Control

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a highly playable experience in Control, but the margin for error shrinks as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080, this combo is excellent, pushing well past the 60 FPS threshold even at Ultra settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the system remains comfortably playable at Medium, while 3840x2160 demands a significant drop in visual fidelity to stay smooth. The data paints a clear picture of a capable 1080p and 1440p machine that struggles to maintain high-refresh 4K performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combination reveals a consistent pattern across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the lowest recorded average is 70.1 FPS at Ultra settings, which is already above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The Medium preset produces an average of 89.5 FPS, while High reaches 76.1 FPS. The Low preset is the standout performer, hitting an average of 123.7 FPS, which is nearly double the Ultra result and indicates a massive scaling headroom for competitive or high-refresh gameplay.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the averages drop notably but remain respectable. The Low preset delivers 93.9 FPS, which is still excellent for a 1440p panel. Medium follows at 65.8 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS mark. High settings yield 59.9 FPS, which is just under the threshold and would be noticeable in fast-paced action. Ultra drops further to 51.3 FPS, showing that the GPU is starting to hit its limits at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. The Low preset is the only setting that clears 60 FPS, with an average of 61.5 FPS. Medium falls to 43.6 FPS, High drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 37.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is substantial (17.9 FPS), suggesting that the memory bandwidth or shading units of the RX 7600 XT become a hard bottleneck past the simplest rendering path. The min and max FPS values are not reported in the data, so the analysis relies on average scores, but the spread between presets at 4K is large enough to indicate a steep performance cliff.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets clarifies the division of labor between the Intel Core i5-13400F and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT. At 1920x1080, the CPU has more headroom relative to the GPU, and the data shows that preset changes have a moderate effect: moving from Low to Ultra drops the average from 123.7 to 70.1 FPS, a 43% reduction. This suggests the GPU is the primary limiter even at 1080p, as the CPU can feed frames faster than the card can render them at lower settings.

When resolution increases to 2560x1440, the GPU load grows, and the CPU’s role diminishes further. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 42.6 FPS (93.9 versus 51.3), which is a similar percentage drop to 1080p, indicating that the RX 7600 XT’s rasterization throughput is the dominant factor across both resolutions. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the consistent frame delivery even at the 123.7 FPS peak.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the sole constraint. The frame rate collapses from 61.5 FPS at Low to 37.2 FPS at Ultra, a 24.3 FPS swing that has nothing to do with CPU compute. The i5-13400F’s benchmark scores, such as 22,604 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,191 in single-core, place it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, which is ample for a game like Control that relies more on GPU fill rate. The data implies that upgrading the CPU would yield no tangible benefit at 4K, while a faster GPU would directly lift all presets.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, which achieves an average of 70.1 FPS. This is the most demanding preset and still clears the 60 FPS threshold by 10.1 frames, making it the recommended choice for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 76.1 FPS is also viable, but Ultra offers the full experience with no playability penalty.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 65.8 FPS. High settings fall to 59.9 FPS, which is just under the threshold and would likely cause occasional stutter in combat-heavy scenes. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p, balancing visual fidelity with a 5.8 FPS margin over the playability line.

For 3840x2160, the only playable option is Low, which produces an average of 61.5 FPS. This is a marginal 1.5 FPS above the threshold, meaning any scene complexity could push it below 60. Medium at 43.6 FPS is not viable for smooth gameplay, and Ultra at 37.2 FPS is firmly in slideshow territory. The verdict is clear: 4K requires the lowest preset, and even then, the margin is thin.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25,292, which is nearly identical to several alternatives. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS scores 25,284, a delta of 0%, meaning it would behave almost exactly the same in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D both score 25,362 and 25,365 respectively, with deltas of -0.3%, which is negligible for gaming. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H scores 25,201, a 0.4% positive delta, so any of these CPUs would yield indistinguishable frame rates in Control.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT has an average score of 17,083, placing it in the 60th percentile of all GPUs. The closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which scores 17,208, a delta of -0.7%, meaning the RX 7600 XT is slightly slower but within 1%. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17,037 (0.3% delta) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17,019 (0.4% delta), both of which are older architectures but would produce similar raw performance in this game. The NVIDIA Tesla M4 scores 16,932 (0.9% delta), so it is the weakest of the group but still close. In practice, swapping in an RTX 3070 would change the 4K Low result from 61.5 FPS to roughly 61 FPS, which is immaterial.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 2292 out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This places it in the 38th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 62% of combinations perform better. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier standing (60th percentile) and the CPU’s higher placement (77th percentile), but the game’s GPU-heavy nature drags the overall combo down. The data suggests that while the CPU is strong, the RX 7600 XT’s 16 GB of memory and 128-bit bus are not enough to break into higher performance tiers at demanding resolutions.

The rank also implies that many systems with older high-end GPUs, such as the RTX 3070 mentioned in the rivals list, would outperform this combo despite having similar benchmark scores. The 4K results, where the combo falls below 45 FPS on Medium and above, are the primary drivers of this middling rank. At 1080p, the combo would likely rank much higher, but the aggregate score is pulled down by the 4K weakness.

The Verdict

The verdict is clear: this PC can run Control at 60 FPS, but only at specific resolution and preset combinations. At 1920x1080, all four presets clear the threshold, with Ultra at 70.1 FPS being the best choice. At 2560x1440, only Low (93.9 FPS) and Medium (65.8 FPS) are playable, with High at 59.9 FPS being a borderline miss. At 3840x2160, only Low (61.5 FPS) is viable, and it barely scrapes by.

The data shows a system that is a solid 1080p performer and a capable 1440p machine, but a poor 4K option unless the user is willing to accept the lowest visual settings. For gamers targeting 1440p, the Medium preset offers a good balance of quality and performance, but there is no headroom for higher settings. For 4K, the experience is fragile, and any demanding scene could cause frame drops below 60 FPS. The CPU is never the limiting factor, so the upgrade path is solely through the GPU.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 70.1, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p that stays above 60 FPS?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 65.8 FPS. The High preset falls short at 59.9 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: Only at Low settings, which achieves an average of 61.5 FPS. Medium settings drop to 43.6 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to the RTX 3070 in this game?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17,208, which is 0.7% higher than the RX 7600 XT’s 17,083. This translates to a negligible FPS difference.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data shows no evidence of CPU limitation. The i5-13400F’s scores (22,604 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) are sufficient, as frame rates scale purely with GPU load across presets.

Q: What is the best 1080p preset for maximum smoothness?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers the highest average at 123.7 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.