Control

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination has been benchmarked against Control, the 2019 action-adventure title. The measured data places this combo at rank 780 out of 3,720 tested combinations, indicating a strong overall standing. The CPU, a 10-core, 16-thread Alder Lake-S part with a 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.90 GHz boost, achieves a 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The GPU, a Blackwell 2.0 chip with 6,144 shading units and 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, achieves an 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs. The CPU's launch MSRP is $264, and the GPU's launch MSRP is 549 USD. Both components are currently active in production, with the CPU released on 2021-11-03 and the GPU on 2025-03-03.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with High settings it averages 66 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Low (105 FPS) and Medium (75 FPS) also clear it, but Ultra drops to 58 FPS, which is below the threshold. The Medium preset also has a minimum FPS of 63, indicating consistent performance.

Q: What is the best preset at 1440p that maintains 60 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 85 FPS, making it the most demanding setting that stays above 60 FPS. All four presets are playable at this resolution, with Low at 156 FPS, Medium at 111 FPS, and High at 98 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27,799. It is 0.3% slower than the Intel Core i9-10900K (27,872) and 0.3% slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (27,896), but 0.3% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27,712). The AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27,887) is also within 0.3%. This places the i5-12600KF in a very tight performance band.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 780 out of 3,720 tested combinations. The CPU sits in the 79th percentile, and the GPU in the 82nd percentile, showing a well-balanced pairing that is above average in both components.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Control?

A: The data shows that at 1080p, the FPS drops from 206 (Low) to 113 (Ultra), a 93 FPS difference. At 4K, the drop is from 105 (Low) to 58 (Ultra), a 47 FPS difference. This indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's multi-thread score (Cinebench R23 23,391) remains high and its single-thread score (passmark 3,925) is robust.

Q: What is the playable threshold, and which settings meet it at each resolution?

A: The playable threshold is 60 FPS. At 4K, High, Low, and Medium meet it; at 1440p and 1080p, all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) meet it. The best playable setting at 4K is High (66 FPS), at 1440p is Ultra (85 FPS), and at 1080p is Ultra (113 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 780 out of 3,720 tested combinations. This is a strong result, placing the system in the upper tier of the database. The CPU's 79th percentile and GPU's 82nd percentile confirm that both components are above average individually. The average benchmark score for the CPU is 27,799, and for the GPU it is 40,377. These scores, combined with the measured FPS data, indicate that the combo is well-suited for demanding titles like Control. The rank of 780 out of 3,720 means it outperforms the majority of tested systems. In practical terms, this means the combo is capable of delivering high frame rates in Control across all tested resolutions, with the caveat that the Ultra preset at 4K falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23,391 and the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5,077 further illustrate the hardware's capability. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 29,137 is also notable. The CPU's passmark multithread score of 27,575 and passmark single-thread score of 3,925 demonstrate a balanced profile, while the GPU's geekbench Vulkan score of 178,923 and OpenCL score of 172,660 reinforce its compute strength. This combination of CPU and GPU scores places the combo comfortably above the median of all tested systems.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals the division of labor. At 1920x1080, the FPS ranges from 206 (Low) to 113 (Ultra), a drop of 93 FPS. At 3840x2160, the range is from 105 (Low) to 58 (Ultra), a drop of 47 FPS. The fact that the absolute FPS drop is larger at 1080p suggests that the CPU is able to feed the GPU with enough data at lower resolutions, but as resolution increases, the GPU's raw compute limits become dominant. The GPU's FP32 performance is 30.87 TFLOPS, and its memory bandwidth is 672.0 GB/s. These are the specifications that govern pixel fill and texture throughput. The CPU, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23,391 and a passmark single-thread score of 3,925, is unlikely to bottleneck a game like Control, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The data shows that at 1440p Ultra, the combo hits 85 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 58 FPS. This 27 FPS difference is primarily attributable to the GPU, as the CPU's load does not scale significantly with resolution. The CPU's 3dmark single-thread score of 1,016 and 4-thread score of 3,806 indicate strong per-core performance, which is sufficient for Control's engine. At 1080p, the GPU's pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s are more than enough, but at 4K these become limiting factors. The GPU's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores also play a role in the game's visual effects, though the measured FPS suggests that rasterization performance is the primary driver. Therefore, for Control, the GPU is the more critical component at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p the CPU's single-thread performance is sufficient to keep the GPU well-fed. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads, along with its 20 MB of L3 cache, provide ample headroom for the game's logic and AI, but the GPU's raw throughput dictates the final frame rate at higher resolutions.

The Verdict

The verdictByResolution data provides a clear answer. At 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best playable setting at 66 FPS. Ultra is not playable at 4K, as it averages 58 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, and Ultra is the best at 85 FPS. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra at 113 FPS. Therefore, this PC can run Control at 60 FPS or higher at all three resolutions, provided you select the appropriate preset. For maximum visual quality, the Ultra preset is viable at 1440p and 1080p, but at 4K you must step down to High to stay above 60 FPS. The data also shows that the Medium preset at 4K has a minimum FPS of 63, which is reassuring for those concerned about frame time consistency. The playable threshold of 60 FPS is a solid target, and this combo meets it with ease at 1440p and 1080p, and with a single preset change at 4K. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's textures, and the CPU's 16 threads handle the game's background tasks without issue. The measured FPS at 4K High (66) is just 6 FPS above the threshold, so users who prefer a larger margin might opt for Medium (75 FPS), which also offers a minimum FPS of 63. At 1440p and 1080p, the Ultra presets provide a comfortable margin of 25 and 53 FPS respectively, making this a highly capable system for Control.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals are the Intel Core i9-10900K (avg score 27,872, delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27,712, +0.3%), AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27,887, -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (27,896, -0.3%). The i5-12600KF (27,799) is within 0.3% of all these, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Control. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D, in particular, is a well-known gaming processor, and its delta of -0.3% indicates that the i5-12600KF is essentially equivalent in this context. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40,318, +0.1%), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40,063, +0.8%), AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40,870, -1.2%), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39,568, +2%). The RTX 5070 (40,377) is 1.2% slower than the Radeon Pro 5300 and 2% faster than the RTX A500 Mobile. Thus, users with those GPUs would see very similar frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios, with the Radeon Pro 5300 being the closest match in terms of raw score. The Radeon Pro WX 7100, with a delta of +0.8%, is also a close equivalent. These alternatives suggest that the combo's performance is not unique but rather representative of a broad tier of hardware that can handle Control at high frame rates. The CPU's rival, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, is a popular choice for gaming, and its delta of -0.3% indicates that the i5-12600KF is essentially equivalent in this context.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average FPS of 66. At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset is Ultra, averaging 85 FPS. At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset is Ultra, averaging 113 FPS. These settings provide the highest visual fidelity while maintaining the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data also shows that at 1080p, even the Ultra preset leaves significant headroom, as the average FPS of 113 is nearly double the threshold. At 1440p, the Ultra preset's 85 FPS offers a comfortable margin. At 4K, the High preset's 66 FPS is just above the threshold, so users seeking a more stable experience might prefer the Medium preset, which averages 75 FPS and has a minimum of 63 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K also has a maximum FPS of 86, showing that the system can occasionally push higher. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 146 FPS with a minimum of 124 and a maximum of 168, indicating very consistent performance. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 111 FPS with a minimum of 94 and a maximum of 127, again showing solid frame pacing. These numbers confirm that the combo is well-optimized for Control, and the recommended settings above strike the best balance between visual quality and frame rate.