Control

Control is an action-adventure title that stresses both GPU and CPU, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT reveals a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU holds its own at 1080p. The measured frame rates show a consistent scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions, with the gap between low and ultra presets widening dramatically as resolution increases. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, interprets the role of the GPU and CPU, and recommends the optimal settings for this combination.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a predictable but significant drop in frame rates across all settings, indicating that the Radeon RX 7700 XT is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 162 at 1080p to 123 at 1440p, and then to 83 at 4K. That is a total reduction of about 48.7% from 1080p to 4K, showing the massive pixel-pushing burden that 4K places on the GPU. The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the average FPS drops from 1080p to 4K, but the relative drop is steeper: 89 at 1080p, 67 at 1440p, and 45 at 4K. This arithmetic shows that higher settings amplify the resolution penalty, as the GPU must handle both more pixels and more complex shading.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom, as the GPU is less saturated, but the frame rates still scale steeply with settings. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck; the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 38 FPS (83 vs 45), which is a 46% performance gap. This indicates that the game relies heavily on the GPU's rasterization pipeline, and the 7700 XT's 96 ROPs are the critical resource. In contrast, at 1080p the gap between Low and Ultra is 73 FPS (162 vs 89), which is a 45% gap, but the absolute numbers are higher, showing the GPU is still the main limiter, though the CPU's 6 cores are less of a factor.

Benchmark results indicate that the system is not CPU-bound at any resolution, but the data shows the GPU's workload scales linearly with pixel count. At 4K, the average FPS of 52 at High settings is below the 60 FPS target, while at 1440p High the system averages 77 FPS, and at 1080p High it hits 102 FPS. This makes 4K a challenging target for smooth gameplay at higher presets, while 1440p offers a much more comfortable margin. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's textures at all resolutions, but the raw compute power becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7700 XT is the workhorse of this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. The GPU is built on the Navi 32 chip, using the RDNA 3.0 architecture, and it features 3456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. The high ROP count is a major contributor to the pixel throughput, which is rated at 244.2 GPixel/s. The texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s, combined with the 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, shows a GPU that can handle heavy shading loads, which is reflected in the game's performance at lower resolutions.

The memory subsystem is also a key factor. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. This is ample for the game's 4K textures, and the data suggests no memory capacity bottleneck, as the frame drops are consistent with a compute-limited scenario rather than a memory-starvation issue. The GPU's clock speeds are also relevant: a base clock of 1435 MHz, a game clock of 2171 MHz, and a boost clock of 2544 MHz. The game clock is the most common sustained frequency during gaming, and the high boost clock helps maintain performance in less demanding scenes.

The GPU's benchmark scores, such as the passmark_g3d score of 22547, also confirm its positioning. This score is 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile's 22435, and 1.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700's 22170. However, it is 0.8% lower than the RTX 4060 Mobile and 1.5% lower than the RTX 2080. This data, combined with the measured FPS, shows that the GPU sits in a competitive mid-range tier. The 67th percentile vs all GPUs means it outperforms most of the market, but it is not a top-tier card, and the 4K results reflect that.

The GPU's power draw is listed as 245 W, and the suggested PSU is 550 W, but the data does not include temperature or power measurements, so the thermal performance cannot be quantified. The GPU is a dual-slot design with two 8-pin power connectors, indicating it is a standard-sized card. The role of the GPU in this game is primarily to handle the physics-based rendering and the visuals, and the measured results show it handles 1440p High settings comfortably, but 4K Ultra is a significant challenge.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combination depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance, delivering an average of 87 FPS, with minimums of 74 FPS and maximums of 100 FPS. The High preset is also viable, averaging 77 FPS, but the jump to Medium provides a 12.9% performance increase, which is likely worth the slight visual compromise. For 1080p, the Medium preset is again the sweet spot, with an average of 115 FPS, and the High preset at 102 FPS, but the Medium's higher minimum of 98 FPS ensures smoother gameplay in demanding scenes.

For 4K gaming, the data shows that the Medium preset is the only option that attempts to maintain a playable frame rate, averaging 59 FPS. The Low preset averages 83 FPS, but the visual hit is substantial, and the Medium preset is a better choice for a playable experience without going to the lowest settings. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 45 FPS, which is not ideal for smooth gameplay. Therefore, the recommendation is to use Medium settings at 4K, Medium at 1440p, and Medium at 1080p, though the Ultra preset at 1080p (89 FPS) and High at 1440p (77 FPS) are also viable if the user prioritizes visual quality over a higher refresh rate.

