Control

Control with the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti presents a clear case of GPU-bound scaling at higher resolutions, while the 1080p results reveal the CPU’s limits. The data shows a steady decline in average FPS as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline is not uniform, pointing to where the system’s bottleneck shifts. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 144 FPS, but at 4K with Ultra settings, it drops to 44.1 FPS, a 69% reduction in performance. This pattern indicates a robust 1080p experience with diminishing returns at 4K, typical of a mid-range pairing where the GPU’s memory bandwidth and core load become the primary constraints.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but predictable, and the data shows that the scaling is heavily influenced by the graphics preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (144 FPS) to 3840x2160 (76 FPS) represents a 47% performance loss, which is substantial but still leaves the game playable. Moving to High settings, the drop is from 94.9 FPS at 1080p to 48.8 FPS at 4K, a 49% reduction. The most significant scaling hit occurs at Ultra settings, where 1080p yields 78 FPS and 4K falls to 44.1 FPS, a 43% decrease. This suggests that while the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, the CPU’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration is still capable of feeding frames at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 144 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low.

The pattern reveals that the RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1440p but become strained at 4K, especially with higher settings. At 2560x1440, the FPS ranges from 110.7 (Low) to 63.4 (Ultra), showing a 43% drop across presets, which is less severe than the 4K drop but still indicates GPU-bound behavior. The 1080p results, however, show a narrower spread, with Low (144 FPS) to Ultra (78 FPS) differing by 46%, suggesting that the CPU’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz and 12 MB L3 cache are sufficient to maintain high frame rates, but the GPU’s shading units (4864) and texture rate (253.1 GTexel/s) start to limit performance as settings increase.

GPU Role

The RTX 3060 Ti’s specifications directly explain its behavior in Control. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for texture-heavy scenes. The base clock of 1410 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz, combined with 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, deliver a 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 44.1, which is below the 60 FPS target, indicating that the GPU’s pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s is being saturated. The 4K Medium preset (52.4 FPS) and High preset (48.8 FPS) show that even reducing settings cannot fully compensate for the resolution demand, as the GPU’s raw compute is the bottleneck.

Comparatively, the RTX 3060 Ti’s percentile rank of 69 against all GPUs places it in the upper mid-range, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, scores only 0.2% higher on average. This indicates that within its class, the GPU is competitive, but Control’s engine at 4K requires more than what this card can deliver. The 1440p results are more favorable, with High settings hitting 72.2 FPS and Ultra at 63.4 FPS, suggesting that the GPU’s 80 ROPs and 152 TMUs are better utilized at this resolution. The VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor here, as even at 4K Ultra, the 8 GB allocation is sufficient, but the memory bandwidth and compute throughput are.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved with this combo in Control?

A: The highest average FPS is 144, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: No, the data shows that at 3840x2160, the maximum average FPS is 76 (Low settings), but higher presets like Medium (52.4 FPS), High (48.8 FPS), and Ultra (44.1 FPS) all fall below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rival in overall GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 25120, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180), but 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235).

Q: What is the CPU’s benchmark percentile and how does it affect performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F has a percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168, which is comparable to the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% higher) and Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% lower).

Q: At which resolution does the combo maintain a consistent 60+ FPS across all settings?

A: At 1920x1080, all presets (Low: 144 FPS, Medium: 102.1 FPS, High: 94.9 FPS, Ultra: 78 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, and at 2560x1440, all presets (Low: 110.7 FPS, Medium: 77.3 FPS, High: 72.2 FPS, Ultra: 63.4 FPS) also stay above 60 FPS.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Control?

