Control

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a strong Control experience at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K requires significant settings compromises. Benchmark results show this combination ranks 1705th out of 3720 tested CPU/GPU pairings for this title, placing it in the upper half of configurations. The data indicates that at 1920x1080, every preset from Low to Ultra clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, with Ultra averaging 78.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset is the most demanding setting that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 73.6 FPS, while Ultra dips to 59.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset maintains playable performance, averaging 74.9 FPS, with Medium falling to 51.4 FPS and High to 48 FPS. These measured results form the basis for the analysis below.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 with the Ultra preset, the system averages 78.9 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data shows all four tested presets at 1080p—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—deliver playable average frame rates, with Low reaching 151.2 FPS and Medium at 107.7 FPS.

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

A: The High preset is the most demanding option that maintains at least 60 FPS at 2560x1440, averaging 73.6 FPS. The Ultra preset falls just short of the threshold at 59.8 FPS average, while Low and Medium presets average 111.3 FPS and 82.5 FPS respectively.

Q: Is 4K resolution playable with this hardware?

A: Only with the Low preset. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 74.9 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. All other tested presets at 4K—Medium at 51.4 FPS, High at 48 FPS, and Ultra at 40.4 FPS—fall below playable performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to similar processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039 and sits in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with an average score of 19047 (0% difference), the Intel Core 3 201E at 19056 (-0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-1335U at 18982 (0.3% delta).

Q: How does the GPU compare to similar graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 26331 and sits in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 860M at 26401 (-0.3% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26421 (-0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26553 (-0.8% delta).

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with the Medium preset, the system averages 107.7 FPS. This represents a substantial margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold, providing headroom for demanding scenes while maintaining smooth gameplay.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals that the GPU is the primary performance driver for Control across all tested resolutions, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking. This conclusion stems from examining how frame rates scale when moving between resolutions while keeping settings constant. At 1080p Low, the system averages 151.2 FPS; at 1440p Low, it averages 111.3 FPS; and at 4K Low, it averages 74.9 FPS. This progression shows a 26.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 32.7% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating that pixel count heavily influences performance—a signature of GPU-bound workloads.

The settings scaling further confirms the GPU's dominance. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average frame rate from 151.2 FPS to 78.9 FPS, a 47.8% performance penalty. At 1440p, the same settings change drops performance from 111.3 FPS to 59.8 FPS, a 46.3% reduction. At 4K, the Low to Ultra transition goes from 74.9 FPS to 40.4 FPS, a 46.1% reduction. The consistency of this ~46-48% penalty across resolutions suggests that the GPU's compute and memory subsystems handle the increased graphical load uniformly, without CPU intervention becoming a limiting factor.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when considering the absolute frame rates achieved. At 1080p Low, the system produces 151.2 FPS average, which requires the processor to feed frames at a high rate. The Intel Core i5-12400F's benchmark results—including a 3dmark single-thread score of 909, a 3dmark 2-threads score of 1699, and a passmark single-thread score of 3481—indicate strong per-core performance that supports high frame rate scenarios. However, the fact that performance drops consistently with resolution increases shows that the GPU, not the CPU, determines the ceiling at each resolution.

At 4K, the GPU's limitations become stark. The RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears insufficient for high-fidelity rendering at 3840x2160. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 40.4 FPS, while even Medium struggles at 51.4 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute capacity are exhausted at this resolution, regardless of CPU capabilities. The CPU's benchmark scores—including cinebench r23 multicore at 12380 and geekbench multicore at 9472—show ample processing power that goes underutilized at 4K because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to demand more from the processor.

For players prioritizing high refresh rates at 1080p, the data suggests the CPU still has headroom. The 151.2 FPS at Low settings represents a scenario where the GPU is not fully saturated, yet the CPU maintains frame delivery. This is consistent with the processor's passmark multithread score of 19433 and its 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. At 1440p and above, the GPU's workload dominates, and the CPU's role diminishes to maintaining consistent frame pacing rather than determining peak performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, delivering an average of 78.9 FPS. This is the most demanding setting that remains above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The margin of 18.9 FPS above the threshold provides some buffer for intense combat sequences or particle-heavy scenes, though it is not a massive cushion. Players seeking higher frame rates can drop to High for 95.1 FPS or Medium for 107.7 FPS, but Ultra offers the full visual experience while maintaining playability.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the optimal selection, averaging 73.6 FPS. This preset stays above the 60 FPS threshold with a 13.6 FPS margin. The Ultra preset falls to 59.8 FPS average, which is just below playable standards, making High the highest quality option that meets the performance requirement. Medium at 82.5 FPS and Low at 111.3 FPS are available alternatives for players who prefer higher frame rates over visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only option that achieves playable performance, averaging 74.9 FPS. This represents a significant visual compromise, as the Medium preset drops to 51.4 FPS and High falls to 48 FPS. The 14.9 FPS margin above the threshold at Low settings is modest, and players may experience occasional dips during heavy scenes. The Ultra preset at 40.4 FPS is not recommended for playable performance. Given these results, 4K gaming with this hardware requires accepting substantial graphical reductions to maintain smooth gameplay.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19039 places it near several alternatives that would behave similarly in Control. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS has an average score of 19047, representing a 0% delta, meaning users should expect nearly identical CPU-bound performance. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056 with a -0.1% delta, making it effectively indistinguishable in CPU workload handling. The Intel Core i5-1335U at 18982 shows a 0.3% delta, and the AMD EPYC 7773X at 18979 also shows a 0.3% delta, all clustering within a narrow performance band. For Control specifically, where the CPU is not the bottleneck at most settings, these alternatives would produce similar frame rates in CPU-limited scenarios, such as 1080p Low where the system achieves 151.2 FPS.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26331 is closely matched by several rivals. The AMD Radeon 860M scores 26401 with a -0.3% delta, indicating near-identical rasterization performance. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26421 also shows a -0.3% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary scores 26553 with a -0.8% delta, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT at 26011 has a 1.2% delta. In Control, these GPUs would produce similar frame rates across resolutions and settings. At 1080p Ultra, where the RTX 5060 averages 78.9 FPS, these alternatives would likely land within a few frames of that figure. At 1440p High, the 73.6 FPS average would similarly be replicated, and at 4K Low, the 74.9 FPS result would be consistent across these GPUs given their benchmark parity.

