Control

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 presents a compelling, if lopsided, combination for Control. The data shows a system where the GPU is the clear dominant force at higher resolutions, but the CPU’s 6-core / 12-thread configuration begins to show its age when the resolution drops and frame rates climb. This pairing lands in the 78th percentile of all tested combos for the game, ranking 361st out of 1636, which places it firmly in the upper tier of systems capable of delivering a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, but with a twist at the low end. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the system produces 113.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 87 FPS, a 23% reduction. Pushing to 4K results in 55.5 FPS, a further 36% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K is a textbook sign of the RTX 5070’s rendering pipeline being saturated, where the sheer pixel count of 3840x2160 becomes the limiting factor.

However, the story changes when looking at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system hits 197 FPS, which is a massive 74% increase over the 4K Low result of 104 FPS. The gap between 1080p Low (197 FPS) and 1440p Low (157.9 FPS) is 25%, which is significant, but the jump from 1440p Low to 4K Low is 52%, showing that even with minimal graphical load, the 4K resolution still taxes the GPU heavily. The data indicates that the Core i5-11400F has enough headroom to feed the RTX 5070 at 1080p in lighter scenes, as the 197 FPS figure is well beyond what most displays can show. The limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s workload does not scale with resolution, yet frame rates still plummet.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows suggest that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K High, the system averages 67.7 FPS, which is playable and only 12% slower than the Medium preset’s 75.5 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K is a steep 18% performance hit (from 67.7 to 55.5 FPS), yielding diminishing returns for the visual uplift. For a target of 60 FPS or higher, 4K High is the sweet spot.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 98.8 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. There is little reason to drop to Medium (114 FPS) unless aiming for a 120Hz+ display, as the visual quality loss is not worth the 15% frame rate gain. The Ultra preset at 1440p still produces a very respectable 87 FPS, making it a viable option for users who prioritize image quality over pushing maximum refresh rates. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset’s 113.1 FPS is smooth, but the data shows that the Medium preset (147 FPS) and Low preset (197 FPS) are better suited for competitive play or 165Hz+ panels. The High preset at 1080p (133 FPS) is a strong all-rounder, offering a 17% improvement over Ultra while maintaining high visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-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. Its synthetic benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, place it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. This indicates it is a solid mid-range performer, but it is not a top-tier chip by modern standards.

In Control, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the system reaches 197 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the CPU can handle the game’s physics and logic threads at that level. However, the 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 6 cores are not excessive for a game from 2019, and the data hints that the CPU might be a bottleneck in specific scenarios. The benchmark results show that the CPU is comparable to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and Intel Core i7-1260P, with a deltaPct of 0 and -0.2 respectively. This means the i5-11400F is not a weak link, but it also does not provide the massive multi-threaded headroom of higher-core-count processors. The 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are standard for the platform, but the data suggests that the GPU is the star of the show.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Core i5-11400F and RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 361 out of 1636 tested combos for Control. This top-quartile placement (78th percentile) reflects a system that is well above average for this title. The ranking is likely driven by the RTX 5070’s raw performance, as the CPU’s percentile ranking (75th) is slightly lower than the combo’s overall ranking. This suggests that the GPU is pulling the combo up in the rankings.

When compared to other potential pairings, this combo’s strength is its ability to maintain high frame rates at 1440p and playable rates at 4K. The data shows that the GPU’s average benchmark score of 41687 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 with a deltaPct of 0.6. This means the RTX 5070 is performing on par with or slightly better than a last-generation flagship. The combo’s rank of 361 indicates that while it is not in the top 20% of all possible systems, it is far from being a mediocre setup, and it outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations for this specific game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of performance in this pairing. With 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, it offers a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, which is crucial for high-resolution textures. The GPU’s boost clock of 2512 MHz and 6144 shading units deliver a FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS. This hardware is clearly designed for high-end gaming.

The measured FPS data confirms the GPU’s dominance. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 197 FPS, but the GPU is still the limiting factor when the settings are maxed out. The 4K Ultra result of 55.5 FPS shows that even a powerful GPU like the RTX 5070 is challenged by Control’s maximum settings at 4K. The GPU’s 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are present, but the game’s implementation of ray tracing is not separately measured in this data. The 83rd percentile ranking for the GPU, alongside its proximity to the RTX 3090 in benchmarks, underscores that this is a high-end component. The 250W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class, and the data indicates that the GPU is the component to upgrade around if higher frame rates are desired.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 197 FPS
• Medium: 147 FPS
• High: 133 FPS
• Ultra: 113.1 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 157.9 FPS
• Medium: 114 FPS
• High: 98.8 FPS
• Ultra: 87 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 104 FPS
• Medium: 75.5 FPS
• High: 67.7 FPS
• Ultra: 55.5 FPS

The data reveals that the step from High to Ultra is consistently the most expensive in terms of performance, costing an average of 18% of frame rate across all resolutions. Conversely, the step from Low to Medium is the least costly, averaging only 12% performance loss. This suggests that the Ultra preset includes effects that are disproportionately heavy on the GPU. For users with a 1440p 144Hz monitor, the Medium preset is the only one that consistently hits that target, while High comes close at 98.8 FPS. For 4K gaming, the High preset is the only one that stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for a smooth experience. The 1080p numbers are all high enough for any standard display, but the difference between 197 FPS on Low and 113.1 FPS on Ultra is substantial, offering users a clear choice between competitive frame rates and maximum visual fidelity.