Control

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Control. Across the measured settings, the combo shows a clear tendency: 1080p is fluid, 1440p is demanding, and 4K requires significant compromises. The data indicates a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom even at its most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all quality presets, revealing a classic GPU-limited scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 76.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 57.9 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 24%. Pushing to 3840x2160 yields a further decline to 35.1 FPS, meaning the 4K result is less than half of the 1080p figure. This pattern strongly suggests that the RX 5700 XT’s pixel-pushing capabilities are exhausted as resolution increases, with the i5-12400 not being the limiting factor.

The trend is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. The average FPS drops from 67.1 at 1080p to 49.1 at 1440p, and then plummets to 32.8 at 4K. This 4K Ultra result is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that the GPU is unable to maintain a consistent frame rate under maximum load. Conversely, the Low preset shows the least relative degradation: 115.1 FPS at 1080p, 88.8 FPS at 1440p, and 58.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still playable, but the scaling curve shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is the dominant constraint.

Benchmark results indicate that the scaling behavior is consistent across all four presets, with the 1440p to 4K transition being the most punishing. For instance, at Medium settings, the drop from 1440p (64.4 FPS) to 4K (42.9 FPS) represents a 33% performance loss, which is larger than the 1080p to 1440p drop. This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that is running out of memory bandwidth or shading power at higher pixel counts. The CPU’s role remains secondary; its 3DMark scores, such as 5873 in the 16-thread test and 910 in the single-thread test, are sufficient to feed the GPU at all resolutions tested.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT’s specifications directly explain its behavior in Control. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 likely demands more than the available memory capacity or bandwidth, resulting in the lowest average FPS of 32.8. The GPU’s boost clock of 1905 MHz and game clock of 1755 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 performance is reflected in the measured frame rates.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 68 versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731, places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (deltaPct -0.1) and the Intel Arc A350M (deltaPct 0.3), showing that the RX 5700 XT is closely matched with these parts in synthetic tests. However, in Control, the data shows that the card’s performance is not sufficient for 4K Ultra, but it can handle 1080p Ultra at 67.1 FPS. The card’s 225 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it is a power-hungry part, but the measured FPS indicates that for this game, the limiting factor is the GPU’s compute and memory throughput, not the CPU.

The RDNA 1.0 architecture, based on the Navi 10 chip, does not include dedicated ray tracing cores, which may explain why the Ultra preset does not include ray-traced effects that would further strain the GPU. The FP16 performance of 19.51 TFLOPS (2:1) is notable but not leveraged in this title. The GPU’s DirectX 12 support is rated at 12 (12_1), which is sufficient for Control, but the lack of hardware ray tracing means the game’s optional RT features are not part of this data set. The measured results show a linear relationship between clock speed and FPS across presets, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most consistent resolution, with average FPS ranging from 67.1 (Ultra) to 115.1 (Low). At 2560x1440, the High preset still achieves 57.9 FPS, but 4K Ultra drops to 32.8 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where all presets exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its rivals in CPU performance?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score of 19850 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, deltaPct 0.1) and slightly below the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, deltaPct -0.2). It is also within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771), indicating the 12400 is not a performance outlier.

Q: Does the RX 5700 XT outperform its listed rivals in synthetic tests?

A: The GPU’s average score of 24731 is marginally lower than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763, deltaPct -0.1) and slightly higher than the Intel Arc A350M (24647, deltaPct 0.3). This places it in a tight competitive band, with no significant advantage over any listed rival.

*Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: At 4K Low, the average FPS is 58.1, which is playable. However, 4K Medium (42.9 FPS), High (35.1 FPS), and Ultra (32.8 FPS) all fall below 60 FPS, so only the Low preset is recommended for 4K gaming.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 115.1 on Low to 67.1 on Ultra, a reduction of 48 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset imposes a significant load on the GPU, but the result remains above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1224 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower third of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range performance, despite the CPU’s solid showing in synthetic benchmarks.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the data suggests using the High preset at 1920x1080, which delivers 76.1 FPS. This is near the 60 FPS target and offers a substantial improvement over Medium (83.1 FPS) without the steep cost of Ultra (67.1 FPS). At 1440p, the High preset (57.9 FPS) is the highest setting that remains close to 60 FPS, while the Ultra preset (49.1 FPS) may be acceptable for slower-paced scenes but risks noticeable stutter.

For 4K, the Low preset (58.1 FPS) is the only viable option for smooth gameplay, as Medium (42.9 FPS) and above fall below 45 FPS. The Ultra preset (32.8 FPS) is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as the frame rate drops below 35 FPS. The medium preset at 1440p (64.4 FPS) provides a good compromise for users with 1440p monitors, offering a 11% improvement over High while maintaining a playable frame rate. Ultimately, the measured rows indicate that 1080p High is the sweet spot for this combo, with 1440p Medium as a secondary option for those prioritizing resolution over settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global ranking for Control, this Intel Core i5-12400 + AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination sits at 1224 out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the 74th percentile of all configurations. This rank is driven primarily by the GPU’s performance, as the CPU’s percentile rank of 77 against all CPUs is higher than the GPU’s 68 percentile rank. The data shows that the CPU is not holding back the GPU; rather, the RX 5700 XT’s limitations at higher resolutions cap the overall system performance.

Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 5700 XT is essentially tied with the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and Intel Arc A350M in synthetic scores, but the in-game results show that the combo’s rank is below the median. This suggests that while the CPU is a capable partner, the GPU is the weak link in this pairing for Control. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-9700 and i7-8700, have nearly identical average scores, so swapping the CPU would not change the in-game rank significantly. Instead, the data indicates that a GPU upgrade would be necessary to improve the combo’s standing, as the measured FPS at 4K and 1440p Ultra are the primary factors dragging the rank down.