Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily, and the measured data for the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination provides a clear picture of its capabilities. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics across resolutions and settings, offering a methodical view of what this hardware can deliver in this specific game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available presets, with the optimal choice depending heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 101 FPS, which is playable, but the High preset at 117 FPS offers a better balance, providing a 16% increase in frame rate with presumably minimal visual fidelity loss. The Medium preset at 131 FPS is even faster, but the data suggests that High is the sweet spot for a high-refresh-rate experience without sacrificing the visual features that make Control's environments compelling. For those seeking maximum performance, the Low preset hits 185 FPS, but this is likely to compromise the game's atmospheric effects significantly.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation changes slightly. The High preset produces an average of 88 FPS, which is solidly in the smooth territory for most displays. The Ultra preset falls to 77 FPS, which is still playable but begins to show the strain on the system. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is the standout here, offering a substantial 12% performance uplift over High while likely maintaining most of the key visual effects. This makes Medium the recommended preset for 1440p gaming, as it provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while retaining a high level of graphical quality.

At 3840x2160, the hardware is pushed to its limits. The High preset manages an average of 60 FPS, which is exactly the target for many console-quality experiences but leaves no headroom for dips. The Medium preset yields 67 FPS, which is better, but the Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS, indicating a significant performance cost for the highest settings. For 4K, the High preset is the only viable option for a consistent 60 FPS experience, as the data shows the Ultra preset falls below that threshold. The Low preset at 94 FPS is an option for players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, but the High preset is the recommended balance of performance and image quality for this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a rank of 1071 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all systems tested. This percentile position indicates that while this is a capable pairing, it is not at the absolute top of the performance spectrum for this specific game. The rank of 1071 suggests that roughly 29% of all tested hardware combinations perform better than this one, which is a significant consideration for users expecting flagship-level results.

The ranking is a composite result of the CPU and GPU capabilities. The RTX 3080, with an average benchmark score of 23172, is a powerful card, but its performance in Control is influenced by the CPU's ability to feed it data. The i5-11400F, with a benchmark score of 17177, is competent but not class-leading. The data shows that this combo sits in the top 28.8% of all tested configurations, which is respectable but indicates there are more powerful pairings available that can push higher frame rates in this title. The gap between this combo and the highest-ranked systems is likely due to the CPU's single-threaded performance and the GPU's memory configuration, which will be explored in subsequent sections.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured frame rates in Control. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. This high bandwidth is crucial for a game like Control, which features complex textures and visual effects that require rapid data access. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU's memory subsystem is sufficient for the demands of this game, as the performance scales predictably with resolution.

The GPU's clock speeds are also a key factor. With a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, the RTX 3080 has a solid foundation for raw compute throughput. The card's 8704 shading units and 272 TMUs allow it to process a massive amount of pixel and texture data, which is reflected in the high FPS counts at lower resolutions. The 68 RT cores are also relevant, as Control is known for its use of ray tracing effects, though the measured data provided does not specify whether ray tracing was enabled in these tests.

