Control

# Control with Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB delivers a playable Control experience across most settings, but the data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution and preset choices. This combination ranks 1094 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake processor with a 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clock provides solid fundamentals, while the Blackwell 2.0 GPU with 4608 shading units and 8 GB of GDDR7 memory handles the game's demands with measurable headroom at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lives in this system. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 102 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 77 FPS, a 24.5% reduction, and then 4K High falls to 52 FPS, another 32.5% reduction from 1440p. This scaling pattern is remarkably consistent with what you would expect from a GPU-bound scenario — the CPU has enough headroom at lower resolutions, but the graphics card's workload grows disproportionately as pixel count increases.

The Low settings row amplifies this trend. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 161 FPS, which drops to 122 FPS at 1440p (a 24.2% decrease) and then to 82 FPS at 4K (a 32.8% decrease from 1440p). The near-identical percentage drops across High and Low presets suggest that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, not the specific graphical features enabled. This is a strong indicator that the RTX 5060 Ti's 128-bit memory bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at higher resolutions, regardless of how much shading work is being offloaded.

At 4K, the gap between Low (82 FPS) and High (52 FPS) is 30 FPS, while at 1080p that same gap is 59 FPS. The compression of performance differences at 4K indicates the GPU is nearing its throughput ceiling — the pixel rate of 123.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 370.4 GTexel/s become limiting factors before the preset's additional effects can fully manifest. The data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combination, where the CPU still feeds the GPU adequately and the graphics card has enough bandwidth to render detailed scenes without collapsing into single-digit frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 82. Medium settings at 4K produce a 58 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum, while High drops to 52 FPS and Ultra falls to 45 FPS. The measured data shows 4K is viable for slower-paced exploration but may struggle in intense combat sequences at higher presets.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combination?

A: The data shows 1440p offers the best balance, with 77 FPS at High settings and 87 FPS at Medium. The 1080p results are higher (102 FPS at High) but the jump to 1440p only costs 25 FPS while providing significantly more detail. At 4K, even Low settings drop to 82 FPS, suggesting the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: While the fact pack does not include VRAM usage figures, the 4K results show a steep performance cliff. The 8 GB GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears insufficient for the highest presets at 4K, as evidenced by Ultra averaging only 45 FPS. The memory configuration likely contributes to the diminishing returns seen when raising settings at this resolution.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 holding back the RTX 5060 Ti in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is adequate but not overprovisioned. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 161 FPS, indicating the CPU can drive high frame rates. However, the 3dmark 16-thread score of 5873 and single-thread score of 910 place it at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, so it is not a top-tier performer. The game appears to scale with resolution in a way that shifts load to the GPU.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Medium averages 87 FPS with a 74 FPS minimum and 100 FPS maximum, while High averages 77 FPS. That is a 10 FPS difference for the step up in quality. The Medium preset's minimum of 74 FPS still clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably, making it a safer choice for maintaining consistent performance.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested systems in Control?

A: This combination ranks 1094 out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the 62nd percentile of the database. That is a solid mid-tier result, not a top performer but far from the bottom. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 72 is higher than the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 29, suggesting the graphics card is the weaker link relative to its peers.

GPU Role

The RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB is the dominant factor in this system's Control performance, and the benchmark data makes that clear. The GPU's base clock of 2407 MHz and boost clock of 2572 MHz are modest for a 50-series card, but the Blackwell 2.0 architecture's 4608 shading units and 144 texture mapping units provide substantial compute throughput. The 23.70 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the headline number, yet the game's results show that raw compute is not the only constraint.

The memory subsystem deserves scrutiny. With 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, the RTX 5060 Ti delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. At 1080p, this is more than sufficient — the system hits 161 FPS at Low settings, indicating the memory pipeline keeps up with the shading units. At 4K, however, the bandwidth becomes a bottleneck. The 4K Medium results (58 FPS average, 50 FPS minimum) versus 1080p Medium (114 FPS average, 97 FPS minimum) show a 56 FPS drop, a 49% reduction. This is disproportionately large compared to the 4x pixel count increase, pointing to memory bandwidth saturation rather than pure shader limits.

The GPU's 48 ROPs and 123.5 GPixel/s pixel fill rate also factor into the 4K results. At 3840x2160, the pixel count is 8.3 million, and the GPU's pixel rate theoretically supports well over 100 FPS if that were the only limit. The fact that 4K Ultra produces only 45 FPS suggests that other bottlenecks — likely VRAM capacity or bandwidth — are kicking in before the ROPs are fully utilized.

Interestingly, the GPU's passmark_g3d score of 21981 and 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 4019 place it at the 29th percentile among all GPUs. This low percentile ranking is consistent with the 4K performance struggles observed in Control. The card is clearly positioned for 1080p and 1440p gaming, not 4K, and the measured FPS data reinforces that positioning.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the Control experience with this hardware. Starting at 1080p, the Low preset delivers 161 FPS, which is far beyond what any display needs. Medium drops to 114 FPS with a 97 FPS minimum — still excellent for high-refresh monitors. High produces 102 FPS, and Ultra falls to 88 FPS. At this resolution, players can safely choose Ultra for maximum visual quality while staying above 60 FPS, though the 88 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1440p, the calculus changes. Ultra averages 67 FPS, which is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold. High averages 77 FPS, providing more breathing room. Medium averages 87 FPS with a 74 FPS minimum, making it the safest recommendation for consistent 60+ FPS gameplay. The 100 FPS maximum at Medium suggests that less demanding areas will feel smooth, while the 74 FPS minimum keeps combat sequences fluid. Low at 1440p produces 122 FPS, which is overkill for most displays and sacrifices too much visual fidelity for the frame rate gain.

