Control

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT paired with the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus delivers a range of results in Control that are heavily dependent on resolution and quality settings, with the data showing a clear performance ceiling at 4K and a much more fluid experience at 1080p. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the twelve tested configurations indicate that this combination is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can achieve playable frame rates, while 4K Ultra settings present a significant challenge, dropping to an average of 32 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Control?*

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 115, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The next best result is 87 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system handle Control at 4K resolution?*

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 59 on Low settings to 32 on Ultra settings. The Medium preset provides an average of 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS, indicating that playable performance is only achievable on lower presets.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare between 1080p and 1440p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 82, with a minimum of 70 and a maximum of 94. At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS drops to 62, with a minimum of 53 and a maximum of 71. This represents a 20 FPS drop in average performance when moving from 1080p to 1440p.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 87 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves an average of 48 FPS. This is a difference of 39 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset demands significantly more from the GPU.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for Control?*

A: This specific combination of CPU and GPU ranks 2141 out of 2888 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, indicating that while it can run the game, many other hardware pairings deliver higher performance.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for any configuration?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 36, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. This suggests that the game can experience noticeable stutters or slowdowns at 4K, even on the Medium preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience balances visual fidelity with a smooth frame rate. For a 1920x1080 display, the High preset is the recommended starting point, as it delivers an average of 73 FPS. This is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay and represents a substantial improvement over the Medium preset's average of 82 FPS in terms of visual quality, while still maintaining a high frame rate. Pushing to Ultra at this resolution yields an average of 63 FPS, which is still playable but begins to sacrifice performance for marginal graphical gains.

At 2560x1440, the choice becomes more critical. The High preset provides an average of 55 FPS, which is acceptable for most players. However, the Medium preset offers a more comfortable experience with an average of 62 FPS and a minimum of 53 FPS, ensuring that frame times remain consistent during action-heavy sequences. Given the 7 FPS average difference, the Medium preset is the more reliable choice for maintaining a stable experience at 1440p. The Ultra preset at this resolution, with an average of 48 FPS, is best avoided if a consistent 60 FPS is desired.

For 3840x2160, the data strongly suggests that only the Low preset provides a consistently playable experience, with an average of 59 FPS. The Medium preset's average of 42 FPS and minimum of 36 FPS is borderline, and the High and Ultra presets, at 37 and 32 FPS respectively, are not recommended for anything other than static scenes or screenshots. The performance drop from Low to Medium at 4K is 17 FPS, which is a significant cost for the visual upgrade.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a Navi 10 chip, is the primary determinant of performance in Control at higher resolutions and settings. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The card's boost clock is rated at 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. These specifications directly influence the measured frame rates, particularly at 4K where the demand on the GPU is highest.

The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops significantly across the board. At 1080p Low, the card produces 115 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 59 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU has ample headroom. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2134 and the Passmark G3D score of 16277 reflect the card's overall compute capability, which translates to the performance seen in this game.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 59 against all other GPUs places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with a score of 16351 and a delta of 0.1%, show that the RX 5700 XT is performing as expected for its class. The fact that the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell has a lower average benchmark score (16408) but a negative deltaPct (-0.3%) highlights that synthetic benchmarks do not always perfectly correlate with real-world gaming performance, as seen here with the 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 115 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 82 FPS, with a minimum of 70 and a maximum of 94. High settings result in an average of 73 FPS. The Ultra preset drops the average to 63 FPS. This shows a linear progression of performance loss as visual quality increases, with a total drop of 52 FPS between Low and Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down accordingly. Low settings achieve an average of 87 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 and a maximum of 71. High settings see the average fall to 55 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 48 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 39 FPS, which is a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p, but the relative impact is similar.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly under significant stress. The Low preset manages an average of 59 FPS. The Medium preset falls to an average of 42 FPS, with a minimum of 36 and a maximum of 48. High settings drop further to an average of 37 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding an average of just 32 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 27 FPS, indicating that even the lowest settings are taxing the RX 5700 XT heavily.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall ranking for Control, this combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT holds the 2141st position out of 2888 tested combos. This places it in the 26th percentile of all tested systems, meaning that roughly 74% of the other CPU-GPU pairings in the database achieve higher performance in this game. This ranking is primarily influenced by the GPU's mid-range capabilities, as the CPU is a top-tier part.

The CPU itself, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, has a percentile ranking of 96 against all CPUs, indicating it is among the best performing processors available. Its average benchmark score is 84003. In contrast, the GPU's percentile ranking is 59, with an average benchmark score of 16361. This discrepancy highlights that the combo's overall rank is bottlenecked by the GPU, which is the weaker component in this pairing for Control.

The combo rank of 2141 out of 2888 suggests that for a game like Control, which is graphically demanding, the GPU is the primary factor determining overall performance. Users with this setup should expect frame rates in line with other mid-range GPU systems, regardless of the CPU's high-end capabilities. The CPU's power is not fully utilized in this scenario, as the GPU saturates before the CPU can become a limiting factor at most settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, provides a substantial foundation for gaming. Its boost clock of 5.80 GHz and base clock of 3.70 GHz ensure that single-threaded performance is exceptionally high, which is beneficial for game logic and physics. The CPU's benchmarks are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The Passmark single-thread score of 4823 further confirms its strength in lightly-threaded tasks.

However, in Control, the data suggests that the CPU is not the performance bottleneck. This is evident when comparing the FPS at different resolutions. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 115 FPS, which is a high frame rate that begins to test CPU limits. Yet, the drop to 59 FPS at 4K Low indicates that the GPU is struggling, not the CPU. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with data fast enough at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep up as the pixel count increases.

The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with a deltaPct of 0.2%, show that the 290K Plus is performing as expected for its class. The high multi-threaded scores, including a Passmark multithread score of 60860, mean that in CPU-bound scenarios, this processor will not hold the system back. In this game, the CPU's role is to ensure that frame pacing remains stable, which is reflected in the minimum FPS numbers for the Medium preset, such as 70 at 1080p and 53 at 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of FPS across resolutions reveals the nature of the bottleneck in this system. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by a significant margin. For example, at High settings, the average drops from 73 FPS to 55 FPS, a decrease of 18 FPS or roughly 25%. This indicates that the GPU is already becoming a limiting factor as the resolution increases, as the pixel count grows by 78% from 1080p to 1440p.

The scaling from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 is even more pronounced. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 55 to 37, a decrease of 18 FPS or roughly 33%. This disproportionate drop is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The RX 5700 XT's 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth are being saturated at 4K, leading to a severe performance penalty. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 32 FPS, is only 28% of the 1080p Low result, showing how quickly performance degrades.

The data points to the GPU as the sole limiting component at 4K. The CPU, which can handle the game's logic without issue, is waiting for the GPU to render frames. This is confirmed by the fact that the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is only 27 FPS, whereas at 1080p, the same comparison yields a 52 FPS difference. At lower resolutions, the GPU has more headroom, and the CPU's speed can help push higher frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU's raw compute power is the wall that caps performance.