The GPU's performance in the benchmark suite shows a Passmark G3D score of 25086, which places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. This is a strong showing, but the nearest rivals in the data are surprisingly lower-powered cards like the NVIDIA P106-100 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, which have similar average scores. This suggests that while the RTX 3080 is a high-end card, the benchmark methodology may not fully capture its gaming-specific strengths, or that the comparison pool includes many professional cards. In Control specifically, the GPU's role is clear: it provides the raw horsepower to drive high resolutions, and the data shows that at 1080p, it is capable of pushing well over 100 FPS on most settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of the combo's performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 185 FPS, Medium settings yield 131 FPS (with a minimum of 111 and maximum of 151), High settings yield 117 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 101 FPS. This shows a clear scaling pattern where each step up in settings costs a significant number of frames, but even at Ultra, the system maintains over 100 FPS, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but consistent. Low settings produce 140 FPS, Medium produces 99 FPS (with a minimum of 84 and maximum of 114), High produces 88 FPS, and Ultra produces 77 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 24% decrease in performance on Medium settings, which is a typical scaling factor for a GPU-bound scenario. The minimum FPS figures for Medium settings at 1440p (84 FPS) are still well above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to show its limits. Low settings yield 94 FPS, Medium yields 67 FPS (with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 77), High yields 60 FPS, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS. The data reveals that at 4K, the GPU is heavily loaded, and the performance gap between settings becomes more pronounced. The minimum FPS of 57 on Medium settings indicates that there can be noticeable frame drops, which could be felt during intense combat sequences. The High setting at 60 FPS is a borderline experience, and Ultra at 52 FPS is not recommended for those seeking a consistent frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of FPS from 1080p to 4K provides insights into which component is the primary limiting factor. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS on High settings drops from 117 to 88, a 25% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160, the FPS drops from 88 to 60, a 32% reduction. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU is becoming increasingly strained as the pixel count grows, which is expected as the RTX 3080's fill rate and memory bandwidth are pushed to their limits.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU likely has more headroom, as the FPS counts are very high and the scaling between settings is relatively linear. However, as the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck. The difference in scaling between the 1080p to 1440p transition (25% drop) and the 1440p to 4K transition (32% drop) highlights the increasing pixel load. The RTX 3080's 10 GB of VRAM may also become a factor at 4K, as the game's textures and effects require more memory, but the benchmark data does not indicate any memory-related stuttering or frame drops beyond the expected performance loss.

The FPS drop from Low to Ultra settings at 4K is particularly telling. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 84 FPS (185 to 101), while at 4K, the difference is 42 FPS (94 to 52). This shows that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that the impact of settings changes is lessened, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. At 1080p, the CPU's ability to process draw calls becomes more relevant, but the i5-11400F's six cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep the GPU well-fed, as evidenced by the high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a six-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. In Control, the CPU's role is to handle the game's physics, AI, and draw call processing. The benchmark data shows that the CPU's performance is adequate for this task, as the frame rates at 1080p are not significantly lower than at higher resolutions when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The CPU's single-threaded performance is a critical factor for gaming. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024 and the Geekbench single-core score of 1777 indicate that this processor has solid per-core performance, which is essential for games that are not fully optimized for multi-threading. The multi-core scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340, show that the CPU can handle the game's background tasks without causing frame drops. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with data locality, reducing the need to access slower system memory.

The CPU's percentile rank of 71 versus all CPUs indicates that it is a mid-range performer, but in Control, it is sufficient. The nearest rivals in the benchmark data include the AMD EPYC 7H12 and Intel Core i5-12450H, which have similar average scores, showing that the i5-11400F is in a competitive performance bracket. The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this combo, as the GPU's performance scales as expected with resolution. However, at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU has less work to do, the CPU's limitations could be exposed if the frame rate were to exceed 185 FPS, but the measured data shows it does not go beyond that point.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting preset for a 60 FPS experience at 4K?

A: The data shows that the High preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 60 FPS. The Medium preset yields 67 FPS, while Ultra drops to 52 FPS, so High is the recommended balance for 4K.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the system achieves an average of 101 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 2560x1440, as the FPS scales significantly with settings changes (from 140 FPS on Low to 77 FPS on Ultra), showing that the GPU is being taxed heavily.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset has recorded minimum FPS values of 111 at 1080p, 84 at 1440p, and 57 at 4K. This shows that while 1080p and 1440p are smooth, 4K can experience noticeable dips.

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

A: This combo ranks 1071 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the upper 29% of all systems. This indicates it is a capable pairing, but not at the very top tier.

Q: Does the RTX 3080's memory bandwidth affect 4K performance?

A: The RTX 3080 has a memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s, which is substantial. The measured data shows a significant FPS drop at 4K compared to 1440p, which is consistent with the GPU's memory subsystem being heavily utilized at higher resolutions.