Control

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti delivers a highly capable Control experience, with benchmark data showing that the combination is fully playable at 1080p and 1440p across all tested presets. At 4K, the system is limited to Low settings to maintain a playable frame rate, but the overall dataset reveals a balanced pairing where the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are consistently high across all settings. The Low preset produces the highest average at 145 FPS, followed by Medium at 103 FPS (with a minimum of 88 FPS and maximum of 119 FPS), High at 92 FPS, and Ultra at 80 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom even at maximum settings for this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates remain smooth but show a clear step down from 1080p. The Low preset averages 110 FPS, while Medium drops to 78 FPS (min 66, max 90), High averages 69 FPS, and Ultra lands exactly at 60 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 50 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p, suggesting that resolution scaling is beginning to tax the GPU more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. The Low preset averages 74 FPS, but Medium drops to 53 FPS (min 45, max 61), High falls to 47 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 41 FPS. Notably, the Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 45 FPS, which dips below the playable threshold of 60 FPS, while the average remains above it. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 33 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck when pushing 8.3 million pixels.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest frame rates, and High settings outperform Ultra by 6-9 FPS depending on resolution. The Medium preset provides the only min/max data points in the measured set, with the 1080p Medium run showing a tight 88-119 FPS range.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear shift in component responsibility as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the CPU has more influence relative to the GPU, as evidenced by the wide 65 FPS gap between Low and Ultra presets. The Core i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, provides sufficient processing power to feed the RTX 3060 Ti at lower resolutions, where the GPU can render frames quickly enough to expose any CPU limitations.

At 2560x1440, the scaling pattern shows the GPU taking on more of the workload. The 50 FPS difference between Low and Ultra is smaller than at 1080p, which indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor. The 60 FPS average at Ultra settings is a precise indicator that the RTX 3060 Ti is operating near its capacity at this resolution with maximum settings.

The 3840x2160 results confirm that the GPU is the dominant constraint. The 33 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of all three resolutions, showing that even the lowest settings cannot fully relieve the GPU pressure. The CPU's role diminishes further at 4K, as the rendering pipeline becomes increasingly pixel-bound rather than geometry- or draw-call-bound.

The RTX 3060 Ti's specifications support this interpretation: its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution requires more memory bandwidth and raw compute than the card can consistently deliver at higher settings. The GPU's 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 253.1 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for the lower resolutions but become limiting factors at 4K Ultra.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 80 FPS. This leaves 20 FPS of headroom above the playable threshold, making Ultra the recommended setting for a smooth experience without any frame rate concerns.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also clears the 60 FPS threshold, but only marginally, with an average of exactly 60 FPS. This is the maximum settings option that remains playable, though users seeking more consistent performance might prefer High at 69 FPS for additional buffer.

At 3840x2160, the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS is Low, which delivers 74 FPS. The Medium preset's 53 FPS average falls below the threshold, so Low is the sole playable option at this resolution. The 4K Low setting provides 14 FPS of headroom, which is adequate but leaves less margin than the lower resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 80 FPS, which is 20 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the most demanding setting tested, and it clears the threshold with comfortable margin.

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

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 average exactly 60 FPS, making it the most demanding playable preset. If you prefer more frame rate headroom, High settings average 69 FPS, but Ultra is technically playable.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: Only at Low settings, which average 74 FPS at 3840x2160. Medium settings drop to 53 FPS average with a 45 FPS minimum, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold, so Low is the only recommended option at 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti's performance compare to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 16129, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014), 1.4% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16351), and 1.4% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (16361). The Radeon R9 370X scores 15862, which is 1.7% lower.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, the difference is 65 FPS (145 vs 80). At 1440p, the difference is 50 FPS (110 vs 60). At 4K, the difference is 33 FPS (74 vs 41). This shrinking gap indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the CPU's benchmark performance align with its gaming role here?

A: The Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, ranking in the 77th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scores 25284 (0% difference), while the Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362 (-0.3%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (-0.3%). These scores indicate the CPU is well above average for gaming workloads.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control at 1080p and 1440p with all tested settings, including Ultra. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 80 FPS, providing a fully smooth experience. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages exactly 60 FPS, which meets the playable threshold but leaves no margin for frame drops. The 4K resolution is the limitation: only Low settings average above 60 FPS at 74 FPS, while Medium and above fall below the threshold.

The data indicates that 1440p Ultra is the practical ceiling for this combination, as it delivers playable performance without requiring any quality compromises. For 4K gaming, users must accept Low settings, which still provides a playable but visually reduced experience. The system's performance at 1080p is excellent, with all presets delivering well above 60 FPS, including a 145 FPS average at Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Among all tested combinations in the database, this CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1848 out of 3720 combinations for Control. This places it in the 50th percentile overall, meaning roughly half of all tested hardware combinations perform better and half perform worse. Given that the CPU scores in the 77th percentile and the GPU scores in the 59th percentile among their respective categories, the combination's mid-pack ranking suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing.

The rank reflects the system's ability to handle the game across all resolutions, with the 4K limitations pulling the overall score down despite strong 1080p and 1440p performance. Users with this hardware can expect a solid experience at mainstream resolutions, but the system is not optimized for 4K gaming in Control.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are all within 0.4% of the Core i5-13400F's 25292 score. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS matches at 25284 (0% delta), the Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362 (-0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (-0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H scores 25201 (0.4%). Any of these processors would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Control, with the Ryzen 5 5600X3D being a particularly close match for gaming workloads.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014 (0.7% higher than the RTX 3060 Ti's 16129), making it the closest performance equivalent. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M scores 16351 (-1.4%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT scores 16361 (-1.4%), both slightly faster. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862 (1.7% lower), representing a slightly slower alternative. In practical terms, swapping the RTX 3060 Ti for any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control, with the RX 5700 XT offering a marginal improvement and the R9 370X a slight decrease.