Control

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, with frame rates that remain highly playable even at 4K Ultra settings. Benchmark data shows the combination achieves a rank of 576 out of 3720 tested combos in this title, placing it in the top 15.5% of all systems. The CPU’s six-core, twelve-thread configuration proves sufficient for the game’s demands, while the GPU’s substantial memory bandwidth and compute resources drive the high-resolution results.

FAQ

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

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 135 frames per second.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 compared to its nearest rival in GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080’s average benchmark score is 54247, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828).

Q: Does the i5-10400F’s single-thread performance affect 1080p results?

A: The CPU’s single-thread benchmark score is 688 in 3dmark_single_thread, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1451. These results indicate sufficient single-thread capability to support the high frame rates observed at 1080p, where the average FPS ranges from 135 to 170.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS recorded is 113 frames per second, with a maximum of 152 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU’s multi-threaded performance compare to the AMD EPYC 7552?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115) and 0.2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163).

Q: Is the 4K Ultra frame rate playable?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 69 frames per second. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, though lower than the 79 FPS average seen at High settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, operating at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth provide the foundational data throughput needed for game logic and physics. In Control, an action-adventure title with complex environmental interactions, the CPU’s role is to maintain consistent frame pacing, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less likely to be the limiting factor.

Benchmark results show the i5-10400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a single-core score of 1451. The single-thread performance is critical for Control's main-thread-heavy workloads, and the data indicates the CPU handles this adequately. At 1080p, the average FPS across all settings ranges from 135 to 170, suggesting the CPU does not bottleneck the RTX 4080 at this resolution. The processor’s percentile ranking of 68 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185, places it in a competitive position. Notably, the i5-10400F outperforms the AMD EPYC 7552 by 0.5% in average score, despite the EPYC being a server-class part, and sits 0.2% above the Intel Xeon 6756E.

The 3dmark tests further illustrate the core scaling: scores are 1350 for 2 threads, 2560 for 4 threads, 3929 for 8 threads, and 4748 for 16 threads. The jump from 8 to 16 threads is modest (from 3929 to 4748), indicating diminishing returns beyond 8 threads, which is typical for gaming workloads. The max-thread score of 4735 is nearly identical to the 16-thread score, confirming that the 12-thread configuration is fully utilized without significant contention. For Control, this means the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at high frame rates, though the performance delta between settings at 1080p (ranging from 135 FPS at Ultra to 170 FPS at Low) suggests a mixture of CPU and GPU influence on the final output.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU offers a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s, which is essential for high-resolution textures and detailed environments in Control. The GPU’s boost clock of 2505 MHz and a memory clock of 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective) drive its compute capabilities, including 9728 shading units and 76 RT cores. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s are directly relevant to the game's rendering of particle effects and dynamic lighting.

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 4080 posts a Passmark G3D score of 34457 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 214739, with an average benchmark score of 54247. This places it at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, which is 0.1% lower, showing that the standard 4080 is virtually tied with its SUPER counterpart in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, despite having less VRAM, scores 55698, which is 2.6% higher in average score, indicating that raw compute benchmarks do not always translate directly to gaming performance. The RTX 4080’s 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Control's highest settings, even at 4K, where the game’s textures and post-processing effects demand significant memory.

The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure it can handle the game’s advanced rendering features. The measured FPS data shows the GPU’s strength scaling with resolution: at 1080p, the average FPS at Ultra is 135, while at 1440p it drops to 102, and at 4K it falls to 69. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s relative workload decreases. The RTX 4080’s FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS provides ample raw compute for the game’s physics and AI calculations, allowing for smooth gameplay even when multiple entities are on screen.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control with this hardware combination reveals a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 135 at Ultra to 170 at Low. The Medium setting yields 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 and a maximum of 172, while High produces 144 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 35 FPS, indicating that the GPU has headroom at this resolution, and the CPU can sustain high frame rates without being the limiting factor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 102 at Ultra, 118 at High, 132 at Medium, and 155 at Low. The Medium setting records a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 53 FPS, a larger gap than at 1080p, showing the GPU’s increasing workload at higher pixel counts. The 1440p High setting at 118 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it a strong choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 69 at Ultra, 79 at High, 89 at Medium, and 126 at Low. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 57 FPS, the largest spread across all resolutions, which is expected as the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are pushed to their limits. The 4K Ultra average of 69 FPS is playable, but the 4K High setting at 79 FPS offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. The 4K Low setting at 126 FPS demonstrates that the RTX 4080 has substantial headroom even at this resolution, though the visual compromise may not be desirable for most users.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals the limiting component. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 135 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p, a 24.4% decrease, and then to 69 at 4K, a further 32.4% decrease from 1440p. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 48.9%, which indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU’s performance, as measured by its benchmark scores, remains constant regardless of resolution, so the FPS decline is directly attributable to the GPU’s rendering workload.

