Control

Control with the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a clear pattern of the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution climbs, but the CPU still holds the frame rate together at lower settings. The data indicates a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, though it falls short of maintaining a smooth experience at 4K with maximum quality.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, and the gap widens significantly when comparing the same settings across resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 141.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 69.9 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly half. This transition is expected, but it reveals that the RTX 4060’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are quickly saturated as pixel count rises.

Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a similar trend: 69.8 FPS drops to 47.3 FPS. The scaling is not linear, and the 4K results suggest that the GPU is the limiting component at this resolution. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU’s six cores and 12 threads can keep feeding the GPU without holding it back. The data implies that at 4K, the GPU is working near its limits, while at 1080p, the headroom shifts to the graphics card — the CPU has more capacity than needed.

The delta between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution is also telling. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 141.3 FPS down to 76.9 FPS, a 64.4 FPS difference. At 4K, the same settings span from 69.9 FPS to 42.1 FPS, a narrower 27.8 FPS gap. This compression at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is the constraint; increasing settings at 4K has less relative impact because the GPU is already struggling with the base load. Conversely, at 1080p, the GPU has spare capacity, so raising settings has a larger absolute effect on frame rate.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 8400F is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture, running at a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its benchmark scores show solid single-thread performance — a 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943 — which is directly relevant to Control’s engine. The game is known for its physics-heavy combat and destructible environments, which can stress the CPU during intense scenes.

In this combo, the CPU’s role is more evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the 141.3 FPS average suggests the GPU is not the sole bottleneck. The CPU’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 6091 and max-thread score of 6165 indicate that it can handle multi-threaded workloads, but Control’s frame rates are likely more dependent on single-core speed. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20851 shows the processor has ample headroom for background tasks while gaming.

The CPU’s 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth help feed the GPU efficiently. At 1440p, the frame rates at High (69.8 FPS) and Medium (75 FPS) are close, hinting that the CPU is still capable of keeping up, but the GPU is starting to dominate performance. The data suggests that at 4K, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are the more pressing constraints.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination ranks 896 out of 1636 tested combos for Control, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The ranking reflects that while the CPU and GPU are individually competent, they are not top-tier for this title. The Ryzen 5 8400F sits at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, which scores 25057 with a 0% delta, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340, which scores 25099 with a -0.1% delta. The Ryzen 5 7500F is also close, scoring 24993 with a 0.3% delta. This indicates the CPU is competitive with older and newer parts alike, but it doesn’t stand out.

The RTX 4060, meanwhile, sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, -0.6% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338, -0.7% delta). The Intel Arc B580 is slightly behind at 23021 with a 0.7% delta, and the AMD Radeon 760M is at 22999 with a 0.8% delta. The GPU’s position is more mid-pack, which explains the combo’s overall rank. For a game like Control, which can be demanding on both CPU and GPU, this combination is adequate but not exceptional, and the 4K results confirm that it is best suited for lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 141.3 FPS on Low, 98.4 FPS on Medium, 88.2 FPS on High, and 76.9 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is steep (42.9 FPS), while the difference from High to Ultra is smaller (11.3 FPS), suggesting diminishing returns at the top end. These numbers indicate that the RTX 4060 can comfortably handle 1080p with high refresh rates, especially at lower presets.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 107.8 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium, 69.8 FPS on High, and 60.3 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show a more moderate drop from Low to Medium (32.8 FPS), and the High to Ultra gap narrows to 9.5 FPS. The frame rates remain playable across all settings, but Ultra dips to just above 60 FPS, which may be a target for many users.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 69.9 FPS on Low, 52.8 FPS on Medium, 47.3 FPS on High, and 42.1 FPS on Ultra. The 4K numbers are the weakest, with only the Low preset achieving a smooth 60 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 27.8 FPS, and even Medium falls below 60 FPS. These results make it clear that 4K gaming on this combo requires a compromise on settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2460 MHz, and it has 3072 shading units, 24 RT cores, and 96 tensor cores. In Control, the GPU’s role is dominant at higher resolutions, as the 4K results show a clear ceiling. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at the tested settings, but at 4K, memory capacity may become a concern with certain textures, though the measured data does not explicitly show a VRAM limit.

The GPU’s benchmark scores — a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 101030 — place it in the mid-range. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, performs nearly identically with a -0.6% delta, which suggests that the RTX 4060 is not a class-leading card. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 indicates it can handle modern APIs, and Control’s support for DirectX 12 likely benefits from this. The GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is modest but adequate for the game’s requirements, and the 115 W TDP means it runs cool and efficient.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 88.2 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, but the Medium preset at 98.4 FPS is also viable if a higher frame rate is preferred. The Ultra preset at 76.9 FPS is playable but shows diminishing returns over High, so it is not necessary unless visual fidelity is the priority.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 69.8 FPS is a solid choice, providing good detail without dropping below 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 75 FPS is a safer option for maintaining a higher average, while Ultra at 60.3 FPS is just at the threshold — acceptable for some, but risky during heavy scenes. The Low preset at 107.8 FPS is available for those who want a high refresh rate experience, though it sacrifices visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 69.9 FPS is the only setting that delivers a smooth frame rate above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 52.8 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid, and High and Ultra at 47.3 FPS and 42.1 FPS respectively are below the 60 FPS mark. For 4K, the data suggests sticking to Low for consistent performance, or accepting lower frame rates for better visuals. The measured rows show no min or max FPS values, so frame time consistency cannot be assessed, but the averages point to 1080p and 1440p as the sweet spots for this combo.