Control

Control, the 2019 action-adventure title, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB combination. The measured data reveals a system that is capable of delivering a highly playable experience at 1080p and 1440p, but which begins to strain under the demands of 4K resolution. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy of performance tied directly to the graphics settings, with the GPU acting as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and clearly demonstrates where the bottleneck lies. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 146.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 110.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 25%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 75.5 FPS, which is a 48.6% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering resolution places increasing strain on the graphics card.

The impact is similar across other presets. At High settings, performance scales from 92.6 FPS at 1080p down to 70 FPS at 1440p, and then to 45 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 24% of the performance, while the jump to 4K is more punishing, costing about 51% of the 1080p frame rate. This suggests that the Radeon RX 9060 XT’s compute and memory resources are being heavily taxed at 4K, and the processor, while capable, is not the limiting factor in this range. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, showing that the GPU is working progressively harder to fill the additional pixels.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to the Medium preset as the optimal balance for this hardware configuration. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 105.1 FPS, which is a significant improvement over the High preset’s 92.6 FPS and offers a smoother experience for a relatively modest visual step down. The jump from Low to Medium is also notable, representing a 28.4% increase in frame rate at 1080p, while the move from Medium to High only yields a 11.9% reduction. This indicates that Medium provides the most performance headroom without drastically sacrificing visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset’s 79.6 FPS average is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for a high-refresh-rate monitor. The High preset at 70 FPS is also playable, but the Medium setting offers a more stable buffer against frame time spikes. At 3840x2160, the data shows that the Ultra preset is not viable, with an average of only 41 FPS. The Medium preset at 51 FPS is borderline, while the Low preset’s 75.5 FPS is the only configuration that provides a consistently smooth 4K experience. For most users, the Medium preset across all resolutions provides the most consistent and enjoyable performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1700 MHz and a boost clock of 3130 MHz, with a game clock specified at 2530 MHz. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 200.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 400.6 GTexel/s. The card has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operations pipelines.

In Control, this configuration shows clear signs of memory and bandwidth pressure at higher resolutions. At 4K, the frame rate at High settings is 45 FPS, which is a 35.8% drop from the 70 FPS seen at 1440p. This steep decline is a strong indicator that the 8 GB VRAM capacity is being saturated, forcing the GPU to manage data more inefficiently. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is also significant, with a difference of 34.5 FPS, or about 45.7%. This suggests that the higher presets are not just increasing shader complexity but also demanding more memory, which the card’s 128-bit bus cannot fully deliver. The data implies that the GPU is a solid performer for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its memory subsystem becomes a limiting factor at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of performance options. The Low preset achieves an average of 146.8 FPS, while the Medium preset delivers 105.1 FPS. The High preset provides 92.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 79.4 FPS. These figures indicate that even at the highest settings, the system is capable of delivering a playable experience above 60 FPS, though the drop from Medium to Ultra is a substantial 24.5% reduction in performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. The Low preset averages 110.1 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Medium preset produces 79.6 FPS, and the High preset sees a more significant hit, averaging 70 FPS. The Ultra preset is the first to fall below the 60 FPS threshold, with an average of 62.8 FPS. This resolution is where the user must begin to compromise between visual quality and frame rate, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 47.3 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations are fully exposed. The Low preset is the only option that provides a smooth experience, averaging 75.5 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 51 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 41 FPS. The data clearly shows that the combination is not suited for 4K gaming at high or ultra settings, with a total performance swing of 34.5 FPS between the lowest and highest presets.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the most comfortable resolution, with all presets averaging above 79 FPS. 2560x1440 is also viable, but requires using the Medium or Low preset to stay comfortably above 60 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Control?

A: The data shows that 4K gaming is only smooth at the Low preset, which averages 75.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 51 FPS is borderline, while High and Ultra presets are not recommended due to their low frame rates.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 92.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 45 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a performance decrease of approximately 51.4%.

Q: Which graphics preset offers the best balance of performance and quality at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset is the strongest choice, delivering an average of 79.6 FPS. This provides a significant performance advantage over the High preset’s 70 FPS while maintaining a higher visual fidelity than the Low preset.

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

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops significantly with resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a graphics card bottleneck, as the CPU has less impact on the scaling pattern.

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with the Ultra preset?

A: The measured average frame rate for the Ultra preset at 1920x1080 is 79.4 FPS. This is a playable frame rate, but it is noticeably lower than the 105.1 FPS achieved with the Medium preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory and has a TDP of 65 W. Its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453, place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs.

In Control, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU’s at higher resolutions. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound workload, indicating that the i5-10400F’s processing power is sufficient to feed the graphics card. The 12 threads provide adequate multi-threading capability for the game’s engine, but the data does not show any signs of a CPU bottleneck. For example, the difference between the Low preset at 1080p (146.8 FPS) and the High preset at 1080p (92.6 FPS) is a 36.9% drop, which is a typical GPU-side cost for increased visual effects. The CPU’s performance, as measured by its benchmarks, is more than adequate for this title, allowing the GPU to be the deciding factor in overall frame rates.