Control

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, with the data showing that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates at higher resolutions while the six-core CPU provides sufficient headroom. Benchmark results across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is well-balanced for this Action Adventure title, though the Ultra preset at 4K pushes the combo to its limits with an average of 69 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo in Control shows that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 174 FPS, which is only 59 FPS below the Low preset’s 233 FPS but 40 FPS above the High preset’s 155 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is larger at higher resolutions: at 2560x1440, Medium delivers 132 FPS compared to High’s 117 FPS, a 15 FPS difference, while at 3840x2160, the divide narrows to 10 FPS (89 vs 79). This pattern suggests that Medium captures most of the performance headroom without sacrificing the visual upgrades that come with higher settings.

For users prioritizing smoothness over maximum detail, the High preset remains a strong option, as it maintains an average of 155 FPS at 1080p and 117 FPS at 1440p, both well above typical display refresh rates. However, the Ultra preset shows diminishing returns: at 1080p it drops to 134 FPS, at 1440p to 102 FPS, and at 4K to 69 FPS. The data indicates that Ultra provides only marginal visual gains over High while costing 21 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. Given these measured results, Medium is the recommended preset for consistent high frame rates, with High as a viable alternative for those who prefer enhanced graphics. The Low preset, while delivering the highest FPS (233 at 1080p, 185 at 1440p, 125 at 4K), likely sacrifices too much visual quality for the modest gains over Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, as evidenced by its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU’s boost clock of 2550 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz, combined with 10240 shading units, allow it to handle Control’s demanding environments. The benchmark results show that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with resolution: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 233 FPS, but this drops to 185 FPS at 1440p and 125 FPS at 4K with the same settings. This scaling indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is not bottlenecked at lower resolutions, but rather that the CPU begins to play a larger role as resolution decreases.

The GPU’s memory configuration is particularly relevant for Control, a game known for its detailed textures and physics effects. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 69 FPS, which suggests that the 16 GB frame buffer is sufficient for this title, as the bottleneck likely lies in the GPU’s compute capabilities rather than memory capacity. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are also notable, though the measured FPS data does not isolate ray tracing or DLSS performance. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 34245 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scores 54247 on average, just 0.1% higher. This indicates that the SUPER variant is nearly identical in raw performance to the non-SUPER model, with the data showing a negligible delta of -0.1%.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the limiting component shifts across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 233 FPS, but this falls to 185 FPS at 1440p and 125 FPS at 4K, representing a 46.4% drop from 1080p to 4K. For the Medium preset, the decline is steeper: 174 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 89 FPS at 4K, a cumulative 48.9% reduction. High settings show a similar pattern: 155 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K, a 49.0% drop. The Ultra preset exhibits the largest percentage decline, falling from 134 FPS at 1080p to 102 FPS at 1440p and 69 FPS at 4K, a 48.5% decrease.

These numbers indicate that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary limiter at 4K, as the performance drop from 1440p to 4K is consistent across all settings (ranging from 32.4% for Low to 32.4% for Ultra). Conversely, the smaller absolute differences between 1080p and 1440p (e.g., 48 FPS for Low, 42 FPS for Medium) suggest that the CPU still contributes meaningfully at lower resolutions, but the GPU increasingly dominates as pixel count rises. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the i5-12400F can feed the GPU enough frames to reach 233 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s raw compute limits the combo to 69 FPS, regardless of CPU headroom. This scaling behavior is typical for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU, where the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 324th out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 8.7% of all systems. This ranking reflects the strong performance of the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, paired with the i5-12400F, which sits in the 73rd percentile among CPUs. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 19039 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 19047 (0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056 (-0.1%), the Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18982 (0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 7773X scores 18979 (0.3%). This clustering suggests that the i5-12400F’s performance is well within the expected range for its class, and the combo’s high ranking is largely attributable to the GPU.

The 324th rank out of 3720 combos indicates that this pairing outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, but it is not at the very top, where more powerful CPUs (e.g., higher-core-count parts) might push frame rates higher at 1080p. The data shows that the combo’s strengths are most apparent at 1440p and 4K, where the GPU’s 16 GB memory and high bandwidth shine. Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RTX 4080 SUPER is 1.1% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and 2.7% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB in average benchmark scores, yet the measured FPS in Control are strong, suggesting that game-specific optimization favors NVIDIA hardware. The ranking also implies that many combos with higher-end CPUs or multiple GPUs achieve better scores, but for a single-GPU, mid-range CPU setup, this result is impressive.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?*

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides the best experience, achieving an average of 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS. This resolution balances visual quality with high frame rates, as 4K drops to 89 FPS on Medium.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 69 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, but it is still playable. The data shows that High settings at 4K offer 79 FPS, which is a better choice for maintaining higher frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 233 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not the limiting factor. The i5-12400F’s six cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, are sufficient to drive the RTX 4080 SUPER to high frame rates at this resolution. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU at higher resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, while the RTX 4080 scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%. This indicates that the SUPER variant is nearly identical in performance, with the data showing no significant advantage for either card.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo delivers an average of 132 FPS, with a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 152 FPS. This range suggests consistent performance without major frame drops.

*Q: Does this combo support ray tracing in Control?*

A: The GPU has 80 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, but the measured FPS data does not include ray tracing benchmarks. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance suggest it is capable, but no specific numbers are available.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 233 FPS, the highest recorded for this combo. Medium settings reduce this to 174 FPS, with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 200 FPS. High settings average 155 FPS, while Ultra drops to 134 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized at lower settings, as the CPU can feed frames quickly enough to exceed 200 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 185 FPS, a 20.6% decrease from 1080p. Medium settings deliver 132 FPS (minimum 112, maximum 152), High averages 117 FPS, and Ultra averages 102 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that the GPU is becoming more involved, as the percentage drop from Low to Ultra is 44.9%, compared to 42.5% at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 125 FPS, which is still high for 4K. Medium settings average 89 FPS (minimum 76, maximum 102), High averages 79 FPS, and Ultra averages 69 FPS. The 4K data reveals that the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as even Low settings cannot reach the frame rates seen at lower resolutions. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56 FPS, a 44.8% reduction, which is consistent with the scaling observed at other resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a capable mid-range part, as reflected in its 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12380 and single-core score of 1680 indicate solid performance, while its PassMark multithread score of 19433 shows it can handle multi-threaded workloads.

In Control, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the combo reaches 233 FPS on Low settings. This suggests that the i5-12400F’s single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 909, is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 SUPER at lower resolutions. However, the data shows that at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as the FPS drops are proportionally larger with resolution increases. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for this Action Adventure title, which likely does not require more than a few threads, but its mid-range positioning means that more powerful CPUs (e.g., those with higher clocks or more cores) might yield higher frame rates at 1080p. The CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, scores nearly identically (19047 vs 19039), indicating that the i5-12400F is well-matched to its peers. The combo’s rank of 324 out of 3720 suggests that the CPU contributes positively to the overall performance, but the GPU is the star of the show.