Control

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a playable experience in Control, but the headroom depends heavily on resolution. At 1080p, this combo clears the 60 FPS threshold at every preset, including Ultra, making it a strong choice for high-refresh monitors. At 1440p, the system remains comfortable but requires a step down from Ultra to maintain smooth performance. At 4K, only the Low preset manages to stay above 60 FPS, with higher settings falling well below the playable line. The data shows a capable mid-range pairing that trades raw 4K capability for strong 1080p and solid 1440p performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results for Control reveal a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo starts strong with an average of 126 FPS on Low settings. Moving up to Medium drops the average to 89.2 FPS, while High settings produce 76.5 FPS. The most demanding preset, Ultra, still delivers a respectable 69.3 FPS average. This progression shows a 56.7 FPS gap between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor at this resolution, but the CPU has enough headroom to keep frame rates high even at the top end.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve steepens noticeably. Low settings yield an average of 95.3 FPS, which is a solid result for a higher pixel count. Medium settings drop to 68.2 FPS, still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings fall to 56.6 FPS, while Ultra averages only 51.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 43.4 FPS, showing that the GPU’s rendering load increases significantly at 1440p, but the system can still handle medium presets without issue.

The 3840x2160 results show a sharp decline in playability. Low settings produce an average of 62.3 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS bar. Medium settings drop to 44.3 FPS, High falls to 41.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 36.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 25.9 FPS, but the absolute values are what matter: only the Low preset remains viable for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that this resolution pushes the RX 7600 XT to its limits, with the 16 GB frame buffer doing little to offset the raw compute demands of Control at 4K.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, which yields an average of 69.3 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so with a 9.3 FPS margin. Players who prioritize visual fidelity will find that this combo can run Control at maximum quality without sacrificing smoothness at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are Medium, producing an average of 68.2 FPS. This preset clears the 60 FPS line by 8.2 FPS, while the next step up, High, falls short at 56.6 FPS. The recommendation is clear: Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1440p, as Ultra and High both dip below the playable threshold.

For 3840x2160, the best settings are Low, with an average of 62.3 FPS. This is the only preset that achieves smooth gameplay at 4K, and it does so with a narrow 2.3 FPS margin. Medium and above all fail to reach 60 FPS, making Low the sole viable option for 4K gaming with this hardware.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU nearest rivals, the Intel Core i5-12400F sits at an average benchmark score of 19039, with the closest competitor being the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS at 19047, a delta of 0 percent. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056, which is 0.1 percent lower, while the Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18982, 0.3 percent higher. The AMD EPYC 7773X also scores 18979, 0.3 percent higher. These deltas are negligible, meaning any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Control, provided the GPU remains the bottleneck. For gaming at 1080p, where the CPU has more influence, the differences would still be imperceptible.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT averages 17083 in benchmarks, placing it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which scores 17208, a delta of -0.7 percent. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037, 0.3 percent lower, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019, 0.4 percent lower. The NVIDIA Tesla M4 scores 16932, 0.9 percent lower. The RTX 3070 is the most relevant alternative; despite being an older generation, its performance is within 1 percent of the RX 7600 XT in synthetic benchmarks, so real-world frame rates in Control would be nearly indistinguishable. The GTX 690 and HD 7970M are much older architectures, but their similar benchmark scores suggest they would also produce comparable FPS, though likely with worse driver support and feature sets.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control, but the experience varies sharply by resolution. At 1920x1080, the verdict is unequivocal: all four presets clear 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging 69.3 FPS. This makes the combo fully capable of maxing out the game at 1080p, delivering smooth gameplay with all visual effects enabled. At 2560x1440, the system is playable on Low and Medium, with Medium averaging 68.2 FPS as the best playable option. High and Ultra fall short at 56.6 and 51.9 FPS, respectively, so users must compromise on settings to maintain smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is more restrictive. Only the Low preset achieves playable performance, with an average of 62.3 FPS. Medium at 44.3 FPS, High at 41.3 FPS, and Ultra at 36.4 FPS are all well below the 60 FPS threshold. The data indicates that 4K gaming is only possible with significant visual compromises, and even then, the margin is thin. Overall, this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it offers a strong balance of performance and quality.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals how the CPU and GPU split responsibilities in Control. At 1920x1080, the frame rate drops by 56.7 FPS from Low to Ultra, indicating that the GPU is the primary driver of performance. The CPU’s role is less demanding at this resolution, as the i5-12400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide sufficient headroom to keep up with the GPU’s output. The single-thread benchmark score of 1680 in Cinebench R23 and multi-thread score of 12380 suggest that the processor can handle the game’s physics and AI workloads without bottlenecking.

At 2560x1440, the GPU’s influence grows. The drop from Low to Ultra is 43.4 FPS, but the absolute values are lower than at 1080p, showing that the RX 7600 XT is working harder to fill the extra pixels. The CPU’s role diminishes further, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on the GPU helps with texture loading at this resolution, but the core compute is what limits higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is almost entirely responsible for the performance ceiling. The difference between Low and Ultra is only 25.9 FPS, but the absolute numbers are low across the board. The CPU’s influence is minimal, as the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The i5-12400F’s performance is more than adequate for the game’s logic, but the RX 7600 XT’s 22.57 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is insufficient to push high-quality 4K rendering. The data shows that this game scales more with resolution than with CPU strength, making the GPU the dominant component in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 2271 out of 3720 possible combos for Control. This places it in the 61st percentile, meaning roughly 61 percent of all tested configurations perform better or equal in this game. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier standing, as the RX 7600 XT only reaches the 60th percentile against all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 73rd percentile against all CPUs. The combo’s overall position is dragged down by the GPU’s relative weakness at higher resolutions, particularly at 4K where the frame rates fall well below the playable threshold.

At 1080p, the combo performs above its overall rank, with Ultra presets clearing 60 FPS, which is better than many lower-ranked pairings. At 1440p, it remains competitive, but the need to drop to Medium settings to stay smooth places it behind combos with stronger GPUs. At 4K, the rank is justified, as the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates on anything above Low. The data suggests that this combo is a solid 1080p performer and a decent 1440p option, but it is not designed for 4K gaming, which is consistent with its mid-pack ranking.