Control

Control, the 2019 action-adventure title, is a demanding showcase for any hardware pairing. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination, using only the benchmark data provided. The results span four quality presets across three resolutions, offering a clear picture of how this high-end duo handles the game's physics-heavy environments and particle effects. The data indicates a system that delivers smooth frame rates at 1440p and remains playable at 4K, though the scaling between settings reveals where the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of Control at higher resolutions. At the Ultra preset, the average FPS drops from 135 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p, a 24.4% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K Ultra, the average falls further to 69 FPS, representing a 32.4% decrease from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at 4K indicates that the RTX 4080's rendering pipeline is saturated by the pixel count, with the 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth being pushed hard.

The scaling pattern holds across all settings. At High, the drop from 1080p (156 FPS) to 1440p (118 FPS) is 24.4%, and then to 4K (79 FPS) is 33.1% from 1440p. The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 232 FPS at 1080p falling to 186 FPS at 1440p (-19.8%) and then to 126 FPS at 4K (-32.3% from 1440p). Interestingly, the percentage drop from 1440p to 4K remains fairly consistent across all presets, hovering around 32-33%. This consistency suggests that the resolution scaling is primarily a function of pixel throughput rather than settings-specific effects.

The Medium preset offers the only complete data with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 and maximum of 201. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 132 FPS, with min/max of 113/152. The 4K Medium preset delivers 89 FPS average, with a minimum of 76 and maximum of 103. The minimum frame rates at 4K Medium (76 FPS) stay above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating acceptable frame pacing even in demanding scenes.

What does this scaling say about the limiting component? At 1080p, the high frame rates (135-232 FPS depending on preset) suggest that the CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, is not the bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 5950X's single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 944 and PassMark single-thread score of 3470, provides ample headroom. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor, with the 4K results showing a clear ceiling imposed by the RTX 4080's compute capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets. At 4K, the Ultra preset yields an average of 69 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset improves this to 79 FPS, a 14.5% gain over Ultra. Medium pushes further to 89 FPS, a 12.7% improvement over High. For players prioritizing smoothness at 4K, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, as it maintains an average above 85 FPS while the minimum of 76 FPS suggests consistent frame delivery.

At 1440p, the situation is more comfortable. Ultra delivers 102 FPS average, which is already above the 100 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate displays. High offers 118 FPS, and Medium reaches 132 FPS. Given that the jump from Ultra to High costs only 13.6% performance, players with 144Hz monitors might prefer High for the extra margin. The Low preset at 1440p (186 FPS) is excessive for most displays and likely sacrifices visual fidelity without proportional benefit.

For 1080p, all presets deliver excellent performance. Ultra runs at 135 FPS, High at 156 FPS, and Medium at 175 FPS. Even the most demanding preset stays well above 120 FPS, making this resolution ideal for competitive play or maximum visual quality. The Low preset's 232 FPS is only relevant for extremely high refresh rate displays (240Hz+), where the extra frames could reduce input latency.

The data suggests that the "best experience" depends on the target resolution. For 4K, Medium provides the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate stability. At 1440p, High is recommended for its 118 FPS average and minimal visual compromise versus Ultra. For 1080p, Ultra is the clear choice, as the 135 FPS average still exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors in this class.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark results reflect its capabilities. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Control's texture-heavy environments at 4K. The boost clock of 2505 MHz and 9728 shading units provide the raw compute needed for the game's particle effects and physics simulations.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, a delta of only 0.1% — effectively a statistical tie. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher), while the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (2.6% higher). These marginal differences suggest that the RTX 4080 is well-matched against its peers in synthetic benchmarks, though real-world game performance can vary.

In Control specifically, the GPU's role becomes apparent when examining the frame rate gaps between presets. At 4K, the difference between Low (126 FPS) and Ultra (69 FPS) is 57 FPS, a 45.2% reduction. This gap narrows at 1440p (Low: 186 FPS, Ultra: 102 FPS, a 45.2% reduction) and remains consistent at 1080p (Low: 232 FPS, Ultra: 135 FPS, a 41.8% reduction). The consistent percentage gap across resolutions indicates that the GPU's shader and texture units are the primary drivers of these differences, with memory bandwidth becoming more critical at 4K.

The RTX 4080's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are present in the hardware, but the measured FPS data does not include ray tracing-specific benchmarks. The standard rasterization results show a GPU that can handle Control's max settings at 1440p with ease and remains viable at 4K with settings adjustments. The 320W TDP and triple-slot cooler design are consistent with the performance delivered, though the data does not include thermal or power consumption measurements.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 310th out of 3720 tested combos for Control, placing it in the top 8.3% of all systems benchmarked. This ranking reflects the strength of both components, though it is not the absolute top tier — the top 310 combos likely include newer GPUs like the RTX 4090 or RTX 4080 SUPER paired with equally powerful CPUs.