At 4K, the recommendations become more restrictive. Low is the only preset that clears 60 FPS comfortably at 82 FPS. Medium averages 58 FPS with a 50 FPS minimum, meaning there will be noticeable stutters during intense scenes. High drops to 52 FPS and Ultra to 45 FPS — neither is ideal for action gameplay. The data suggests that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 82 FPS average may dip in physics-heavy sequences given that Control is an action-adventure title with destructible environments.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1440p Medium. It offers a 87 FPS average, a 74 FPS minimum, and a 100 FPS maximum, which balances visual quality with performance headroom. The 1440p High preset at 77 FPS is also viable, but the lack of a recorded minimum FPS makes Medium the safer choice for guaranteed smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 1094 out of 2888 places this system in the 62nd percentile of all tested combinations in Control. This is a respectable position, but it reveals an interesting disparity: the CPU ranks at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at only the 29th percentile among all GPUs. The combination's overall rank of 1094 is lower than the CPU's percentile would suggest, implying that the GPU drags the system down in a game that appears to be GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its contribution. The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697 on average, a deltaPct of -0.1% compared to the i5-12400's 18683 average benchmark score. The Intel Core i7-1355U is -0.3% behind, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 is -0.7% behind. The Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% ahead. These tiny deltas indicate that the i5-12400 is well-matched with its peers in synthetic benchmarks, and none of these rivals would dramatically change Control's FPS results.

The GPU's nearest rivals paint a different picture. The AMD FirePro W5130M scores 4904 (deltaPct -0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 scores 4893 (deltaPct 0.2%), and the AMD Radeon R7 M265 scores 4929 (deltaPct -0.6%). These are dramatically weaker GPUs, yet their average benchmark scores are within 1% of the RTX 5060 Ti. This is a statistical anomaly — the RTX 5060 Ti's passmark_g3d score of 21981 dwarfs what those older cards would produce, but the avgBenchmarkScore of 4901 pulls in low scores from other tests. The percentileVsAllGpus of 29 reflects this oddity, and it should not be read as a statement about gaming performance relative to those rivals.

In Control specifically, the 1094 rank suggests the system outperforms roughly 62% of tested combos. Given that the game was released in August 2019 and this hardware is from 2022 and 2025 respectively, the rank is reasonable. The system is not a top-tier 4K performer, but it handles 1440p and 1080p with authority.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset reveals a consistent pattern across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system produces the following average FPS: Low 161, Medium 114 (with a 97 FPS minimum and 132 FPS maximum), High 102, and Ultra 88. The spread from Low to Ultra is 73 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, and even the most demanding preset stays well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally: Low 122, Medium 87 (74 minimum, 100 maximum), High 77, and Ultra 67. The spread narrows to 55 FPS, and Ultra dips close to the 60 FPS line but does not cross it. The Medium preset's recorded minimum of 74 FPS is the only min/max data point at this resolution, but it indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains playable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically: Low 82, Medium 58 (50 minimum, 67 maximum), High 52, and Ultra 45. The spread from Low to Ultra is just 37 FPS, and only Low clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium's 50 FPS minimum means there will be visible hitches, and High and Ultra are best reserved for screenshot purposes rather than active gameplay.

The lack of min/max data for most rows is a limitation, but the available data points at 1080p Medium (97 min, 132 max) and 1440p Medium (74 min, 100 max) and 4K Medium (50 min, 67 max) show that frame time variance increases with resolution. The 4K Medium row's 17 FPS range between min and max is the tightest of the three, but that is because the average itself is so low — there is less room for fluctuation when the GPU is already near its limit.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides a stable foundation for Control, and the data shows it is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on Alder Lake architecture, this CPU offers a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide adequate data locality for game workloads, and the 10 nm process node keeps power consumption at a 65 W TDP.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU's capabilities. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and single-core score of 2257 are solid mid-range numbers. The Geekbench multicore score of 8564 and single-core score of 1848 corroborate this. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 5873 and max-thread score of 5890 indicate that the CPU scales well up to its full thread count, which is relevant for a game like Control that can utilize multiple cores for physics and AI.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database are all within 1% of its average benchmark score of 18683. The AMD EPYC 7643 is -0.1% behind, the Intel Core i7-1355U is -0.3% behind, the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 is -0.7% behind, and the Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% ahead. These negligible deltas suggest that swapping the i5-12400 for any of these alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates in Control, since the game is not CPU-bound at the resolutions tested.

Evidence for the CPU's sufficiency comes from the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 161 FPS, which is high enough that any CPU bottleneck would manifest as inconsistent frame times. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p (161 to 114 FPS) is a 47 FPS drop, and the further drop to High (102 FPS) is only 12 FPS. This pattern suggests the GPU is the primary constraint once settings increase. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes further, as the GPU's workload grows and frame rates drop accordingly.

The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel configuration, gives it flexibility, though the fact pack does not specify which memory type was used in the benchmark. The PCIe Gen 5 support with 16 lanes (CPU only) ensures the GPU has adequate bandwidth for data transfer, and the integrated UHD Graphics 730 is irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU present. The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is a capable mid-range part, and Control's results show it does not hold back the RTX 5060 Ti in any meaningful way at the tested settings.