Control

Control, the surreal action-adventure from Remedy, pushes both hardware and physics in equal measure. The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a compelling dataset, placing this configuration at rank 226 out of 3,720 tested combos, which puts it in the top 6% of all recorded systems. This is a high-end pairing that demonstrates significant headroom, but the measured frames per second reveal a nuanced story about where the bottlenecks reside depending on resolution and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 226 out of 3,720 is an impressive feat, suggesting that this specific CPU-GPU pairing is exceptionally well-balanced for Control. The data indicates that the system is performing in the top percentile of all tested combinations, which is consistent with the hardware's individual benchmark standings. The Ryzen 9 5900X holds an 87th percentile rank among all CPUs, and the RTX 5080 also holds an 87th percentile rank among all GPUs, so their combined placement in the 94th percentile (based on the rank) suggests a synergistic pairing where neither component is severely hampering the other.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X has an average benchmark score of 41,376. It sits in a tight cluster with the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (score 41,263, a 0.3% difference) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (score 41,215, a 0.4% difference). The data shows the Ryzen 9 is slightly ahead of these mobile-oriented chips, but the margin is razor-thin, indicating that in synthetic workloads, this desktop 12-core processor is barely edging out newer high-end mobile parts. It is also 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14650HX (score 41,576), which is actually a higher raw score, but the deltaPct of -0.5% indicates the Ryzen is the faster part in this comparison.

For the GPU, the GeForce RTX 5080's average benchmark score is 56,083. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon 8060S (score 55,757, a 0.6% difference), and it is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (score 55,698). The data shows a 2.3% lead over the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54,828). The only rival it trails is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (score 57,367), which is 2.2% ahead. This places the RTX 5080 in a competitive mid-to-high tier in synthetic tests, but the real-world Control data will show how these theoretical advantages translate into actual gameplay.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 232 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates the system has immense headroom at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the combo rank in this specific game compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 226th out of 3,720 tested combinations for Control. This places it in the top 6% of all systems tested, signifying a very strong performance tier.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 122 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields an average of 106 FPS. This represents a 16 FPS drop, or roughly a 13% decrease in performance for the highest visual fidelity.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at 3840x2160. The average FPS drops significantly from 4K Low (130 FPS) to 4K High (82 FPS), indicating that the graphical workload is scaling heavily with resolution and settings, which is a GPU-centric burden.

Q: Does this system maintain playable frame rates at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the data shows an average of 72 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold generally considered playable, indicating the RTX 5080 has enough power for a smooth 4K experience in Control.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 79 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. This suggests that even at the most demanding resolution, the frame rate does not drop into stutter territory.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly with the graphics settings. The most telling comparison is at High settings: the system produces 161 FPS at 1920x1080, 122 FPS at 2560x1440, and 82 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33% drop from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 49%, meaning the system loses nearly half its frame rate when moving to the highest resolution.

