Control

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-10400F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 14,185. The nearest rivals in the recorded data are closely matched: the Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14,163 (0.2% behind), the Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14,232 (0.3% ahead), the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14,115 (0.5% behind), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14,277 (0.6% ahead). In practical terms, any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame pacing in Control, since the performance gap between them is under one percent in aggregate benchmarks.

For the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43,223. Its nearest rivals are remarkably tight: the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB scores 43,262 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43,268 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 scores 43,301 (0.2% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43,667 (1% higher). The delta between the RTX 4070 SUPER and the RTX 4090 Mobile is the largest of the group, but still only a single percentage point in aggregate GPU compute.

What this means for Control is straightforward: if a user owns any of these near-identical alternatives, the measured FPS outcomes at each resolution and preset would be within the margin of measurement noise. The CPU alternatives, despite their different architectures and market positions, all cluster within 0.6% of each other. The GPU alternatives behave similarly, with the widest spread at 1%. For the specific combination tested, the Intel Core i5-10400F plus NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, the data shows that swapping in any of these four rival CPUs or four rival GPUs would not materially change the playability verdict at any resolution.

The Xeon 6756E and EPYC 7552 are server-class parts, while the Core 7 160UL and Ryzen 3 7320C are lower-power designs, yet their aggregate scores place them in the same performance envelope as the i5-10400F. On the GPU side, the Quadro M6000 variants are professional workstation cards, while the RTX 5050 Mobile and RTX 4090 Mobile are laptop parts, but the recorded benchmark data places them all within one percent of the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER. This suggests that for Control specifically, the game's engine is not sensitive to the architectural differences between these alternatives.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded FPS data across resolutions and presets reveals how the workload shifts between the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER in Control. At 1920x1080, the CPU has more influence relative to the GPU, because the GPU can render frames quickly enough that the processor becomes a limiting factor. The average FPS at 1080p ranges from 118 at Ultra to 170 at Low, and the spread between Low and Ultra is 52 FPS. At 2560x1440, the averages range from 89 at Ultra to 155 at Low, a spread of 66 FPS. At 3840x2160, the averages range from 60 at Ultra to 110 at Low, a spread of 50 FPS.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows that the GPU becomes more dominant as resolution increases. At Low settings, 1080p produces 170 FPS average, while 1440p Low produces 155 FPS, a drop of 15 FPS. At Ultra settings, 1080p produces 118 FPS, and 1440p Ultra produces 89 FPS, a drop of 29 FPS. This larger drop at higher settings indicates that the GPU workload scales more steeply with resolution when the visual fidelity is maxed out.

From 1440p to 2160p, the GPU load intensifies further. At Low settings, 1440p averages 155 FPS, while 2160p averages 110 FPS, a 45 FPS drop. At Ultra settings, 1440p averages 89 FPS, and 2160p averages 60 FPS, a 29 FPS drop. The percentage reduction is proportionally similar, but the absolute numbers show that 2160p Ultra sits right at the 60 FPS playable threshold, while 1440p Ultra has comfortable headroom.

The preset scaling at each resolution reveals where the CPU and GPU bottlenecks switch. At 1080p Low, the 170 FPS average indicates the GPU is not fully stressed, so the CPU's six cores and twelve threads (with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz) are handling the game logic and draw calls. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 118 FPS, meaning the GPU's shading units, texture units, and raster operations are now the primary constraint. The RTX 4070 SUPER has 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, and these resources determine the upper bound at higher presets.

At 2160p, the CPU role diminishes further. The 110 FPS average at Low settings still shows the CPU can feed the GPU at high frame rates, but the 60 FPS average at Ultra confirms that the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are the deciding factors. The measured data indicates that for most of the tested configurations, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting component, except at 1080p Low where the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 688) becomes relevant.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers consistently high frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 170 FPS with no recorded minimum or maximum. Medium settings average 150 FPS, with a minimum of 127 and a maximum of 172. High settings average 135 FPS with no recorded bounds. Ultra settings average 118 FPS with no recorded bounds. Every preset at 1080p clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a wide margin, and even the lowest recorded minimum (127 FPS at Medium) is more than double the playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain strong but show the expected scaling. Low settings average 155 FPS. Medium settings average 115 FPS, with a minimum of 98 and a maximum of 133. High settings average 102 FPS. Ultra settings average 89 FPS. The minimum recorded value at 1440p Medium is 98 FPS, which still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by 38 FPS. All four presets at this resolution are comfortably playable, with Ultra providing enough headroom for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU load becomes significant. Low settings average 110 FPS. Medium settings average 78 FPS, with a minimum of 66 and a maximum of 90. High settings average 69 FPS. Ultra settings average 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 66 FPS stays above the playable threshold, but the margin is thinner. High and Ultra both average above 60 FPS, but the Ultra average of exactly 60 FPS means that any demanding scene could push it below the threshold momentarily. The recorded data includes no minimum values for High or Ultra at 2160p, so the worst-case dips are not quantified, but the averages indicate that Ultra at 4K is right at the edge.

