Control

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing in Control produces a dataset that clearly separates the CPU’s computational ceiling from the GPU’s rendering limits. The measured rows show a system where the 12-core processor is never the bottleneck, leaving the 8 GB graphics card to define the playable envelope. The data indicates that the sweet spot for this combination is the Medium preset, which delivers the best balance of fluidity and visual fidelity without crossing into the sub-60 FPS territory that mars the higher settings at 1440p and 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark rows for this pairing point to the Medium preset as the definitive recommendation. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 92 FPS, which is 10 frames higher than High (82 FPS) and 21 frames higher than Ultra (71 FPS). The jump from Medium to High is not worth the performance loss, as the 10 FPS deficit does not justify the marginal visual improvements at this resolution. The data shows that Low at 1080p hits 130 FPS, but this comes at the expense of the atmospheric lighting and particle effects that define Control’s visual identity.

The case for Medium becomes even more compelling at 2560x1440. Here, Medium averages 70 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS. This is the only preset at 1440p that holds above the 60 FPS threshold on average, while High drops to 62 FPS and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The minimum frame time data for Medium at 1440p (59 FPS) shows that the experience remains playable even in the most demanding scenes, whereas the High and Ultra presets do not provide min FPS data, suggesting instability below that threshold. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Medium yields 47 FPS, High yields 42 FPS, and Ultra yields 36 FPS. The only 4K option above 60 FPS is Low at 66 FPS, which fundamentally compromises the game’s visual design. The data therefore suggests that 4K is not viable for this pair outside of Low settings, and Medium at 1440p or 1080p is the optimal compromise.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The benchmark results for this CPU are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739. In the context of Control, which is a game that scales well with multi-threaded performance due to its physics-driven destruction and AI routines, these specifications are more than sufficient. The processor’s 128 MB of L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth ensure that the data feed to the GPU is never starved.

The measured FPS data confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p Low, where CPU load is typically highest relative to GPU load, the system achieves 130 FPS. This is a clear indicator that the processor can handle the game’s thread scheduling without breaking a sweat. Comparing the CPU’s performance to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D scores 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF in average benchmark score, but 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K. The deltaPct values here are negligible, meaning that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control. The game’s engine, Remedy’s Northlight, is not known for being CPU-bound, and the data supports this; the frame rate drops seen at higher resolutions and settings are purely attributable to the GPU’s rendering workload. The processor’s percentile rank of 91 among all CPUs further underscores that this is a top-tier part that will outlast several GPU upgrades before becoming a bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip, featuring 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. These specifications place the card in the upper-midrange tier, and the benchmark data reflects this positioning. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 18169 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 are modest, and the card sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs.

The RTX 2070 SUPER’s memory capacity is a critical factor in Control. The game’s high-resolution textures and extensive use of volumetric effects can easily push memory usage past 8 GB at 4K Ultra. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 36, which is likely exacerbated by memory swapping and bandwidth limitations. The GPU is also responsible for the ray tracing effects that Control is famous for, but with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, the RTX 2070 SUPER can only handle these features at lower resolutions and settings. The data shows that the card’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (1% lower score), the RTX 3070 Mobile (1.2% lower), the Intel Arc B570 (1.3% lower), and the Intel Arc A750 (1.5% lower). This clustering indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is squarely in the middle of its performance class, and its 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the ceiling for what the CPU can deliver in this game. The GPU’s 12 nm process node and 215 W TDP also mean that it runs hot and power-hungry, but the data shows that its raw output is the binding constraint in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the expected average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 92 FPS, with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. This is the most balanced preset at this resolution, offering a 10 FPS advantage over High and a 21 FPS advantage over Ultra.

*Q: Can this system run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: According to the data, only the Low preset at 3840x2160 exceeds 60 FPS, achieving 66 FPS. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets produce 47, 42, and 36 FPS respectively, all of which are below the standard 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X3D compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093) and 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053). These differences are within the margin of error and do not translate into meaningful FPS differences in Control.

Q: Is the RTX 2070 SUPER a bottleneck for the Ryzen 9 9900X3D?

A: Yes, the data indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system produces 130 FPS, but this drops to 36 FPS at 4K Ultra. The CPU’s high multi-core score (47737 in Cinebench R23) is never fully utilized, as the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and compute throughput are exhausted first.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The only configurations with min FPS data are the Medium presets. The lowest minimum is 40 FPS at 3840x2160, followed by 59 FPS at 2560x1440 and 78 FPS at 1920x1080. No min FPS data was provided for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance rank among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER is at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20282. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, scores 1% higher at 20480, indicating the card is at the edge of its performance tier.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 92 at 1920x1080 to 70 at 2560x1440, and then to 47 at 3840x2160. This represents a 24% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, as the pixel count increases by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p, but the FPS only decreases by 1.31x. This suggests that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound; rather, it is hitting memory bandwidth or fill-rate limits at higher resolutions.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is more aggressive: 130 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p (a 25% drop), and 66 FPS at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p). The Low preset reduces shader complexity, which allows the GPU to push more pixels, but the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth still cap performance. The Ultra preset shows the steepest degradation: 71 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p (24% drop), and 36 FPS at 4K (33% drop). The consistent 24-33% drops across all presets indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s rendering pipeline is the bottleneck, not the CPU or memory subsystem. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s single-thread score of 1269 in 3DMark and 3041 in Geekbench single-core is more than adequate to keep up with the GPU’s frame output at any resolution. The data shows that the limiting factor is the GPU’s ability to fill the screen, not the CPU’s ability to issue draw calls.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 130 FPS. This is the highest frame rate recorded for this pairing, showing the CPU’s headroom when the GPU is unburdened.
• Medium: Average 92 FPS, with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. The min FPS data confirms that this preset never dips below the playable threshold.
• High: Average 82 FPS. A 10 FPS drop from Medium, indicating that the added visual effects cost more than they deliver at this resolution.
• Ultra: Average 71 FPS. The lowest FPS at 1080p, but still above 60 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High (11 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Medium (10 FPS), showing diminishing returns.

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 98 FPS. Still well above 60 FPS, making this a viable option for high-refresh-rate monitors.
• Medium: Average 70 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS. The min FPS is just below 60, but the average is solidly in the playable range.
• High: Average 62 FPS. This is right at the edge of playability, and the lack of min FPS data suggests that frame times may be inconsistent.
• Ultra: Average 54 FPS. This preset is not recommended, as the average dips below the 60 FPS target.

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 66 FPS. The only 4K preset that breaks 60 FPS, but the visual quality is significantly degraded.
• Medium: Average 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS. The min FPS of 40 is stuttery, indicating that this resolution is too demanding for the GPU.
• High: Average 42 FPS. A 5 FPS drop from Medium, showing that the high preset is not worth the performance hit.
• Ultra: Average 36 FPS. The lowest recorded average, making this configuration unsuitable for anything but static screenshots.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor, with the Ryzen 9 9900X3D providing ample headroom. The Medium preset is the best choice for this pairing, offering a balanced experience at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K should be reserved for Low settings or a GPU upgrade.