This scaling pattern strongly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's workload in Control is relatively static across resolutions, as it is primarily responsible for game logic, physics, and draw calls, which do not scale with pixel count. As the resolution increases, the GPU must render more pixels, and the data shows the RTX 5080's frame time increases substantially. The 82 FPS at 4K High versus the 161 FPS at 1080p High demonstrates that the GPU is being pushed to its limits.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The system hits 232 FPS at 1080p, 193 FPS at 1440p, and 130 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is particularly interesting, as it is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result (140 FPS). This suggests that the game's shadow quality, reflections, and post-processing effects have a massive impact on the GPU load. The 130 FPS at 4K Low shows the raw power of the GPU when visual effects are stripped away, but the 72 FPS at 4K Ultra highlights the heavy cost of the highest settings. The data implies that at 4K, users are trading over 44% of their frame rate (from 130 to 72 FPS) to enable the Ultra preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a comprehensive grid of average frame rates across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 232 FPS on Low, 181 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 154 FPS and maximum of 209 FPS), 161 FPS on High, and 140 FPS on Ultra. The spread between the lowest and highest settings at 1080p is 92 FPS, demonstrating that the visual settings have a profound effect on performance even at a resolution where the GPU is less stressed.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 193 FPS on Low, 137 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 117 FPS and maximum of 158 FPS), 122 FPS on High, and 106 FPS on Ultra. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 87 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium is 117 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth and well above the threshold for high refresh rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 130 FPS on Low, 93 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS), 82 FPS on High, and 72 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 58 FPS. The minimum FPS of 79 at 4K Medium is the lowest recorded minimum in the entire dataset, yet it still represents a playable experience. The data shows a consistent pattern where Medium settings provide a significant boost over High and Ultra, with a 11 FPS jump from High to Medium at 4K, and an 11 FPS jump from Medium to Low.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the most compelling balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 137 FPS, which is 15 FPS higher than High and 31 FPS higher than Ultra. The minimum FPS of 117 at this setting ensures a consistently smooth experience even in combat-heavy scenes with physics-based destruction. This suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p, providing a significant performance cushion over the higher presets.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset again stands out. It delivers an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, which is a substantial improvement over the 82 FPS average on High and the 72 FPS average on Ultra. The data indicates that the visual upgrade from Medium to High or Ultra at 4K is not worth the 11 to 21 FPS loss, especially since the minimum FPS on Medium (79) is higher than the average FPS on Ultra (72). This makes Medium the recommended preset for 4K, as it maintains a fluid experience while still rendering the game at a high resolution.

At 1080p, the situation is different. All presets are well above 140 FPS, so users can freely choose the Ultra preset (140 FPS) to maximize visual quality. The High preset at 161 FPS is also a strong choice, but the data shows that even Ultra is capable of driving high refresh rate panels. For users with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors, the Ultra preset at 1080p is the best option, as it provides the highest visual fidelity without dropping below the 140 FPS mark. The Low preset at 232 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rates are prioritized over aesthetics.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a 64 MB L3 cache. In Control, the CPU's role is to handle the game's physics engine, AI routines, and the complex asynchronous loading of the shifting environments. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution, which is a GPU-bound characteristic.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are substantial, as evidenced by its 3DMark max threads score of 10,075 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16,262. Control is known to be well-optimized for multi-core processors, and the 12 cores here provide ample headroom. However, the game's single-thread performance is also critical, and the processor's single-thread score of 941 in 3DMark and 1,527 in Cinebench R23 are strong, ensuring that the main game thread does not become a bottleneck. The fact that the system achieves 232 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach very high frame rates.

The 5900X's 24 threads are likely beneficial for handling the game's background tasks, such as streaming assets and physics calculations, without impacting the main render thread. The 64 MB of L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency. The data does not show any CPU-related stutters or frame drops, as the minimum FPS values are relatively high across all settings. This indicates that the Ryzen 9 5900X is a robust partner for the RTX 5080, providing a stable foundation for the GPU to operate at its full potential.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the primary driver of the frame rates in this dataset. It is based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features 10,752 shading units. It has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a massive 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This bandwidth is crucial for Control, which uses high-resolution textures and complex particle effects.

The data clearly shows the GPU's performance scaling with resolution. The RTX 5080 delivers 232 FPS at 1080p Low, but this drops to 130 FPS at 4K Low. This 44% reduction in performance is purely due to the increased pixel count. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is likely sufficient to handle the texture data at 4K, as the frame rates remain playable. However, the impact of the graphics settings is more pronounced. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 58 FPS, showing that the GPU's compute units are heavily taxed by the game's advanced rendering features like ray-traced reflections and volumetric lighting.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 16 GB is a significant asset. Control can use a large amount of video memory at 4K with high-resolution textures, and the 16 GB buffer ensures that the GPU does not have to swap assets in and out of system memory, which would cause stutters. The minimum FPS of 79 at 4K Medium suggests that the GPU is consistently delivering frames without major hiccups. The RTX 5080's 84 RT cores and 336 Tensor cores are also relevant, as Control supports ray tracing, and the benchmark results indicate that the GPU has enough headroom to handle these effects, even at 4K, as evidenced by the 72 FPS average at Ultra settings.