Control

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a combination built for high-refresh-rate gaming, and the measured data for Control confirms this pairing’s raw capability. Across the board, the frame rates are exceptionally high, making the choice of settings more about matching your display’s refresh rate and preferred visual fidelity rather than chasing playability. At 1080p, the combo is so powerful that the CPU begins to show its influence, while at 4K, the GPU takes the lead, providing a classic resolution-dependent bottleneck shift. The data indicates that this system can comfortably drive even the most demanding presets at standard resolutions, making it a top-tier option for this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Control with this hardware combination reveals a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets. Starting at 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 153 FPS, which is a very high baseline. However, the Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 198 FPS, and the Low preset pushes that number to a staggering 247 FPS. The High preset sits between these, at 176 FPS. While all of these are playable on any high-refresh-rate monitor, the data suggests that the Ultra preset is the best choice for 1080p if you want the maximum visual quality without sacrificing the fluidity of the experience; the 153 FPS average is still far above the threshold for competitive play.

Moving to 1440p, the performance scales down slightly but remains exceptional. The Ultra preset still manages a 116 FPS average, which is excellent for a high-resolution experience. The High preset increases this to 133 FPS, while Medium hits 150 FPS. The Low preset is the outlier here, delivering a 211 FPS average, which is a significant jump. For the vast majority of users, the High or Ultra presets at 1440p will provide the ideal balance of visual fidelity and high refresh rate, as the difference between the average FPS is relatively small compared to the jump to the Low preset, which would noticeably degrade the game’s atmosphere.

At 4K, the picture becomes more subtle. The Ultra preset yields a 78 FPS average, which is still solid for a cinematic experience. The High preset improves this to a 90 FPS average, making it the best balance for a 90Hz or 120Hz display. The Medium preset offers 101 FPS, which is very smooth, but the Low preset is the only one to break past the 120Hz barrier, with a 142 FPS average. Given the visual nature of Control, a game heavily reliant on atmosphere and environmental storytelling, the High preset at 4K is the recommended choice; it provides a substantial improvement in visual quality over Medium while maintaining a frame rate that is well within the high-refresh-rate territory. The data shows that the Ultra preset is only for those who prioritize visual fidelity above all else and are comfortable with a frame rate in the high 70s or low 80s.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K with high refresh rates?*

A: Yes, the data shows it can. At 4K with the High preset, the average FPS is 90, which is sufficient for a 90Hz display. For higher refresh rates, the Low preset at 4K achieves a 142 FPS average, but the Medium preset at 101 FPS is the best option for a smooth experience with better visuals.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The measured data shows a substantial difference. The Low preset at 1440p achieves an average of 211 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 116 FPS. This represents a performance increase of roughly 82% for the Low preset, but it comes at the cost of most visual features that define the game’s art style.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 bottlenecked by the Ryzen 5 8400F at 1080p?

A: The data suggests a CPU influence at 1080p. While the FPS is very high, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is not perfectly linear, which typically indicates that the CPU is a limiting factor at the lower resolution. For example, the High preset drops from 176 FPS at 1080p to 133 FPS at 1440p, a 24% decrease, suggesting the GPU is not the sole limiting factor at 1080p.

Q: What is the best preset for a 120Hz monitor?

A: At 1080p, the Ultra preset’s 153 FPS average is ideal. At 1440p, the High preset’s 133 FPS average is well-suited. For 4K, no preset achieves a 120 FPS average, with the highest being the Low preset at 142 FPS, so a 120Hz 4K monitor would not be fully utilized by this combo in Control.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, has a score of 79605, which is a 0.3% difference. This places the RTX 5090 in a similar performance tier to that professional-grade card.

Q: Does the CPU’s high boost clock help in this game?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F has a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The data shows high frame rates even at 1080p, where the CPU has more influence. While we cannot isolate the exact clock speed impact, the combination of the 4.70 GHz boost clock and the high FPS figures suggests the CPU’s single-thread performance is sufficient to keep up with the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 111th out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places it in the top 3% of all tested hardware pairings for this specific game, which is an exceptional result. This high ranking is a direct reflection of the GPU’s immense power and the CPU’s ability to feed it data effectively, even at lower resolutions where CPU load is highest. The data clearly shows that this combo is not just good, but it is a top-tier performer, outclassing the vast majority of other systems that have been benchmarked.

