Control

The pairing of AMD’s Ryzen 9 7900X with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050 Ti in Control produces a heavily GPU-bound experience, where the 12-core, 24-thread processor is effectively idling while the 4 GB Pascal card struggles to keep pace. The measured frames per second across resolutions and settings tell a clear story of a bottleneck that is entirely visual, not computational.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals that the GTX 1050 Ti is the limiting component in every scenario. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 44.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 36.9 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 7.3 FPS, and then plummets to 25.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth; the 112.1 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are simply overwhelmed as the pixel count increases.

The gap widens dramatically at higher presets. At Ultra settings, the 1080p average of 24.3 FPS drops to 22 FPS at 1440p, but the 4K result collapses to 10.9 FPS. That is a 55% loss from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the 4 GB frame buffer is not just a hindrance but a hard wall. The data implies that even dropping from High to Low at 4K only recovers 8.6 FPS (16.5 to 25.1), which is still far from playable. The processor’s potential is irrelevant here; the GTX 1050 Ti’s 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the sole arbiter of performance.

GPU Role

The GTX 1050 Ti’s specifications directly explain the measured results. With 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, the card is architecturally from the Pascal generation, built on a 14 nm process. Its base clock of 1291 MHz and boost clock of 1392 MHz are modest, and the 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus yields that 112.1 GB/s bandwidth. In Control, a game that demands both fill rate and memory capacity, these specs result in an average benchmark score of 5316, placing it in the 30th percentile of all GPUs.

The nearest rivals confirm its position: the NVIDIA GeForce 930A scores 5317 (0% delta), the 940M scores 5297 (+0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R7 240 scores 5280 (+0.7%). The 1050 Ti is effectively at parity with these much older or lower-tier parts, which is why it cannot handle 4K Ultra at 10.9 FPS. The memory clock of 1752 MHz (7 Gbps effective) is not enough to feed the 32 ROPs at high resolutions, and the 75 W TDP suggests there is no headroom for sustained boosts under load. The data shows that the GPU’s role is to cap performance at roughly 44 FPS even at the lowest settings, and that cap shrinks as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 7900X is a monster on paper, but in this configuration, it is a spectator. With 12 cores and 24 threads, base clock of 4.70 GHz, and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, the CPU’s benchmark scores are exceptional: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 43695 and a single-core score of 6168. It ranks in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 50556. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 (50598, -0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT (50738, -0.4%), Intel Core i7-13850HX (50827, -0.5%), and Intel Core i9-13980HX (50944, -0.8%).

Yet, in Control, the CPU’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s are not stressed. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 44.2, which is a frame rate that a much weaker processor could achieve. The fact that moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low drops FPS by only 7.3 (44.2 to 36.9) suggests that the CPU is not the constraint; if it were, the frame rates would remain stable across resolutions. The 7900X’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1093 and passmark single-thread score of 4238 are more than sufficient for this game’s physics and logic. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU, and the data indicates that the CPU’s role is to ensure there are no frame drops due to processor stalls, which it does admirably.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the best experience is found at 1920x1080 with Low settings, yielding an average of 44.2 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, and it is 12.7 FPS higher than the next best option, which is 1080p Medium at 32 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 12.2 FPS (44.2 to 32), which is a significant penalty for what is likely a modest visual gain. High at 1080p delivers 31.5 FPS, which is slightly lower than Medium, and Ultra drops to 24.3 FPS.

At 1440p, the situation worsens. Low is the only viable preset at 36.9 FPS, while Medium (24.7), High (24.1), and Ultra (22) are all below 25 FPS. At 4K, all presets are effectively unplayable, with Low at 25.1 FPS being the best, followed by Medium (18.3), High (16.5), and Ultra (10.9). The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p Low for the highest average FPS, or accept 1440p Low if resolution is more important than smoothness. There is no setting combination that achieves 60 FPS, so the user must prioritize either frame rate or visual fidelity, with the data strongly favoring frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Ryzen 9 7900X and GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1602 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. This places it in the bottom 2% of all pairings, which is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limitations. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability; rather, it highlights the severe imbalance of pairing a top-tier 12-core processor with an entry-level graphics card. The 7900X alone would rank much higher with any modern GPU, but the GTX 1050 Ti’s 30th percentile score drags the overall performance down.

The data suggests that this combo is only useful for testing CPU-bound scenarios at low resolutions, but even then, the 44.2 FPS cap at 1080p Low shows that the GPU is still the limiting factor. The rank of 1602 out of 1636 means that nearly any other GPU, even the Radeon R7 240 (which scores 5280 vs. the 1050 Ti’s 5316), would produce similar results. This is a cautionary tale about bottlenecking, but the numbers are what they are: the combo is objectively poor for this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in Control?

A: The highest measured average is 44.2 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. Evidence includes the 4 GB GDDR5 memory and 112.1 GB/s bandwidth, which cause FPS to drop from 44.2 at 1080p Low to 25.1 at 4K Low, while the CPU’s 12 cores and 5.60 GHz boost clock remain underutilized.

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 10.9 FPS, which is far below playable.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 5316. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A scores 5317 (0% delta), the 940M scores 5297 (+0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R7 240 scores 5280 (+0.7%).

Q: What is the difference in FPS between 1080p Medium and 1080p High?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 32, while at 1080p High, it is 31.5. The difference is only 0.5 FPS, making the two presets nearly identical in performance.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Control?

A: The combo ranks 1602 out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 2% of all pairings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured data for this combo in Control is as follows. At 1920x1080, Low settings yield 44.2 FPS, Medium yields 32 FPS, High yields 31.5 FPS, and Ultra yields 24.3 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, Low drops to 36.9 FPS, Medium to 24.7 FPS, High to 24.1 FPS, and Ultra to 22 FPS. At 3840x2160, the results are 25.1 FPS on Low, 18.3 FPS on Medium, 16.5 FPS on High, and 10.9 FPS on Ultra.

The pattern is consistent: each resolution step down from 1080p to 1440p to 4K incurs a significant penalty, and each preset increase from Low to Ultra costs more FPS at higher resolutions. For instance, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 19.9 FPS (44.2 vs. 24.3), but at 4K, that gap widens to 14.2 FPS (25.1 vs. 10.9). The data confirms that the GTX 1050 Ti is out of its depth in Control, and the Ryzen 9 7900X cannot rescue it.