Control

Control pairs a six-core, twelve-thread Intel Core i5-12400F with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB, a combination that lands near the bottom of the database’s tested configurations for this title. The data shows a 1497th-place finish out of 1636 recorded combos, placing it in the lower 9% of all systems tested. This is not a configuration built for high-refresh dominance; it is a baseline setup where settings management becomes the primary tool for playability. The measured frame rates across resolutions confirm that the GPU is the decisive bottleneck, with the CPU’s solid multi-threaded capacity going largely underutilized as resolution scales upward.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the Low preset is the only reliable path to smooth gameplay at standard monitor resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low produces an average of 84.8 FPS, which is the only setting in the entire dataset that clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. For comparison, the Medium preset drops to 56.4 FPS, High falls to 51.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 43.5 FPS. If the target is a locked 60 FPS experience at 1080p, Low is the unambiguous choice.

At 2560x1440, the situation tightens considerably. The Low preset averages 60.9 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves almost no headroom for demanding scenes. Medium drops to 45.9 FPS, High to 42.5 FPS, and Ultra to 35 FPS. For 1440p users, Low is the only preset that maintains a playable average, though the margin is thin. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a playable result: Low averages 39.6 FPS, Medium 31.2 FPS, High 27.8 FPS, and Ultra 21.6 FPS. The recommendation for 4K is to avoid this combo entirely or accept a sub-40 FPS experience with the Low preset.

The data suggests a clear hierarchy: use Low at 1080p for the best balance of frame rate and visual fidelity, use Low at 1440p only if you can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS, and avoid 4K altogether. The step from Low to Medium costs 28.4 FPS at 1080p (from 84.8 to 56.4), which is a massive penalty for a modest visual upgrade. This GPU simply does not have the bandwidth or processing capacity to justify higher presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings six physical cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Alder Lake architecture and 10 nm process node deliver strong synthetic benchmark scores: a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 16518 and a single-core result of 2332. Geekbench scores of 9138 multi-core and 2221 single-core further confirm that the CPU is more than capable of feeding a GPU at this performance tier. The 65 W TDP and 18 MB of shared L3 cache round out a processor that sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs in the database.

However, in Control, the CPU’s role is secondary. The measured FPS deltas between settings at the same resolution are entirely GPU-driven; the CPU does not bottleneck at any tested configuration. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i7-8700K (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Core i5-1335U (deltaPct 0.3), and AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (deltaPct -0.7), all of which fall within a 1.3% band of the 12400F’s average score. This indicates that the CPU is not a differentiator in this game; the GPU is. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and max-thread score of 5912 show consistent scaling, but Control rarely stresses all threads equally. In practice, the 12400F provides ample headroom, and the frame rate ceiling is set entirely by the RTX 3050.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the limiting factor in this configuration. Its Ampere architecture, built on Samsung’s 8 nm process, packs 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The boost clock of 1740 MHz and base clock of 1545 MHz are respectable, but the 90 W TDP and 7.127 TFLOPS FP32 performance are modest by modern standards. The GPU sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database, a median position that aligns with its measured performance in Control.

The data shows a stark resolution scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 84.8 FPS, but moving to 1440p Low drops that to 60.9 FPS, and 4K Low falls to 39.6 FPS. The bandwidth limitation is evident: at 4K, the pixel throughput requirement exceeds what 192.0 GB/s can sustain, resulting in sub-40 FPS even on Low. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is also a concern at higher presets; Ultra at 1080p only manages 43.5 FPS, suggesting that memory pressure compounds with the compute load. The RTX 3050 is a 1080p-class card, and the data confirms that its performance envelope is strictly limited to that resolution at Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1497th out of 1636 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the bottom 8.5% of the database. This is a low ranking, but it is not surprising given the GPU’s modest specifications. The CPU’s percentile vs. all CPUs is 77, while the GPU’s percentile vs. all GPUs is 50; the combination’s rank is dragged down by the GPU’s median position and the game’s heavy graphics load. The data indicates that this combo is better suited to less demanding titles or older games, as Control pushes it to its limits even at 1080p.

Comparatively, the CPU’s synthetic benchmark average of 19221 is within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-8700K and 1.3% of the AMD EPYC 7773X, but those comparisons are irrelevant to in-game performance. The bottleneck is the GPU, and the 1497th rank reflects that. For context, the gap between this combo and the top configurations is enormous, but the practical takeaway is that this setup can handle Control at 1080p Low with playable frame rates. At 1440p, it is borderline, and at 4K, it is not viable.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS?*

A: Yes, but only at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which produces an average of 84.8 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average is 60.9 FPS, which is technically at 60 but leaves minimal headroom. No other resolution or setting combination reaches 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: The Low preset is the only option that maintains a playable average at 2560x1440, with 60.9 FPS. Medium drops to 45.9 FPS, which is noticeably less smooth.

Q: Is 4K viable with this hardware?

A: No. The best 4K result is 39.6 FPS on Low, and Ultra drops to 21.6 FPS. The 4 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K rendering in this game.

Q: How much performance is lost by increasing from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 84.8 FPS while Ultra averages 43.5 FPS, a reduction of 41.3 FPS. The step from Low to Medium alone costs 28.4 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the decisive bottleneck. The i5-12400F’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16518 and single-core score of 2332 are strong, and the CPU ranks at the 77th percentile overall, but frame rates scale directly with GPU load.

Q: What synthetic benchmark scores indicate about this combo’s performance?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score is 19221, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-8700K (deltaPct 0.1). The GPU has no benchmark scores listed, but its 50th percentile ranking aligns with the measured in-game performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low averages 39.6 FPS, Medium 31.2 FPS, High 27.8 FPS, and Ultra 21.6 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 18 FPS, indicating that the GPU is overwhelmed at every preset. No setting is playable at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 60.9 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches a playable level. Medium drops to 45.9 FPS, High to 42.5 FPS, and Ultra to 35 FPS. The delta from Low to Ultra is 25.9 FPS, showing that the GPU’s compute and memory limitations are fully exposed at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the results are more varied. Low averages 84.8 FPS, Medium 56.4 FPS, High 51.8 FPS, and Ultra 43.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 41.3 FPS, the largest of any resolution. Low is the only preset that delivers a comfortable frame rate, while Medium and High hover near 50-56 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced action. The data indicates that 1080p Low is the sweet spot for this combo, with all other settings offering diminishing returns for significant frame rate losses.