Control

Control with an Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is a combination that lands in the lower tier of tested systems, ranked 1477 out of 1636 combos. The data shows a setup that can handle the game at 1080p with compromises, but struggles significantly at higher resolutions. The 6-core, 12-thread Comet Lake processor with a 2.90 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clock provides adequate processing power, yet the 4 GB graphics card becomes the primary bottleneck in this Action Adventure title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured results indicate that the Low preset is the only reliable path to smooth gameplay. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 84.1 FPS average, which is the only setting that clears a 60 FPS threshold comfortably. Medium settings at 1080p drop to 61.1 FPS, still playable but with less headroom for demanding scenes. High settings at 1080p fall to 51.8 FPS, while Ultra bottoms out at 48.1 FPS.

For 2560x1440, the situation tightens considerably. Low settings deliver 62.3 FPS, which is surprisingly playable, but Medium drops to 45.4 FPS and High to 38.1 FPS. Ultra at 1440p produces 35.9 FPS, which will feel stuttery in action sequences. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only manage 42.4 FPS, with Medium at 32 FPS, High at 25.4 FPS, and Ultra at 22.6 FPS.

The practical recommendation based on these numbers is to run Low settings for a consistent experience, or Medium if you prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate stability. The 4 GB VRAM capacity of the RTX 3050 appears to be a limiting factor at higher presets, as the frame rate drops are proportionally larger when moving from Low to Medium than from Medium to High at each resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA107 chip, featuring 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its clock speeds are 1545 MHz base and 1740 MHz boost, with memory running at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The 4 GB GDDR6 memory sits on a 128-bit bus, providing 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, so the game’s features are fully accessible.

The data shows that the GPU’s 4 GB capacity is the dominant constraint. Looking at the 1080p results, the gap between Low and Medium is 23 FPS (from 84.1 to 61.1), while the gap between Medium and High is only 9.3 FPS (from 61.1 to 51.8). This pattern suggests that the card’s compute capability is not the primary issue; rather, the memory buffer fills up quickly at higher texture quality settings. The pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p, but the card’s FP32 performance of 7.127 TFLOPS is insufficient for the higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the drop from 1920x1080 (84.1 FPS) to 2560x1440 (62.3 FPS) is a 26% reduction, and then to 3840x2160 (42.4 FPS) is another 32% reduction. This is a steeper decline than the pixel count increase would suggest, indicating that the card’s memory bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s becomes saturated as resolution climbs.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more punishing: 48.1 FPS at 1080p, 35.9 FPS at 1440p, and 22.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is less than half of the 1080p Ultra result, which confirms that the 4 GB frame buffer is being exhausted. The CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor here, since the i5-10400F has a strong multithreaded score of 10297 in Cinebench R23 and a 73rd percentile ranking against all CPUs. The data points to the GPU as the clear bottleneck, particularly its memory capacity rather than raw compute.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination sits at rank 1477 out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 10% of systems. That low ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows that even at the most favorable settings (1080p Low), the combo only achieves 84.1 FPS. Many other tested combinations likely deliver higher frame rates at more demanding presets.

The CPU itself is not the weak link in this pairing. The i5-10400F’s average benchmark score of 14168 places it near the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.4% slower) and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277, 0.8% faster). It also trails the Intel Core i5-8500 by 1.1% and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 by 1.2%. These are marginal differences, indicating the processor is a solid mid-range part. The GPU, however, has a 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs, which is middling overall but insufficient for a demanding game like Control at higher settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads with a 65 W TDP, running on the Comet Lake architecture at a 14 nm process node. Its single-thread performance is respectable, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1454 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453. The processor’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz gives it enough single-thread headroom for game logic and physics.

In Control, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU. The benchmark data shows that moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution produces significant frame rate drops, which is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game. The processor’s 3DMark scores, such as 4748 for 16 threads and 688 for single-thread, indicate balanced performance that won’t hold back the RTX 3050 in most scenarios. However, at very low frame rates (like 22.6 FPS at 4K Ultra), the CPU is likely idling while the GPU struggles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is available. Low settings deliver 84.1 FPS average, which is the highest measured result for this combo. Medium settings produce 61.1 FPS, High settings 51.8 FPS, and Ultra settings 48.1 FPS. The gap from Low to Medium is substantial at 23 FPS, but the gap from High to Ultra is only 3.7 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the top end.

At 2560x1440, the results shift downward. Low settings achieve 62.3 FPS, which is still playable. Medium settings drop to 45.4 FPS, High to 38.1 FPS, and Ultra to 35.9 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows further to just 2.2 FPS, reinforcing that the 4 GB VRAM is the limiting factor at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings yield 42.4 FPS, Medium 32 FPS, High 25.4 FPS, and Ultra 22.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium at 4K is 10.4 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is only 2.8 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is not viable with this configuration, even at the lowest settings, unless you accept sub-60 FPS gameplay.

The overall pattern across all resolutions and settings is consistent: the RTX 3050 4 GB has enough compute power for 1080p Low and Medium, but its memory capacity and bandwidth limit performance at higher resolutions and quality presets. The i5-10400F proves adequate throughout, never appearing as the primary constraint in these measurements. For a smoother experience, reducing resolution or settings is the only lever available, as the data shows no configuration that achieves 60 FPS at 1440p or above.