Control

Control with the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is a pairing that delivers a consistently playable experience across all tested resolutions and settings. The data shows a system that is firmly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread configuration proves more than adequate to feed the RTX 3080 at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes it against rival components, and provides practical settings guidance based strictly on the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the most dramatic shifts occurring at the lower settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 183.7 FPS, which drops to 142.9 FPS at 1440p and further to 95 FPS at 4K. This represents a 22% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RTX 3080’s raw compute is the primary limiter even at the lowest quality preset.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 134 FPS at 1080p, 102.8 FPS at 1440p, and 67.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 23% and 50% respectively, showing that the GPU remains the bottleneck across all settings. At High settings, the numbers are 115.6 FPS (1080p), 89.5 FPS (1440p), and 58.7 FPS (4K), with reductions of 23% and 49%. The consistency of these percentages suggests that resolution scaling is governed almost entirely by GPU workload, not by CPU or memory constraints.

The Ultra preset tells a slightly different story. Here, the frame rates are 101.3 FPS at 1080p, 76.4 FPS at 1440p, and 51.3 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25%, and from 1080p to 4K is 49%. This is notable because the absolute FPS at 4K Ultra (51.3) is just above the 50 FPS threshold, suggesting that the game is pushing the RTX 3080 to its limits with the highest settings. The data indicates that the i5-12400 is not a limiting factor in any scenario—even at 1080p Low with 183.7 FPS, the CPU’s 12 threads and 4.40 GHz boost clock are sufficient to avoid a bottleneck, as the frame rates scale proportionally with resolution changes.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average is 183.7 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. This drops to 142.9 FPS at 1440p and 95 FPS at 4K under the same Low preset.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: No, the data shows an average of 51.3 FPS at 4K Ultra. To hit 60 FPS at 4K, you would need to drop to High settings, which yields 58.7 FPS—still slightly below 60. Medium settings at 4K provide 67.5 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 60.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its closest rival in raw GPU benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860) and 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (36101). It is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon 880M (35646).

Q: What is the CPU’s performance percentile relative to all other tested CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 sits in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19850. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-9700, scores 19831, a delta of 0.1% in favor of the i5-12400.

Q: Does the i5-12400 bottleneck the RTX 3080 at any resolution?

A: The data suggests no. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across settings, with reductions of roughly 49% from 1080p to 4K in all presets. If the CPU were a bottleneck, you would expect the 1080p numbers to plateau, but they continue to rise with lower GPU load, indicating the GPU is the sole limiter.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 487th out of 1636 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 30% of all systems tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured performance. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is critical for Control, which is a visually dense game with heavy texture streaming—at 4K Ultra, the 51.3 FPS average suggests the 10 GB frame buffer is sufficient to avoid major stutters, though the raw compute of 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 is what ultimately caps performance.

The GPU’s clock speeds are 1440 MHz base and 1710 MHz boost, with memory running at 19 Gbps effective. These clocks, combined with 8704 shading units and 272 TMUs, provide the throughput needed for the 1080p Low result of 183.7 FPS. However, the data shows that the RTX 3080’s performance scales almost linearly with resolution, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present for ray tracing and DLSS features, but the measured FPS values do not indicate whether these were enabled—the settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are standard rasterization quality levels.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 80 places it above the i5-12400’s 77th percentile, reinforcing that the GPU is the stronger component. Its average benchmark score of 35787 is nearly double the CPU’s 19850, further confirming that game performance is dictated by the RTX 3080. The 4K High result of 58.7 FPS is particularly telling: it shows that the GPU is operating near its practical limit for this title, as the jump from Medium to High costs 8.8 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 7.4 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the highest preset.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a rank of 487 out of 1636 combos in Control. This places it in the 70th percentile of all systems, meaning roughly 30% of the tested combinations outperform it. Given that the GPU alone sits in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, the combo’s slightly lower rank suggests that the CPU is dragging down the overall score—though the measured FPS data shows no actual CPU bottleneck.

The CPU’s nearest rivals help contextualize this. The i5-12400 scores 19850 in average benchmarks, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771). It is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894). These deltas are negligible, meaning the i5-12400 is effectively performance-equivalent to its immediate competitors for this workload. The GPU’s nearest rivals show similar tight clustering: the RTX 3080 is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Duo and 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, but 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon 880M.

The combination rank of 487 suggests that while the individual components are mid-to-high tier (77th and 80th percentiles), the pairing is not optimized for maximum game-specific performance. This could be due to other combos using higher-end CPUs or GPUs, but within this specific pairing, the data indicates a balanced system that performs as expected. The 4K Ultra result of 51.3 FPS is the weakest point, but it remains playable, and the 1080p Low result of 183.7 FPS shows the headroom available for high-refresh-rate monitors if settings are lowered.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution and frame rate. For 1080p displays, the High preset at 115.6 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium (134 FPS) while staying well above 100 FPS. Pushing to Ultra at 101.3 FPS is also viable, but the 14.3 FPS loss for the final quality tier may not be worth it unless visual fidelity is the priority.

At 1440p, the High preset at 89.5 FPS offers the best balance, as it stays above 60 FPS with a comfortable margin and delivers most of the visual quality. Medium at 102.8 FPS is better for those prioritizing frame rate, but the jump to High costs only 13.3 FPS, making it the sweet spot. Ultra at 76.4 FPS is acceptable for single-player experiences, but the data shows that High is the more sensible choice for competitive play or smooth camera movement.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. Medium at 67.5 FPS is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended setting for a locked 60 FPS experience. High at 58.7 FPS is close to 60 but will likely dip below during intense scenes, while Ultra at 51.3 FPS is only suitable for players who prioritize image quality over smoothness. If you own a 4K 60 Hz display, Medium is the clear winner; if you have a 4K 120 Hz panel, you will need to drop to 1080p or 1440p to take advantage of the refresh rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

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

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 183.7 FPS average
• Medium: 134 FPS average
• High: 115.6 FPS average
• Ultra: 101.3 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 142.9 FPS average
• Medium: 102.8 FPS average
• High: 89.5 FPS average
• Ultra: 76.4 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 95 FPS average
• Medium: 67.5 FPS average
• High: 58.7 FPS average
• Ultra: 51.3 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step down (from 4K to 1440p, and from 1440p to 1080p) yields roughly a 40-50% FPS increase at the same settings. The largest absolute gap is between 1080p Low (183.7 FPS) and 4K Low (95 FPS), a difference of 88.7 FPS. The smallest gap is between 1440p Ultra (76.4 FPS) and 4K Ultra (51.3 FPS), a difference of 25.1 FPS. This reinforces that the RTX 3080’s memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s is sufficient for 4K, but the GPU’s compute throughput becomes the limiting factor at the highest resolution and settings.