Control

Control with an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and Radeon RX 7900 XTX presents a clear picture of a high-end pairing where the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate changes across resolutions. The measured data shows a system that can handle 4K comfortably but scales down to extremely high refresh rates at 1080p, making it a versatile option for both visual fidelity and competitive play.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating that the game is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 225 at 1920x1080 to 170 at 2560x1440, then further down to 115 at 3840x2160. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that clearly shows the rendering load scaling with pixel count. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, with the gap between 1440p and 4K being particularly noticeable.

At Medium settings, the averages are 160 (1080p), 121 (1440p), and 82 (4K). The drop from 1440p to 4K is 39 frames per second, or roughly a 32% decrease, while the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 39 frames as well, showing a linear scaling trend. High settings follow a similar trajectory: 142 (1080p), 107 (1440p), and 72 (4K). The 4K High result is 70 frames below the 1080p High result, confirming that each resolution step imposes a significant penalty on the GPU.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 123 FPS at 1080p, 93 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra average of 63 FPS is exactly half of the 1080p Ultra average, which strongly suggests that the RX 7900 XTX is the limiting component at higher resolutions rather than the Ryzen 9 7900X. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is unlikely to bottleneck at any of these settings, as the frame rate consistently drops with resolution increases.

The data indicates that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where even Ultra settings maintain an average above 90 FPS. At 4K, the user must choose between High (72 FPS) and Medium (82 FPS) to stay above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra dips to just 63 FPS. The scaling behavior suggests that Control’s visual effects, particularly at higher settings, place a heavy burden on the GPU’s compute and memory subsystems, which is expected given the RX 7900 XTX’s high bandwidth and large frame buffer.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX brings 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a crucial asset for Control, a game known for its dense particle effects and destructible environments that can quickly fill a frame buffer. The 24 GB capacity is more than sufficient for this title, even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS of 63 suggests the GPU is compute-limited rather than memory-limited. The memory clock runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective), which pairs with the 1929 MHz base and 2498 MHz boost clocks to provide the raw throughput needed for the observed frame rates.

The GPU’s 6144 shading units and 192 ROPs are heavily utilized in Control’s rendering pipeline. The pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s explain why the card can maintain 225 FPS at 1080p Low—there is ample fill rate and texture bandwidth to handle the lower resolution with ease. However, as resolution increases, the demand on these units grows linearly, and the 4K Low result of 115 FPS shows that even the most powerful consumer GPUs face a significant challenge at that pixel count.

The RX 7900 XTX’s FP32 performance of 61.39 TFLOPS is a strong indicator of its ability to handle the complex shader work in Control. The game’s physics and post-processing effects scale with resolution, and the data confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, as the CPU’s single-thread score of 1093 in 3dmark and multi-thread score of 12536 would not limit frame rates below 200 FPS in most scenarios. The GPU’s TDP of 355 W and dual-slot design are consistent with its performance class, and the 2x 8-pin power connectors ensure stable delivery during extended gaming sessions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, all 4K settings presets produce average FPS above 60, with Low at 115, Medium at 82, High at 72, and Ultra at 63. For a locked 60 FPS experience, High settings are safe, while Ultra is borderline at 63 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers 225 FPS on Low, 160 on Medium, 142 on High, and 123 on Ultra, making it ideal for 144Hz or 240Hz displays. At 1440p, High and Medium settings exceed 100 FPS, which suits 144Hz monitors well.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 19410, which is 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB and 1.2% higher than the NVIDIA TITAN Xp. It is 1% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 and 1.2% lower than the AMD FirePro D300.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The Ryzen 9 7900X has a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, and its multi-thread score of 29300 in Cinebench R23 far exceeds what Control requires. Frame rates scale downward with resolution, which is a sign of GPU limitation.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values at Medium settings?

A: The measured minimum FPS at Medium settings are 136 at 1080p, 103 at 1440p, and 69 at 4K. These minimums are close to the averages, indicating consistent frame pacing without severe drops.

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

A: This combination ranks 536th out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top 14.4% of all configurations measured for this game.

Settings Recommendations

The ideal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 4K gaming, High settings at 72 FPS average offer the best balance between visual quality and smoothness, as Ultra drops to 63 FPS which may cause noticeable judder on some displays. If a stable 60 FPS with headroom is preferred, Medium at 82 FPS is a safer choice, and the minimum FPS of 69 at Medium ensures no dips below 60.

At 1440p, High settings at 107 FPS are the sweet spot for most users, providing near-Ultra visuals while staying above the 100 FPS threshold. Ultra at 93 FPS is still highly playable and offers the full experience, but the 14 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual gain for competitive players. Low at 170 FPS is excessive for most monitors unless using a 165Hz or 240Hz panel, in which case Medium at 121 FPS is a better visual trade-off.

For 1080p, the combo is so powerful that Ultra at 123 FPS is the recommended preset for most users, as it delivers the highest fidelity while still supporting high refresh rates. Medium at 160 FPS is ideal for 144Hz monitors with some competitive edge, while Low at 225 FPS is only necessary for 240Hz displays where every frame matters. The minimum FPS of 136 at Medium 1080p ensures smooth gameplay even during intense combat scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration sits at rank 536 out of 3720 tested combos for Control, placing it in the 85.6th percentile of all systems measured. This is a strong result, though not at the absolute top, which reflects the fact that higher-end GPUs or CPUs with better single-thread performance could push frame rates slightly higher. The rank indicates that this pairing is well above average, but there is room above it in the rankings for more extreme hardware configurations.

The Ryzen 9 7900X itself has an average benchmark score of 53288, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 7313P at 0.2% higher, the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 at 0.3% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700F at 0.6% lower. This positioning shows the CPU is competitive with workstation-class chips, though it is not the fastest gaming processor available. The GPU’s average score of 19410 places it near the NVIDIA GTX 1060 3 GB and TITAN Xp, which is surprising given the architectural differences, but the raw performance in Control is clearly much higher than those older cards.

The combination’s ranking suggests that while it excels in this game, there are 535 other combos that achieve higher frame rates, likely featuring newer or more specialized hardware. For most users, a top 15% ranking is more than sufficient, and the measured FPS data confirms that this system provides a premium experience across all settings and resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 225 FPS on Low, 160 FPS on Medium, 142 FPS on High, and 123 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset includes a minimum FPS of 136 and a maximum of 184, showing a tight frame pacing window. This resolution is clearly CPU-friendly, and the GPU has plenty of headroom to push beyond 200 FPS on lower presets.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 170 FPS on Low, 121 FPS on Medium, 107 FPS on High, and 93 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset minimum is 103 FPS with a maximum of 139, indicating that even at 1440p, the system maintains high and consistent frame rates. The gap between Low and Ultra is 77 FPS, which shows the significant impact of visual settings at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 115 FPS on Low, 82 FPS on Medium, 72 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 94, which means that even the lowest measured frame rate stays above 60 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 52 FPS, demonstrating that 4K is where the GPU’s limits become apparent, but the RX 7900 XTX still delivers a fully playable experience at every preset level.