Control

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable but not dominant experience in Control, with the GPU clearly acting as the primary constraint across most settings. The data shows a system that is well-balanced for 1080p gaming, but one that increasingly struggles as resolution climbs, requiring careful settings adjustments to maintain smooth frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 66.1 FPS at 1080p to 54.5 FPS at 1440p, a decline of approximately 17.5%. Moving to 4K at High settings yields 37.1 FPS, which represents a 43.9% reduction from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the RX 6600's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions, with the GPU's compute resources (8.928 TFLOPS FP32) becoming the limiting factor.

The pattern holds across other settings presets. At Low settings, the 1080p result of 105.4 FPS drops to 80.8 FPS at 1440p (a 23.3% reduction) and further to 53.7 FPS at 4K (a 49.1% reduction from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling penalty: 59 FPS at 1080p falls to 43.2 FPS at 1440p and then to 28.2 FPS at 4K, with the latter representing a 52.2% loss compared to the 1080p figure.

These numbers tell a clear story about system balance. The Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, is far from being a bottleneck in this title. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 38607 and single-core score of 5450 place it well above what Control requires for physics and game logic. The GPU, however, shows its limits: the RX 6600's percentile rank of 69 against all GPUs indicates a mid-range part that cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases, from a 46.4 FPS difference at 1080p to a 25.5 FPS difference at 4K, suggesting that pixel throughput becomes the dominant cost at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Ryzen 9 5950X and RX 6600 ranks 1360 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 16.9% of all tested configurations. This low ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strength, but it reflects the fact that the GPU is the performance ceiling in this game. The RX 6600's average benchmark score of 25235 places it in a tight competitive cluster, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon 890M at a 0% deltaPct, followed by the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP at -0.2%, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M at 0.2%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 0.5%. These tiny percentage differences indicate that the RX 6600 sits right in the middle of a pack of similarly performing GPUs.

The CPU side shows a different story. The Ryzen 9 5950X's average benchmark score of 49062 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-14600K at -0.2% deltaPct, the Intel Core i5-14600KF at -0.6%, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at 0.7%, and the AMD EPYC 4345P at -1.1%. The fact that the CPU ranks so highly while the combo ranks so low confirms that the RX 6600 is holding back the system. Any of the CPU's nearest rivals would likely produce nearly identical gaming results with this GPU, as the 5950X's massive multi-threaded advantage (PassMark multi-thread score of 45424) is largely irrelevant for Control's frame rate output.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Control at 4K smoothly?*

A: No, not at any settings preset. The highest 4K average is 53.7 FPS at Low settings, which is playable but not smooth by modern standards. At High settings, 4K drops to 37.1 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 28.2 FPS, both below the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable console-like performance.

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?*

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080. At this resolution, even Ultra settings maintain an average of 59 FPS, while Low settings achieve 105.4 FPS. The 1440p results are workable but show significant drops, with High at 54.5 FPS and Ultra at 43.2 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6600's average benchmark score of 25235 is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon 890M (0% deltaPct), the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (-0.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (0.2%). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti by just 0.5%, indicating near-parity performance across this group.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5950X overkill for this GPU?

A: Benchmark data suggests yes for gaming. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and average score of 49062 far exceed what Control requires. The combo ranking of 1360 out of 1636 shows that the GPU limits the experience, meaning a less powerful CPU would likely produce identical frame rates in this title.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance relative to its multi-threaded score?

A: The Ryzen 9 5950X achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5450 and a multi-core score of 38607, a ratio of roughly 7.1:1. Its Geekbench scores show 2211 single-core and 12084 multi-core, a similar 5.5:1 ratio. This indicates strong single-thread performance that is sufficient for gaming, with massive multi-threaded headroom for productivity tasks.

Q: Does the GPU's 8 GB VRAM cause issues at higher settings?

