Control

Similar Performance Alternatives

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F sits in a tightly contested performance band. Its average benchmark score of 25005 places it within 0.4 percent of several nearby processors. The closest match is the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which averages 24964, a difference of just 0.2 percent. The Intel Core i7-11850H trails by 0.3 percent with an average of 24935, while the Intel Core i7-13620H records 24911, a 0.4 percent gap. On the other side, the AMD EPYC 9474F leads slightly with 25103, outperforming the 8400F by 0.4 percent. In practical terms, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly indistinguishable frame pacing in Control when paired with the same graphics card, since the processor headroom at the tested resolutions is substantial.

The Intel Arc B390 is an outlier in the GPU field. Its lone recorded benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, yields a score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts. The GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, a 1.3 percent deficit. The GeForce 800M follows at 1460, 1.5 percent behind. The GeForce GT 625 OEM reaches 1446, 2.5 percent lower, and the GeForce GT 710 closes the group at 1443, 2.7 percent behind. These deltas are small enough that swapping among these four would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control. The Arc B390, despite being a modern integrated solution, operates in the same performance class as those older discrete chips.

What this means for the pairing is straightforward. The CPU is not the constraint. The Ryzen 5 8400F ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs and carries a multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 20851, with a single-core score of 2943. The Arc B390, by contrast, sits at the 9th percentile. In Control, the measured frame rates at every resolution and preset are governed almost entirely by the GPU. Anyone considering this combination should expect GPU-bound behavior across the board, with the CPU rarely breaking a sweat.

CPU and GPU Roles

Benchmark results across the three tested resolutions reveal a consistent pattern: the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component in every scenario. The Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 4 architecture, provides ample compute for Control, which is not a heavily threaded title. The CPU’s 3DMark scores, including 6165 at max threads and 1874 at 2 threads, indicate strong scaling and single-thread capability, but none of that matters when the GPU cannot keep up.

Look at the scaling between presets at a fixed resolution. At 1920x1080, dropping from Ultra to Low raises the average frame rate from 36 to 65 FPS, a gain of 29 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same preset change moves the average from 27 to 50 FPS, a gain of 23 FPS. At 3840x2160, the swing is from 18 to 33 FPS, a gain of 15 FPS. These are GPU-side effects. Lowering the preset reduces pixel shading and texture work, which directly relieves the graphics processor. A CPU bottleneck would show flat scaling or inconsistent gains, not this steady, resolution-dependent improvement.

Resolution scaling tells the same story. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 65 FPS at 1080p to 50 FPS at 1440p, then to 33 FPS at 4K. That is a 32 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, which is a massive penalty that only a GPU bottleneck can explain. At High settings, the averages are 41, 31, and 21 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The consistent halving of performance as resolution climbs mirrors the pixel count increase, a hallmark of fill-rate and shading limits on the GPU side.

The CPU’s role in this pairing is therefore to ensure the GPU can run at its full potential, which it does. The Ryzen 5 8400F has a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and a TDP of 65 watts, and its PassMark single-thread score of 3685 is strong. In Control, the CPU never becomes the deciding factor. Even at the lowest tested settings, where the GPU load is minimized, the frame rates are still limited by the Arc B390, not the processor. Users upgrading the GPU later would see immediate gains, while upgrading the CPU would yield nothing in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data covers three resolutions and four presets each, though only the Medium preset at each resolution includes min and max frame values. The analysis below walks through each combination.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 65 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playability threshold. Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 53. High drops to 41 FPS on average. Ultra is the slowest at 36 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 29 FPS, indicating that the Arc B390 has a narrow operating window at 1080p. For players who prioritize smoothness, Low is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS on average.

At 2560x1440, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Low averages 50 FPS, Medium averages 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 40, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 23 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 30 FPS means even momentary dips stay at a playable, if not smooth, level. High and Ultra offer no such reassurance, as their averages are already below 33 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal. Low averages 33 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 15 FPS. No preset at 4K approaches 60 FPS. Even the best case, Low, hits only 33 FPS on average. The Medium preset’s maximum of 27 FPS shows that the GPU cannot sustain a stable frame rate at this resolution, with dips as low as 20 FPS.

