Control

Control, the 2019 action-adventure title, demonstrates highly scalable performance with the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a system where the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s 10-core, 16-thread configuration provides sufficient headroom for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming. This analysis examines the resolution scaling behavior, answers common questions from the data, and provides preset recommendations based on the measured results.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic and predictable drop in average frame rates across all settings presets, confirming that the RTX 5080’s rendering workload is the dominant factor at higher pixel counts. At the High preset, the system delivers 167.8 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 122.4 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 85.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 27.1% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the limiting component as resolution increases.

The Low preset shows the most extreme scaling behavior. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 263.2 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Dropping to 2560x1440 yields 197.3 FPS, and at 3840x2160 the frame rate settles at 130.8 FPS. The 1080p-to-4K drop here is 50.3%, nearly identical to the High preset’s scaling. This consistency suggests that even at Low settings, where CPU overhead might become more visible, the RTX 5080 remains the bottleneck at 4K, as the absolute frame rates are still substantial.

The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 188.6 FPS at 1080p, 142.5 FPS at 1440p, and 97.7 FPS at 4K. The percentage decrease from 1080p to 4K is 48.2%. The Ultra preset, which produces the lowest absolute frame rates, shows 144.7 FPS at 1080p, 109.5 FPS at 1440p, and 70.5 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K drop for Ultra is 51.3%, the steepest of all presets. This indicates that the additional graphical features enabled at Ultra scale more heavily with resolution, increasing the GPU workload disproportionately.

At 1080p, the frame rate differences between presets are substantial, with Low being 57% faster than Ultra. This wide gap narrows at 4K, where Low is only 85.5% faster than Ultra, reinforcing that the RTX 5080’s compute and memory bandwidth are the decisive factors at higher resolutions. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for Control’s textures, but the raw pixel fill rate and shader throughput determine the final frame rates. The data shows no evidence of a CPU limitation at any resolution, as the i5-12600KF’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz and 20 MB of L3 cache keep feeding the GPU adequately even at 263 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 263.2 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only setting combination that exceeds 250 FPS, and it is 57% faster than the same resolution at Ultra settings, which delivers 144.7 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Low performance?

A: At 4K Ultra, the system delivers 70.5 FPS, which is 73.2% lower than the 263.2 FPS seen at 1080p Low. The difference is 192.7 FPS, showing the massive impact of both resolution and preset on the RTX 5080’s workload.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF a bottleneck at 1080p with this GPU?

A: The benchmark results indicate no CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 263.2 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The CPU’s multi-threaded performance, scoring 23,444 in Cinebench R23, and its 10 cores and 16 threads, provide sufficient processing power to keep the RTX 5080 fed, as frame rates scale consistently with GPU load.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 142.5 FPS, which is 16.4% higher than the High preset’s 122.4 FPS. The difference is 20.1 FPS, suggesting that Medium offers a significant performance advantage while likely maintaining most visual fidelity.

Q: How does the combo’s ranking in Control compare to other tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 66th out of 1,636 tested combinations in Control. This places it in the top 4% of all tested configurations, indicating that this CPU-GPU pairing is highly competitive for this specific title.

Q: Does the RTX 5080’s performance fall below 60 FPS at any measured setting?

A: No. The lowest measured average frame rate is 70.5 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset. All other tested configurations exceed 85 FPS, meaning this combo maintains smooth gameplay even at the most demanding settings in this dataset.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 60 FPS as a minimum, the Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that comes close to the threshold, delivering 70.5 FPS, which is still comfortably above it. The data shows that the High preset at 4K provides 85.1 FPS, offering a 20.7% performance increase over Ultra while presumably reducing some graphical effects. Given the relatively small absolute frame rate difference, High at 4K is a solid choice for those prioritizing visual quality while maintaining high frame rates.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 122.4 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, the Medium preset at 142.5 FPS offers a 16.4% improvement over High, making it a strong candidate for competitive play or for users who want extra headroom for frame time consistency. The Ultra preset at 1440p still achieves 109.5 FPS, so players who value maximum visual fidelity over raw frame rate will find this acceptable.

At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the choice of preset becomes less critical. The Low preset’s 263.2 FPS is excessive for nearly all displays, while the Ultra preset’s 144.7 FPS is more than sufficient for 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 188.6 FPS offers a balanced experience. The most sensible recommendation for 1080p is the High preset at 167.8 FPS, as it provides a strong visual experience without sacrificing the ability to drive high refresh rates. Overall, the data suggests that the High preset at 1440p provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, while 4K Ultra is viable for those with 60Hz displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination ranks 66th out of 1,636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 4.0% of all configurations in the database. This is a strong result, indicating that this pairing is well-suited for the game. The ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU’s strong single-thread performance, which scores 3,309 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and the GPU’s high absolute compute throughput, which achieves 56.28 TFLOPS FP32.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i9-10900K, which scores essentially identically with a delta of 0%, and the Intel Core i5-12600K, which is 0.1% slower. This means the KF variant is effectively on par with its non-KF sibling and the older i9, showing that the 12th-generation architecture provides competitive processing power for this game. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Arc A570M, are 1.6% slower in average score, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X is 2.6% slower, placing the RTX 5080 in a strong position within its performance class.

The high combo rank suggests that Control benefits from both the CPU’s cache hierarchy, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache, and the GPU’s Blackwell architecture. The measured average frame rates, particularly the 263.2 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrate that this combination can push well beyond typical display refresh rates, making it an outlier in the dataset. The rank of 66 out of 1,636 also implies that only 65 other combos, likely featuring higher-tier CPUs or more powerful GPUs, achieve better performance in this specific title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF’s role in Control’s performance is defined by its 10 cores and 16 threads, which is a hybrid configuration of performance and efficiency cores based on the Alder Lake architecture. The CPU has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, allowing it to handle both lightly-threaded game logic and more heavily-threaded background tasks. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core provide fast access to frequently used data, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in a physics-heavy action game like Control.

Benchmark results show the CPU’s strength in multi-threaded workloads, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23,444, but its single-core score of 3,309 is equally important for gaming. In Control, the frame rates at 1080p Low reach 263.2 FPS, indicating that the CPU can issue draw calls and process game logic quickly enough to fully utilize the RTX 5080. The fact that frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution and preset, rather than plateauing at lower resolutions, confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any tested configuration.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 27,827 places it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K with a delta of 0%, showing that it matches a previous-generation flagship. The 125W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory give system builders flexibility, though the measured gaming performance does not appear to be constrained by memory bandwidth. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz is the key specification for Control, as the game’s frame pacing benefits from high single-thread frequency, allowing the GPU to maintain consistent output across all presets and resolutions.