Control

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers a consistently playable experience in Control, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling that shifts depending on resolution and settings. The combination ranks in the 82.8th percentile of all tested configurations for this title, placing it solidly in the upper tier of systems. Across the measured resolutions, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER demonstrates its strength, yet the i5-10400F becomes an increasingly relevant factor as frame rates climb, particularly at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a classic GPU-bound curve, but with a notable flattening at the highest settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 172 FPS at 1920x1080 to 151.8 FPS at 2560x1440, a 11.7% reduction, and then to 114 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 24.9% drop. This steep decline at 4K indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s rendering workload is scaling as expected, with the GPU becoming the definitive bottleneck.

However, the scaling pattern changes dramatically when moving to higher quality presets. At Ultra settings, the average FPS goes from 124 at 1080p to 93.7 at 1440p (a 24.4% drop) and then to 65.6 at 4K (a 30.0% drop from 1440p). The percentage drop between 1440p and 4K is larger at Ultra than at Low, which is counterintuitive if the GPU were the only limiting factor. This suggests that at 1080p Ultra, the system is not purely GPU-limited; the CPU is beginning to constrain performance, preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential. The result is that the relative cost of moving to 4K appears steeper because the starting point at 1080p is artificially lowered by the processor.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory capacity is more than sufficient for Control at any of the tested settings, ensuring that texture streaming and asset loading do not introduce stutters or frame drops. The GPU’s boost clock of 2610 MHz and its 8448 shading units provide the raw compute power needed to handle the game’s physics-heavy combat and visual effects.

The benchmark data confirms the GPU’s capability. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569 and a Passmark G3D score of 31811 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. This high percentile is reflected in the measured FPS, where even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains an average of 65.6 FPS, which is above the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays. The GPU’s performance is so strong that at 1080p Low, it achieves 172 FPS, a figure that is likely limited more by the CPU’s ability to feed the graphics pipeline than by the GPU’s own processing limits.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1,636 tested combinations for Control, this specific pairing of the i5-10400F and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 281. This places it in the top 17.2% of all systems tested, a strong showing that underscores the effectiveness of the GPU. The high rank is primarily driven by the graphics card’s excellent performance, which allows the system to handle high resolutions and settings that would cripple lesser GPUs.

The CPU’s contribution to this rank is more nuanced. While the i5-10400F is not a top-tier processor in synthetic benchmarks—it scores 10,297 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,453 in single-core—it is sufficient to avoid being a severe bottleneck at most settings. The system’s rank of 281 suggests that it outperforms the majority of combinations, many of which likely feature older or weaker processors paired with high-end GPUs. The data indicates that while the CPU may limit maximum frame rates at 1080p, it does not prevent the system from achieving high overall performance in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across twelve different configurations. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 172 FPS on Low, 146.6 FPS on Medium, 146.2 FPS on High, and 124 FPS on Ultra. The minimal difference between Medium and High at this resolution (146.6 vs. 146.2 FPS) is a clear indicator that the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU is capable of rendering more frames but is being held back.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales more predictably with settings: 151.8 FPS on Low, 121.2 FPS on Medium, 112 FPS on High, and 93.7 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 38.3%, showing the GPU’s workload is increasing as expected. At 3840x2160, the results are 114 FPS on Low, 80.7 FPS on Medium, 74.1 FPS on High, and 65.6 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result of 65.6 FPS is still playable, but it represents a 47.2% reduction from the 1080p Low result, highlighting the significant cost of high resolution and quality settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It features 12 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic tests, its Passmark multithread score is 12,115, and its single-thread score is 2,541, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU’s role in Control is most evident at 1080p. The near-identical FPS between Medium (146.6) and High (146.2) presets at this resolution strongly suggests that the i5-10400F is reaching its processing limit. The game’s physics and AI calculations, which are largely single-threaded, can bottleneck the GPU when frame rates are high. This is confirmed by the 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,350, which is relatively low compared to its 8-thread score of 3,929. The data shows that for maximum frame rates at 1080p, a stronger CPU would be needed, but for 1440p and 4K gaming, the i5-10400F provides adequate support without significantly hindering the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a high refresh rate?

A: At 2560x1440 with Low settings, the combo achieves 151.8 FPS, and at High settings it reaches 112 FPS. For a 144Hz monitor, 1440p Low is the only setting that fully saturates it, while 1080p Medium and High also exceed 144 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the FPS drops from 114 on Low to 65.6 on Ultra, showing a clear GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 48,704, which is 1.6% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A2000 and 2.0% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile. It is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA CMP 50HX.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 124 at 1920x1080 to 93.7 at 2560x1440, a 24.4% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is being tasked more heavily, and the CPU bottleneck is lessened.

Q: Does the game run smoothly at 4K Ultra on this system?

A: Yes, the average FPS is 65.6, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. While not a high-refresh experience, it is playable with consistent frame pacing.

Q: Which is more influential for this game's performance, the CPU or GPU?

A: The GPU is more influential, as evidenced by the large FPS differences between resolution and settings. The CPU becomes a limiting factor only at 1080p, where the high frame rates expose its processing limits.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data points to the High preset at 2560x1440 as the optimal choice. This setting delivers an average of 112 FPS, which is well-suited for a 100Hz or 120Hz display, while maintaining high visual fidelity. The step down to Medium at 1440p only provides a 7.6% FPS increase (121.2 vs. 112), which is not worth the visual downgrade.

For users with a 4K display, the High preset at 3840x2160 offers 74.1 FPS, which is a more demanding but still playable option, whereas Ultra drops to 65.6 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is a 11.5% FPS reduction, which may be noticeable on a 60Hz screen. For maximum frame rates on a 144Hz 1080p monitor, the Low preset at 1920x1080 achieves 172 FPS, but this sacrifices significant visual quality. The Medium preset at 1080p is a solid alternative, providing 146.6 FPS while retaining more visual detail. Ultimately, the 1440p High setting offers the best overall experience, leveraging the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s strengths while mitigating the CPU’s limitations.