Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a playable, though not class-leading, experience in Control, with the data showing a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. The combination ranks 1269th out of 1636 tested configurations for this title, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which aligns with its measured performance that favors 1080p gaming over higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the Intel Arc B580 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 116 FPS at 1920x1080 to 85.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a decline of roughly 26%. Pushing to 3840x2160 sees the average plummet to 60.8 FPS, which is a 48% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This pattern strongly suggests that pixel throughput, not CPU processing, is the bottleneck.

The trend holds across all settings. At High settings, the average drops from 74.2 FPS at 1080p to 55.6 FPS at 1440p, and then to 38 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K is particularly punishing, representing a 32% performance loss. This is consistent with the GPU's memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s and its 192-bit bus, which are adequate for 1080p but struggle to feed the 8.3 million pixels of a 4K display.

Interestingly, the scaling between Low and High settings at 4K is narrow. The delta between Low (60.8 FPS) and High (38 FPS) is 22.8 FPS, while the same comparison at 1080p yields a 41.8 FPS difference. This compression at 4K further confirms that the GPU is saturated, as the cost of additional visual effects is magnified when the render target is already massive. The Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to have ample headroom, as the frame rate scales almost purely with resolution rather than CPU load.

The 1440p results offer a mixed picture. At Low settings, the card manages 85.4 FPS, which is smooth, but High settings drop to 55.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 46.3 FPS. The data suggests that 1440p is the edge of the B580's comfort zone; it can deliver high refresh rates only at the lowest preset, and even moderate settings push it below the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combination is 1080p with High settings, yielding 74.2 FPS. This preset balances visual fidelity with performance, providing a smooth frame rate without the steep cost of Ultra, which only improves the average to 59.9 FPS. The 14.3 FPS difference between High and Ultra is not worth the marginal visual upgrade in most scenes, making High the sensible choice for consistent playability.

For users targeting 1440p, the data shows that Medium settings provide 59.4 FPS, which is just shy of a 60 FPS target. Dropping to Low yields 85.4 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. High settings at 1440p (55.6 FPS) are playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat. The recommendation is to use Medium as a starting point and adjust downward if the framerate feels inconsistent.

At 4K, the situation is more restrictive. Low settings are the only preset that clears 60 FPS, hitting 60.8 FPS on average. Medium drops to 43.9 FPS, and High falls to 38 FPS. Given the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM, the memory capacity is not the issue, but the raw compute power (13.67 TFLOPS FP32) is insufficient for high-fidelity 4K. Users should either accept Low settings at 4K or, more pragmatically, drop to 1440p for a better balance.

The Ultra preset is consistently the worst value across all resolutions. At 1080p it delivers 59.9 FPS, at 1440p it falls to 46.3 FPS, and at 4K it dips to 33.8 FPS. These figures are 19% to 27% lower than High settings, with no proportional gain in image quality that the data can quantify. For this hardware, Ultra is a luxury that the GPU cannot sustain at playable rates.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Control?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the strongest resolution. At High settings, the average is 74.2 FPS, and even Ultra stays near 60 FPS at 59.9. Higher resolutions result in a significant FPS penalty, with 4K Ultra dropping to 33.8 FPS.

*Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?*

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produces an average of 60.8 FPS. Medium settings fall to 43.9 FPS, and High drops to 38 FPS. The GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with the preset.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The difference is 14.3 FPS, with High averaging 74.2 FPS and Ultra averaging 59.9 FPS. Given that Ultra requires a 19% performance drop, High offers a better balance for smoother gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, the frame rate varies widely by settings (116 FPS Low to 59.9 FPS Ultra), while the CPU’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration appears sufficient, as the performance scales with resolution and graphics load rather than showing CPU-related stalls.

Q: What is the expected performance at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 59.4 FPS. This is close to a 60 FPS target but may experience occasional dips below that threshold during intensive scenes. Low settings at 1440p are notably faster at 85.4 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of playable options. Low settings produce an average of 116 FPS, making it the only preset that fully exploits a high-refresh-rate display. Medium drops to 80.5 FPS, High to 74.2 FPS, and Ultra to 59.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 56.1 FPS difference, indicating that the GPU has headroom at this resolution to absorb increasing graphical loads.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages compress. Low settings yield 85.4 FPS, Medium 59.4 FPS, High 55.6 FPS, and Ultra 46.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 39.1 FPS, showing that the GPU is beginning to saturate. The step from Medium to High is a modest 3.8 FPS drop, suggesting that High is nearly as fast as Medium at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results are the most constrained. Low settings average 60.8 FPS, Medium 43.9 FPS, High 38 FPS, and Ultra 33.8 FPS. The total spread is only 27 FPS from Low to Ultra, which is the smallest of any resolution. This compression means that even lowering settings cannot rescue the frame rate, as the GPU is fundamentally limited by its pixel fill rate of 213.6 GPixel/s.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, is the dominant factor in these results. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes a constraint at 4K. The memory clock runs at 2375 MHz, offering 19 Gbps effective speed, yet this does not prevent the frame rate from collapsing at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2670 MHz is fixed, with no separation between base and boost, meaning the card runs at a constant frequency. This consistency is reflected in the predictable scaling between settings, but it also caps the peak performance. The 80 ROPs and 160 TMUs are working hard to fill frames, but the 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute is the limiting factor for Control's physics and particle effects.

The B580's percentile ranking of 66 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021, places it just behind the GeForce RTX 4060 (deltaPct -0.7) and slightly ahead of the RTX 4060 Mobile (deltaPct 1.3). This mid-range positioning explains why the card excels at 1080p but struggles at 4K. The GPU's 190 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU are typical for this class, but the raw numbers show that it is a 1080p-oriented card with 1440p capability at reduced settings.

The nearest rival data underscores this: the B580 scores within 0.3% of the NVIDIA P106-100, a much older card, indicating that while the architecture is modern, the absolute performance ceiling is modest. The 20 RT cores are present, but Control's benchmark data does not isolate ray tracing effects, so their impact cannot be measured from this pack. Overall, the GPU role is clear: it delivers smooth 1080p gameplay, acceptable 1440p with tweaks, and playable 4K only at the lowest visual preset.