FPS, Medium 61 FPS (range 52 to 70 FPS), High 54 FPS, and Ultra 47 FPS. The 39 FPS spread between Low and Ultra shows that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor at this resolution, with Ultra dipping below the 60 FPS target that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, only Low achieves framerates near the 60 FPS mark at 58 FPS. Medium drops to 41 FPS (range 35 to 48 FPS), High to 37 FPS, and Ultra to 32 FPS. The 26 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is proportionally smaller than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are saturated regardless of settings.

The data reveals that the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable framerates, with the measured ranges showing tighter clustering compared to other settings. At 1080p, Medium's 69 to 93 FPS range spans 24 FPS, while at 1440p it spans 18 FPS, and at 4K it spans 13 FPS. This stability suggests Medium is the best choice for consistent performance across all resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: Only with the Low preset, which averages 58 FPS. Medium drops to 41 FPS, High to 37 FPS, and Ultra to 32 FPS, so 60 FPS at 4K is not achievable with this hardware combination.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 with the Ultra preset provides 62 FPS average, making it the highest visual quality option that maintains playable framerates. For higher refresh rates, 1080p Low delivers 114 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 23021 is within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172), showing competitive performance in general workloads.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5900X bottleneck the Arc B580 in this game?

A: The CPU's 87th percentile ranking and 12-core, 24-thread configuration suggest it provides sufficient headroom. The combo's 76th percentile rank in Control outperforms the GPU's 68th percentile, indicating no significant CPU bottleneck.

Q: What framerate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows 54 FPS average at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is playable but below the 60 FPS target, making Medium at 61 FPS a better choice for smoother gameplay.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Control?

A: Yes, the 12 GB memory capacity is adequate for this game. The performance drops at 4K are more attributable to memory bandwidth (456.0 GB/s) and compute limitations rather than VRAM capacity issues.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X brings 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz. This configuration provides substantial multi-threaded capability that supports Control's engine, which can utilize multiple cores for physics, AI, and scene management. The 64 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, benefiting the game's streaming of environmental assets.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5900X scores 16262 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1527 in single-core, placing it at the 87th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals—the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% delta) and Intel Core i7-14650HX (-0.5% delta)—show that the 5900X's performance is competitive with newer mobile and desktop parts, despite being a 5000-series chip. The 9075 score in 3DMark's 16-thread test indicates strong multi-threading that likely benefits Control's background simulation.

The CPU's 105W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are well-matched to the Arc B580's PCIe Gen 4 x8 interface. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the combo achieves 114 FPS on Low settings, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at high framerates. The 5900X's single-thread performance (1527 in Cinebench R23) ensures that Control's main game thread does not become a bottleneck, even at the higher framerates seen at 1080p.

The combination's 76th percentile rank in Control, compared to the CPU's 87th and GPU's 68th individual percentiles, indicates the CPU is pulling more than its weight in this title. The 24 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's background tasks, allowing the Arc B580 to focus on rendering duties without waiting on CPU-side simulation. This balanced pairing makes the Ryzen 9 5900X a strong foundation for the Arc B580 in Control, though users seeking higher 4K performance would need a more powerful GPU to complement this capable processor.