The pattern across resolutions shows a consistent relationship: raising the resolution from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS by roughly 15 to 30 FPS depending on the preset, and raising from 1440p to 2160p reduces average FPS by 29 to 45 FPS. The Medium preset is the only configuration with recorded minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions, which provides the clearest picture of frame pacing: at 1080p Medium, the range is 127 to 172; at 1440p Medium, the range is 98 to 133; at 2160p Medium, the range is 66 to 90. The spread between minimum and maximum narrows as resolution increases, indicating more consistent frame delivery at higher GPU load.

The Verdict

This combination can run Control successfully at every resolution and preset tested. The recorded verdict data lists all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) as playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080, with the playable threshold set at 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Ultra, which averages exactly 60 FPS. This is a borderline result: the average meets the threshold, but there is no headroom for scenes that are more demanding than average. Users who want a safety margin at 4K should consider High (69 FPS average) or Medium (78 FPS average) instead. The Low preset at 2160p averages 110 FPS, which is far above the threshold, so even the most demanding scenes are unlikely to drop below 60.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Ultra with an average of 89 FPS. This provides substantial headroom above the 60 FPS threshold, meaning that even during intense combat sequences or particle-heavy effects, the frame rate should remain fluid. The Medium preset at 1440p has a recorded minimum of 98 FPS, which confirms that dips stay well above the playable line.

At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Ultra with an average of 118 FPS. This is the most comfortable configuration for high-refresh displays, as the average exceeds 60 FPS by nearly double. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 127 FPS, indicating that even the slowest frames are far above the threshold.

The verdict is unambiguous: this PC clears 60 FPS at every resolution and preset combination tested. The only configuration that sits exactly at the threshold is 2160p Ultra, where the 60 FPS average provides no margin for error. For users targeting 4K Ultra specifically, the data suggests that occasional dips below 60 FPS are possible, but the average performance meets the standard. At 1440p and 1080p, there is no concern whatsoever.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but with no margin. The average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is exactly 60, which meets the playable threshold. For a safer experience, High settings at 4K average 69 FPS, and Medium averages 78 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 2560x1440?

A: Ultra is the best playable setting at 1440p, with an average of 89 FPS. This provides 29 FPS of headroom above the 60 FPS threshold, so even demanding scenes should remain fluid.

Q: How much performance drops when going from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The drop depends on the preset. At Low settings, the average falls from 170 FPS to 155 FPS (15 FPS drop). At Ultra settings, the average falls from 118 FPS to 89 FPS (29 FPS drop). Higher presets lose more absolute FPS when resolution increases.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU dominates at higher resolutions and presets. At 1080p Low, the CPU's role is more visible since the GPU is not fully stressed, but as resolution and settings increase, the RTX 4070 SUPER becomes the primary constraint.

Q: What is the lowest recorded FPS for this combination?

A: The lowest recorded minimum is 66 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is above the 60 FPS playable threshold, indicating that even the worst recorded frame stays playable.

Q: Does the 1080p Medium preset provide good frame pacing?

A: Yes. The recorded range at 1080p Medium is 127 FPS minimum to 172 FPS maximum, with an average of 150 FPS. The 45 FPS spread between minimum and maximum shows some variance, but the lowest value is still more than double the playable threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

Among all tested combinations in the database, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 778th out of 3,720 combinations for Control. This places it in the top 20.9% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given that the CPU is a mid-range desktop part from 2020 and the GPU is a high-end desktop part from 2024.

The rank reflects the GPU's dominant role in this game. The RTX 4070 SUPER sits at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs. The combination's overall rank of 778 out of 3,720 is closer to the GPU's percentile than the CPU's, which aligns with the measured FPS scaling. Systems ranked above this combo likely pair the RTX 4070 SUPER with faster CPUs, or use even stronger GPUs such as the RTX 4090 Mobile, which scores 1% higher in aggregate benchmarks.

The 3,720 total combinations represent a wide range of hardware, from budget processors with integrated graphics to top-tier workstation CPUs paired with flagship GPUs. Ranking in the top 21% means that this combo outperforms the majority of systems tested, and the measured FPS data confirms that it handles Control at high frame rates across all resolutions. The gap between this combo and the top-ranked systems is likely small in practical terms, since the game's playability is fully satisfied at every tested configuration.