Control

# Control with Intel Core i5-11400F + Intel Arc B370

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces very low frame rates in Control, placing this combination at rank 2657 out of 2888 tested combos. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-limited across all resolutions, with the iGPU struggling to maintain playable performance even at 1080p Low settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a sharp decline in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 59 at 1080p to 45 at 1440p, then further to 30 at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering workload is scaling almost linearly with pixel count, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

At High settings, the pattern continues: 37 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32%, showing that the GPU becomes increasingly strained as pixel density grows. The 4K High result of 19 FPS is barely interactive, while 4K Ultra drops to 17 FPS, suggesting the renderer is completely overwhelmed at this resolution.

The Medium settings row provides the only min/max FPS data in the entire dataset. At 1080p Medium, the average is 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 32 with a range of 27 to 37. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 21 with a range of 18 to 25. The narrowing gap between min and max FPS at higher resolutions (from a 12 FPS spread at 1080p to a 7 FPS spread at 4K) suggests that the GPU is running at near-constant saturation, leaving little headroom for frame time variation.

This resolution scaling behavior confirms that the Intel Arc B370, operating as an integrated GPU with system-shared memory, is the limiting component. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is unlikely to be the bottleneck given that even at 1080p Low the system only achieves 59 FPS. The data indicates that reducing resolution does provide meaningful FPS gains, but the absolute performance ceiling remains low due to the GPU's limited shading units (1280) and texture mapping units (40).

Settings Recommendations

The measured data spans four quality presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1080p, the progression from Low to Ultra yields 59, 42, 37, and 32 FPS respectively. The step from Low to Medium costs 17 FPS (a 29% reduction), while the step from Medium to High costs only 5 FPS (a 12% reduction), and High to Ultra costs another 5 FPS (a 14% reduction).

The most significant performance hit occurs when moving from Low to Medium, suggesting that Medium enables several GPU-intensive features that disproportionately impact the Arc B370. However, the gap between Medium and High is relatively modest at 5 FPS, which may make High an attractive option if visual quality improvements are substantial. The jump from High to Ultra also costs 5 FPS, bringing the average to 32 FPS at 1080p.

At 1440p, the same pattern emerges: Low at 45 FPS, Medium at 32 FPS, High at 28 FPS, and Ultra at 25 FPS. The Low-to-Medium transition again costs the most (13 FPS, a 29% drop), while Medium-to-High and High-to-Ultra each cost 4 and 3 FPS respectively. At 4K, Low achieves 30 FPS, Medium 21 FPS, High 19 FPS, and Ultra 17 FPS.

For the best experience per the measured rows, 1080p Low stands out as the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, reaching 59 FPS on average. This is the only preset where the system approaches typical display refresh rates. If visual fidelity is prioritized, 1080p High at 37 FPS offers a reasonable balance, though it requires accepting a 22 FPS penalty versus Low. The 1440p Low setting at 45 FPS may be preferable for users with higher-resolution displays, as it maintains a playable frame rate while offering more pixels than 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024, placing it at the 71st percentile among all CPUs.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role appears secondary given the GPU's limitations. The 3DMark results for the CPU show a scaling pattern from 1691 in 2-thread mode to 5652 in max-thread mode, indicating that the processor can effectively utilize its multi-threading capabilities. However, the game's frame rates are so low that the CPU is unlikely to be the constraint. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the system only reaches 59 FPS, which is well within the CPU's capability to feed frames.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% faster), Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% faster), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% faster), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% slower). These deltas are all within 1%, showing that the i5-11400F performs consistently with its peer group. The Geekbench multicore score of 7737 and single-core score of 1777 further confirm that this is a solid mid-range desktop processor.

The CPU's TDP of 65 W and PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes provide adequate platform bandwidth. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4 is standard for this class of processor. Given that the Arc B370 uses system-shared memory, the CPU's memory controller and the system's RAM speed could influence GPU performance, but the measured FPS data does not isolate this variable.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2657 out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested combinations, indicating that this pairing is among the weakest for this game. The percentile ranking for the GPU alone is 5th percentile among all GPUs, which aligns with the poor performance observed.

