Control

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Control with the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination spans three resolutions and four quality presets. All measurements represent average FPS, as the database did not record minimum or maximum frame times for this configuration.

At 1920x1080, the combination starts at 163.9 FPS on Low settings. Moving to Medium drops the average to 140.8 FPS, a 14.1% reduction. High settings produce 133.6 FPS, which is 5.1% below Medium. Ultra settings deliver 116.3 FPS, a 12.9% drop from High. The spread from Low to Ultra is 47.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom even at the highest preset on this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low settings average 144.5 FPS, which is 11.8% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium drops to 109.7 FPS, a 24.1% reduction from Low at the same resolution. High settings produce 98.8 FPS, and Ultra averages 88.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 55.6 FPS, a larger absolute spread than at 1080p, which suggests the rendering load scales more aggressively with quality settings as pixel count rises.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the most constrained performance. Low settings average 107.1 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 77.6 FPS, a 27.5% decrease from Low. High settings produce 69.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 61.1 FPS. The Low to Ultra spread is 46.0 FPS. Notably, the 4K Ultra result sits just 1.1 FPS above the playable threshold, making it the tightest margin in the entire dataset.

Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra follows a consistent pattern: the largest single-step drop occurs between Low and Medium, while the High to Ultra step is comparatively smaller. At 1080p, the High to Ultra drop is 17.3 FPS; at 1440p it is 9.9 FPS; at 4K it is 8.8 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset adds progressively less marginal cost at higher resolutions, likely because other bottlenecks dominate.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this CPU and GPU pairing at 830 out of 3720 tested combinations for Control. That places it in the top 22.3% of all recorded configurations. In percentile terms, the CPU sits at the 47th percentile among all processors in the database, while the GPU ranks at the 55th percentile among all graphics cards. The combination outperforms what either component would suggest individually, which points to the game favoring the GPU's strengths.

The combo rank of 830 is notable because the GPU's percentile is only slightly above average, yet the pairing lands well above the median for all tested systems. This suggests Control's rendering workload benefits disproportionately from the RX 7900 XT's specific capabilities rather than raw average benchmark scores. The CPU's 47th percentile does not appear to be a limiting factor at the resolutions tested, as evidenced by the FPS data remaining high even at 1080p where CPU load typically matters most.

Compared to other tested combos in the database, this configuration delivers frame rates that would place it in the upper quartile of systems running Control. The rank position indicates that most tested systems with higher average component scores do not necessarily translate that advantage into better Control performance. The data shows a clear case where the combination behaves better than the sum of its parts.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals how the workload shifts between processor and graphics card. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 163.9 FPS, while at 2560x1440 Low averages 144.5 FPS, a drop of 11.8%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 107.1 FPS, another 25.9% reduction. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, appears sufficient to feed the GPU even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate exceeds 160 FPS. If the processor were the bottleneck, the 1080p Low result would not climb that high.

The GPU's role becomes more apparent at higher resolutions and presets. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 61.1 FPS, which is 47.4% lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 116.3 FPS. This substantial reduction across a 2x pixel count increase indicates the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K. The RX 7900 XT, with its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth, handles the memory demands, but the compute load at 4K Ultra pushes the rendering pipeline.

The preset scaling at each resolution further clarifies the division of labor. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 47.6 FPS, while at 4K the same preset change costs 46.0 FPS. The similarity of these absolute drops suggests that the quality preset overhead is relatively consistent regardless of resolution. However, the percentage impact differs: at 1080p Ultra is 29.0% below Low, while at 4K Ultra is 42.9% below Low. This means the GPU's workload grows disproportionately when both resolution and quality increase together.

For this game, the CPU matters most at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 163.9 FPS. Even there, the i5-9400 keeps up. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU dominates the performance equation. The data shows no resolution or preset where the CPU becomes the clear limiting factor, as all recorded averages remain above 60 FPS.

The Verdict

The recorded data shows that this PC can run Control at every resolution and preset combination tested, with all twelve measurements exceeding the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1920x1080, the lowest average is 116.3 FPS on Ultra, leaving 56.3 FPS of headroom above the threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 88.9 FPS, still 28.9 FPS above the cutoff. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 61.1 FPS, clearing the threshold by only 1.1 FPS.

The verdict by resolution confirms all four settings are playable at each resolution. For 1080p and 1440p, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, delivering 116.3 FPS and 88.9 FPS respectively. At 4K, Ultra is also listed as playable, but the 61.1 FPS average leaves minimal margin for frame time spikes. High settings at 4K provide a more comfortable 69.9 FPS average.

In practical terms, this combination delivers a smooth experience for the vast majority of the tested configurations. The only scenario where the margin is thin is 4K Ultra, where a single demanding scene could potentially push the average below 60 FPS. For users prioritizing a consistent frame rate, 4K High offers 8.8 FPS more headroom than Ultra.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the recorded average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 61.1 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. However, the margin is only 1.1 FPS, so frame time fluctuations could occasionally dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

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

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 average 88.9 FPS, which is the highest preset tested and still leaves 28.9 FPS of headroom above the playable threshold. The database lists Ultra as the best settings for this resolution.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 116.3 at 1920x1080 to 61.1 at 3840x2160, a 47.5% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 163.9 to 107.1, a 34.7% reduction.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU does not become a limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the average reaches 163.9 FPS, indicating the Intel Core i5-9400 can feed the RX 7900 XT effectively. The GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution and quality settings increase.

Q: Is the RX 7900 XT the stronger component in this pairing?

A: The GPU ranks at the 55th percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU ranks at the 47th percentile among all processors. The FPS data shows the GPU driving performance differences across resolutions, confirming it as the dominant component for Control.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1080p High settings?

A: The recorded average at 1920x1080 High is 133.6 FPS, which is 73.6 FPS above the playable threshold. This leaves substantial headroom for consistent frame delivery.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 116.3 FPS. This is the maximum quality option tested, and it still provides more than 90 FPS of headroom above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings also qualify as the best option, averaging 88.9 FPS. The margin above 60 FPS is 28.9 FPS, which is comfortable for most gaming scenarios.

At 3840x2160, Ultra settings average 61.1 FPS, which technically meets the playable threshold but leaves only 1.1 FPS of margin. For a more stable experience, High settings at 69.9 FPS offer an additional 8.8 FPS of headroom while still maintaining high visual quality. The database lists Ultra as the best settings for 4K, but the data supports considering High for frame rate consistency.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are four processors with nearly identical average benchmark scores. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, which is 0.2% higher than the i5-9400's 2254 average. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4% lower. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4% higher. All four fall within a 0.8% band of the i5-9400, meaning any of these processors would likely produce near-identical frame rates in Control when paired with the same GPU.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The AMD Radeon 660M scores 13812, 0.5% higher than the RX 7900 XT's 13745 average. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scores 13821, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 570X scores 13871, 0.9% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT scores 13543, 1.5% lower. These deltas are small enough that users would see effectively the same Control performance with any of these graphics cards paired with the i5-9400.

The practical implication is that swapping either component for its nearest rival would not meaningfully change the measured FPS results. The 1080p Ultra average of 116.3 FPS, the 1440p Ultra average of 88.9 FPS, and the 4K Ultra average of 61.1 FPS would all remain within a few frames of the recorded values. The combination's rank of 830 out of 3720 would also stay roughly constant, as the rival components occupy the same performance tier.