Control

Control is an action-adventure title that responds well to a balanced hardware approach, but the data for this Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB combination shows a clear ceiling. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions indicate that the Radeon RX 9060 XT is the primary bottleneck, while the i5-13400F has ample headroom. This pairing is capable of delivering smooth gameplay, but only if users are willing to adjust settings to match their display's native resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a distinct pattern: the step from Medium to High yields a smaller performance cost than the jump from High to Ultra, making High the optimal target for most users. At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 90 FPS, which is a solid baseline for a smooth experience, while the Medium preset reaches 101 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is only 11 FPS, but the visual uplift from Medium to High is typically substantial in this genre, justifying the minor performance trade-off. Pushing to Ultra at 1080p drops the average to 78 FPS, a 13% reduction from High, which is a significant hit for marginal visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 77 FPS and the High preset delivers 68 FPS. This 9 FPS gap is smaller than the 1080p delta, indicating the GPU is starting to feel the load. The Ultra preset at this resolution falls to 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider mandatory. Given the data, High at 1440p is the sensible choice, as it keeps the average above 60 FPS while providing better fidelity than Medium. The 4K results reinforce this recommendation: High at 3840x2160 averages 46 FPS, while Medium averages 52 FPS. Neither is ideal for a high-refresh display, but Medium's 52 FPS is more playable than High's 46 FPS.

The Low preset is not a practical recommendation for this combo. While it produces 143 FPS at 1080p and 108 FPS at 1440p, the visual degradation is typically severe enough to harm the atmospheric quality of Control, which relies heavily on lighting and particle effects. The data suggests that Medium at 4K is the only viable option for 4K displays, but for the best experience, users should target High at 1080p or 1440p. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst value, offering the lowest FPS at every resolution with diminishing returns.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is the defining component in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The GPU's boost clock of 3130 MHz and game clock of 2530 MHz are high, but the measured FPS suggests that the memory subsystem and the 2048 shading units are what hold it back in this title. The GPU's benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad is 4093, which places it in the 24th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is not a high-end part.

The measured FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern that is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 143 at Low to 78 at Ultra, a difference of 65 FPS. This wide spread indicates that the GPU's compute units are the primary constraint, as the CPU is likely not the limiting factor at this resolution. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but the 4K Ultra preset at 40 FPS suggests that the memory bandwidth and capacity are being stressed, causing a significant drop from the 1080p Ultra score of 78 FPS. The GPU's 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU are modest, but the performance data shows it is not a 4K-capable card for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this specific pairing in Control is 1908 out of 3720 tested combinations. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all possible configs, which aligns with the GPU's 24th percentile ranking. The rank suggests that while this combination is functional, there are 1911 other combos that perform better, and only 1811 that perform worse. This is not a top-tier setup for Control, but it is not a failure either.

When looking at the individual component rankings, the CPU is the stronger part. The i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, which puts it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS with a score of 25284 and the Intel Core 5 120 with a score of 25362, showing that the i5-13400F is essentially on par with these parts. The GPU, however, is far weaker, with an average benchmark score of 4093. Its nearest rivals are the Intel HD Graphics 630 with a score of 4075 and the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M with a score of 4151, which are integrated or low-end mobile parts. This massive disparity between CPU and GPU performance confirms that the GPU is dragging the combo rank down. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would yield a much better rank, while the current GPU is the bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 60 FPS on a 1440p monitor?

A: Yes, but only at Medium or High settings. The measured data shows 77 FPS at Medium and 68 FPS at High for 2560x1440, while Ultra drops to 59 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM on the RX 9060 XT enough for Control?

A: The data suggests yes for 1080p and 1440p, as the FPS scales consistently across settings. However, at 4K Ultra the average FPS falls to 40, indicating the VRAM capacity and bandwidth are insufficient for that configuration.

Q: How does the RX 9060 XT compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark score?

A: The RX 9060 XT scores 4093 in 3DMark Steel Nomad. This is just 0.4% higher than the Intel HD Graphics 630 (4075) and 1.4% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M (4151), which are both much older or integrated parts.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the performance in Control?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The i5-13400F scores in the 77th percentile for all CPUs, while the RX 9060 XT is in the 24th percentile for GPUs. The FPS scaling across resolutions and settings follows a GPU-bound pattern.

Q: What is the best preset to use for a 4K display with this combo?

A: Medium is the only viable option, averaging 52 FPS. High drops to 46 FPS and Ultra to 40 FPS, both of which are too low for a smooth experience on a 4K panel.

Q: Does enabling the Low preset provide any benefit?

A: It offers the highest FPS (143 at 1080p, 108 at 1440p, 73 at 4K), but the visual quality loss is severe. The data shows a huge jump from Low to Medium at all resolutions, suggesting Medium is a better baseline.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals a classic GPU-limited scenario. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 90 at 1920x1080 to 68 at 2560x1440, a 24% reduction, and then to 46 at 3840x2160, a 49% reduction from the 1440p score. This scaling is not linear; the jump to 4K is disproportionately punishing. The same pattern is visible at Ultra settings, where FPS drops from 78 at 1080p to 59 at 1440p and then to 40 at 4K. This indicates that the GPU is running out of raw throughput and memory bandwidth as pixel count increases.

The Low preset shows a similar trend, with 143 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. The fact that even Low settings cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K confirms that the RX 9060 XT is simply not designed for that resolution in this game. The Medium preset provides the most consistent scaling, with 101 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The resolution scaling data suggests that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU's performance is unlikely to vary significantly across these resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would stay flat as resolution increases, but the consistent drops indicate the GPU is working harder with each pixel.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 make it a capable gaming CPU. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 22604 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3191 in single-core, which places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. This high percentile is reflected in its nearest rivals, which include the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with a 0.4% higher score and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D with a 0.3% lower score.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation; at 1080p Low, the combo hits 143 FPS, which is a high value that would likely be constrained if the CPU were weak. The fact that the FPS scales down consistently as resolution increases is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario, meaning the i5-13400F has headroom left over. This is further supported by the CPU's 16 threads, which are more than enough for a game from 2019. The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution or setting, and users could potentially pair it with a more powerful GPU to get better results in Control without changing the processor.