The combo's ranking is consistent with the component-level benchmarks. The CPU's percentile of 91 among all CPUs and the GPU's 86th percentile suggest a balanced pairing, with neither component significantly dragging down the other. The Ryzen 9 5950X's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (average score 52073, -0.2% delta), AMD EPYC 8124P (52121, -0.3%), Intel Core i9-13900F (51730, +0.4%), and Intel Core i7-14700 (52301, -0.7%). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the 5950X is competitively positioned among its peers.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080's nearest rivals show similar tight clustering: RTX 4080 SUPER (54209, +0.1%), Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1%), Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.6%), and Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.7%). The RTX 4080 sits slightly below its direct successor in synthetic scores but outperforms the AMD alternatives in this specific game, as evidenced by the combo's sub-10% rank.

The rank of 310 out of 3720 means this combo outperforms approximately 91.7% of tested systems in Control. This places it in the enthusiast tier, capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1440p and solid 4K performance. The gap to the very top is likely filled by combos with more recent GPUs or higher-clocked CPUs, but the data shows this pairing is far from obsolete.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 69 FPS. This is the lowest average across all tested configurations, but it remains above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 scores 54247 on average, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209. This represents a delta of 0.1%, meaning the two GPUs are virtually identical in performance.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers 118 FPS average, which is 15.7% higher than Ultra (102 FPS) and only slightly below Medium (132 FPS). High offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate for most 144Hz displays.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X bottleneck the RTX 4080 in Control?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p, where CPU bottlenecks are most likely, the combo achieves 232 FPS at Low settings and 135 FPS at Ultra. The 16-core, 32-thread CPU delivers a single-thread 3DMark score of 944, which is sufficient for this game's demands.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates at 4K Medium?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 76, with an average of 89 and maximum of 103. The minimum stays comfortably above 60 FPS, indicating good frame pacing.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 310th out of 3720 tested combos for Control, placing it in the top 8.3% of all systems. This is consistent with the CPU's 91st percentile and GPU's 86th percentile rankings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 232 FPS average
• Medium: 175 FPS average, 149 min, 201 max
• High: 156 FPS average
• Ultra: 135 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 186 FPS average
• Medium: 132 FPS average, 113 min, 152 max
• High: 118 FPS average
• Ultra: 102 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 126 FPS average
• Medium: 89 FPS average, 76 min, 103 max
• High: 79 FPS average
• Ultra: 69 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the spread between min and max is 52 FPS (149 to 201), at 1440p it is 39 FPS (113 to 152), and at 4K it is 27 FPS (76 to 103). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded, reducing frame time variance.

The performance gaps between presets are consistent across resolutions. From Low to Medium, the average FPS drops by 24.6% at 1080p, 29.0% at 1440p, and 29.4% at 4K. From Medium to High, the drops are 10.9% at 1080p, 10.6% at 1440p, and 11.2% at 4K. From High to Ultra, the drops are 13.5% at 1080p, 13.6% at 1440p, and 12.7% at 4K. These consistent percentages suggest that each preset tier adds a similar computational load regardless of resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, provides ample processing power for Control. The CPU's base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz, combined with 64 MB of L3 cache, ensure that the game's AI, physics, and streaming systems have sufficient resources. The 7nm Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename) delivers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 944 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1614.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The high frame rates at 1080p (up to 232 FPS at Low settings) indicate that the CPU is not a limiting factor even at lower resolutions where CPU load is typically highest. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1856 and 4-thread score of 3595 show strong multi-threaded scaling, which benefits games that utilize multiple cores for background tasks.

The CPU's percentile of 91 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 51947, places it in the upper echelon of processors. Its nearest rivals show minimal differences: the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX scores 52073 (-0.2%), AMD EPYC 8124P scores 52121 (-0.3%), Intel Core i9-13900F scores 51730 (+0.4%), and Intel Core i7-14700 scores 52301 (-0.7%). These sub-1% deltas indicate that the 5950X is competitive with much newer processors in synthetic workloads.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is lower than newer DDR5 platforms, but this does not appear to impact Control's performance. The game's frame rates at 1080p, where memory bandwidth can be a factor, are consistently high across all presets. The 5950X's 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes provide sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4080's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, ensuring no bottleneck in data transfer between CPU and GPU.

In summary, the Ryzen 9 5950X is a capable partner for the RTX 4080 in Control. The CPU's high single-thread performance and ample core count ensure that it never becomes the limiting factor in this game. The benchmark data confirms that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates across all resolutions and settings, with the CPU providing stable and consistent performance throughout.