Control

Control pairs AMD’s 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, creating a combination that is heavily skewed toward CPU headroom. The 5950X is a Zen 3 (Vermeer) part on the AMD Socket AM4 platform, built on a 7 nm TSMC process with 8,300 million transistors. It houses 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its cache layout includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a 64 MB L3 pool. This processor posts strong synthetic results, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 38,607 and a single-core score of 5,450, with a Geekbench multicore score of 12,084. In the broader CPU percentile ranking, it sits at the 93rd percentile, with an average benchmark score of 49,062. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the Intel Core i5-14600K, which scores 49,166 (a delta of -0.2%), and the Intel Core i5-14600KF at 49,367 (a delta of -0.6%). The AMD EPYC 4345P is 1.1% ahead, while the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H trails by 0.7%.

In Control, this CPU’s role is to feed frames without becoming a bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 120.1 FPS average. That figure is not limited by the 5950X’s compute, as the processor’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 10,810 and max-thread score of 11,597 indicate substantial parallel throughput. The game’s action-adventure traversal and physics interactions benefit from the CPU’s high boost clock, but the 32 threads are largely underutilized at lower resolutions. The 5950X’s PassMark multithread score of 45,424 and single-thread score of 3,470 suggest that even at 4K, the CPU can sustain the game’s logic demands without dropping into a limiting role. The data shows that the processor’s 3DMark single-thread score of 944 is modest relative to its multicore might, but Control does not appear to be a single-thread-limited title for this chip.

The GPU side is where the narrative shifts. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is an Ampere-architecture part on an 8 nm Samsung process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. It packs 4,864 shading units, 152 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 38 RT cores, and 152 tensor cores. Its boost clock is 1,665 MHz, with a base clock of 1,410 MHz. The memory subsystem is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score is 20,349, with a G2D score of 989 and a compute score of 10,006. It holds a 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,120. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the AMD Radeon RX 6700M is 0.2% ahead, the RX 6600 is 0.5% ahead, and the AMD Radeon 890M is 0.5% ahead, while the RX 580 2048SP leads by 0.7%.

In Control, the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary driver of performance, and the measured FPS reflects its capabilities. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 65.2 FPS average, which drops to 48.2 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 30.4 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result shows the GPU hitting a wall. The RTX 3060 Ti’s FP32 throughput of 16.20 TFLOPS is the raw compute available, yet Control’s rendering demands at 4K overwhelm it. The pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s are respectable, but the data indicates that the GPU is the limiting component as resolution scales upward.

Resolution scaling reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 77.8 to 57.9, a reduction of 19.9 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High, the average falls from 57.9 to 37.6, a further drop of 20.3 FPS. The percentage change is steeper at higher resolutions: 1080p to 4K at High represents a 51.7% reduction in FPS. At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic in absolute terms: 120.1 FPS at 1080p falls to 90.6 FPS at 1440p (a 24.6% drop) and then to 57.8 FPS at 4K (a further 36.2% drop). This pattern indicates that the CPU has ample headroom, as even at 4K Low, the system achieves 57.8 FPS, which is above the 30 FPS threshold but below the 60 FPS target. At Medium settings, the FPS progression is 82.1 at 1080p, 66.4 at 1440p, and 42.9 at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the steepest decline, from 65.2 at 1080p to 48.2 at 1440p and 30.4 at 4K. The data suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti’s VRAM and memory bandwidth become increasingly strained at 4K, particularly with higher presets that likely increase texture and shadow complexity.

The combo’s standing in the benchmark database is modest. It ranks 1,168 out of 1,636 tested combinations, placing it in the lower third of all CPU-GPU pairings tested in Control. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning rather than the CPU’s strength; the 5950X is a high-end processor, but the RTX 3060 Ti holds the combo back in this title. The rank indicates that most better-scoring combinations feature more powerful GPUs, even if their CPUs are weaker. For context, the GPU’s nearest rivals all score within 0.7% of it, meaning the RTX 3060 Ti is closely matched with a small cluster of AMD parts. The CPU’s nearest rivals show a wider spread, with the EPYC 4345P leading by 1.1%, but that does little to change the combo’s overall standing.

Given the measured data, the optimal settings for this combination depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 77.8 FPS, which is a smooth experience for most displays, while Medium yields 82.1 FPS and Low hits 120.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still produces 65.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh monitors. At 1440p, High provides 57.9 FPS, which is borderline for 60 Hz displays, while Medium offers 66.4 FPS, a better balance. Dropping to Low at 1440p yields 90.6 FPS, which is comfortable. At 4K, the situation changes: Low produces 57.8 FPS, Medium drops to 42.9 FPS, High falls to 37.6 FPS, and Ultra is unplayable at 30.4 FPS. The data supports using Medium settings at 1440p as the best compromise, delivering 66.4 FPS with a reasonable visual lift over Low. For 4K, Low is the only preset that approaches playability, and even then, 57.8 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1080p is the sweet spot for visual fidelity and performance, as it stays above 60 FPS while offering more detail than Medium. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p if the user prioritizes image quality over frame rate, as the 65.2 FPS result is still above the 60 FPS line. The data does not support 4K gaming with this combo beyond Low settings, and even that preset is marginal.