Control

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Control with the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT covers three resolutions and four quality presets. All figures represent average frame rates, as minimum and maximum values were not recorded for this combination.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers a wide spread of performance across presets. The Low preset produces the highest average at 168.7 FPS. Moving to Medium drops the average to 126.7 FPS, a 42 FPS reduction. High settings further reduce the average to 114.7 FPS. The Ultra preset still maintains a strong 98.6 FPS average, which is 70.1 FPS below the Low preset result but remains well above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, the scaling pattern remains consistent but with lower absolute values. Low settings average 136.2 FPS, Medium drops to 97.2 FPS, and High reaches 88.3 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers 75 FPS on average. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 61.2 FPS, which is slightly narrower than the 70.1 FPS gap observed at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU becomes a more significant factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low settings still produce a playable 89.9 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 63.5 FPS, which barely clears the 60 FPS threshold. High settings fall to 58.3 FPS, slightly below the playability cutoff. The Ultra preset averages 49.9 FPS, which is 40 FPS below the Low preset result and 13.6 FPS below the Medium preset result. The transition from Medium to High at 4K represents a 5.2 FPS loss, while the transition from High to Ultra represents an 8.4 FPS loss, indicating that the highest preset carries a disproportionate performance cost at this resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database places the Intel Core i5-10400F at the 68th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its nearest rivals in the CPU rankings include the Intel Xeon 6756E with an average score of 14163 and a delta of 0.2 percent, the Intel Core 7 160UL with an average score of 14232 and a delta of -0.3 percent, the AMD EPYC 7552 with an average score of 14115 and a delta of 0.5 percent, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C with an average score of 14277 and a delta of -0.6 percent. These four processors sit within a narrow band of approximately 0.6 percent of the i5-10400F's average score, meaning any of them would produce nearly identical CPU-bound behavior in Control.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT sits at the 85th percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48477. Its nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile with an average score of 47743 and a delta of 1.5 percent, the Intel Arc A550M with an average score of 49737 and a delta of -2.5 percent, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with an average score of 49957 and a delta of -3 percent, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 with an average score of 50001 and a delta of -3 percent. The RX 6800 XT trails the Arc A550M, RTX 5070 Ti, and RX Vega 64 by roughly 2.5 to 3 percent in aggregate GPU benchmarks, while leading the RTX A1000 Mobile by 1.5 percent. In practical terms for Control, a user swapping the RX 6800 XT for any of these four GPUs would see frame rates within a few percentage points of the recorded values at every resolution and preset combination.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the balance of CPU and GPU responsibility shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the i5-10400F is capable of feeding the RX 6800 XT enough data to reach 168.7 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest average recorded across the entire test matrix. The relatively modest frame rate drop between Low and Ultra at 1080p, from 168.7 to 98.6 FPS, suggests that the GPU is still the primary bottleneck even at this lower resolution, as the CPU has ample headroom with its 6 cores and 12 threads.

At 2560x1440, the scaling from Low to Ultra produces a 61.2 FPS reduction, which is smaller in absolute terms than the 70.1 FPS reduction at 1080p. This narrowing indicates that the GPU is beginning to dominate performance more strongly, as the additional pixel count places more strain on the render pipeline. The CPU's role diminishes further at 3840x2160, where the Low to Ultra gap shrinks to 40 FPS. At 4K, the RX 6800 XT's raw throughput becomes the limiting factor, and the i5-10400F's 12 threads are sufficient to avoid introducing a CPU-side constraint.

The preset scaling patterns reinforce this interpretation. At 1080p, the jump from Medium to High costs 12 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 16.1 FPS. At 1440p, the same transitions cost 8.9 FPS and 13.3 FPS respectively. At 4K, they cost 5.2 FPS and 8.4 FPS. The diminishing absolute cost of each preset step as resolution rises confirms that the GPU workload grows faster than the CPU workload, making the RX 6800 XT the decisive component at higher resolutions. Conversely, at 1080p, the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates across all presets means that users seeking maximum refresh rates would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU upgrade.

The Verdict

The recorded data indicates that this combination can run Control at 60 FPS or higher in the majority of tested configurations. At 1920x1080, all four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold, with the Ultra preset averaging 98.6 FPS. The system has substantial headroom at this resolution, enough to maintain high frame rates even with the most demanding settings.

At 2560x1440, all four presets also remain above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 75 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above the playability threshold. The High preset averages 88.3 FPS, and even the most conservative Low preset reaches 136.2 FPS. This resolution is fully playable at any quality setting.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more selective. The Low preset averages 89.9 FPS and the Medium preset averages 63.5 FPS, both clearing the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset falls slightly short at 58.3 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 49.9 FPS, which is 10.1 FPS below the playability cutoff. Users targeting 4K should stick to Medium settings or lower to maintain a consistent 60 FPS experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The recorded average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 98.6 FPS, which is 38.6 FPS above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 75 FPS, which is the highest quality setting that remains above 60 FPS. All four presets at this resolution are playable.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: Yes, but only on Low and Medium presets. Low averages 89.9 FPS and Medium averages 63.5 FPS. High falls below the threshold at 58.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 49.9 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, placing it within 0.6 percent of the Intel Xeon 6756E, Intel Core 7 160UL, AMD EPYC 7552, and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C. Any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control.

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

A: The RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 48477. It leads the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile by 1.5 percent and trails the Intel Arc A550M by 2.5 percent, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 3 percent, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 by 3 percent.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The recorded average is 63.5 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is the highest preset at 4K that stays at or above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that maintains playable performance. The recorded average frame rate is 98.6 FPS, which is 38.6 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. Users can run the game at maximum quality without compromising frame rate.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also delivers the best experience. The recorded average is 75 FPS, which is 15 FPS above the threshold. This provides enough headroom to handle demanding scenes without dropping below 60 FPS.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. The recorded average is 63.5 FPS, which clears the threshold by only 3.5 FPS. This is the highest quality setting at 4K that remains playable, though the margin is slim. Users who prioritize frame rate consistency might prefer the Low preset, which averages 89.9 FPS and provides a much larger buffer.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 1231 out of 3720 tested combinations in the database for Control. This places the system in the upper third of all tested hardware pairings, specifically at the 66.9th percentile of the recorded combo distribution. The ranking reflects the fact that the RX 6800 XT provides strong GPU throughput while the i5-10400F, despite being a 2020-era 6-core processor, does not bottleneck the graphics card at any resolution or preset tested in this game.

The gap between this combo and the top-ranked systems is driven primarily by the CPU's position at the 68th CPU percentile. While the GPU sits at the 85th GPU percentile, the CPU's more modest standing prevents the combination from reaching the highest tiers of the ranking. Nevertheless, the data shows that this pairing delivers playable frame rates at every resolution up to 1440p with all presets, and at 4K with Medium settings or lower. The combination is a balanced match for Control, where the GPU workload scales predictably with resolution and the CPU maintains sufficient throughput to keep frame rates high.