Control

The Intel Core i5-12400 pairs six Performance cores with twelve threads, operating at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, carries 18 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic testing, the processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,935 and a single-core score of 2,249, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. This mid-range positioning is reinforced by its nearest rivals: it sits 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-9700, 0.2% below the Intel Core i7-8700, and 0.4% above the Intel Core i5-11600K. For a game like Control, which leans on both single-thread responsiveness and multi-thread scheduling for its physics and AI systems, these scores suggest the CPU is a competent but not dominant partner.

The measured frame rates indicate that the i5-12400 does not bottleneck the system in this title. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 230.1 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it still manages 155.4 FPS. While these numbers are high, the real proof of CPU headroom comes from the scaling between resolutions. The data shows that the processor can feed the GPU with enough data to keep frame rates elevated even when graphical load is light. The 3DMark threaded tests—5,873 for 16 threads and 5,890 for max threads—show a modest gain from additional threads beyond 8, where the score is 4,745. This indicates a balanced design that handles Control's workload without creating a severe performance ceiling. The 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support further position this CPU as a stable, predictable foundation for the high-end GPU it is paired with here.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how Control responds to different quality presets across resolutions. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 27.2 FPS (230.1 to 202.9), while moving from Medium to High drops another 24.3 FPS (202.9 to 178.6). The step from High to Ultra is steeper, costing 23.2 FPS (178.6 to 155.4). This pattern suggests diminishing returns are not yet severe at 1080p; even Ultra remains far above the 60 FPS threshold. However, the most balanced experience at this resolution is High, which retains most of the visual fidelity while staying 23.2 FPS ahead of Ultra. Low is unnecessary here, as the GPU has headroom to spare.

At 1440p, the same trend continues but with tighter margins. Low yields 208.6 FPS, Medium drops to 155, High to 137.2, and Ultra to 119.6. The gap between Low and Ultra is 89 FPS, indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the load. For a smooth high-refresh experience, High is the recommended preset here, as it stays above 120 FPS while delivering substantially better visuals than Medium. Ultra, while playable, brings the average down to 119.6 FPS, which misses the 120 FPS mark that many users target.

At 4K, the choices become more consequential. Low produces 144.4 FPS, Medium 103.2, High 91.8, and Ultra 81.3. The drop from Low to Medium is 41.2 FPS, and from Medium to High another 11.4 FPS. The data indicates that Medium offers the best balance for 4K, providing 103.2 FPS—comfortably above 60 FPS—while avoiding the substantial cost of High and Ultra. Low is overly conservative for this GPU, leaving performance on the table. Users with 120Hz 4K displays should note that no preset reaches 120 FPS at this resolution; the closest is Low at 144.4 FPS, but that sacrifices too much visual quality. Medium is the sweet spot for a premium 4K experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU workload in Control. At High settings, the combo produces 178.6 FPS at 1080p, 137.2 FPS at 1440p, and 91.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 23.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33.1% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 48.6%, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as pixel count rises. The CPU's role diminishes at higher resolutions, as the i5-12400 has already demonstrated it can exceed 230 FPS at 1080p Low, far above what the GPU can render.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 230.1 FPS at 1080p, 208.6 FPS at 1440p, and 144.4 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop here is 30.8%, which is steeper than the High setting's 33.1% decline. This suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is heavily loaded with raw pixel throughput, while at High settings, additional shading and texture work compounds the load. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 155.4 FPS at 1080p, 119.6 FPS at 1440p, and 81.3 FPS at 4K—a 47.7% reduction overall. This pattern confirms that Control is a GPU-bound title at 4K, regardless of preset, and the i5-12400's 12 threads are sufficient to avoid stalling the RTX 5090.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a combo rank of 22 out of 1,636 tested combinations in Control. This places the system in the top 1.3% of all configurations tested, which is an exceptional result for a CPU that resides in the 77th percentile of all processors. The high rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU's raw performance, as the RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. The data suggests that Control rewards GPU throughput more than CPU threading, so this mid-range CPU does not meaningfully drag down the overall ranking.

The rank of 22 becomes more impressive when considering the CPU's nearest rivals. The i5-12400 is statistically tied with the Intel Core i7-9700 (0.1% delta), the Intel Core i7-8700 (-0.2%), and the Intel Core i5-11600K (0.4%). In a game like Control, these small CPU differences would not alter the final combo ranking, as the frame rates are predominantly GPU-limited. This means that users with a similarly performing CPU—whether from Intel or AMD—would see nearly identical results when paired with the RTX 5090. The data indicates that the i5-12400 is a capable partner for this flagship GPU, providing enough single-thread speed and multi-core throughput to stay out of the way.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines, along with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2,017 MHz and a boost clock of 2,407 MHz, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This massive memory allocation ensures that Control's textures and effects, even at 4K Ultra, fit comfortably within VRAM, preventing any potential stutter from memory swapping.

The GPU's benchmark scores confirm its top-tier status. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 39,650 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 5090 D (0.1% ahead) and the RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% ahead), which are statistical ties, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 trails by 1.3%. The FP32 compute throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s provide ample headroom for Control's visual effects. The measured frame rates reflect this power: at 4K Ultra, the combo still delivers 81.3 FPS, which is only 14.9% lower than the 4K Medium result of 103.2 FPS. This indicates that even the most demanding preset is within the GPU's capabilities, and the limiting factor at 4K is the graphical workload itself, not the memory or compute resources.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-12400 bottleneck the RTX 5090 in Control?

A: No. The data shows the combo reaches 230.1 FPS at 1080p Low and 208.6 FPS at 1440p Low, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,873 is adequate for this title's workload.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: Medium provides the best balance, delivering 103.2 FPS at 3840x2160. High drops to 91.8 FPS, while Ultra falls to 81.3 FPS, so Medium offers a stable frame rate without the visual cost of higher presets.

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

A: The frame rate drops from 178.6 FPS at 1080p to 137.2 FPS at 1440p and 91.8 FPS at 4K. This is a 48.6% reduction overall, confirming the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

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

A: It ranks 22nd out of 1,636 total combos, placing it in the top 1.3% of all systems tested in Control. This is driven by the RTX 5090's 94th percentile GPU score.

Q: Is the CPU comparable to other popular processors for this game?

A: Yes. The i5-12400 is within 0.4% of the Intel Core i7-9700, Intel Core i7-8700, and Intel Core i5-11600K in average benchmark scores, so any of these CPUs would produce similar frame rates when paired with the RTX 5090.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at high refresh rates?

A: At 1080p Ultra it delivers 155.4 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra it reaches 119.6 FPS. For 120Hz displays, 1440p Ultra is viable, but at 4K Ultra the average of 81.3 FPS is better suited to 60Hz or 144Hz monitors with adaptive sync.