The practical implication is that users considering this configuration could substitute any of these CPUs or GPUs and expect comparable performance in Control. The delta percentages are all within 1.2%, which translates to minimal observable differences in frame rates. For example, the 1.2% delta for the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT would shift the 1080p Ultra result from 78.9 FPS to approximately 78.0 FPS—a difference that would not be perceptible in gameplay. Similarly, the 0.3% delta for the Intel Core i5-1335U would have negligible impact on CPU-bound scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance across all presets. The Low preset averages 151.2 FPS, providing an exceptionally smooth experience for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset reduces performance to 107.7 FPS, still well above playable thresholds. The High preset averages 95.1 FPS, offering a balance between visual quality and speed. The Ultra preset delivers 78.9 FPS, which remains playable but with a reduced margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 47.8% performance reduction, reflecting the increasing graphical workload on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, frame rates decline across all presets. The Low preset averages 111.3 FPS, which is 26.4% lower than the 1080p Low result, demonstrating the impact of increased pixel count. The Medium preset averages 82.5 FPS, a 23.3% reduction from the 1080p Medium figure. The High preset averages 73.6 FPS, compared to 95.1 FPS at 1080p High, a 22.6% drop. The Ultra preset averages 59.8 FPS, falling just below the 60 FPS playable threshold. This represents a 24.2% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result of 78.9 FPS. The consistency of these reductions—ranging from 22.6% to 26.4%—indicates that resolution scaling affects all presets similarly.

At 3840x2160, performance drops significantly across all settings. The Low preset averages 74.9 FPS, which is 32.7% lower than the 1440p Low result and 50.5% lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 51.4 FPS, a 37.7% reduction from the 1440p Medium figure. The High preset averages 48 FPS, a 34.8% reduction from the 1440p High result. The Ultra preset averages 40.4 FPS, a 32.4% reduction from the 1440p Ultra figure. Notably, the 4K Low result of 74.9 FPS is higher than the 4K Medium result of 51.4 FPS by 45.7%, showing that settings choice has a larger impact than resolution scaling at this level.

The data shows a clear pattern: at each resolution, the Low to Ultra gap remains consistent at approximately 46-48%, while resolution changes from 1080p to 1440p reduce performance by roughly 23-26%, and 1440p to 4K reduces it by 32-38%. This suggests that 4K demands disproportionately more GPU resources than the resolution increase alone would predict, likely due to memory bandwidth constraints of the 8 GB GDDR7 configuration.

The Verdict

This system can run Control, but the experience varies dramatically by resolution. At 1920x1080, the PC delivers playable performance at all four tested presets, with Ultra averaging 78.9 FPS. This makes 1080p the most versatile resolution, allowing players to choose between maximum visual fidelity at 78.9 FPS or competitive frame rates at 151.2 FPS on Low settings. The verdict for 1080p is unequivocal: the system clears the 60 FPS threshold at every preset.

At 2560x1440, the system remains playable but with restrictions. The High preset averages 73.6 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, and this is the most demanding setting that achieves playable performance. The Ultra preset at 59.8 FPS falls short, meaning players who want maximum quality at 1440p would need to accept frame rates slightly below the playable threshold. The Low and Medium presets provide more headroom at 111.3 FPS and 82.5 FPS respectively. The verdict for 1440p is that the system runs the game well, provided the Ultra preset is avoided.

At 3840x2160, the system is limited to the Low preset for playable performance, averaging 74.9 FPS. The Medium preset at 51.4 FPS and High at 48 FPS are not playable, and Ultra at 40.4 FPS is far below the threshold. This means 4K gaming requires substantial visual compromises, sacrificing most graphical features to maintain smooth frame rates. The verdict for 4K is that the system can run Control, but only at minimal settings.

Overall, the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination is well-suited for Control at 1080p and 1440p, with the 1080p Ultra experience providing the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 1440p High preset is also a strong choice, offering a 73.6 FPS average. For 4K, the hardware is underpowered for anything beyond Low settings. The system's 1705th rank out of 3720 combinations for this game reflects its mid-to-upper tier positioning, and the measured data confirms that players should target 1080p or 1440p for the most satisfying experience.