Control

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded average frame rates show a clear progression across presets. Low settings deliver an average of 126 FPS, Medium settings average 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, High settings average 79 FPS, and Ultra settings average 69 FPS. The 4K data points for Low, High, and Ultra do not include minimum or maximum frame readings, only the average.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages rise substantially. Low settings produce 147 FPS, Medium settings average 130 FPS with a range from 110 FPS minimum to 149 FPS maximum, High settings reach 118 FPS, and Ultra settings hold at 102 FPS. As with 4K, the minimum and maximum values are only recorded for the Medium preset at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are the highest of the three resolutions. Low settings average 162 FPS, Medium settings average 142 FPS with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS, High settings average 137 FPS, and Ultra settings maintain 130 FPS. The minimum and maximum readings are again exclusive to the Medium preset.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution decreases. At 4K, the spread from Low to Ultra is 57 FPS (126 down to 69). At 1440p, the spread is 45 FPS (147 down to 102). At 1080p, the spread is 32 FPS (162 down to 130). This indicates that the Ultra preset's additional rendering load becomes relatively cheaper at lower pixel counts, or conversely, that the GPU has more headroom to absorb the extra work at 1080p.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a GPU-bound scenario at every resolution and preset combination tested. The Intel Core i5-9400, a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, does not appear to bottleneck the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in this title. The proof lies in the scaling behavior.

When comparing 4K to 1080p at the same preset, the frame rate delta is substantial. At Ultra settings, 4K averages 69 FPS while 1080p averages 130 FPS, a difference of 61 FPS. At High settings, 4K averages 79 FPS versus 137 FPS at 1080p, a 58 FPS gap. At Medium settings, 4K averages 89 FPS versus 142 FPS at 1080p, a 53 FPS gap. At Low settings, 4K averages 126 FPS versus 162 FPS at 1080p, a 36 FPS gap. If the CPU were the limiting factor, these gaps would compress at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work; instead, they remain wide, indicating the GPU is the primary driver of performance.

The resolution scaling from 1440p to 1080p further supports this. At Ultra, 1440p averages 102 FPS and 1080p averages 130 FPS, a 28 FPS gain. At High, 118 FPS versus 137 FPS, a 19 FPS gain. At Medium, 130 FPS versus 142 FPS, a 12 FPS gain. At Low, 147 FPS versus 162 FPS, a 15 FPS gain. The gains from lowering resolution are present but not uniform, which is typical of a game where the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the dominant resource.

Preset scaling also points to GPU dominance. At 4K, moving from Low to Medium costs 37 FPS (126 to 89), from Medium to High costs 10 FPS (89 to 79), and from High to Ultra costs another 10 FPS (79 to 69). At 1080p, the same transitions cost 20 FPS (162 to 142), 5 FPS (142 to 137), and 7 FPS (137 to 130). The larger absolute drops at 4K confirm that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth (716.8 GB/s) are the limiting resources, not the CPU's 6 threads.

The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 256-bit bus provide ample bandwidth for 4K textures, and the benchmark results show no signs of VRAM-related stutters or min-FPS collapses at any resolution. The only min/max data available (Medium preset) shows healthy spread: 121 to 164 FPS at 1080p, 110 to 149 FPS at 1440p, and 76 to 103 FPS at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination maintain 60 FPS at 4K with all settings maxed?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 69 FPS, which is 9 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The recorded data shows no minimum frame value for this configuration, but the average comfortably clears the threshold.

Q: What is the fastest preset at 1080p?

A: Low settings produce the highest average at 1920x1080 with 162 FPS. Medium settings follow at 142 FPS, High at 137 FPS, and Ultra at 130 FPS. All presets exceed 60 FPS by a wide margin.

Q: Is there a risk of frame drops below 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Based on the available data, no. The only preset with recorded minimum frames at 1440p is Medium, showing a minimum of 110 FPS. The other presets (Low at 147, High at 118, Ultra at 102) all have averages well above 60 FPS, leaving substantial headroom.

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

A: The average frame rate drops from 130 FPS to 69 FPS, a reduction of 61 FPS or approximately 47 percent of the 1080p value. The game remains playable at 4K, but the frame rate nearly halves.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-9400 hold back the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The benchmark data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combination reaches 162 FPS, which is high enough to stress CPU limits in many titles, yet the frame rate still scales upward as resolution drops. The 6-core, 6-thread processor appears sufficient for Control's demands.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 120 Hz display at 1440p?

A: High settings average 118 FPS, which is just below 120. Medium settings average 130 FPS, clearing 120 with a 10 FPS margin. Low settings average 147 FPS. For a 120 Hz target, Medium is the most demanding preset that consistently exceeds 120 FPS at 2560x1440.

The Verdict

This PC configuration can run Control at all tested resolutions and presets above the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 3840x2160, every preset from Low to Ultra clears 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging 69 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 102 FPS, and at 1920x1080, Ultra averages 130 FPS.

The verdict data confirms that all four settings presets are playable at each of the three resolutions. The best settings at 4K are Ultra with an average of 69 FPS. At 1440p, the best settings are Ultra with 102 FPS. At 1080p, the best settings are Ultra with 130 FPS. In practice, this means the user can enable maximum quality at any resolution and still remain above 60 FPS.

The margin at 4K Ultra is slim but real: 69 FPS is only 9 FPS above the threshold. Users who prioritize frame rate stability over absolute visual fidelity might prefer High settings at 4K, which average 79 FPS and provide a larger buffer. At 1440p and 1080p, the margins are comfortable enough that no compromise is necessary.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 606 out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places the setup in the top 16.3 percent of all recorded configurations for this game. The rank reflects the strong GPU contribution: the RTX 4080 sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the i5-9400 sits in the 47th percentile among all CPUs.

The high combo rank despite a mid-tier CPU indicates that Control's performance is heavily weighted toward GPU capability. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth are the dominant factors pushing this combo into the top tier. The CPU's contribution is sufficient to avoid dragging the rank down, but the GPU is clearly the primary driver of the strong result.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 69 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and it clears the threshold by 9 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset is also Ultra, averaging 102 FPS. The 42 FPS margin over the 60 FPS threshold provides ample headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1920x1080, Ultra again is the most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS, with an average of 130 FPS. This is more than double the playable threshold.

In all three cases, the recommendation is to run the game at maximum quality. The only scenario where a user might choose a lower preset is 4K, where the 69 FPS average at Ultra could dip below 60 in particularly heavy combat sequences, though the database does not record any minimum FPS values for Ultra at 4K to confirm or deny this concern.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-9400 has nearest rivals in the database that would behave nearly identically in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 has an average benchmark score of 2259, which is 0.2 percent lower than the i5-9400's average score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3 percent higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4 percent higher. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4 percent lower. All four alternatives fall within a 0.6 percent range of the i5-9400, meaning any of them would produce statistically indistinguishable frame rates in Control.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080's nearest rivals are similarly close. The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average score of 54209, just 0.1 percent above the RTX 4080's 54247. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, 1.1 percent higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6 percent higher. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, 2.7 percent higher. These deltas are small enough that users swapping between these GPUs would see nearly identical FPS in this game, with the RX 6750 GRE and 8060S offering a slight edge on average.

For users considering a similar build, pairing any of the rival CPUs with any of the rival GPUs would produce performance within roughly 3 percent of the measured combination, assuming no other system bottlenecks. The RTX 4080 SUPER is the closest GPU match, while the RX 6750 GRE and 8060S would deliver marginally higher average scores in synthetic benchmarks, though the real-world impact in Control would likely be minimal.