The Medium preset’s min and max data provides a sense of frame pacing. At 1080p, Medium ranges from 40 to 53 FPS, a 13 FPS spread. At 1440p, the range is 30 to 40 FPS, a 10 FPS spread. At 4K, the range is 20 to 27 FPS, a 7 FPS spread. The narrowing spread at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is consistently saturated, leaving less variance, but also less headroom. At 1080p, the wider spread indicates occasional bursts of available performance that the GPU cannot exploit due to other limits.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 60 FPS at 1920x1080?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The recorded average at 1080p Low is 65 FPS. Medium drops to 46 FPS, High to 41 FPS, and Ultra to 36 FPS, so no other preset at this resolution clears the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best preset at 2560x1440?

A: None of the presets reach 60 FPS at 1440p. The best average is 50 FPS at Low, followed by 35 FPS at Medium, 31 FPS at High, and 27 FPS at Ultra. The playability threshold is not met at any setting.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3 percent slower, the GeForce 800M is 1.5 percent slower, the GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5 percent slower, and the GeForce GT 710 is 2.7 percent slower. The differences are minor, so these GPUs would perform similarly in Control.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F a bottleneck for the Arc B390 in Control?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its benchmark scores are far above what Control requires. The frame rates at all resolutions and presets are limited by the GPU, as shown by the consistent scaling with resolution and preset changes.

Q: What is the average FPS at 3840x2160 on Medium settings?

A: The average is 24 FPS, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27 FPS. This is well below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How many tested combos does this pairing rank above in Control?

A: This combination ranks 3311 out of 3720 tested combos in Control. That places it in the lower portion of the database, consistent with the GPU’s 9th percentile standing.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. This PC cannot run Control at 60 FPS at 3840x2160 or 2560x1440, regardless of preset. The verdictByResolution data lists no playable settings at either resolution, meaning every preset at 4K and 1440p falls below the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, the highest average is 33 FPS at Low, which is barely half of the target. At 1440p, the best case is 50 FPS at Low, still 10 FPS short.

At 1920x1080, the system finds a single playable configuration. Low settings produce an average of 65 FPS, clearing the threshold by 5 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall short, with averages of 46, 41, and 36 FPS respectively. The verdictByResolution confirms that Low is the only playable setting at 1080p, with an average of 65 FPS at that setting.

For anyone considering this combination for Control, the takeaway is that 1080p Low is the ceiling. The Arc B390’s 9th percentile GPU ranking and the combo’s 3311 rank out of 3720 tested combinations make this clear. The Ryzen 5 8400F is more than capable, but the graphics solution holds the entire system back. If the goal is to play Control at higher presets or resolutions, this pairing will not deliver a 60 FPS experience.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset maintains an average of 60 FPS or higher. The best available average is 33 FPS at Low, which is below the playability threshold. Therefore, there is no recommended preset for 4K.

At 2560x1440, the same situation applies. The highest average is 50 FPS at Low, which misses the 60 FPS target. No preset at 1440p qualifies as playable according to the database’s playableThresholdFps of 60.

At 1920x1080, Low is the only preset that stays at or above 60 FPS. The average at Low is 65 FPS, which is 5 FPS above the threshold. Medium averages 46 FPS, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS, so none of these are viable for a smooth experience. The best settings at 1080p are therefore Low, with a recorded average of 65 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Control, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 3311 out of 3720. That places it in the bottom 11 percent of all tested systems. The ranking is consistent with the GPU’s individual standing, as the Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU’s 77th percentile ranking does little to lift the overall result, because Control is GPU-bound in this configuration.

The rank reflects the measured frame rates across all resolutions and presets. At 4K, the system never exceeds 33 FPS on average. At 1440p, it peaks at 50 FPS on Low. At 1080p, it reaches 65 FPS on Low, the only playable setting. These results are typical of a system where the graphics processor is the clear limiting factor. The combo rank of 3311 out of 3720 means that over 400 tested combinations perform worse, but the vast majority of tested systems deliver better results in Control. For players targeting 60 FPS, this combo only achieves that goal at the lowest possible settings and resolution.