Control

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, but the data shows that 4K Ultra is a stretch for this combination. The benchmark results indicate a clear performance hierarchy where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the 11th Gen Intel processor provides enough headroom to keep high refresh rate monitors fed at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how this combo scales from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 105 FPS at 1920x1080 to 79 FPS at 2560x1440, then falls further to 54 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 25% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions—the RTX 3070 Ti's rendering workload grows faster than the CPU's ability to feed it, but the CPU isn't the limiting factor until you push past 4K.

Looking at Low settings tells a different story. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo hits 166 FPS, which drops to 126 FPS at 2560x1440 and 85 FPS at 3840x2160. The percentage drops are steeper here—24% from 1080p to 1440p, and 49% from 1080p to 4K—but the absolute numbers remain playable even at 4K Low. This suggests that when the GPU's workload is lightened, the i5-11400F can still push high frame rates, but the gap between 1080p and 1440p widens because the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck sooner.

The Medium preset offers the only complete min/max data in the pack. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 118 FPS with a min of 101 FPS and max of 136 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 89 FPS with a min of 76 FPS and max of 103 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average falls to 60 FPS with a min of 51 FPS and max of 69 FPS. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, indicating that frame time consistency improves when the GPU is more heavily loaded—the CPU isn't causing stutter at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It features 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6X memory sits on a 256-bit bus, providing 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is adequate for Control at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows it starts to limit performance at 4K Ultra where the average drops to 47 FPS.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial—21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 21.75 TFLOPS of FP16, with 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores. These specs explain why the card handles Control's visual effects well at lower resolutions. The pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s suggest the card can fill frames quickly, but the 4K results show it struggles to maintain 60 FPS on High settings (54 FPS average). The GPU's 290 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it's a power-hungry part, but the benchmark data doesn't show thermal throttling—the frame rates are consistent across the measured presets.

Comparing to the nearest rivals in the database, the RTX 3070 Ti's average benchmark score is 29945, putting it 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (29783) and 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (29928). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6800 by 0.5% (30095) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 by 1.6% (30433). In Control specifically, the combo's performance aligns with these rankings—it's a mid-to-high tier performer that competes with the previous generation's flagship and current mid-range options.

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 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 65 W TDP is modest for a desktop part, but the benchmark data shows it's capable of feeding the RTX 3070 Ti at 1080p and 1440p.

The CPU's benchmark results indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread performance for gaming. In Cinebench R23, it scores 2024 in single-core and 14340 in multi-core. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 868 (single thread) to 5652 (max threads), with a notable jump from 2 threads (1691) to 4 threads (3171) and 8 threads (4691). This scaling pattern suggests the CPU handles multi-threaded workloads well, which matters for Control's physics and AI computations.

However, the CPU's role in this combo becomes less important at higher resolutions. The 4K results show that the GPU is the limiting factor—the frame rates drop consistently across all settings, and the CPU's scores (71st percentile vs all CPUs) are more than sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 3070 Ti. At 1080p Low, the 166 FPS average shows the CPU can push high frame rates, but the RTX 3070 Ti's performance ceiling is reached before the i5-11400F becomes a constraint. The CPU's nearest rivals in the database—the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% ahead), Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% behind), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% behind), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% ahead)—all have similar average scores, confirming that the i5-11400F is a balanced mid-range part.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low averages 166 FPS, Medium averages 118 FPS (min 101, max 136), High averages 105 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 75 FPS, showing that Control's settings have a significant impact on performance at this resolution. The minimum frame rate at Medium (101 FPS) stays well above 60 FPS, indicating smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops but remains strong. Low averages 126 FPS, Medium averages 89 FPS (min 76, max 103), High averages 79 FPS, and Ultra averages 69 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 57 FPS, and the Medium minimum of 76 FPS still provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. This resolution is the sweet spot for this combo—it offers better visual fidelity than 1080p while maintaining high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles on higher settings. Low averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 60 FPS (min 51, max 69), High averages 54 FPS, and Ultra averages 47 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 51 FPS dips below 60 FPS, and the Ultra average of 47 FPS is not ideal for fast-paced action. This resolution is best suited for Low or Medium settings with this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1339 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the 36th percentile overall. This ranking reflects the balance between the i5-11400F's mid-range CPU performance and the RTX 3070 Ti's high-end GPU capabilities. The rank suggests that while this combo is far from the top of the database, it outperforms a significant majority of tested systems in this game.

The ranking is consistent with the component-level benchmarks. The CPU's 71st percentile vs all CPUs and the GPU's 75th percentile vs all GPUs indicate both parts are above average, but neither is a top-tier performer. In Control, the combo's rank of 1339 reflects this balance—it's a capable system for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but not a 4K powerhouse. The fact that the CPU scores 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 7H12 and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-12450H in average benchmarks, while the GPU scores 0.5% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti, suggests the combo is well-matched for this game's requirements.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K 60 FPS?*

A: No, not consistently. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate is 54 FPS on High and 47 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset averages 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, so you'd need to accept occasional dips below 60 FPS.

*Q: What's the best resolution for this combo in Control?*

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At High settings, the average is 79 FPS, and even Ultra averages 69 FPS. This resolution offers better visual detail than 1080p while maintaining high frame rates.

Q: How much performance do you lose going from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average drops from 105 FPS at 1920x1080 to 54 FPS at 3840x2160, a 49% reduction. At Low settings, it drops from 166 FPS to 85 FPS, also a 49% reduction.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The frame rates drop consistently across all settings, and the CPU's performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340) is more than sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 3070 Ti at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 1339 out of 3720 combos in Control, placing it in the 36th percentile. The GPU scores 0.5% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti and 0.1% higher than the RTX 5070 Mobile, while the CPU scores 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 7H12.

Q: What settings should I use for the best experience?

A: For 1080p, Ultra settings average 91 FPS, so you can max everything out. For 1440p, High settings at 79 FPS is a good balance, but Ultra at 69 FPS is also playable. For 4K, stick to Low (85 FPS) or Medium (60 FPS) settings.