At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic: 170 FPS at 1080p, 155 FPS at 1440p, and 126 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 8.8%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 18.7%. The smaller relative decrease at Low settings suggests that the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s rendering load grows disproportionately as resolution increases. The fact that the 4K Low average (126 FPS) is still higher than the 1080p Ultra average (135 FPS) highlights that settings have a more substantial impact on performance than resolution alone, given the GPU’s headroom.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 is the clear limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU’s 12-thread configuration can handle the game’s logic at these frame rates. The scaling pattern also suggests that the i5-10400F does not introduce a significant bottleneck at 1080p, as the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at that resolution is 35 FPS, which is a reasonable GPU-driven variance. For users targeting 4K, the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s and 16 GB VRAM are adequate, but the 69 FPS average at Ultra indicates that the game’s most demanding settings will push the GPU to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience per the measured rows depends on the user’s resolution and refresh rate priorities. At 1920x1080, the Ultra setting at 135 FPS is the optimal choice for users with 144 Hz monitors, as it provides a smooth experience without dropping below 60 FPS. The High setting at 144 FPS offers a marginal improvement over Ultra, but the visual fidelity loss may not be worth the 6.7% FPS gain. The Medium setting at 150 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS is also viable, but the visual differences between Medium and High are often noticeable in Control’s detailed environments.

For 2560x1440, the High setting at 118 FPS is the recommended preset for a balanced experience. It provides a 15.7% improvement over Ultra (102 FPS) while maintaining visual quality. The Medium setting at 132 FPS is suitable for competitive play, but the reduction in shadow quality and texture detail may detract from the game’s atmospheric presentation. The 1440p Ultra setting at 102 FPS is still playable, but the frame rate is below the 120 FPS threshold that many high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors support.

At 3840x2160, the High setting at 79 FPS is the best option for a smooth 4K experience, as it exceeds the 60 FPS baseline by 31.7%. The Ultra setting at 69 FPS is playable but may exhibit stutter in demanding scenes, given the minimum FPS at Medium is 76. The 4K Medium setting at 89 FPS offers the best balance of performance and visual fidelity, with a minimum of 76 FPS ensuring consistent frame pacing. Users with 4K 120 Hz displays will need to accept the High or Medium settings, as the Ultra preset’s 69 FPS average does not fully utilize the display’s refresh rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination achieves a rank of 576 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 84.5th percentile of all systems. This ranking reflects the strong GPU performance, which is the primary driver of the game’s high frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K. The CPU’s contribution is adequate, as evidenced by its ability to sustain frame rates above 135 FPS at 1080p without bottlenecking the GPU.

The combo’s rank is influenced by the RTX 4080’s position relative to its rivals. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 54247 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER, meaning this combo would perform nearly identically to a system with the SUPER variant. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, with a score of 54828, is 1.1% higher in synthetic benchmarks, but this does not necessarily translate to better gaming performance in Control. The CPU’s ranking at the 68th percentile among all processors, with a score 0.2% above the Intel Xeon 6756E, further supports the system’s overall competitiveness.

In the context of the 3720 tested combos, a rank of 576 means that 3144 other combinations perform worse in this specific game. This places the system in the upper tier, though not at the very top, as higher-end CPUs like the Core i7 or i9 series might offer marginal improvements in CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p. However, the measured data shows that at 1440p and 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor, so the i5-10400F’s mid-range positioning does not diminish the overall experience. The combo’s rank confirms the RTX 4080’s ability to deliver high frame rates across all resolutions, making it a strong choice for Control players who prioritize visual fidelity and smooth gameplay.