Control

# Control with Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB delivers a playable but not overwhelming experience in Control, a 2019 Action Adventure title. Across the twelve measured configurations, the combo averages between 43.8 and 164.4 FPS depending on resolution and settings. The data suggests this pairing sits comfortably in the middle of the pack—ranked 661 out of 1636 tested combos—meaning it offers solid performance without pushing the boundaries of what either component can achieve. The pattern across resolutions reveals a system that scales predictably, with the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads providing enough headroom at lower resolutions while the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory becomes the limiting factor as pixel counts rise.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot for this combination across most resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 117 FPS—a significant jump from High's 100.7 FPS while remaining visually acceptable for most players. The gap between Medium and Low at this resolution is notable (117 vs 164.4 FPS), but the 47.4 FPS difference comes at the cost of visual fidelity that most users would find unnecessary given that Medium already exceeds 60 FPS comfortably.

At 2560x1440, Medium again proves optimal with 88.2 FPS, maintaining a smooth experience above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at this resolution drop to 76.9 FPS, which remains playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 69.7 FPS, still technically playable but approaching the edge of what most would consider consistently smooth.

For 3840x2160, the recommendation shifts. Medium produces 59.3 FPS—just below the 60 FPS target—while High manages 52.2 FPS. Users prioritizing frame rate should select Low at 4K, which achieves 82.9 FPS, but this comes with substantial visual compromises. Given the data, Medium at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering 88.2 FPS while avoiding the steep drops seen at Ultra settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB carries the primary workload in Control, and its specifications explain much of the observed behavior. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p but shows strain at 4K. The boost clock of 2535 MHz and 4352 shading units deliver strong raw compute, reflected in the FP32 throughput of 22.06 TFLOPS.

The GPU's 22,900 million transistors on a 5 nm process from TSMC enable efficient processing, but the 128-bit memory bus creates a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 48 ROPs and 136 texture mapping units handle rasterization duties, yet the 8 GB capacity becomes a limiting factor when Control's detailed environments demand more memory at 4K Ultra. The data supports this interpretation: at 4K, the average FPS drops from 59.3 at Medium to 43.8 at Ultra—a 26% reduction that correlates with increased memory pressure and bandwidth demands.

Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rival according to benchmark data is the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB, with a deltaPct of 0.2% in the Steel Nomad DX12 test. This suggests the 8 GB version performs nearly identically to its 16 GB counterpart in synthetic benchmarks, but Control's measured FPS may tell a different story at higher resolutions where memory capacity matters more.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 100.7 at 1080p to 76.9 at 1440p (a 23.8 FPS decrease) and then to 52.2 at 4K (a further 24.7 FPS decrease). This consistent ~24 FPS drop per resolution step indicates the GPU is the primary constraint, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom even at 1080p where the frame rate reaches 100+ FPS.

The scaling under Low settings is even more dramatic: 164.4 FPS at 1080p falls to 125.9 at 1440p and 82.9 at 4K. The 38.5 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 43 FPS drop to 4K, suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth become progressively more taxed. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 49.6%, while at Ultra it's 51.9% (91.1 to 43.8 FPS), indicating consistent GPU-bound scaling regardless of preset.

This behavior implies that players targeting 4K on this hardware must accept either Low settings (82.9 FPS) or compromise with Medium (59.3 FPS). The 1440p resolution offers the most balanced experience, with all presets except Ultra maintaining 76.9 FPS or higher.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its highest performance across all settings. Low produces 164.4 FPS, Medium 117 FPS, High 100.7 FPS, and Ultra 91.1 FPS. The 73.3 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates the significant impact of graphical presets at this resolution, with each step from Low to Ultra costing roughly 24-16 FPS.

The 2560x1440 results show a similar but compressed pattern: Low at 125.9 FPS, Medium at 88.2 FPS, High at 76.9 FPS, and Ultra at 69.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 56.2 FPS, suggesting that at this resolution, the GPU's limits begin to constrain the highest presets more heavily. The jump from Low to Medium costs 37.7 FPS, while Medium to High costs only 11.3 FPS, and High to Ultra just 7.2 FPS—indicating diminishing returns at higher settings.

