Control

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a highly playable experience in Control, though the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combination produces an average of 126 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 76.5 FPS on High and 69.3 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, those figures fall to 95.3 FPS on Low, 56.6 FPS on High, and 51.9 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the strain is evident: Low settings yield 62.3 FPS, High drops to 41.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 36.4 FPS. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep—a 50.6% reduction in average FPS when comparing Low presets—which points to the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but pronounced degradation as resolution increases, which is typical for a graphically demanding title like Control. From 1080p Low (126 FPS) to 4K Low (62.3 FPS), the average frame rate drops by roughly half, indicating that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count. This pattern holds across all presets: High settings fall from 76.5 FPS at 1080p to 41.3 FPS at 4K, while Ultra drops from 69.3 FPS to 36.4 FPS over the same resolution span. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller—about 24.5% on High—but the jump from 1440p to 4K is more punishing, with High settings losing 27% of their frame rate. This behavior suggests that the RX 7600 XT’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for asset streaming, but the GPU’s raw compute throughput—22.57 TFLOPS FP32—becomes the ceiling at 4K. The fact that Low settings at 4K (62.3 FPS) outperform Ultra at 1440p (51.9 FPS) underscores how much headroom the GPU has when shader complexity is reduced, even at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, built on Intel’s 10 nm Alder Lake architecture. In Control, the data shows that this CPU is rarely the bottleneck, even at high frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 126 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU enough frames at lower resolutions. The processor’s benchmark scores reinforce this: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518 and a single-core score of 2332 suggest strong per-thread performance, which matters for a game that relies on physics and AI updates. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and 2-thread score of 1699 further confirm that the i5-12400F handles the lightly threaded workloads typical of action-adventure games without strain. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-12400F sits within 1.3% of the AMD EPYC 7773X’s average score and is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% delta), meaning its overall compute capability is well-matched to this GPU pairing. The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support also help maintain consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 1440p where the GPU begins to take over.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is the dominant factor in Control’s performance, particularly at higher resolutions. With a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2755 MHz, plus 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, the card delivers 176.3 GPixel/s and 352.6 GTexel/s. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is generous for a 2019 title, and the 128-bit bus width paired with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture-heavy scenes load without stutter. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU’s performance scales inversely with resolution: at 1080p, it easily pushes past 60 FPS on all presets, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 36.4 FPS, a figure that is below the playable threshold for many users. The RX 7600 XT’s nearest rival, the RX 7600, is only 0.6% faster on average, while the RTX 2060 SUPER is 1.9% slower, placing this card in a narrow performance band. The data shows that the GPU’s 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the limiting factor at 4K, where even Low settings (62.3 FPS) require significant compute. Notably, the card’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2348 and PassMark G3D score of 17132 indicate solid DirectX 12 performance, which aligns with Control’s use of modern rendering features.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, High settings deliver 76.5 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while Ultra drops to 69.3 FPS—still playable but with diminishing returns. For 1440p, Medium settings (68.2 FPS) provide the best experience, as High (56.6 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS mark and Ultra (51.9 FPS) is noticeably less fluid. At 4K, the data suggests that Low settings (62.3 FPS) are the only viable option for maintaining playability, as Medium (44.3 FPS) and High (41.3 FPS) both dip into uncomfortable territory. The difference between Low and Medium at 1440p is 27.1 FPS, while at 4K it is 18 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s compute limits are reached quickly as settings rise. For users prioritizing frame rate, Low at 1440p (95.3 FPS) offers a high-refresh experience, but the visual hit may not be worth it given that Medium at 1080p (89.2 FPS) outperforms it while likely looking better. The Ultra preset at 1080p (69.3 FPS) is a reasonable choice for those with 60 Hz monitors, as it stays above the threshold with room to spare.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT combination achieves 76.5 FPS on average at 1920x1080 with High settings.

*Q: Can this system run Control at 4K smoothly?*

A: At 4K, only Low settings reach 62.3 FPS on average. Medium (44.3 FPS), High (41.3 FPS), and Ultra (36.4 FPS) all fall below 60 FPS, indicating that 4K is not ideal for this pairing unless the user accepts Low presets.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to the RX 7600 in this context?

A: The RX 7600 XT is 0.6% slower than the RX 7600 based on average benchmark scores, making the two nearly identical in performance for Control.

Q: What is the CPU’s single-thread performance like?

A: The i5-12400F scores 2332 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 909 in 3DMark single-thread, which is sufficient for the game’s AI and physics calculations, as shown by the high FPS at 1080p.

Q: Which settings should I use for a 1440p monitor with a 60 Hz refresh rate?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 produce 68.2 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target. High (56.6 FPS) and Ultra (51.9 FPS) do not maintain this threshold.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM help at higher resolutions?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth prevents texture-related stutters, but the GPU’s compute power—22.57 TFLOPS FP32—is the limiting factor at 4K, where even with ample VRAM, frame rates drop below 45 FPS on Medium and above.