A: The measured data suggests VRAM capacity is a limiting factor at 4K. The steep drop from 41.4 FPS at Medium to 28.2 FPS at Ultra at 3840x2160 indicates that the 8 GB frame buffer is being exceeded, causing performance to collapse. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (79.1 FPS) and Ultra (59 FPS) is less severe, suggesting VRAM is adequate at lower pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo in Control shows consistent scaling across all settings. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 105.4 FPS, Medium 79.1 FPS, High 66.1 FPS, and Ultra 59 FPS. These figures represent a 44.1% reduction from Low to Ultra, indicating a moderate performance cost for maximum visual quality. The 1080p results are all playable, with even the lowest figure (59 FPS at Ultra) remaining above the 60 FPS target for many displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance envelope tightens. Low settings maintain 80.8 FPS, but Medium drops to 56.5 FPS, High to 54.5 FPS, and Ultra to 43.2 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is just 2 FPS, suggesting that the Medium to High transition has diminishing returns at this resolution. The jump from High to Ultra costs 11.3 FPS, a significant penalty for marginal visual improvements.

The 3840x2160 results are the most constrained. Low settings manage 53.7 FPS, which is still reasonably playable, but Medium falls to 41.4 FPS, High to 37.1 FPS, and Ultra to 28.2 FPS. The Ultra result is below 30 FPS, making it difficult to recommend for any gaming scenario. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 25.5 FPS, a 47.5% reduction, showing that the RX 6600 cannot handle the combined load of high pixel count and maximum settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the defining component in this system's Control performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves insufficient for 4K Ultra textures. The GPU's boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz represent the RDNA 2.0 architecture's efficiency, but the 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs limit raw pixel throughput. The 28 RT cores are available for ray tracing effects, though the measured data does not isolate their impact in Control.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly telling. With 8 GB VRAM and a 128-bit bus, the RX 6600 sits in a performance tier that excels at 1080p but struggles at higher resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (28.2 FPS) versus 4K Low (53.7 FPS) demonstrates that texture quality and memory pressure have a outsized impact on this GPU. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed helps mitigate bandwidth limitations, but the 224.0 GB/s figure is modest compared to higher-tier cards. The GPU's TDP of 132 W and suggested PSU of 300 W indicate a power-efficient design, but efficiency does not translate to high-end 4K performance.

The RX 6600's benchmark profile shows a GPU that is competitive within its class. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 80492 and OpenCL score of 73130 place it in the upper mid-range, while its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1492 reflects modern API performance. The Passmark G3D score of 15096 and GPU compute score of 6554 further confirm its position. The GPU's 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 25235, shows a part that is solidly mid-pack but not exceptional, which aligns with the measured Control results.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080 gaming, the High preset at 66.1 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 59 FPS is viable for players who prioritize maximum fidelity, but the 7.1 FPS difference between High and Ultra is minor relative to the increased GPU load. Players with high refresh rate monitors should consider Medium at 79.1 FPS or Low at 105.4 FPS to fully utilize their display's capabilities.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 56.5 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it provides a smooth experience with acceptable visuals. The High preset at 54.5 FPS is nearly identical in performance, so choosing between these two comes down to personal preference for specific effects. The Low preset at 80.8 FPS is the only 1440p option that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, making it the choice for competitive play or high refresh rate displays. Ultra at 43.2 FPS should be avoided unless the player is willing to accept sub-60 FPS gameplay.

For 3840x2160, the options are severely limited. The Low preset at 53.7 FPS is the only 4K setting that approaches playability, though it still falls short of 60 FPS. Medium at 41.4 FPS is playable for slower-paced sections but will struggle during action sequences. High at 37.1 FPS and Ultra at 28.2 FPS are not recommended for a satisfying experience. Players targeting 4K should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p, where the Medium preset provides a much better experience at 56.5 FPS. The data is unambiguous: this combo is built for 1080p gaming, with 1440p as a secondary option and 4K only viable at the lowest settings.