At 3840x2160, performance compresses further: Low achieves 82.9 FPS, Medium 59.3 FPS, High 52.2 FPS, and Ultra 43.8 FPS. The 39.1 FPS spread from Low to Ultra reflects heavy GPU-bound operation, with Ultra barely maintaining 43.8 FPS. The Medium-to-High difference at 4K is just 7.1 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 8.4 FPS, showing that visual quality gains at the top end come at a steep performance cost relative to the modest FPS differences.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-13400F and RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB ranks 661 out of 1636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 60th percentile of all configurations. This middle-tier ranking suggests the pairing delivers reliable performance but doesn't excel in this specific title. The CPU's benchmark percentile of 82 versus all CPUs indicates strong processor capability, while the GPU's percentile of 17 seems anomalously low—likely reflecting the limited benchmark data (only the Steel Nomad test) rather than actual gaming performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (deltaPct 0.1%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (deltaPct -0.5%), and AMD EPYC 9474F (deltaPct 0.5%). These tiny deltas show the i5-13400F sits in a tightly competitive band for synthetic benchmarks, with no single rival exceeding 0.5% difference. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the GT 555M (0% delta), RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB (0.2% delta), and GT 650M (0.7% delta)—though these comparisons likely reflect the limited benchmark dataset rather than true gaming equivalence.

The 661st rank out of 1636 combos means roughly 975 configurations perform better in Control, while 660 perform worse. This places the combo in the upper-middle tier, suggesting it can handle the game well at most settings but won't dominate at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads, with base and boost clocks of 2.50 GHz and 4.60 GHz respectively. This Raptor Lake-S architecture part, built on Intel's 10 nm process, delivers strong multi-threaded performance as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21279 and Geekbench multicore score of 10971. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

In Control, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at all tested resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 164.4 FPS, which likely approaches the CPU's practical limit for this game, but even at this point the GPU still contributes significantly. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and max-thread score of 7307 indicate strong parallel processing capability, while the single-thread score of 960 in 3DMark and 3004 in Cinebench R23 show competent single-core performance.

The CPU's 65W TDP and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 allow for flexible system configuration. With a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, the i5-13400F can drive high frame rates in less demanding scenes, but the data shows the RTX 4060 Ti becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases. At 4K, the CPU's workload diminishes, with the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capacity determining final FPS. The CPU's percentile rank of 82 versus all CPUs confirms it outperforms most processors, making it a capable partner that won't hold back the GPU in most scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides the best balance, achieving 88.2 FPS. At this resolution, all presets except Ultra maintain at least 69.7 FPS, while 4K drops to 52.2 FPS at High and 43.8 FPS at Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB compare to the 16 GB version?

A: In the Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the 8 GB version scores 2913 versus 2907 for the 16 GB model, a deltaPct of 0.2%. This suggests near-identical synthetic performance, though Control's memory demands at 4K may favor the larger memory buffer.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K, Low settings achieve 82.9 FPS, Medium 59.3 FPS, High 52.2 FPS, and Ultra 43.8 FPS. Players seeking 60+ FPS should use Low settings, while those accepting 50-60 FPS can use Medium or High.

Q: What is the CPU's performance tier relative to other processors?

A: The Core i5-13400F ranks in the 82nd percentile versus all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Core i7-13620H (0.1% higher score), Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% higher), and EPYC 9474F (0.5% higher), showing it sits in a tight competitive band.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 661 out of 1636 combos in Control, placing it in the 60th percentile. This indicates solid mid-tier performance, with approximately 975 combos performing better and 660 performing worse.

Q: Is there a large performance gap between Low and Ultra settings?

A: Yes. At 1080p, the gap is 73.3 FPS (164.4 vs 91.1 FPS), at 1440p it's 56.2 FPS (125.9 vs 69.7 FPS), and at 4K it's 39.1 FPS (82.9 vs 43.8 FPS). The gap narrows at higher resolutions as the GPU becomes more constrained.