Control

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti combination ranks 975th out of 1,636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This position reflects a pairing of a modern, high-core-count CPU with an aging, though once-flagship, GPU. The data shows a system that is capable of smooth gameplay at lower resolutions and settings, but one that struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum graphical fidelity. The benchmark results indicate the GTX 1080 Ti is the primary bottleneck in this pairing, especially as resolution and settings increase.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 975 out of 1,636 places it in the 40th percentile of all tested systems in this game. This is a middling result, suggesting that while the hardware is far from obsolete, it does not deliver the high-end experience that its individual components might suggest. The data indicates a significant performance ceiling is imposed by the GPU. The CPU, which sits in the 84th percentile of all processors, is clearly capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU's 61st percentile standing limits overall performance. This ranking implies that in a game like Control, which is known for its demanding rendering, the combination is better suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming than for 4K. The delta between the CPU and GPU performance percentiles highlights an imbalance, with the processor having substantially more headroom than the graphics card can utilize.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, which are strong figures for gaming workloads. The processor's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a versatile and powerful part. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 23,444 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,309 in single-core, demonstrating robust multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. Its average benchmark score of 27,827 places it in a statistical tie with the Intel Core i9-10900K (0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (-0.1% delta), showing that it performs essentially identically to its direct rivals. In the context of Control, the CPU's strong single-thread performance is crucial for game logic and physics, but the measured FPS data suggests that it is rarely the limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 135.5 FPS, a figure that points to the CPU's ability to push high frame rates when the GPU load is low. The data shows the processor has ample headroom to handle the game's demands, leaving the performance burden squarely on the graphics card.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a Pascal-architecture GPU with 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. Its base clock is 1481 MHz with a boost of 1582 MHz, and it houses 3,584 shading units. While this was a flagship card at its 2017 launch, its age is evident in its feature set, lacking dedicated ray tracing cores. The GPU's average benchmark score is 19,402, which is statistically identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro 560X (-0.1% delta), indicating that its raw compute performance is now on par with much older or lower-tier parts. In Control, the GPU's limitations become apparent at higher settings. The game’s use of advanced lighting and particle effects heavily taxes the 1080 Ti's older architecture. While the 11 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures, the lack of hardware-accelerated ray tracing forces the card to rely on traditional rendering methods, which hurts performance at higher presets. The data shows the GPU is the clear performance bottleneck, as FPS drops more steeply with settings increases than would be expected if the CPU were a constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear performance pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system starts with a strong 135.5 FPS on Low settings, which is highly playable. This drops to 92.7 FPS on Medium, 82.5 FPS on High, and 70.5 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show a playable experience across all settings, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 65 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the scores are still respectable but show more strain. The Low setting yields 98.6 FPS, which then falls to 73.7 FPS on Medium, 64.7 FPS on High, and 55.6 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results represent a good balance for this hardware, offering smooth gameplay on High and acceptable performance on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations are fully exposed. The Low setting manages 68.3 FPS, but this is the only playable result. Medium drops to 46.4 FPS, High to 40.4 FPS, and Ultra to 38.1 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the GTX 1080 Ti is not capable of delivering a consistent 60 FPS experience at this resolution, with even the Medium setting falling below that threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this system. When moving from 1080p to 1440p on High settings, the FPS drops from 82.5 to 64.7, a 21.5% decrease. This is a moderate drop, indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the pressure but is still managing to keep up with the CPU. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K on High settings is far more punishing, with FPS falling from 64.7 to 40.4, a 37.6% decrease. This steep drop-off is a classic sign of a GPU that is running out of pixel-pushing power. The data shows a similar pattern across all settings. On Low, the transition from 1080p (135.5 FPS) to 4K (68.3 FPS) represents a 49.6% performance loss, while on Ultra, the same transition (70.5 FPS to 38.1 FPS) is a 45.9% loss. These figures demonstrate that the limiting component is the GPU, as the frame rate scales almost inversely with the number of pixels being rendered. The CPU's performance headroom is evident in the relatively high FPS at 1080p, but as resolution increases, the GPU's fixed rendering capacity becomes the dominant factor, leading to the significant frame rate drops observed at 4K.