Control

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a performance profile in Control that is heavily dictated by resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combination demonstrates significant headroom, while at 4K, the frame rates compress into a narrower band, indicating a shift in the bottleneck. The measured data across all settings shows a clear trend: the cost of moving to higher resolutions is substantial, with the most demanding preset at 4K producing less than half the average frame rate of the least demanding preset at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a predictable but steep performance curve. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 99.4 FPS at 1080p to 79.1 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 53.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 46.4% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear; the gap between 1440p and 4K (a 32.6% decrease) is more punishing than the gap between 1080p and 1440p (a 20.4% decrease), which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at these higher pixel counts.

The data suggests that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combination reaches 161.1 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high rates. However, when the resolution is raised to 4K with Ultra settings, the average FPS plummets to 44.1. This 117 FPS difference (from 161.1 to 44.1) is primarily attributable to the GPU's rendering workload. The RX 7700 XT, with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, is the component being stressed at 4K, as the pixel throughput requirements increase dramatically.

Interesting observations emerge at the settings extremes. At 4K Low, the combo produces 81.9 FPS, which is higher than the 1440p Ultra result of 66.3 FPS. This indicates that the preset settings have a more significant impact on performance than the resolution alone. The scaling from Low to Ultra at any given resolution is substantial; at 1080p, the difference between Low (161.1 FPS) and Ultra (88.6 FPS) is 72.5 FPS, a 45% drop. At 4K, the same Low-to-Ultra comparison shows a drop from 81.9 FPS to 44.1 FPS, a 46.1% reduction. The consistency of this percentage across resolutions suggests the game's visual settings scale predictably with the GPU's compute capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results indicate a strong single-threaded performance, scoring 909 in 3dmark_single_thread and 3481 in passmark_single_thread. These figures are crucial for a game like Control, which relies heavily on a limited number of threads for game logic and draw calls. The CPU's position in the 77th percentile vs all CPUs underscores its capability as a modern mid-range part.

The data suggests that the i5-12400F is not the primary limiter at lower resolutions. The fact that the 1080p Low preset yields 161.1 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can handle the frame submission rate necessary for high refresh rate gaming. The CPU's performance is further contextualized by its nearest rivals; it is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-1335U (0.3% delta), while slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (-0.7% delta) in average benchmark score. This places it in a familiar performance tier for a 6-core part.

However, the CPU's role becomes more complex at higher settings. While the GPU is the obvious bottleneck at 4K Ultra, the CPU's thread utilization matters for maintaining consistent frame pacing. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 5895 and the cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16518 show that the processor has adequate multi-threaded throughput. Yet, the game's engine, released in 2019, may not scale perfectly across all 12 threads. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU can deliver high frame rates (161.1 FPS at 1080p Low), but the overall system performance is defined by the GPU's workload as resolution and settings increase.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1636 tested combinations for Control, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT achieves a rank of 711. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems. The rank suggests that while the GPU is a capable 73rd percentile part (with an avgBenchmarkScore of 30097), and the CPU is a solid 77th percentile part, the combination does not translate to a top-tier gaming experience in this specific title. The rank of 711 out of 1636 indicates that a substantial number of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance level. The RX 7700 XT is statistically tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 570 (-0.2% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (0.4% delta) in average benchmark score. This is a curious grouping, as the RX 570 is an older, lower-tier card, yet its average score is nearly identical in the synthetic benchmarks. This highlights that synthetic benchmarks do not always translate directly to gaming performance, especially in a title like Control which has specific rendering features. The combo's rank of 711 suggests that the game's engine responds favorably to other architectures or configurations not represented in this specific pairing.

FAQ

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

A: The average frame rate at 1920x1080 with High settings is 99.4 FPS.

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

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 88.6, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 44.1 FPS, representing a 50.2% decrease in performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The frame rate drops significantly from 81.9 FPS at 4K Low to 44.1 FPS at 4K Ultra, showing the GPU's rendering workload is the dominant constraint. The CPU's high 1080p Low result of 161.1 FPS shows it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 161.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: This specific combination ranks 711th out of 1636 tested combinations for the game.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1440p High and 4K High?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 79.1, while at 3840x2160 with High settings, it is 53.3 FPS, a decrease of 25.8 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for Control, particularly as resolution and settings are increased. Its architecture, RDNA 3.0 on a 5 nm process, features 3456 shading units and 96 ROPs. The GPU's boost clock of 2544 MHz and game clock of 2171 MHz provide the raw computational throughput necessary for the game's physics and rendering effects. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the textures and buffers at 4K, as evidenced by the playable 53.3 FPS average at High settings.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 73rd percentile vs all GPUs. Its passmark_g3d score of 22547 and geekbench_vulkan score of 132758 are indicative of its DirectX 12 and Vulkan capabilities, which are relevant for Control's rendering API. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales with the workload; it can deliver 161.1 FPS at 1080p Low, but it is the clear bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS is 44.1. The GPU's compute capabilities, highlighted by its fp32 performance of 35.17 TFLOPS, are heavily taxed at the higher preset levels.

The measured FPS data confirms that the RX 7700 XT is a strong performer for 1440p gaming. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 79.1 FPS, which is a smooth experience for most players. The GPU's 245 W TDP and dual-slot cooler are consistent with its performance class. While it is not the fastest card available, its benchmark scores are nearly identical to the GeForce RTX 5060 (0% delta), suggesting that in this game, the two cards are likely to produce similar frame rates. The GPU's role is clear: it provides the necessary horsepower for high refresh rate 1080p and smooth 1440p gameplay, while 4K requires a reduction in quality settings to maintain high frame rates, as seen in the 81.9 FPS result at 4K Low.