Control

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB lands at rank 686 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. That places it in the upper-middle tier of the database, meaning it outperforms roughly 58% of all recorded system configurations for this title. The CPU itself sits at the 77th percentile among all processors, and its average benchmark score of 19221 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K, which scores 19210 (a delta of just 0.1%). This suggests the i5-12400F is punching at the level of a much older flagship, which is notable given its 6-core/12-thread design.

The GPU, however, tells a different story. Its percentile ranking among all GPUs is just 17, and its average benchmark score of 2913 is exactly tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (delta 0%). This is a peculiar data point—the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is clearly a modern card, but the benchmark used here (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12) shows it performing at the level of a decade-old mobile chip. The nearest rivals include the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB (2907, delta 0.2%) and the GTX 860M (2959, delta -1.5%), which further underscores how this particular GPU score is an outlier relative to the card's actual gaming capabilities in Control.

In practical terms, the combo's rank of 686 reflects a system that is CPU-balanced but potentially held back by the 8 GB VRAM allocation at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the system hits 86.4 FPS, which is playable but not exceptional for a card in this class. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 46.9 FPS—a figure that is just below the 60 FPS threshold most gamers prefer. The combination is best understood as a mid-range setup that can handle Control at 1440p with high settings comfortably, but struggles to maintain smooth framerates at 4K with maximum quality.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 22,900 million transistors packed into a 188 mm² die. Its base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2535 MHz, and it features 4352 shading units, 136 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 34 RT cores, and 136 tensor cores. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). These specs are modest for a 40-series card, but they are sufficient for a game like Control, which was released in 2019 and does not heavily tax modern GPUs at lower settings.

The GPU's role in this combo becomes clearer when examining the measured FPS at 1080p. At Low settings, the system achieves 163.9 FPS; at Medium, 114.4 FPS; at High, 103.6 FPS; and at Ultra, 86.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 47% reduction in framerate, which is a substantial hit but still leaves the system above 60 FPS at all quality levels. This indicates that the GPU has enough headroom at 1080p to handle the game's demands, even with ray tracing and other effects enabled at Ultra. The 8 GB VRAM is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as Control's texture requirements are modest by modern standards.

However, at 4K, the GPU's limitations become apparent. The framerate drops to 51.3 FPS at High and 46.9 FPS at Ultra, which is a 45% decrease from High to Ultra. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a contributing factor here, as the higher resolution demands more memory for textures and buffers. The card's 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are also relatively narrow for 4K workloads, which explains why the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K even on High settings. The GPU is clearly the limiting factor at this resolution, as the CPU's performance is sufficient for the game's physics and AI calculations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 163.9 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 124.1 FPS (a 24% decrease); and at 4K Low, it falls to 82 FPS (a 34% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is relatively linear, suggesting that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions, but the CPU still has enough headroom to keep up with the game's logic. The i5-12400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 18 MB of L3 cache are sufficient for Control's single-threaded tasks, which is why the system does not see a disproportionate drop in performance at lower resolutions.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute values: 103.6 FPS at 1080p, 77.7 FPS at 1440p (a 25% drop), and 51.3 FPS at 4K (a 34% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU is scaling predictably with resolution, and the CPU is not introducing any unusual bottlenecks. The only anomaly is at 4K Ultra, where the framerate drops to 46.9 FPS—a 33% decrease from 1440p Ultra's 69.8 FPS. This is slightly steeper than the drop at High settings, which suggests that the 8 GB VRAM is being pushed to its limit at 4K Ultra, causing additional overhead.

The data shows that the system is GPU-bound at all resolutions, but the margin narrows at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 163.9 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability in this game. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a plateau in FPS at lower resolutions, but the framerate continues to scale with settings, indicating that the GPU is still the primary constraint. This is a healthy balance for a mid-range system, as it means the user can lower settings to gain more performance without hitting a CPU wall.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems in Control?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F + RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB combo ranks 686 out of 1636 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The i5-12400F scores 19221, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167). It is 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364) and 1.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7773X (18979).

Q: What is the GPU's average benchmark score and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB scores 2913, which is exactly tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (2913, delta 0%). It is 0.2% higher than the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB (2907) and 0.7% higher than the GT 650M (2893), but 1.5% lower than the GTX 860M (2959).

Q: What framerate does the system achieve at 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers an average of 86.4 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the system capable of 4K gaming in Control?

A: At 4K High, the system averages 51.3 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 46.9 FPS. These are below 60 FPS, so 4K gaming is possible but not optimal with this combo.

Q: How does the GPU's percentile ranking affect its performance?

A: The GPU ranks at the 17th percentile among all GPUs, which is low, but its actual performance in Control is playable at 1080p and 1440p. The low percentile is based on a synthetic benchmark that may not reflect real-world gaming performance.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo. The system delivers 77.7 FPS at 1440p High, which is smooth and visually rich, with good texture detail and lighting effects. Dropping to Medium at 1440p yields 86.5 FPS, a 11% improvement, but the visual fidelity loss is noticeable in a game like Control, which relies heavily on atmospheric lighting and particle effects. High settings at 1440p is the recommended choice for most users, as it provides a near-60 FPS experience with high-quality visuals.

For users with 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is viable at 86.4 FPS, which is comfortably above 60 FPS and offers the best visual experience the game can provide. The system has enough headroom at 1080p to handle Ultra settings without significant compromises. If a higher refresh rate is preferred, dropping to High at 1080p yields 103.6 FPS, a 20% improvement, but the visual difference between High and Ultra is minimal in this game. For competitive play or high-refresh monitors, High at 1080p is the recommended choice.

At 4K, the system struggles to maintain 60 FPS even at Low settings (82 FPS). The Medium preset at 4K delivers 57 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target but not quite there. For a more stable experience, Low at 4K is the only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. Users with 4K displays should consider lowering to 1440p for a better experience, as the 1440p High preset (77.7 FPS) offers superior visuals compared to 4K Low (82 FPS) with only a 5% framerate penalty. The data clearly indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding titles or lower quality settings.