Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Control with the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER reveals a pronounced shift in performance characteristics as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 214.1 FPS, but this drops to 164.5 FPS at 1440p and further to 110.1 FPS at 4K. That represents a 48.6% reduction in frame rate from 1080p Low to 4K Low, indicating the GPU is becoming progressively more stressed as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern becomes more telling when examining the High preset. The transition from 1080p High at 136.8 FPS to 1440p High at 105.9 FPS shows a 22.6% performance hit, while moving to 4K High yields 72.1 FPS — a 47.3% drop from the 1080p baseline. This non-linear decline suggests that at 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER is operating near its limits for this title, with the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth becoming the dominant constraint.

At Ultra settings, the trend continues but with lower absolute values. The 1080p Ultra result of 116.7 FPS falls to 87.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 60.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure sits just above the 60 FPS threshold, which is notable for a game released in 2019. The delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution grows with pixel count: at 1080p, Ultra is 45.5% slower than Low; at 1440p, the gap widens to 46.7%; and at 4K, Ultra trails Low by 45.0%. This consistent gap across resolutions indicates that the settings scaling is primarily GPU-bound, with the CPU maintaining sufficient headroom even at lower resolutions.

The data suggests that at 1080p, particularly with Low settings, the frame rates exceed 200 FPS, which implies the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately. However, the 214.1 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low versus the 110.1 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that the limiting component shifts firmly to the GPU as resolution increases. For users targeting 4K Ultra, the 60.6 FPS average is borderline, while 1440p High at 105.9 FPS offers a more comfortable margin for high-refresh monitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides a solid foundation for this pairing, with 6 cores and 12 threads operating at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, delivers strong single-thread performance that is critical for Control's engine. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a single-thread score of 910 in 3DMark and 2249 in Cinebench R23, while multi-thread results reach 5890 in 3DMark max threads and 15935 in Cinebench R23 multicore.

The benchmark data indicates that the i5-12400 holds up well even at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more significant. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 214.1 FPS, which is a substantial figure for a game with the visual complexity of Control. This suggests the CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache are sufficient to keep the RTX 4070 SUPER fed with draw calls and physics calculations.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the i5-12400's average benchmark score of 19850 places it nearly level with the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, deltaPct 0.1) and Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, deltaPct -0.2). The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5873 and 8-thread score of 4745 show scaling that is consistent with a 6-core/12-thread part. For Control, which benefits from higher single-thread performance, the CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and PassMark single-thread score of 3456 indicate robust per-core capabilities.

The 65 W TDP and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 or DDR5) allow this processor to maintain sustained performance without thermal throttling, which is relevant for extended gaming sessions. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes on the CPU side ensures no bandwidth bottleneck for the RTX 4070 SUPER's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection. Overall, the data shows the i5-12400 is not the limiting factor in this combo for Control, even at 1080p where frame rates approach 214 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 262 out of 1636 tested combinations for Control. This places it in the top 16% of all combos in the database, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank of 262 indicates that 1,374 other combos perform worse in this title, while 261 combos deliver higher frame rates.

Given the CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 84th percentile among all graphics cards, the combo's overall position in the 84th percentile (262/1636) is slightly lower than the GPU's individual standing. This suggests that the CPU is holding back the GPU to a minor degree, particularly at lower resolutions where the RTX 4070 SUPER's raw power cannot be fully utilized. The gap between the GPU's 84th percentile and the combo's 84th percentile rank (262/1636 = 84.0%) is marginal, though.

The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, has an average score of 42653 against the RTX 4070 SUPER's 42576 (deltaPct -0.2), meaning the A6000 is essentially tied in synthetic performance. The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723, deltaPct -0.3) and AMD Radeon Pro 580X (41991, deltaPct 1.4) are also close, but those comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks rather than Control-specific results.

For Control specifically, the measured FPS data shows the combo excels at 1440p and 1080p, with 4K Ultra being the only scenario where frame rates dip near 60 FPS. The rank of 262 out of 1636 suggests that while there are faster combos, they likely involve higher-tier CPUs (such as Core i7 or i9 parts) that provide marginal gains in CPU-bound scenarios. The i5-12400's nearest CPU rival, the i7-9700, has a nearly identical average score (deltaPct 0.1), so swapping to that CPU would not meaningfully change Control's performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting with 1920x1080 resolutions, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. At Low settings, the average FPS is 214.1, which is the maximum recorded in this dataset. Medium settings produce 153.9 FPS, High settings yield 136.8 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 116.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 60.2 FPS (28.1%), while the gap between Medium and High is 17.1 FPS (11.1%). The difference between High and Ultra is 20.1 FPS (14.7%), indicating diminishing returns as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 164.5 (Low), 115.7 (Medium), 105.9 (High), and 87.7 (Ultra). The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings: Low falls by 23.2%, Medium by 24.8%, High by 22.6%, and Ultra by 24.9%. This uniform reduction of roughly 23-25% indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, with the CPU's role diminishing.

At 3840x2160, the results are 110.1 (Low), 75.9 (Medium), 72.1 (High), and 60.6 (Ultra). The drop from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced: Low falls by 33.1%, Medium by 34.4%, High by 31.9%, and Ultra by 30.9%. Interestingly, the gap between Medium and High at 4K narrows to just 3.8 FPS (5.0%), suggesting that the High preset's additional effects are less impactful when pixel count is the dominant cost. The 4K Ultra result of 60.6 FPS is the only sub-60 average in this dataset, though it barely clears the 60 FPS line.

The data reveals that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for Control at all tested settings, as no anomalies or crashes are indicated. The 4K Low result of 110.1 FPS demonstrates that even at 4K, the GPU has significant headroom when visual effects are reduced. For those seeking maximum frame rates, 1080p Low at 214.1 FPS enables high-refresh gameplay, while 1440p High at 105.9 FPS offers a balanced experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Control?

A: The highest average FPS is 214.1, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 60.6 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 136.8 at 1080p High to 72.1 at 4K High, representing a 47.3% reduction.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for Control?

A: The combo ranks 262nd out of 1,636 tested combinations, placing it in the top 16% of all combos.

Q: How does the CPU's synthetic performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 164.5 FPS while Ultra settings produce 87.7 FPS, a difference of 76.8 FPS or 46.7%.