Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Control with the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT show a clear pattern of scaling from 1080p to 4K. At the High preset, the average FPS moves from 131 at 1920x1080 to 99 at 2560x1440, then down to 67 at 3840x2160. That represents a 24.4% drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 32.3% drop when moving from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 48.9%, meaning the game loses roughly half its average frame rate when resolution quadruples pixel count.

This scaling pattern indicates that at 1080p, the system is not purely GPU-limited. The jump from 131 to 199 FPS when switching from High to Low at 1080p is substantial, which suggests that even at the lower resolution, graphics settings have a major impact on throughput. At 4K, the same High-to-Low transition yields a smaller relative gain: from 67 to 106 FPS. The data shows diminishing returns from lowering settings as resolution increases, which is typical when the GPU becomes the dominant constraint.

The Medium preset at 4K produces 75 FPS average, with a minimum of 64 and maximum of 87. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 128. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 148 FPS, with a minimum of 125 and maximum of 170. These recorded ranges show that the Medium preset maintains consistent frame pacing across all three resolutions, with the spread between minimum and maximum growing slightly as resolution decreases. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 58 FPS average, which is the lowest recorded figure in the entire dataset.

The resolution scaling data suggests that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's ability to feed frames becomes relevant, as the GPU can push very high frame rates when settings are lowered. At 4K, the GPU's raw throughput dominates, and the CPU is less likely to be the bottleneck. The fact that the 1080p Low preset hits 199 FPS while the 4K Low preset only reaches 106 FPS indicates that pixel throughput, not scene complexity, is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT uses the Navi 31 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC. The GPU carries 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, with memory bandwidth rated at 800.0 GB/s. The base clock is 1387 MHz, the game clock is 2025 MHz, and the boost clock reaches 2394 MHz. The memory operates at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective speed. These specifications place the card in a high-bandwidth segment, which matters for Control because the game's environments feature heavy particle effects and physics-based destruction.

Control is an action-adventure title from 2019 that relies on real-time ray tracing and complex volumetric effects. The GPU's 84 ray accelerators and 5376 shading units handle these workloads. The recorded data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 58, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth for action games. At 4K High, the average rises to 67 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional settings tax the GPU significantly more than High.

The GPU's 192 ROPs and 336 texture mapping units contribute to the pixel and texture throughput. The pixel rate is 459.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 804.4 GTexel/s. These figures support the resolution scaling pattern observed in the measurements: the card can handle 1440p High at 99 FPS and 1080p High at 131 FPS, but 4K Ultra drops to 58 FPS. The GPU's FP32 compute of 51.48 TFLOPS provides ample raw compute for the game's physics simulations, but the rendering pipeline still bottlenecks at higher resolutions with maximum settings.

The GPU's benchmark percentile sits at 55, meaning it outperforms 55% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 13745. The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon 660M with an average score of 13812 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile at 13821 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871 (0.9% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 13543 (1.5% lower). These deltas are small, indicating that the RX 7900 XT sits in a tightly clustered performance band according to the database's aggregate benchmarks, even though its gaming results here are strong.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 776 out of 3720 tested combos for Control in the database. This places the pairing in the top 20.9% of all tested combinations for this specific game. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, not just the peak values. Given that the GPU alone sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs and the CPU sits at the 71st percentile among all CPUs, the combo rank of 776 out of 3720 suggests that the pairing performs slightly better in Control than the individual component percentiles might imply.

The combo rank indicates that this system delivers strong performance in Control, but it does not reach the very top of the leaderboard. The 3720 total combos include pairings with more powerful CPUs and GPUs, so a rank of 776 means there are 775 combinations that produce higher measured FPS in this game. The data shows that the combo achieves playable frame rates at all tested resolutions, with 4K Ultra being the only setting that dips below 60 FPS average.

The rank also reflects the balance between the two components. The i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, does not bottleneck the RX 7900 XT at 1440p or 4K, as evidenced by the scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 199 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU's single-thread performance starts to matter, but the recorded data does not show any resolution where the CPU prevents the GPU from delivering its expected throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Control?

A: The highest average FPS in the measured data is 199, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No, at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 58, which is below 60. The High preset at 4K produces 67 FPS average.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 157 FPS while Ultra averages 86 FPS, making Low 82.6% faster than Ultra.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 125, with an average of 148 and a maximum of 170.

Q: How does the combo rank in the database for Control?

A: The combo ranks 776 out of 3720 tested combinations for Control, placing it in the top 20.9% of all tested pairings.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT has 800.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, using 20 GB of GDDR6 across a 320-bit bus.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Core 11th Gen series, built on Rocket Lake architecture with a 14 nm process. The base clock is 2.60 GHz and the boost clock reaches 4.40 GHz. The CPU has 12 MB of shared L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 80 KB of L1 per core. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it uses the Intel Socket 1200 with PCIe Gen 4 providing 20 lanes from the CPU.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes visible primarily at lower resolutions and lower graphics settings. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 199 FPS average, which is the highest recorded figure. This suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at high frame rates. At 1080p High, the average drops to 131 FPS, indicating that graphics settings, not CPU throughput, become the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by a PassMark single-thread score of 2981, supports the high frame rates seen at 1080p.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are less critical for Control, which is not heavily multi-threaded in its rendering path. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 14340, and the single-core score is 2024. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 5619, while the single-thread score is 868. These benchmarks show a processor that is balanced but not exceptional in either direction. The CPU's percentile against all CPUs is 71, meaning it outperforms 71% of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% higher average score), the Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% lower), the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% higher).

The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU in Control at 1440p and 4K. The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K shows consistent frame rate drops that align with GPU workload, not CPU limitations. At 4K Low, the system produces 106 FPS, which is still high and indicates the GPU has headroom at lower settings. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this game's demands, as the game release date of 2019 predates many of the heavy multi-threaded rendering techniques found in newer titles.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 58 FPS, which falls below the smoothness threshold for an action game. The High preset at 4K averages 67 FPS, offering a 15.5% improvement over Ultra while likely maintaining most visual features. The Medium preset at 4K averages 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64, making it the most consistent option at 4K if frame pacing is a priority. The Low preset at 4K reaches 106 FPS, but this sacrifices most visual quality.

At 2560x1440, all presets produce playable frame rates. The Ultra preset averages 86 FPS, which is smooth for most players. The High preset averages 99 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 112 FPS with a minimum of 95. The Low preset reaches 157 FPS. For 1440p, the Ultra preset is viable since it stays above 60 FPS, and the High preset provides additional headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1920x1080, the system can push very high frame rates. The Ultra preset averages 114 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset averages 131 FPS, the Medium preset averages 148 FPS with a minimum of 125, and the Low preset reaches 199 FPS. For 1080p displays with high refresh rates, the Medium or High presets provide the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, as the recorded minimums stay above 125 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most consistent frame pacing. The recorded minimum FPS values at Medium are 64 at 4K, 95 at 1440p, and 125 at 1080p. These minimums are close to the averages, indicating stable performance without large dips. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 60 FPS average, so for 4K displays, the High preset is the highest visual setting that maintains a smooth experience according to the measured data.