A: The combo ranks 822 out of 1636 tested combinations, placing it in the 50th percentile of all tested systems for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 144 FPS on Low, 102.1 FPS on Medium, 94.9 FPS on High, and 78 FPS on Ultra. This shows a 46% drop from Low to Ultra, but all values are well above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1080p the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers are 110.7 FPS (Low), 77.3 FPS (Medium), 72.2 FPS (High), and 63.4 FPS (Ultra). The drop from Low to Ultra is 43%, and while the Ultra preset dips close to 60 FPS, it remains playable. At 3840x2160, the results are 76 FPS (Low), 52.4 FPS (Medium), 48.8 FPS (High), and 44.1 FPS (Ultra). Here, the Low preset is the only one that achieves 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is 35% slower than Low, highlighting the GPU’s limitations at 4K.

The data reveals that the combo’s performance scaling is more consistent at 1440p, where the GPU’s 8 GB memory and 256-bit bus are well-matched to the resolution. At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 32 FPS, compared to a 66 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain frame rates regardless of settings. The 1080p results show a wider spread, suggesting that the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are capable of driving the GPU to its limits, but the RTX 3060 Ti’s compute power is the final arbiter of frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In Control, this Intel Core i5-10400F and RTX 3060 Ti combination ranks 822 out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the middle of the pack. This rank reflects a balanced system that performs well at 1080p and 1440p but falls behind more powerful configurations at 4K. The CPU’s percentile rank of 73 and GPU’s percentile rank of 69 suggest that neither component is a standout, but together they form a competent pairing for this game. The nearest CPU rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, scores 0.4% higher on average, while the closest GPU rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, scores 0.2% higher, indicating that the combo is within a narrow margin of its direct competitors.

The rank of 822 out of 1636 means that roughly half of all tested systems perform better, which is consistent with the GPU’s mid-range positioning. The data shows that the combo’s 1080p performance (144 FPS on Low) is competitive, but at 4K, the 44.1 FPS on Ultra is a clear weakness. This suggests that for users targeting 4K, this combo would need a GPU with higher compute throughput, but for 1080p or 1440p gaming, it offers a solid experience. The combo’s overall rank is not a reflection of poor hardware but rather the inherent limits of a mid-range GPU in a demanding title like Control.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 3060 Ti at most settings. The CPU’s 12 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) provide adequate data throughput for the game’s physics and AI calculations. Benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453, indicating strong multi-threaded performance for a 10th-generation chip. In Control, the CPU’s role is evident at 1080p Low, where the 144 FPS result suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s frame output, but the 4K results are GPU-bound, as evidenced by the minimal impact of CPU changes on FPS.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 73 places it above average, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, scores 0.8% lower, while the Intel Core i5-8500 scores 1.1% lower. This indicates that the i5-10400F is a capable processor, but its 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP limit its performance ceiling compared to newer architectures. In Control, the CPU’s single-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453) is adequate for the game’s logic, but the data shows that at 4K, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU’s frame delivery is not the limiting factor. The combo’s 1080p results, where the CPU is more active, show that the i5-10400F can sustain high frame rates without becoming a significant constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 78 FPS, which is smooth and offers the best visual quality without sacrificing playability. The High preset (94.9 FPS) is also viable for users who prefer higher frame rates, but the difference between High and Ultra is 17 FPS, making Ultra the better choice for a balanced experience. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset (63.4 FPS) is still above 60 FPS, but the Medium preset (77.3 FPS) provides a more comfortable margin for frame rate fluctuations, making it the recommended choice for consistent performance. For users prioritizing frame rate, the High preset (72.2 FPS) is a compromise, but the data shows that Medium offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset (76 FPS) is the only option that maintains 60 FPS, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. The Medium preset (52.4 FPS) is playable but below 60 FPS, and the High (48.8 FPS) and Ultra (44.1 FPS) presets are not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 4K, the data suggests that the Low preset is the only viable option, but users may prefer to lower the resolution to 2560x1440 and use the Ultra preset for better visuals. Overall, the combo performs best at 1440p with the Medium preset, which achieves 77.3 FPS and provides a good balance of detail and smoothness, while 1080p Ultra (78 FPS) is the best choice for users with high-refresh-rate monitors.