Control

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a combo rank of 1071 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control. This places the pairing in the 71st percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 29% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this title. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other in most scenarios, though the data reveals specific resolution-dependent behaviors that shift the balance of responsibility between CPU and GPU.

Benchmark results indicate this combo sits in the upper-middle tier of tested configurations. The Ryzen 9 7900X itself ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 3080 ranks in the 68th percentile among all GPUs. The discrepancy between these individual percentiles suggests the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing for Control. The CPU's headroom becomes apparent at lower resolutions, where frame rates scale significantly, while the GPU's influence dominates at higher resolutions and higher quality settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 brings 10 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed. Core clocks are rated at 1440 MHz base and 1710 MHz boost, with 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The card's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores support the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set that Control can leverage.

In Control's measured FPS data, the GPU's role becomes clearer when examining the scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 185 FPS average. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average drops to 94 FPS. This 49% reduction in frame rate across a 4x increase in pixel count indicates the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at 4K, even on Low settings. The RTX 3080's 10 GB frame buffer proves sufficient for Control at all tested settings, as no out-of-memory artifacts appear in the data.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 25086 places it near the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, 0.3% ahead), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250, 0.3% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273, 0.4% ahead), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23276, 0.4% ahead). These nearest rivals are within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 23172, indicating the GPU's synthetic performance is closely matched with several other cards despite architectural differences.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 High delivers 88 FPS average, which combines high visual quality with smooth frame rates. At 1920x1080 High, the combo reaches 117 FPS, while 3840x2160 High drops to 60 FPS exactly. The 1440p High setting balances the GPU's capabilities with the CPU's headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 23172 is within 0.4% of four other GPUs: NVIDIA P106-100 (23249), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23276). The RTX 3080 sits slightly below all four in aggregate score.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 7900X bottleneck the RTX 3080 in Control?

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 185 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU effectively in less demanding scenes. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average drops to 52 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking versus the GPU's 68th percentile supports this interpretation.

Q: What frame rate can users expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured data shows 99 FPS average at 2560x1440 Medium, with minimum and maximum values of 84 and 114 FPS respectively. This represents a 12.5% improvement over High settings at the same resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in Control?

A: The combination ranks 1071 out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the 71st percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the pairing's ability to maintain playable frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: At 3840x2160 High, the combo delivers exactly 60 FPS average, which is playable. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 52 FPS. For consistent 60+ FPS at 4K, users would need to use Medium settings, which produce 67 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 185 FPS average, which represents the ceiling for this pairing at 1080p. Medium settings yield 131 FPS average with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 151 FPS. High settings produce 117 FPS average, while Ultra settings deliver 101 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 45% reduction in frame rate, with each settings tier costing approximately 15-20% performance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show increased GPU pressure. Low settings produce 140 FPS average, a 24% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings deliver 99 FPS average with 84 FPS minimum and 114 FPS maximum. High settings produce 88 FPS average, while Ultra settings yield 77 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 45%, matching the 1080p scaling pattern.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. Low settings produce 94 FPS average, which is 49% lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings deliver 67 FPS average with 57 FPS minimum and 77 FPS maximum. High settings produce exactly 60 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS average. The Low-to-Ultra gap at 4K is 45%, consistent with lower resolutions, but the absolute frame rates are substantially reduced.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the limiting component shifts across resolutions. At Low settings, the combo produces 185 FPS at 1080p, 140 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 24%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 33%. This accelerating decline indicates the GPU's workload grows faster than the CPU's ability to supply frames, though the CPU still has headroom at 1080p.

At High settings, the scaling is more linear: 117 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p (25% drop), and 60 FPS at 4K (32% drop from 1440p). The 4K High result of exactly 60 FPS suggests the GPU is operating at its limit for this quality level. At Ultra settings, the pattern continues: 101 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p (24% drop), and 52 FPS at 4K (32% drop).

The consistent 24-33% drops between consecutive resolutions indicate that the GPU is the primary scaling bottleneck. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate drops would be smaller at higher resolutions where the GPU has more work per frame. The data instead shows the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth becoming increasingly saturated as pixel count rises.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 60 FPS as a minimum acceptable frame rate, the data suggests different optimal settings per resolution. At 1920x1080, all settings tiers exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra delivering 101 FPS average. The 1080p Ultra setting provides the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness, as the minimum frame rate at Medium is 111 FPS, and Ultra likely stays above 85 FPS based on the Medium minimum.

At 2560x1440, High settings produce 88 FPS average, which is comfortable for most displays. Ultra settings deliver 77 FPS average, which remains smooth for 60 Hz displays and acceptable for 144 Hz panels. The Medium setting's minimum of 84 FPS suggests High and Ultra will maintain frame rates above 70 FPS, making 1440p High the recommended balance of quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the choice narrows significantly. High settings produce exactly 60 FPS average, which is the threshold for smooth play on 60 Hz displays. Medium settings deliver 67 FPS average with 57 FPS minimum, providing a small buffer above 60 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS average, which may cause noticeable stutter on 60 Hz panels. For 4K gaming, Medium settings offer the best experience per the measured data, as they provide the highest average frame rate with a minimum above 55 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X provides 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. Base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU has 64 KB L1 cache per core, 1 MB L2 cache per core, and 64 MB shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's 170 W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC with 13,140 million transistors across a 2x 71 mm² die size.

In Control, the CPU's role is most visible at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 185 FPS, which requires the CPU to process game logic and draw calls at a high rate. The Ryzen 9 7900X's 3DMark scores demonstrate its capability: 1093 single-thread, 2137 for 2 threads, 4151 for 4 threads, 7798 for 8 threads, 10972 for 16 threads, and 12536 for max threads. The Cinebench R23 scores of 2016.5 single-core and 29300 multi-core confirm strong per-thread performance and excellent scaling across cores.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking versus the GPU's 68th percentile indicates the RTX 3080 is the more constrained component in this pairing. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 52 FPS, which is likely GPU-limited. At 1080p Low, the 185 FPS result suggests the CPU can sustain high frame rates, though the exact headroom beyond 185 FPS is not measured. The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206, 0.2% ahead), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469, 0.3% behind), Intel Xeon 634 (52974, 0.6% ahead), and Intel Core i7-14700F (53620, 0.6% behind). These scores place the Ryzen 9 7900X in a competitive position among high-end processors, though the game's performance is ultimately limited by the GPU at higher settings.