The ranking is particularly impressive when considering the CPU’s own benchmark standing. The Ryzen 5 8400F has a percentile rank of 77 against all CPUs, meaning it is better than 77% of all processors. However, when paired with the RTX 5090, the combo’s rank in this game is much higher, suggesting that the GPU is the primary driver of performance in Control. The GPU itself has a percentile rank of 92 against all GPUs, which is a very high score. The synergy of a powerful GPU with a capable CPU results in a combination that significantly outperforms what the CPU’s percentile alone would suggest, indicating that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting in this title.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, have a near-identical average benchmark score, with a delta of only 0.2%. This means that in a CPU-bound scenario, the 8400F would perform almost exactly the same as the 7500F. However, the overall combo ranking is what matters for gaming, and this pairing’s position at rank 111 highlights that the RTX 5090 is the star of the show, pushing this system into the top echelon of performers in Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how the combo handles different resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 247 on Low to 153 on Ultra. The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, shows an average of 198 FPS with a minimum of 168 and a maximum of 228. This indicates a stable frame time, with the minimum still being exceptionally high. The High preset at 1080p delivers an average of 176 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down. The Low preset averages 211 FPS, High averages 133 FPS, and Ultra averages 116 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows an average of 150 FPS, with a minimum of 127 and a maximum of 172. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets is more pronounced here, showing the increased load on the GPU. The frame pacing remains solid, as the minimum FPS for Medium is still well above 100.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is pushed much harder. The Ultra preset averages 78 FPS, while High averages 90 FPS. The Medium preset averages 101 FPS, with a minimum of 86 and a maximum of 116. The Low preset is the only one to break 120 FPS, with a 142 FPS average. The data for 4K shows the most significant drop-off from the lower resolutions, confirming that the RTX 5090 is being fully utilized here. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 86 shows that even at 4K, the system maintains a high level of performance without significant dips.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about the balance of power between the CPU and GPU. For the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 247 at 1080p to 211 at 1440p, a 15% decrease, and then to 142 at 4K, a further 33% decrease. This significant drop at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as the resolution increases, which is expected for a game with heavy visual effects.

Looking at the High preset, the scaling is similar but with a steeper curve. The average FPS drops from 176 at 1080p to 133 at 1440p, a 24% decrease, and then to 90 at 4K, a 32% decrease from 1440p. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is larger than the drop from 1440p to 4K, which is a sign that the CPU is starting to limit performance at 1080p. The CPU’s influence is lessened at higher resolutions, allowing the GPU to become the sole limiting factor.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 198 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 101 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 24% reduction, while the scaling to 4K is a 33% reduction. This pattern is consistent across all presets: the GPU’s workload increases dramatically at 4K, making it the definitive bottleneck. The data shows that while the Ryzen 5 8400F is capable of high frame rates, it is the RTX 5090’s raw processing power that determines the final performance ceiling at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It has a 16 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory. In the context of Control, the CPU’s role is to prepare the frame data for the GPU. The data suggests that it performs this task well, as the frame rates at 1080p are exceptionally high, even on the Ultra preset, which is often more demanding on the CPU.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show it is a solid performer. It has a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20851 and a single-core score of 2943. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 951, and its max-thread score is 6165. These scores indicate that the CPU has strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for gaming. The 4.70 GHz boost clock is likely a key factor in achieving these high scores and contributing to the high frame rates seen in the 1080p data.

However, the data also suggests that the CPU is not the main driver of performance in this game. The combo’s rank of 111 out of 3720 is far better than the CPU’s individual percentile rank of 77. This discrepancy highlights that the RTX 5090 is the dominant component. The CPU’s job is to ensure it doesn’t bottleneck the GPU, and the high FPS figures at 1080p indicate that it is successful in this role. The GPU’s massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are far more critical for rendering the high-resolution textures and effects in Control than the CPU’s modest 16 MB of L3 cache, which is sized for general-purpose workloads.