Control

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a top-tier experience in Control, ranking 13th out of 1,636 tested combos. This places the system in the top 1% of all configurations, a position that reflects the raw power of both components. The data shows a combination that is not merely capable, but one that decisively overpowers a game from 2019, producing frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of most high-end monitors at every resolution and settings level tested.

How This Combo Ranks

The 13th-place ranking out of 1,636 combos is a dominant result. It indicates that this pairing is at the very pinnacle of gaming performance for Control, outclassing the vast majority of systems that users have tested. While the CPU and GPU each have their own individual benchmark percentiles—the 7900X sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, and the RTX 5090 in the 94th percentile of all GPUs—their combined performance in this specific title is even more impressive, landing in the top 1% of all recorded combos. This score suggests that Control is not a bottleneck for either component; instead, the system operates as a cohesive unit to deliver maximum frame rates. The difference between this 13th-place finish and the field is significant, marking it as a reference-class setup for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed engine of this combo's performance. Its colossal 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, which is far more than Control requires, even at 4K Ultra settings. The sheer memory capacity ensures that texture streaming and asset loading will never cause a stutter or frame drop. The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz, are high, but the architecture's 21,760 shading units and 680 texture mapping units are what allow it to process the game's physics-heavy environments and particle effects with ease. The data confirms this, showing that the GPU's role is to saturate the display with frames. Even at 4K Ultra, the GPU sustains an average of 76.5 FPS, a feat that highlights its immense compute power. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 scores a 39,650 in Passmark G3D, placing it just 0.1% ahead of the next closest rival, the RTX 5090 D, and a full 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combination depend entirely on the user's display refresh rate and resolution. At 1080p, even the most demanding Ultra preset yields an average of 153.9 FPS, which is more than enough for a high-refresh-rate monitor. The data shows that the GPU is so powerful at this resolution that it is likely leaving performance on the table, making the choice between settings a matter of visual fidelity rather than playability. At 1440p, the High preset (136.5 FPS) and Medium preset (150.4 FPS) are both excellent choices for 144Hz displays, while Ultra (116.2 FPS) still remains highly playable. At 4K, the situation becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset drops to 76.5 FPS, which is still smooth, but the High preset (91.2 FPS) offers a better balance for a 90Hz or 120Hz display, providing a substantial 19% performance increase over Ultra while likely offering a near-identical visual experience in a fast-paced action game. For the absolute highest frame rates, the Low preset provides 146.1 FPS at 4K, but the visual compromise is significant. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for 4K gaming on this hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results show a clear and predictable scaling of performance. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are astronomical. The Low preset hits 279.5 FPS, Medium reaches 203.2 FPS, High achieves 179.5 FPS, and even the Ultra preset delivers a massive 153.9 FPS. This demonstrates an absolute ceiling of performance that is likely limited by the CPU or game engine at this resolution. Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take on more work. The scores remain extremely high: Low hits 212.4 FPS, Medium 150.4 FPS, High 136.5 FPS, and Ultra 116.2 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, but the system remains firmly in high-refresh-rate territory across all settings. At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload increases significantly. The average frame rates are 146.1 FPS (Low), 100.8 FPS (Medium), 91.2 FPS (High), and 76.5 FPS (Ultra). These numbers show that the RTX 5090 is the first component to become a limiting factor, but it does so at a level that is still superior to the vast majority of other graphics cards.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions and a CPU-bound scenario at lower ones. When moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low, the frame rate drops by 47.7%, from 279.5 FPS to 146.1 FPS. Similarly, at High settings, the drop from 179.5 FPS to 91.2 FPS represents a 49.2% decrease. This near-50% reduction in performance when quadrupling the pixel count (from 2.1 million to 8.3 million) is less than the theoretical 75% penalty, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to absorb some of the increased load without a linear drop. The fact that the 1080p scores are so high suggests that the CPU, with its 12 cores and 24 threads boosting up to 5.60 GHz, is capable of feeding the GPU more frames than it can render at that resolution. As the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, which is the ideal scenario for a gaming PC. The data clearly shows that scaling from 1440p to 4K has a larger relative impact on performance than scaling from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for a high-end GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X plays a crucial supporting role, ensuring the RTX 5090 is never starved of data. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, the CPU provides immense multi-threaded muscle. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are exceptionally high, giving it the single-threaded speed that games like Control rely on for physics, AI, and game logic. The CPU's performance in synthetic tests is telling; it scores 43,695 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,168 in single-core. This places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with its closest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, being just 0.1% behind in average benchmark score. In the context of Control, the CPU's role is to maintain high minimum frame rates and prevent any hitches. The measured data at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, shows frame rates exceeding 279 FPS, which is a direct testament to the 7900X's ability to process game data quickly. It is a perfect match for the RTX 5090, providing the necessary platform to unlock the GPU's full potential without becoming a limiting factor.