Control

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 places at rank 1071 out of 3720 tested combos for Control. This positions the pairing in the upper third of all tested configurations, indicating a robust setup for this title. The rank reflects a combination that handles the game's demands comfortably across most settings and resolutions. Being in the 71st percentile of tested combos means there is substantial headroom above it, but also that a significant majority of systems will perform worse in this game. The data suggests this is a well-balanced pairing for Control, neither severely CPU-bound nor GPU-bound in a way that cripples performance at common settings. The combination’s standing is notable given the CPU's percentile rank of 77 among all processors and the GPU's percentile rank of 68 among all graphics cards. The system performs as expected from components that sit above the median in their respective categories, delivering a playable experience even at demanding 4K resolutions. The 1071st position out of 3720 combos solidifies its status as a high-midrange to upper-tier configuration for this specific game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The GPU packs 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units, along with 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores. Memory consists of 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The base clock runs at 1440 MHz with a boost clock up to 1710 MHz, while memory operates at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 29.77 TFLOPS.

For Control, the GPU's role is central to achieving high frame rates. At 1080p, the RTX 3080 delivers 185 FPS on Low settings, which demonstrates its raw throughput. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the measured results; even at 4K Ultra, the combo manages 52 FPS, indicating the memory buffer does not become a limiting factor. The memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s helps sustain performance at higher resolutions where data throughput demands increase. The GPU's percentile rank of 68 among all graphics cards shows it sits above average, but its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA P106-100 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, which score within 0.3-0.4% of the RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 23172. This suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 3080 is closely matched with those cards, though in real-world Control testing, the combination performs admirably. The GPU's boost clock of 1710 MHz provides the necessary frequency to maintain consistent frame delivery across all tested settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 117 FPS, which is smooth for most displays. However, the Medium preset at 131 FPS offers a better balance between visual fidelity and performance, with a minimum of 111 FPS ensuring no noticeable dips. The Ultra preset at 101 FPS is still very playable, but Medium provides a 30 FPS advantage over Ultra while likely offering minimal visual differences in most scenes.

For 1440p, the High preset at 88 FPS is the sweet spot, providing a fluid experience on standard 60 Hz and 144 Hz monitors alike. The Medium preset at 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS is also viable, but High offers better image quality with only an 11 FPS penalty. The Ultra preset drops to 77 FPS, which is acceptable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Low settings at 140 FPS are unnecessary unless targeting very high refresh rates.

At 4K, the High preset at 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold for smooth gameplay on a 60 Hz display. The Medium preset at 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS provides a slight cushion, though the minimum dip could be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS falls below the ideal 60 FPS target, making High the recommended choice for 4K gaming. Low settings at 94 FPS are an option for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals, but the visual compromise is substantial. The data indicates that High settings across all resolutions offer the most consistent experience, balancing frame rate and image quality without pushing the hardware to its limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control with this combo covers four settings presets across three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 185 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce an average of 131 FPS with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS. High settings yield 117 FPS on average, while Ultra settings deliver 101 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 84 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom even at the highest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 140 FPS, a 45 FPS drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. High settings drop to 88 FPS, while Ultra settings average 77 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 63 FPS, showing that resolution scaling impacts performance more than settings changes at this pixel count. The 1440p results are roughly 75% of the 1080p numbers across all settings, consistent with the increased pixel workload.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 94 FPS, a further 46 FPS drop from 1440p Low. Medium settings average 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS. High settings average 60 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 42 FPS, which is narrower than at lower resolutions. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and settings changes have a smaller relative impact on frame rate. The 4K results are approximately 51% of the 1080p numbers, reflecting the fourfold increase in pixel count that the GPU must process.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High settings at 88 FPS provides an excellent balance, while 1080p High at 117 FPS is ideal for high refresh rate displays. 4K High at 60 FPS is viable for 60 Hz monitors.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172, which is within 0.3-0.4% of the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X. This indicates very close synthetic performance, though in-game results may differ.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 4K, the FPS drops from 185 at 1080p Low to 94 at 4K Low, a 49% reduction. This significant scaling indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not scale with pixel count.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 111. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 84. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 57. These values show consistent frame delivery without severe dips.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25005, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i7-11850H, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H, and 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC 9474F.

Q: Does the 10 GB VRAM limit performance in Control?

A: The measured results show no VRAM-related stutters or severe frame drops, as even at 4K Ultra the combo maintains 52 FPS. The 10 GB capacity appears sufficient for this game's requirements.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 8000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with the Phoenix codename. It operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and its 4 nm process node from TSMC houses 25,000 million transistors on a 178 mm² die. The TDP is 65 W, and the CPU is unlocked for overclocking.

In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this game's threading model, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p. The single-thread performance, measured at 951 in 3dmark_single_thread and 2943 in cinebench_r23_singlecore, ensures that the game's primary thread is not a bottleneck. Multi-threaded performance, with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 20851, provides ample headroom for background tasks and game logic. The CPU's percentile rank of 77 among all processors places it above the majority of CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 25005 is closely matched with rivals like the Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% difference). The boost clock of 4.70 GHz helps maintain consistent frame delivery, particularly in scenes with complex physics interactions common in Control. The 4 nm process node and 65 W TDP indicate efficient power usage, though the CPU's performance in this game is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how this combo scales across resolutions. Starting at 1080p Low with 185 FPS, moving to 1440p Low drops performance to 140 FPS, a 24% reduction. Going from 1440p to 4K Low further drops to 94 FPS, a 33% reduction from 1440p. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 49%, which is less than the 75% reduction that pure pixel count would suggest, indicating that the GPU is not fully saturated at lower resolutions.

At High settings, the scaling is more pronounced. 1080p High delivers 117 FPS, 1440p High drops to 88 FPS (a 25% reduction), and 4K High drops to 60 FPS (a 32% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 49%, identical to the Low setting scaling. This consistency suggests that the GPU's workload scales predictably with resolution, regardless of settings preset.

At Ultra settings, 1080p averages 101 FPS, 1440p drops to 77 FPS (a 24% reduction), and 4K drops to 52 FPS (a 32% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 49% as well. This uniform scaling across all settings indicates that the limiting component remains the GPU at all resolutions, as the CPU has sufficient headroom to keep up with the increased pixel workload. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 1440p average around 24-25%, and from 1440p to 4K average around 32-33%. This non-linear scaling reflects the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute capabilities, which are more taxed at higher resolutions. The data suggests that for this combo, resolution has a larger impact on performance than settings changes, particularly at 4K where even dropping from Ultra to Low only yields a 42 FPS improvement, compared to an 84 FPS improvement at 1080p.