Control

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, with 4K remaining a challenge at higher presets. The measured data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals how the workload shifts from the CPU to the GPU. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 160.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 120.1 FPS, a 25.3% reduction. The step to 4K Low yields 82.4 FPS, another 31.4% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates that at Low settings, the system retains enough headroom that the GPU is still the dominant factor, but the CPU is not yet saturated.

The scaling becomes more aggressive at higher presets. With Ultra settings, the frame rate goes from 92.1 FPS at 1080p to 65.6 FPS at 1440p (a 28.8% drop), and then to 44.8 FPS at 4K (a 31.7% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the RX 7700 XT is the bottleneck throughout, as the i5-12400’s six cores and twelve threads provide sufficient throughput for this Action Adventure title. The data indicates that the GPU’s rendering load scales predictably with pixel count, and the CPU is not introducing a stutter or cap at any tested resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing ranks 718 out of 1636 combos for Control. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems. The percentile ranking for the CPU alone is 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of all CPUs in the database. The GPU’s percentile is 73, indicating it exceeds 73% of all GPUs. The combination of a strong mid-range CPU and a capable GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for this game.

The i5-12400’s average benchmark score of 19850 places it in close competition with several rivals. It is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K. It trails the Intel Core i7-8700 by 0.2% and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX by 0.4%. These negligible deltas indicate that the CPU is not a differentiator in this game; any of these processors would yield similar results when paired with the same GPU. The GPU’s average score of 30097 is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (0% delta), and it is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 570. It is 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60 and 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile. This suggests that the RX 7700 XT delivers performance squarely in its expected class.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is built on the Navi 32 chip using RDNA 3.0 architecture and a 5 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s boost clock reaches 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz. These specifications directly influence the measured frame rates in Control. The 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for 4K textures, as evidenced by the playable 50.5 FPS average at 4K High settings. The memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s supports the high texture throughput required at 1440p and 4K.

The GPU’s 3456 shading units and 96 ROPs contribute to its pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s. These figures explain why the card handles 1080p with ease, reaching 160.8 FPS on Low settings. The FP32 performance of 35.17 TFLOPS is the raw compute power that drives the rendering pipeline. In Control, which is known for its physics-heavy environments, this compute capability helps maintain consistent frame times, as seen in the steady scaling from Low to Ultra presets.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the data points to High settings as the optimal balance. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 103.9 FPS, which is 11.8% faster than Ultra (92.1 FPS) and only 8.5% slower than Medium (112.4 FPS). The visual uplift from Medium to High is significant, and the frame rate remains well above 100 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings produce 79 FPS, which is 20.4% faster than Ultra (65.6 FPS) and only 7.2% slower than Medium (85.1 FPS). This is the sweet spot for high refresh rate 1440p monitors.

At 4K, High settings yield 50.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Ultra drops to 44.8 FPS, while Medium offers 58.3 FPS. The data suggests that for 4K, Medium settings provide a better experience, with a 15.5% improvement over High (58.3 vs 50.5 FPS) while retaining most visual fidelity. Low settings at 4K reach 82.4 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too severe for this visually rich game. The recommendation is to use High at 1080p and 1440p, and switch to Medium for 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is wide. Low settings achieve 160.8 FPS, Medium reaches 112.4 FPS, High hits 103.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 92.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 68.7 FPS, a 74.6% improvement from the lowest to the highest preset. This shows that the GPU has ample headroom at 1080p, even on Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the numbers compress. Low produces 120.1 FPS, Medium yields 85.1 FPS, High delivers 79 FPS, and Ultra falls to 65.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 54.5 FPS (an 83.1% improvement). The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by an average of 25% across presets, with Ultra being the most affected (28.8% drop) and High the least (24% drop).

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully taxed. Low manages 82.4 FPS, Medium drops to 58.3 FPS, High reaches 50.5 FPS, and Ultra struggles to 44.8 FPS. The step from Medium to High costs 7.8 FPS (13.4% reduction), while High to Ultra costs 5.7 FPS (11.3% reduction). The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only preset that dips below the 45 FPS threshold, making it less suitable for responsive gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for a high refresh rate monitor?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with High settings delivers 103.9 FPS, and 2560x1440 with High settings provides 79 FPS. For a 144Hz display, 1080p is the only resolution that consistently exceeds 100 FPS on High or above.

Q: How does the 12 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for 4K, as demonstrated by the 50.5 FPS average at 4K High settings. The memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s supports the texture load without causing a significant drop below the 1080p scaling pattern.

*Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in Control?*

A: The i5-12400’s benchmark score is within 0.4% of its nearest rivals, and the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent. The data indicates the GPU is the limiting component, as performance drops align with pixel count increases rather than CPU thread saturation.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings?

A: At 1080p, Medium achieves 112.4 FPS while High reaches 103.9 FPS, a difference of 8.5 FPS (8.2%). At 1440p, the gap is 6.1 FPS (7.2%). At 4K, Medium hits 58.3 FPS and High produces 50.5 FPS, a 7.8 FPS difference.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings for this game?

A: Ultra provides 92.1 FPS at 1080p and 65.6 FPS at 1440p, which are playable. However, at 4K Ultra drops to 44.8 FPS. The data suggests that High settings offer a better frame rate to visual quality trade-off, with only a 13.4% penalty at 4K compared to Medium.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 5060?

A: The RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 30097, which is a 0% delta from the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060’s score of 30109. The two GPUs are effectively tied in synthetic benchmarks, suggesting similar real-world performance in Control.