Control

The Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT pairing delivers a solid 1080p experience in Control, but the data reveals a sharp performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 122 FPS average, which drops to 77 FPS at High and 67 FPS at Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages fall to 93 FPS (Low), 58 FPS (High), and 51 FPS (Ultra). The most demanding scenario, 3840x2160, shows the system struggling: 63 FPS at Low, 44 FPS at Medium, 39 FPS at High, and just 34 FPS at Ultra. The scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K is steep — a 48% reduction in average FPS between Low settings at 1080p and Low at 4K, and a 56% drop for High settings across the same resolution range. This indicates the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor beyond 1440p, as the frame rate degradation is far more severe than what the CPU’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration would impose at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (122 FPS) and Ultra (67 FPS) is 55 FPS, demonstrating that the RX 6650 XT has ample headroom to push high frame rates when pixel count is moderate. The jump to 2560x1440 compresses this spread: Low hits 93 FPS while Ultra manages 51 FPS, a 42 FPS gap. At 3840x2160, the range tightens further to 63 FPS (Low) versus 34 FPS (Ultra), a 29 FPS difference. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions is typical of a system where the GPU’s pixel throughput — 168.6 GPixel/s and 337.3 GTexel/s — becomes the bottleneck, rather than the CPU’s 4.30 GHz boost clock or 12 MB of shared L3 cache.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p at High settings costs 19 FPS (from 77 to 58), while the move from 1440p to 4K at High costs another 19 FPS (from 58 to 39). This linear degradation suggests the 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for texture data, but the 128-bit memory bus and 2048 shading units are simply overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels at 4K. The Medium preset at 4K (44 FPS) is barely playable, while Ultra at 4K (34 FPS) falls below the 40 FPS threshold that most action titles need for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that for a consistent 60+ FPS experience, users should stay at 1080p with Medium or High settings, or drop to Low at 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested CPU-GPU combinations, this pairing ranks 2438 out of 3720 combos for Control, placing it in the 34.5th percentile. This rank reflects the moderate performance ceiling of the RX 6650 XT, which sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 19765. The CPU, by contrast, is at the 68th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 14185. The GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (avg score 19885, 0.6% higher), AMD FirePro D300 (19637, 0.7% lower), AMD FirePro W7000 (19905, 0.7% higher), and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602, 0.8% lower) — all fall within a narrow 1.5% band, indicating that the 6650 XT’s raw compute is competitive with professional-grade cards from earlier generations.

The CPU’s nearest rivals paint a similar picture of mid-pack positioning. The Intel Xeon 6756E (avg score 14163, 0.2% lower), Intel Core 7 160UL (14232, 0.3% higher), AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.5% lower), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277, 0.6% higher) all cluster within 1.1% of the i5-10400F’s average score. This suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor in most gaming scenarios, as its performance is statistically indistinguishable from a range of enterprise and mobile parts. The combo rank of 2438 out of 3720 indicates that while this pairing is capable, it sits in the lower half of tested configurations for Control, likely because the game’s physics-heavy combat and destructible environments favor higher-end GPUs with more shading units.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and frame rate depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 87 FPS average with minimums of 74 FPS and maximums of 100 FPS, making it the sweet spot for smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. High at 1080p (77 FPS) is also viable, but the 10 FPS drop from Medium may not justify the marginal visual gains in a game as fast-paced as Control. At 2560x1440, Medium (66 FPS, min 56, max 76) is the recommended choice, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while Low (93 FPS) sacrifices too much detail in the game’s atmospheric environments.

For 3840x2160, no preset achieves a consistent 60 FPS. Low (63 FPS) is the only setting that clears this bar, but it does so with minimal visual effects. Medium (44 FPS, min 38, max 51) is borderline playable but will experience noticeable stuttering during intense combat sequences. High (39 FPS) and Ultra (34 FPS) are not recommended for 4K gaming with this hardware. The data suggests that users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept a compromised experience at 4K Low. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p textures, but the 128-bit memory bus limits effective bandwidth as resolution increases, making the Ultra preset (which likely loads higher-resolution assets) particularly punishing at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a detailed view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 122 FPS, Medium 87 FPS (min 74, max 100), High 77 FPS, and Ultra 67 FPS. The 55 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p shows that the GPU has significant headroom, with the Ultra preset only costing 12 FPS over High. At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 93 FPS, Medium 66 FPS (min 56, max 76), High 58 FPS, and Ultra 51 FPS. The 42 FPS spread here is tighter, and the Medium-to-High drop of 8 FPS is the largest single-step decrease, suggesting the High preset introduces a meaningful increase in shader complexity.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 63 FPS, Medium 44 FPS (min 38, max 51), High 39 FPS, and Ultra 34 FPS. The 29 FPS spread is the smallest, and the Medium-to-High drop of 5 FPS shows diminishing returns as the GPU saturates. The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution: 74 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. These minimums are within 13-15 FPS of their respective averages, indicating relatively stable frame pacing for Medium settings, but the 38 FPS minimum at 4K confirms that this resolution is at the edge of playability. The lack of min/max data for other presets limits deeper analysis, but the averages alone tell a consistent story of GPU-bound performance scaling.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process from TSMC, featuring 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz, with memory clocked at 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective). This configuration delivers 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 21.59 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1 ratio), which is competitive for its class. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, a figure that becomes the bottleneck at 4K resolutions where texture streaming demands exceed this throughput.

The GPU’s 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units are supplemented by 32 ray tracing cores, though Control’s implementation of ray tracing is not reflected in the measured FPS data. The pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s explain the performance differences between settings: the Ultra preset at 4K (34 FPS) is likely limited by pixel fill requirements, while the Low preset (63 FPS) reduces the effective load. The GPU’s 176 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate a power-efficient design that sustains its boost clock under load, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS drops between Medium and High at 1440p (8 FPS) compared to the 13 FPS drop between Low and Medium. The PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the 8 GB frame buffer, and the dual-slot cooler with a single 8-pin connector is adequate for the thermal load.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K smoothly?*

A: No. The only 4K preset that exceeds 60 FPS is Low (63 FPS), while Medium averages 44 FPS (min 38, max 51), High 39 FPS, and Ultra 34 FPS. For consistent frame rates, 1440p or 1080p is recommended.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: Medium is the optimal choice, delivering 66 FPS average with a 56 FPS minimum and 76 FPS maximum. This keeps gameplay above 60 FPS while maintaining visual quality, whereas High (58 FPS) dips below the threshold.

Q: How does the RX 6650 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6650 XT’s average benchmark score of 19765 is within 0.8% of the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885), AMD FirePro D300 (19637), AMD FirePro W7000 (19905), and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602). These differences are negligible for gaming performance.

Q: Is the i5-10400F a bottleneck for this game?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 14185 is within 0.6% of its nearest rivals (Intel Xeon 6756E, Intel Core 7 160UL, AMD EPYC 7552, AMD Ryzen 3 7320C), and the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K indicates GPU limitation, not CPU.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The average FPS is 77, with no min/max data provided. This is 10 FPS lower than Medium (87 FPS) and 10 FPS higher than Ultra (67 FPS), showing a linear scaling pattern.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and is it enough?

A: The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth on a 128-bit bus. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 34 FPS Ultra result at 4K suggests memory bandwidth limits at higher resolutions.