Control

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a highly capable Control experience, but the data shows that settings and resolution choices significantly dictate the outcome. This analysis examines the measured frame rates to determine the optimal configuration, addresses common questions, and breaks down the roles of the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination clearly indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 106 FPS, with a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS. This is a substantial jump from High, which averages 94 FPS, and it maintains a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

While Low settings at 1920x1080 provide the highest average at 149 FPS, the visual fidelity trade-off is significant. The jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 43 FPS at 1080p, but the visual improvement is typically substantial for a game like Control, which relies heavily on atmospheric effects. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, providing 106 FPS average and a minimum of 90 FPS, which ensures consistent performance even in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset continues to shine, producing an average of 80 FPS with a minimum of 68 FPS. This is comfortably playable and represents a good balance between visual quality and performance. The High preset at this resolution drops to 71 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for dips. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 113 FPS, but again, the visual compromise is notable.

The 3840x2160 resolution presents a more challenging scenario. Here, the Medium preset yields an average of 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS. This is below the ideal 60 FPS target, but the minimum of 46 FPS suggests it is still playable, if not perfectly smooth. The High preset at 4K averages 48 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the data indicates that Low settings are required, which average 76 FPS. However, this severely compromises the game's visual presentation.

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

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 80 FPS and a minimum of 68 FPS, making it the ideal choice for maintaining a smooth frame rate while preserving visual quality.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K with high visual fidelity?

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, the High preset averages 48 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 54 FPS. Only the Low preset, which averages 76 FPS, can maintain a frame rate consistently above 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: How much performance is gained by dropping from High to Medium settings?

A: Dropping from High to Medium increases the average frame rate by 12 FPS at 1080p (from 94 to 106 FPS) and by 9 FPS at 1440p (from 71 to 80 FPS). At 4K, the gain is 6 FPS (from 48 to 54 FPS).

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever the best choice for this hardware?

A: The Ultra preset provides the lowest frame rates at every resolution. At 1080p it averages 82 FPS, at 1440p it averages 62 FPS, and at 4K it averages 42 FPS. Given the performance cost, the Medium preset offers a better experience with a smaller visual difference.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like on the Medium preset?

A: The measured data for the Medium preset provides minimum and maximum FPS values, showing a variance of 32 FPS at 1080p (90 to 122), 24 FPS at 1440p (68 to 92), and 16 FPS at 4K (46 to 62). This indicates stable performance with no severe stutters.

Q: Does the Low preset provide a playable experience at 4K?

A: Yes, the Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 76 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target. This is the only setting at this resolution that provides such a high level of performance, though it comes at the cost of reduced graphical detail.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the primary driver of performance in Control, especially as resolution increases. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, with an effective speed of 28 Gbps. The high memory bandwidth is crucial for a game like Control, which features complex textures and effects that can quickly fill the VRAM buffer.

The GPU's clock speeds are a key factor in its performance. The base clock is 2280 MHz, which boosts up to 2497 MHz. The difference between the base and boost clock is significant, allowing the GPU to dynamically increase its performance under load. The data shows that this GPU is capable of delivering high frame rates, but the performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, indicating that the GPU's compute resources, including its 3840 shading units, are heavily taxed at higher resolutions.

The RTX 5060's 30 RT cores are relevant for Control, which supports ray-traced reflections and other effects. However, the measured data in this analysis does not include ray tracing settings, so the impact of these cores is not directly quantified here. The GPU's 120 tensor cores may also assist with DLSS, but again, the measured FPS data does not specify whether DLSS is enabled. The data suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the frame rates at this resolution are significantly lower than at 1080p or 1440p. The performance scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a drop of roughly 26% on Medium settings (from 80 to 54 FPS), which is a clear indication of GPU-bound performance at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Control, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1665 out of 3720 tested combos. This places the combo in the upper half of all tested systems, indicating a strong overall performance level. The percentile rank of 1665 out of 3720 suggests that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it outperforms the majority of other configurations that have been benchmarked for this game.

The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a solid foundation, while the RTX 5060 delivers the graphical horsepower. The data shows that this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being a more demanding scenario. The rank of 1665 out of 3720 confirms the overall capability of this pairing, but it also highlights that there are many faster combinations available, particularly those with more powerful GPUs. The CPU's average benchmark score of 17177 places it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's average score of 26331 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, confirming that both components are above average in their respective categories.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling across the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset averages 106 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the average drops to 80 FPS, a decrease of 24.5%. At 3840x2160, the average further drops to 54 FPS, a 32.5% decrease from the 1440p figure and a 49% decrease from the 1080p figure.

This scaling pattern is indicative of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, but as the resolution increases, the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity become the bottleneck. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K on Medium settings is roughly half, which is a typical result for a GPU-heavy title like Control)Skip. The data for the Low preset shows a similar trend: 149 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is about 49%, which is consistent with the Medium preset's drop of 49%.

This data strongly suggests that the RTX 5060 is the primary limiting factor when increasing resolution. The CPU's role becomes less significant at higher resolutions, as the GPU is tasked with rendering more pixels. For users with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, this combo offers excellent performance. For 4K, the GPU is the main constraint, and users may need to lower settings to achieve playable frame rates. The data shows that the High and Ultra presets at 4K both fall below 60 FPS, reinforcing the idea that this GPU is not ideal for max-settings 4K gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the exact average, minimum, and maximum frame rates measured for this hardware combination in Control.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: Average 149 FPS
• Medium: Average 106 FPS, Minimum 90 FPS, Maximum 122 FPS
• High: Average 94 FPS
• Ultra: Average 82 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: Average 113 FPS
• Medium: Average 80 FPS, Minimum 68 FPS, Maximum 92 FPS
• High: Average 71 FPS
• Ultra: Average 62 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: Average 76 FPS
• Medium: Average 54 FPS, Minimum 46 FPS, Maximum 62 FPS
• High: Average 48 FPS
• Ultra: Average 42 FPS

The data shows a consistent hierarchy of settings, with Low providing the highest frame rates and Ultra providing the lowest. The Medium preset provides the only data points with recorded minimum and maximum values, indicating that this setting was likely the primary focus of the testing. The variance between minimum and maximum FPS on Medium is 32 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the frame pacing is more consistent at higher resolutions, likely due to the GPU being more uniformly loaded.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F plays a supporting role in this combo, providing a solid foundation for the RTX 5060. This CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The boost clock is critical for gaming, as it allows the CPU to reach higher frequencies when needed. The CPU has 12 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce latency for frequently accessed data.

The data from synthetic benchmarks shows that the i5-11400F is a capable processor. Its single-thread performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1777. Its multi-threaded performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340. However, the CPU's impact on frame rates in Control is secondary to the GPU. Evidence for this is seen in the resolution scaling: as the resolution increases, the frame rate drops significantly, even though the CPU is not necessarily working harderant. The CPU's 3DMark scores, such as 5619 for 16 threads and 868 for single thread, indicate adequate processing power for modern games.

The i5-11400F's performance is comparable to its nearest rivals, with a 0.3% difference in average benchmark score compared to the AMD EPYC 7H12 and a -0.4% difference compared to the Intel Core i5-12450H. This suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in the system. In Control, the CPU's main task is to handle game logic and physics, which it does efficiently with its 12 threads. The data indicates that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor, as frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU load at higher resolutions. The CPU's 65W TDP and 14 nm process node show it is a power-efficient processor for its performance class, making it a good match for a mid-range GPU like the RTX 5060.