Control

# Control — AMD Ryzen 9 5950X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a highly consistent performance profile in Control, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck across all tested resolutions. The measured data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p delivers strong playability, 1440p remains viable for most settings, and 4K pushes the combination to its limits, particularly at higher presets. The 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 5950X provides ample headroom, never appearing to limit frame rates, while the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute define the performance ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160 reveals a predictable and steep decline in average FPS, characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 74 FPS at 1080p to 56 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 18 FPS or approximately 24%. Moving further to 4K, the High preset average falls to 38 FPS, which is a 36 FPS drop from 1080p, or roughly 49% lower. This scaling pattern indicates that pixel throughput, not CPU processing, is the limiting factor; the Ryzen 9 5950X's substantial multi-threaded capabilities cannot compensate for the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering load at higher resolutions.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 63 at 1440p to 43 at 4K, a 20 FPS decline. At Low settings, the drop is from 89 to 60 FPS, a 29 FPS difference. The consistency of these drops across different presets suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and its 256-bit bus width are saturated as resolution increases, with the 8 GB VRAM capacity potentially becoming a factor at 4K Ultra. The data shows that 4K is only playable at Low settings, where the 60 FPS average barely hits a playable threshold, while 1440p offers a more balanced experience with High settings achieving 56 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process node, is the dominant component in this pairing. Its boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz, combined with 2176 shading units, deliver a measured FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS. In Control, this translates to a performance profile that is solid for 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, operating at 14 Gbps effective with a 256-bit bus, provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the data indicates that at 4K Ultra, the combination of memory capacity and bandwidth may be insufficient, as the average FPS drops to 33.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are noteworthy, though the measured FPS data does not isolate ray tracing performance. The 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs contribute to a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s, which are adequate for the game's visual complexity at lower resolutions. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18093 is only 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). This proximity in synthetic benchmarks is reflected in the game's measured FPS, where the GPU's performance in Control aligns with its overall percentile ranking of 62 among all GPUs, indicating a mid-range position that is well-suited for 1080p gaming.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combination depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 118 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset delivers 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS, providing a smooth experience with improved visual fidelity. The High preset at 74 FPS is also viable, but the Ultra preset at 65 FPS begins to show diminishing returns, suggesting that High is the sweet spot for 1080p when balancing visual quality and performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 89 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. The Medium preset at 63 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS, offers a good balance for most players, though the minimum frame rate may cause occasional stutters in demanding scenes. The High preset at 56 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action, while the Ultra preset at 49 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less recommended. For 4K, the data is clear: only the Low preset, at 60 FPS, provides a consistently playable experience. The Medium preset at 43 FPS and High at 38 FPS are below the playable threshold, and Ultra at 33 FPS is not recommended. The best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1080p Medium or High, or 1440p Medium, where the frame rates are stable and the visual settings are reasonable.

How This Combo Ranks

In Control, this combination of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2650 out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the lower 29% of configurations. This ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's mid-range performance, as the CPU is a top-tier part. The Ryzen 9 5950X's average benchmark score of 51947 places it in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with its nearest rivals being the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (52073, 0.2% higher), AMD EPYC 8124P (52121, 0.3% higher), Intel Core i9-13900F (51730, 0.4% lower), and Intel Core i7-14700 (52301, 0.7% higher). This indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The GPU's percentile rank of 62 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093, is significantly lower than the CPU's ranking. This disparity explains the combo's overall rank in Control, as the game's performance is heavily dependent on GPU capabilities. The combo's rank suggests that while this system can handle the game at lower resolutions and settings, it is not competitive with higher-end configurations at 4K or with maximum settings. The data indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's performance in Control is consistent with its synthetic benchmarks, which show it trailing the AMD Radeon RX 460 by 1.5% (18373) and the Intel Arc A770M by 1.6% (18383), despite the latter being mobile parts.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, is a formidable processor that far exceeds the requirements of Control. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process, deliver exceptional single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017 and a single-core score of 1614, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 15233 and single-core score of 2083. These scores indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck in any of the measured FPS scenarios.

The game's performance scaling with resolution, as discussed in the Resolution Scaling section, confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the CPU's capability to feed the GPU is evident, as the average FPS reaches 118, which is close to the GPU's maximum output. However, even at this high frame rate, the CPU's utilization is likely not at its maximum, given its 32 threads and high single-thread performance. The Ryzen 9 5950X's 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput for the game's engine. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX with a score of 52073, are only marginally different in average benchmark score, but in Control, the CPU's performance headroom means that upgrading the GPU would yield far more significant FPS gains than any CPU change.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 74 FPS, which is a smooth and playable experience for most users.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combination?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves an average of 60 FPS, which is barely playable. Medium, High, and Ultra presets yield 43, 38, and 33 FPS respectively, which are below the standard playable threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189).

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Control?

A: This combination ranks 2650 out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the lower 29% of configurations, primarily due to the GPU's mid-range performance.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X bottleneck the RTX 2060 SUPER in this game?

A: No, the data indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 5950X's average benchmark score of 51947 places it in the 91st percentile, and the FPS scaling with resolution confirms the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a balanced experience?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 with Medium settings (63 FPS average, 54 FPS minimum) offers a good balance of visual quality and performance. Alternatively, 1920x1080 with High settings (74 FPS) is also a strong choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination. Minimum and maximum FPS are only provided for Medium settings, as the data was not captured for other presets.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS | Minimum FPS | Maximum FPS |

|------------|----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 38 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 60 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 43 | 36 | 49 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 33 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 56 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 89 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 63 | 54 | 73 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 49 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 74 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 118 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 84 | 71 | 96 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 65 | — | — |

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame times, as evidenced by the minimum and maximum FPS values being within a reasonable range across all resolutions. For instance, at 1080p Medium, the minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 96 FPS indicate a variance of 25 FPS, which is acceptable for a smooth experience. At 1440p Medium, the variance is 19 FPS (54 to 73), and at 4K Medium, the variance is 13 FPS (36 to 49). This pattern suggests that Medium is the most optimized preset for this hardware, offering a balance between visual fidelity and consistent performance. In contrast, the Low preset at 4K achieves 60 FPS, but without minimum FPS data, it is unclear if the frame times are as stable as Medium. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, consistently delivers the lowest average FPS across all resolutions, making it unsuitable for playable frame rates at 1440p and 4K.