The combo's rank reflects the Arc B370's status as an integrated GPU with a 25 W TDP and system-shared memory. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it near the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (0.2% faster), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% faster), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% faster), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1.4% slower). These rivals are all legacy or low-end GPUs, confirming that the Arc B370's performance level is comparable to older entry-level discrete graphics.

Given that the CPU alone ranks at the 71st percentile among all CPUs, the combo's poor ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU. The data suggests that pairing this CPU with a more capable GPU would yield significantly better results, as the processor has demonstrated strong benchmark scores. However, the current combination is severely hamstrung by the integrated graphics solution, which lacks the raw processing power needed for a demanding title like Control.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on Intel's 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, featuring 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. The GPU includes 10 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, indicating feature completeness despite its low performance tier.

The GPU's memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM. This means the GPU relies on the system's DDR4 memory, with bandwidth described as "system dependent." This architecture likely contributes to the performance limitations, as shared memory bandwidth can become a bottleneck in memory-intensive scenes. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s provide theoretical throughput figures that are modest by modern standards.

The FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS and FP16 of 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1) place this GPU in the entry-level segment. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 confirms this positioning, with the GPU ranking at the 5th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals, all legacy ATI/AMD products from over a decade ago, underscore the Arc B370's limited compute capabilities.

In Control, the GPU is clearly the dominant bottleneck. The frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, with no evidence of CPU limitation. The 1080p Low result of 59 FPS is the only measured configuration that approaches smooth gameplay, and even this requires the lowest quality settings. The GPU's 25 W TDP and integrated nature limit its sustained performance, as it must share thermal and power resources with the CPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Control?

A: The measured data shows that 1080p Low delivers the highest average FPS at 59, making it the only configuration that approaches 60 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 45 FPS, while 4K Low achieves 30 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Control?

A: This combo ranks 2657 out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs is the primary factor in this low position.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Intel Arc B370's benchmark scores place it near legacy GPUs like the ATI Radeon HD 5770, while the CPU ranks at the 71st percentile. The FPS scaling with resolution confirms GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What are the FPS differences between quality presets at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the measured average FPS is 59 for Low, 42 for Medium, 37 for High, and 32 for Ultra. The largest performance drop occurs between Low and Medium, costing 17 FPS.

Q: Does the Arc B370 support modern graphics APIs needed for Control?

A: Yes, the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It also includes 10 ray tracing cores, though the low overall performance limits practical use of these features.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 0.2% slower than the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, 0.5% slower than the ATI Radeon HD 5770, 0.7% slower than the AMD Radeon HD 7650M, and 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values span from 32 to 59 across quality presets. Low settings produce an average of 59 FPS, Medium produces 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48, High produces 37 FPS, and Ultra produces 32 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 27 FPS, representing a 46% performance reduction from the lowest to highest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 45 for Low, 32 for Medium (with a minimum of 27 and maximum of 37), 28 for High, and 25 for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with Low losing 14 FPS, Medium losing 10 FPS, High losing 9 FPS, and Ultra losing 7 FPS. This pattern shows that higher settings experience proportionally smaller absolute losses when resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 30 for Low, 21 for Medium (with a minimum of 18 and maximum of 25), 19 for High, and 17 for Ultra. The 4K Ultra result of 17 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. From 1080p to 4K, the performance reduction is 29 FPS for Low, 21 FPS for Medium, 18 FPS for High, and 15 FPS for Ultra. Interestingly, the absolute FPS loss from resolution scaling decreases as settings increase, suggesting that at higher quality presets the GPU is already saturated and additional pixel count has a smaller marginal impact.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 36-48; at 1440p, it narrows to 27-37; at 4K, it narrows further to 18-25. This tightening of frame time distribution at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded, reducing frame pacing variability. The minimum FPS values at 1440p (27) and 4K (18) are close to their respective averages, suggesting that the system maintains relatively stable performance rather than suffering from sporadic drops.