Control

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable experience in Control, but the headroom depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, this combination is fully capable of running the game at maximum settings while maintaining an average above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, users must step down to Medium settings to stay playable, while 4K requires the Low preset to keep the frame rate above 60 FPS. The benchmark data indicates a clear performance ceiling that scales predictably with resolution and preset demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Control shows a structured performance curve across three resolutions and four presets. At 1920x1080, the highest average frame rate is achieved on the Low preset with 120.5 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 81.5 FPS, High settles at 75.5 FPS, and Ultra remains playable at 65.5 FPS. All four presets at 1080p clear the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the gap between Low and Ultra representing a 55 FPS range.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates drop significantly. The Low preset produces 90 FPS, which is the only setting at this resolution with substantial headroom above the threshold. Medium follows at 65.9 FPS, still above the 60 FPS line. High falls below the threshold at 54.6 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 50 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 40 FPS, showing that the most demanding preset costs nearly half the performance of the least demanding one.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset remains above the playable threshold with an average of 61.5 FPS. Medium drops to 44.4 FPS, High falls to 39.2 FPS, and Ultra reaches only 33.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 27.7 FPS reduction, which represents a 45% performance loss. The data shows no min or max frame rate values recorded for any of these configurations, so the analysis relies entirely on average frame rates.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: each step up in preset costs a meaningful amount of performance. At 1080p, the step from Low to Medium costs 39 FPS, from Medium to High costs 6 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 10 FPS. At 1440p, the step from Low to Medium costs 24.1 FPS, Medium to High costs 11.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 4.6 FPS. At 4K, the steps are 17.1 FPS from Low to Medium, 5.2 FPS from Medium to High, and 5.4 FPS from High to Ultra. The largest jumps occur when moving from Low to Medium at every resolution, indicating that this preset transition carries the heaviest rendering load.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling between resolutions reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU in Control. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU, the Intel Core i5-11400F, is likely keeping pace with the GPU's output. The 120.5 FPS result on Low at 1080p suggests the system is not bottlenecked by the processor at lower settings, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames quickly.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates drop by 25.3% on Low compared to 1080p Low, from 120.5 FPS to 90 FPS. This reduction indicates the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256 bit bus width, is responsible for handling the increased resolution load, and the data shows the GPU's workload scaling with pixel output.

At 3840x2160, the GPU role dominates. The Low preset at 4K produces 61.5 FPS, which is 31.7% lower than the same preset at 1440p. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 33.8 FPS, a 32.4% drop from the 1440p Ultra result of 50 FPS. These reductions are proportional to the increase in pixel count, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The CPU's role is most visible at 1080p, where the system achieves frame rates above 100 FPS on the Low preset. The Intel Core i5-11400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, and its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024, indicate it can supply enough data to the GPU at lower resolutions. However, the data does not show any configuration where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale smoothly with GPU load.

The preset scaling within each resolution also illustrates the GPU's dominance. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 55 FPS. At 1440p, the same preset range covers 40 FPS. At 4K, the range narrows to 27.7 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the absolute frame rates are lower and the relative cost of each preset remains constant.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 65.5 FPS. This is the best visual configuration available at this resolution, and the data shows 5.5 FPS of headroom above the playable threshold. Users can run the game at maximum settings without concern.

At 2560x1440, the best settings that maintain 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 65.9 FPS. The High preset falls short at 54.6 FPS, so Medium represents the highest quality option that keeps the frame rate playable. The headroom here is 5.9 FPS, slightly more than at 1080p Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold is Low, with an average of 61.5 FPS. This provides 1.5 FPS of headroom, which is minimal. The Medium preset at 44.4 FPS is not viable for smooth gameplay, and the gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is substantial.

The best settings scale inversely with resolution: Ultra at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K. This pattern is consistent with the GPU's workload increasing as pixel count rises. The recorded data shows that the system can handle the game at high visual quality only when the resolution is kept at 1080p.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-11400F sits at the 71st percentile among all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 with an average score of 17120 and a delta of 0.3%, the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U with an average score of 17074 and a delta of 0.6%, the Intel Core i5-12450H with an average score of 17239 and a delta of -0.4%, and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G with an average score of 17278 and a delta of -0.6%. These processors are all within 0.6% of the i5-11400F's average benchmark score of 17177, meaning systems built with any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control when paired with the same GPU.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile with an average score of 18159 and a delta of -0.4%, the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 with an average score of 18189 and a delta of -0.5%, the AMD Radeon RX 460 with an average score of 18373 and a delta of -1.5%, and the Intel Arc A770M with an average score of 18383 and a delta of -1.6%. These GPUs are within 1.6% of the RTX 2060 SUPER's average score of 18093, so a system with any of these graphics cards paired with the i5-11400F would deliver similar results in Control.

The close delta values for both the CPU and GPU rivals indicate that the performance profile of this combination is not unique. A system with an Intel Core i5-12450H or an AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G would be essentially indistinguishable in this game, just as a system with an RTX 3060 Mobile or an AMD Radeon Pro 5700 would match the RTX 2060 SUPER's output. The data shows that the measured frame rates at each resolution and preset would remain within a small margin of error across these alternative configurations.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control across all tested resolutions, but the quality ceiling varies. At 1920x1080, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold on all four presets, including Ultra at 65.5 FPS. This is the only resolution where maximum settings are fully playable.

At 2560x1440, the playable settings are Low and Medium, with Medium at 65.9 FPS being the highest quality option that remains above the threshold. High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS, so users aiming for higher visual fidelity must accept a lower frame rate.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, with an average of 61.5 FPS. This result is barely above the 60 FPS line, leaving minimal headroom for demanding scenes. Medium at 44.4 FPS and High at 39.2 FPS are not suitable for smooth gameplay, and Ultra at 33.8 FPS is significantly below the threshold.

The overall verdict is that this combination is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates at maximum settings. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended ceiling, and for 4K, users must accept Low settings to maintain playability.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2532 out of 3720 configurations for Control. This places it in the 68th percentile of tested combos, meaning roughly 32% of the systems in the database deliver lower performance in this game.

The rank reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The i5-11400F's 71st percentile CPU standing and the RTX 2060 SUPER's 62nd percentile GPU standing combine to produce a system that is firmly mid-pack. The 1080p results are strong, with Ultra at 65.5 FPS, but the 4K results are limited, with only the Low preset clearing the threshold.

The position in the rankings is consistent with the hardware's age and tier. This is an end-of-life CPU and an end-of-life GPU, and the data shows that newer or higher-tier components achieve better results. However, for the target resolution of 1080p, this combination performs competently, and the recorded frame rates demonstrate that it remains a viable option for Control at that resolution.