Control

# Control with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER produces a combination that ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower portion of the database. This pairing of a high-end 12-core Zen 5 processor with an end-of-life Turing-based GPU creates a significant imbalance, where the graphics card consistently determines playability across all tested resolutions and settings. The measured data shows a system that can deliver smooth frame rates at 1080p with adjusted settings, but struggles to maintain acceptable performance at higher resolutions, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck in every measured scenario.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER cannot consistently maintain 60 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, averaging 57 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS, which represents the best balance between visual quality and playable frame rates at this resolution. For players targeting smooth gameplay, Medium at 1080p is the recommended configuration, as it stays above 55 FPS even in the worst measured moments while providing a meaningful visual upgrade over Low settings.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset drops to an average of 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold but remains playable for slower-paced action-adventure gameplay. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 69 FPS average, making it the only settings level at this resolution that maintains frame rates above 60 FPS. For players prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity, Low at 1440p is the recommended choice, while those who accept sub-60 FPS performance can use Medium for improved image quality.

At 3840x2160, no settings level achieves an average above 46 FPS, with Low delivering 46 FPS, Medium at 33 FPS, High at 29 FPS, and Ultra at 25 FPS. Even the minimum FPS for Medium at 4K is 28 FPS, which is below what most players would consider acceptable for an action game. The data strongly suggests that 4K gaming is not a viable option with this combination, and players should either reduce resolution or accept significantly compromised frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D features 12 cores and 24 threads, built on the Zen 5 architecture with a 4 nm process. Its base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as reflected in synthetic benchmarks including a Geekbench single-core score of 3041 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6739. The processor's 128 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth contribute to its strong overall CPU performance, placing it in the 91st percentile among all tested CPUs.

In the context of Control, the CPU role is largely supportive rather than limiting. The measured frame rates show clear GPU-bound behavior, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS drops when resolution increases. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D's multithreaded capabilities, demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and a Geekbench multicore score of 22884, far exceed what Control requires. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF with an average benchmark score of 55093, which is only 0.6% higher than this chip's 54762 average, and the Intel Core i7-14700F at 53620, which is 2.1% lower.

The processor's high single-thread performance ensures that even the most CPU-intensive scenes in Control will not create a bottleneck at the tested settings. The data shows that as resolution decreases from 4K to 1080p, frame rates increase substantially, which is consistent with a system where the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 91 FPS average, suggesting that the CPU can support frame rates well above what the GPU can deliver at higher settings. The 12-core, 24-thread configuration provides ample headroom for background tasks and future games that may utilize more threads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process, with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 1530 MHz and boost clock of 1785 MHz drive 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation processors. The GPU achieves a Passmark G3D score of 12699 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278, placing it in the 53rd percentile among all tested GPUs.

The GTX 1660 SUPER's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile with an average score of 12940 (0.4% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 with an average score of 12928 (0.4% higher), showing that this GPU performs at a level comparable to entry-level modern graphics cards. However, in Control, the GPU's limitations become apparent at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM capacity and 192-bit memory bus are sufficient for 1080p gaming but become increasingly strained as resolution increases.

The GPU's performance characteristics directly explain the measured FPS pattern. At 1080p, the GPU can push frame rates between 50 FPS at Ultra and 91 FPS at Low, but at 1440p these numbers drop to 38-69 FPS, and at 4K they fall to 25-46 FPS. The scaling pattern shows that the GPU's compute capabilities and memory bandwidth are insufficient for maintaining high frame rates at 4K, where even Low settings only achieve 46 FPS average. The 125 W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are consistent with a mid-range GPU from its generation, and the data confirms that this GPU is the primary performance limiter in this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 15% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the significant mismatch between the high-end CPU and the mid-range GPU, where the graphics card prevents the system from achieving performance levels commensurate with the processor's capabilities.

The ranking position indicates that most other CPU-GPU combinations tested in Control deliver better performance than this pairing. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D's position in the 91st percentile of CPUs suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor, while the GTX 1660 SUPER's 53rd percentile GPU ranking highlights the graphics card as the performance constraint. This imbalance means that the system's overall ranking is primarily determined by the GPU's capabilities rather than the CPU's substantial processing power.

The data shows that the combo's performance in Control is consistent with what would be expected from a system where the GPU is the bottleneck. The measured FPS values at all resolutions and settings align with the GTX 1660 SUPER's known performance characteristics, while the CPU's high benchmark scores suggest it would not constrain performance even in more CPU-intensive scenarios. For players considering this combination, the ranking indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield significant performance improvements, while CPU upgrades would provide minimal benefit for this specific game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-limited scaling across resolutions. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system achieves 57 FPS average, which drops to 43 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 29 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 25% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 49% decrease from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings levels, with Low settings showing 91 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K.

The resolution scaling behavior confirms that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component. The frame rate drops closely follow the pixel count increases, with 1440p requiring 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p and 4K requiring 4 times the pixels. The data shows that the FPS reduction from 1080p to 1440p is relatively moderate, while the jump to 4K causes a dramatic performance collapse that cannot be offset by reducing settings. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 46 FPS, which is below the 1080p Medium performance of 64 FPS.

This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU has minimal impact on frame rates as resolution increases. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not scale significantly with pixel count. Instead, the substantial FPS drops at higher resolutions demonstrate that the GPU's rendering capabilities and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the increased pixel workload, confirming the GPU as the primary bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combination?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers 64 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS, making it the highest quality setting that maintains frame rates above 55 FPS. The High preset drops to 57 FPS average, while Low achieves 91 FPS average.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Control?

A: No, the data shows that even Low settings at 3840x2160 only achieve 46 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 33 FPS, High to 29 FPS, and Ultra to 25 FPS, with Medium showing a minimum of 28 FPS. These frame rates are below acceptable levels for an action-adventure game.

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

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D ranks in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, while the GTX 1660 SUPER ranks in the 53rd percentile of GPUs. The substantial FPS drops when increasing resolution confirm that the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's capabilities.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 12986, which is 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 12940 and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 580's 12928. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 by 0.7%, which scores 13075.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the system delivers 49 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. This provides playable performance but falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X3D compare to similar CPUs in benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF's 55093 and 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K's 54053. It is 2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6505P's 53701 and 2.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700F's 53620.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination across all tested resolutions and settings is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 91 FPS average on Low settings, 64 FPS average on Medium settings with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, 57 FPS average on High settings, and 50 FPS average on Ultra settings. The 1080p results show that only Low settings exceed 60 FPS, while Medium maintains a minimum above 55 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops to 69 FPS average on Low settings, 49 FPS average on Medium settings with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS, 43 FPS average on High settings, and 38 FPS average on Ultra settings. The 1440p results show that only Low settings achieve above 60 FPS, with all other settings falling below 50 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the system delivers 46 FPS average on Low settings, 33 FPS average on Medium settings with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 38 FPS, 29 FPS average on High settings, and 25 FPS average on Ultra settings. The 4K results show that no settings level achieves playable frame rates, with even Low settings staying below 50 FPS average.

The complete dataset shows a consistent pattern across all settings levels, with frame rates decreasing by approximately 25-30% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and an additional 35-40% decrease when moving from 1440p to 4K. This scaling behavior confirms the GPU-limited nature of this combination, with the GTX 1660 SUPER unable to maintain acceptable performance at higher resolutions regardless of the CPU's substantial processing capabilities.