The data shows that the GPU's performance falls off sharply when moving from Medium to High or Ultra, especially at 4K. The High preset at 4K averages 52 FPS, only a 11.8% drop from Medium's 59 FPS, while the Ultra drops to 45 FPS, a 23.7% decrease from Medium. This suggests that the Medium preset is the most efficient setting for this GPU, as it provides a significant performance boost over the higher settings without the visual degradation of the Low preset. The measured FPS rows show that the game is more sensitive to resolution than to settings, so the user should prioritize resolution over settings when hardware is limited.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the CPU and GPU deliver excellent performance across all settings. The Ultra preset averages 89 FPS, the High preset averages 102 FPS, the Medium preset averages 115 FPS, and the Low preset averages 162 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 98 and a maximum of 133, providing a tight range. The Low preset's 162 FPS is 40% higher than the High preset, showing the low settings are optimized for maximum frame rates. The High preset is 14.6% faster than Ultra, and the Medium is 12.7% faster than High.

At 1440p, the frame rates drop but remain playable. The Ultra preset averages 67 FPS, the High preset averages 77 FPS, the Medium preset averages 87 FPS, and the Low preset averages 123 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100, which is a 26 FPS spread. The Low preset is 59.7% higher than the High preset, and the Medium is 12.9% higher than High. The Ultra is 13% lower than High, showing the performance cost of the highest settings.

At 4K, the GPU is pushed to its limits. The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS, the High preset averages 52 FPS, the Medium preset averages 59 FPS, and the Low preset averages 83 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 68. The Low preset is 59.6% higher than the High preset, and the Medium is 13.5% higher than High. The Ultra is 15.4% lower than High, demonstrating the steep cost of Ultra settings at 4K. The data shows that no preset at 4K maintains a solid 60 FPS, except for the Low preset, which averages 83, but the Medium preset is the closest with a 59 average.

The measured FPS data shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset is the most balanced, the Low preset is the fastest, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding. The system's performance at 1080p is excellent for high refresh rates, at 1440p is good, and at 4K is acceptable at Medium settings. The combo rank in the game is 1422 out of 3720, showing that this hardware combination is in the top 38% of all tested configurations, which is a solid mid-to-upper tier position.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with the High preset for this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The average FPS is 102, with the Medium preset offering a higher average of 115 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 123 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 67 FPS, making the Low preset 83.6% faster.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 4K with the Radeon RX 7700 XT?

A: The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, so it is not recommended.

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

A: The minimum FPS at Medium is 74, with a maximum of 100 and an average of 87.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 XT has a 3DMark score of about 0.5% lower than the RTX 2080, but 1.7% higher than the Radeon RX 5700.

Q: What is the best setting for a 60 FPS experience at 1440p?

A: The High preset averages 77 FPS, which is above 60, and the Medium preset averages 87 FPS, so either setting will provide a smooth experience at 1440p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It has 12 MB of shared L3 cache, and the data shows it is not the bottleneck in this game. The benchmark results for the CPU, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340, which is in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, indicate it has enough processing power to feed the GPU. The nearest rival in average benchmark score is the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G, which is 0.6% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, which is 0.6% higher.

The CPU's performance in the game is reflected in the high FPS at 1080p, where the GPU is not fully loaded, yet the CPU still keeps up. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU's 6 cores are sufficient for the game's physics and AI, which are not as demanding as modern titles. The game's performance at 4K is limited by the GPU, so the CPU role is secondary. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 7.1 and single-thread of 868 indicate it has strong single-thread performance, which is important for games that rely on single-threaded engines.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is adequate for the game, and the 12 MB of L3 cache helps with data locality. This configuration is a balanced mid-range setup, and the game's performance is consistent with the CPU's capabilities. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is sustained during gaming, and the 65W TDP indicates it should not throttle in a well-ventilated case. The CPU's market segment is desktop, and its release date is March 2021, which places it in the mid-range of the current market.

In this game, the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution, as the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions. The CPU's frame rate at 1080p Ultra is 89 FPS, which is a high result, and the CPU is not preventing higher frame rates. The CPU's benchmark data shows it is a solid mid-range processor, and its performance is sufficient for this title. The combo's rank in the game of 1422 out of 3720 suggests that the overall system is well-balanced, but not top-tier, which is expected for a mid-range CPU and GPU.