Control

Control pairs a 12-core/24-thread AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with an 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, and the measured frame rates show a system that is decisively GPU-limited at every resolution tested. The CPU’s Zen 5 architecture, with a 4.40 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost clock, sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER lands in the 63rd percentile for GPUs. This imbalance means that the game’s performance ceiling is dictated by the graphics card, not the processor, which becomes increasingly apparent as resolution and settings escalate.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 9 9900X brings 12 cores and 24 threads to the table, a configuration that is far beyond what a 2019 action-adventure title like Control typically demands. Its benchmark scores reinforce this: the Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 46438 and single-core score of 6555 place it among the top-tier desktop processors. In the context of Control, the data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a bottleneck—even at 1080p Low, where the average FPS reaches 120.3, the processor is not the limiting factor.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (with a deltaPct of -0.4, meaning the 9900X scores 0.4% lower) and the Intel Core i7-14700F (deltaPct 0.7, meaning the 9900X scores 0.7% higher). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming. The 9900X’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support provide ample bandwidth for game logic and asset streaming, but Control’s frame rates do not scale with CPU muscle here. The measured data shows that moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings yields a performance drop consistent with GPU-bound behavior, not a processor constraint.

What matters for Control is that the CPU can feed the GPU without stuttering. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and multi-thread score of 13929 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for games that rely on a few heavily threaded tasks. However, with the RTX 2060 SUPER’s modest 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, the CPU is effectively idle in comparison. Benchmark results indicate that any FPS variance across settings at a fixed resolution is attributable to the GPU’s workload, not the processor’s capabilities.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of presets. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 120.3 FPS, Medium 83.1 FPS, High 73.6 FPS, and Ultra 64.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial—a 37.2 FPS drop—whereas the step from Medium to High is a more modest 9.5 FPS. This suggests that the Low preset is well below the GPU’s comfortable range, and the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual quality and headroom.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low produces 87.1 FPS, Medium 63.8 FPS, High 54.7 FPS, and Ultra 50.4 FPS. The relative drop from Low to Medium is 23.3 FPS, but from High to Ultra it is only 4.3 FPS. For a 60 FPS target, the High preset at 1440p is borderline (54.7 FPS), while Medium is the safer choice for smooth gameplay. At 4K, the situation becomes more demanding: Low hits 61.9 FPS, Medium 43.8 FPS, High 39 FPS, and Ultra 31.6 FPS. Only the Low preset maintains a playable average above 60 FPS.

The data indicates that the optimal preset depends on the resolution target. For 1080p, High is the sweet spot—it stays above 70 FPS while offering significantly better visuals than Medium. For 1440p, Medium is the pragmatic pick, as it stays above 60 FPS. For 4K, Low is the only preset that avoids sub-45 FPS averages. The measured rows show that Ultra settings are consistently the worst performers, with the largest FPS penalty relative to High being 9.8 FPS at 1080p, which is not worth the visual gain for most players.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of GPU-bound performance. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 73.6 at 1080p to 54.7 at 1440p (a 25.7% drop) and then to 39 at 4K (a 46.9% drop from 1080p). At Low settings, the numbers are 120.3, 87.1, and 61.9 respectively, showing a 48.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This consistent degradation as pixel count increases points directly to the RTX 2060 SUPER as the limiting component.

The Ryzen 9 9900X’s performance is unaffected by resolution changes—its workload remains constant regardless of whether the GPU renders 2 million or 8 million pixels. The data shows that the FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings (from 63.8 to 43.8, a 31.3% decrease) is larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (from 83.1 to 63.8, a 23.2% decrease). This accelerating decline is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of fillrate and memory bandwidth, not a CPU that is being overwhelmed.

The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM are the key constraints. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 31.6 is below the 30 FPS threshold for console-like smoothness, indicating that the GPU is maxed out. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the measured data shows a clear linear relationship between pixel count and performance loss.

FAQ

Q: Can the Ryzen 9 9900X handle Control’s CPU demands at 4K?

A: Yes. The 9900X’s 12 cores and 24 threads, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46438, far exceed Control’s requirements. The measured FPS at 4K (39 at High, 31.6 at Ultra) is entirely limited by the RTX 2060 SUPER, not the processor.

Q: What is the best setting for a 60 FPS target at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p yields 63.8 FPS, which is the only setting above 60 FPS at that resolution. High falls short at 54.7 FPS, so Medium is the recommended choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Control at 4K?

A: The data shows that 4K Ultra averages 31.6 FPS and 4K High averages 39 FPS, which are playable but not smooth. The 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the Low preset at 61.9 FPS, but higher settings push the GPU to its limits.

Q: How does the 9900X compare to its nearest rival, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D?

A: The 9900X scores 0.4% lower on average than the 9900X3D in the benchmark database, a difference that is negligible for gaming. The 9900X’s 64 MB L3 cache is ample for Control, and the measured FPS does not improve with a higher-scoring CPU.

Q: Why is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K so large?

A: The drop is due to the GPU being the bottleneck. At High settings, FPS falls from 73.6 at 1080p to 39 at 4K, a 47% reduction. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU’s capabilities.

Q: Is the Low preset at 4K viable for competitive play?

A: At 4K Low, the average FPS is 61.9, which is above 60. For a single-player action-adventure game, this is playable, though visual fidelity is significantly reduced compared to High or Ultra.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary driver of Control’s frame rates. Its Turing architecture, with a base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz, provides a baseline of 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the critical resource for texture-heavy scenes at high resolutions. The GPU’s benchmark scores reflect its mid-range position: the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2011, and the PassMark G3D score is 16462, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs.

The measured FPS data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s performance scales predictably with settings. At 1080p, the GPU can handle Ultra at 64.7 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 31.6 FPS. This is not a memory capacity issue—8 GB is sufficient for Control’s textures—but rather a compute and bandwidth limitation. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (deltaPct 0.3, meaning the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 0.3% higher) and the RTX 2070 (deltaPct 0.5, meaning it scores 0.5% higher). These differences are minor, indicating that the 2060 SUPER is a solid performer for its class.

The GPU’s 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but underutilized in Control, which does not heavily rely on ray tracing in the measured settings. The pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s are the specs that matter most here, as they determine how quickly the GPU can fill the screen with rendered geometry. The data shows that at 4K, the GPU is exceeding its comfortable fill rate, resulting in sub-45 FPS at Medium and above.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER performs admirably across all presets. Low settings average 120.3 FPS, which is well above any refresh rate target. Medium drops to 83.1 FPS, High to 73.6 FPS, and Ultra to 64.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 55.6 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to accommodate significant visual upgrades without falling below 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance begins to tighten. Low averages 87.1 FPS, Medium 63.8 FPS, High 54.7 FPS, and Ultra 50.4 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 23.3 FPS loss, which is the largest single-step drop in this resolution. High and Ultra are within 4.3 FPS of each other, indicating diminishing returns for the highest preset. For a 60 FPS target, only Low and Medium are viable.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overmatched. Low averages 61.9 FPS, which is the only preset above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 43.8 FPS, High 39 FPS, and Ultra 31.6 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is an 18.1 FPS loss, while High to Ultra is a 7.4 FPS loss. The data shows that 4K gaming with this GPU requires the Low preset for smoothness, or acceptance of sub-45 FPS averages for higher visual quality.

The overall combo rank of 1199 out of 1636 indicates that this CPU-GPU pairing is below average for Control, reflecting the GPU’s limitations rather than the CPU’s strengths. The Ryzen 9 9900X is overkill for this game, but the RTX 2060 SUPER is the deciding factor in every measured scenario.