Control

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14400F brings a 10-core, 16-thread configuration to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This is a Raptor Lake-R architecture part built on Intel's 10 nm process, and it carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 per core. In synthetic workloads, the chip scores 21,914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,093 in single-core, which places it at the 88th percentile among all CPUs tested in the database.

What matters for Control is how this CPU feeds the GPU. The game is an action-adventure title from 2019, and its engine leans heavily on sustained single-thread performance for physics and AI routines. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3,093 indicates strong per-thread throughput, which helps maintain consistent frame pacing. The multi-core result of 21,914 shows the chip can also handle background threads, but Control's workload is not heavily threaded enough to fully saturate 16 threads.

Looking at nearest rivals, the i5-14400F sits within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 in average benchmark score, and it is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-13705H (deltaPct of -0.2%). This means the CPU's performance envelope is well understood: it is a mid-range desktop part that punches near some mobile and PRO variants but does not dominate them. The benchmark results show the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo at lower resolutions — the data indicates it can push well beyond 200 FPS at 1080p, which we will examine in the resolution scaling section.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing. It packs 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. Its raw compute is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS FP32, and it carries 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 39,650 in Passmark G3D and 14,411 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it at the 94th percentile among all GPUs.

For Control, the GPU's role is decisive at higher resolutions. The game supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, and the RTX 5090's feature set is fully compatible. The massive 32 GB VRAM pool is far beyond what Control requires, but it eliminates any concern about texture streaming or memory pressure at 4K. The nearest rival data shows the RTX 5090 is closely matched with the RTX 5090 D (deltaPct 0.1%) and the RTX 5050 Mobile (deltaPct 0.2%) in average benchmark scores, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 is 1.3% behind and the NVIDIA CMP 40HX is 1.6% ahead.

The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth are the key specs for Control's rendering. The game's physics-heavy environments and particle effects benefit from high memory throughput, and the data shows the GPU scales well with settings changes. At 1080p, the RTX 5090 is clearly overkill — it reaches 247.4 FPS on Low settings — but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 80 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the primary constraint as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 181 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 134.9 FPS; and at 4K High, it falls to 92.2 FPS. That is a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K on High settings. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets.

Looking at Low settings: 247.4 FPS at 1080p, 213.2 FPS at 1440p, and 144.3 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 13.8%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32.3%. This suggests the CPU is still contributing at 1080p and 1440p, but by 4K the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity become the dominant limit.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 158.6 FPS at 1080p, 115.8 FPS at 1440p, and 80 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K reduction is 49.5%, nearly identical to High. This indicates that the RTX 5090's architecture scales predictably with resolution regardless of settings — the relative cost of each pixel is consistent.

What is notable is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 88.8 FPS (247.4 vs 158.6). At 4K, the difference narrows to 64.3 FPS (144.3 vs 80). This narrowing suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so heavily loaded that settings changes have proportionally less impact on the absolute frame rate — the rendering cost per pixel dominates over the effects of individual settings toggles.

The data implies a hybrid bottleneck: the CPU is sufficient at 1080p to push frame rates beyond 240 FPS on Low, but the GPU's raw throughput becomes the ceiling once pixel count rises. For a game like Control, which is not overly demanding by modern standards, this combo is heavily GPU-bound at 4K.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured rows provide four settings presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — across three resolutions. The data shows a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra in terms of FPS, with the gaps varying by resolution.

At 1080p, Low delivers 247.4 FPS, Medium 200.8 FPS, High 181 FPS, and Ultra 158.6 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 46.6 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 22.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 200.8 FPS offers a reasonable balance, but given that the game runs well above 144 Hz on all presets at 1080p, even Ultra is viable.

At 1440p, the situation shifts. Low hits 213.2 FPS, Medium 154.7 FPS, High 134.9 FPS, and Ultra 115.8 FPS. The Medium-to-High drop is 19.8 FPS, while High-to-Ultra is 19.1 FPS. For a 144 Hz monitor, High at 134.9 FPS is slightly below the refresh ceiling, but Medium at 154.7 FPS clears it comfortably.

At 4K, the choices become more consequential. Low delivers 144.3 FPS, Medium 105.3 FPS, High 92.2 FPS, and Ultra 80 FPS. The Low preset is the only one that exceeds 120 FPS, and it does so by a comfortable margin. Medium at 105.3 FPS is still above 100 FPS, but High and Ultra dip below 100 and 90 respectively.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo. At 4K, it maintains 105.3 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS threshold that many players consider smooth. At 1440p, Medium delivers 154.7 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh displays. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is only 13.1 FPS, so players who prioritize visual fidelity might still prefer High at 92.2 FPS, but the measured data shows Medium offers the best frame rate per settings increment.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 17th out of 1,636 tested combos in Control. That places it in the top 1% of all configurations in the database, which is remarkable given that the CPU is a mid-range desktop part while the GPU is the flagship from its generation.

The rank of 17 out of 1,636 means there are only 16 other combinations that achieve higher measured performance in this game. The data indicates that Control is not particularly CPU-sensitive — the i5-14400F's strong single-core performance is sufficient to keep pace with the RTX 5090's output at most settings. The GPU's percentile ranking of 94 places it well above the CPU's percentile of 88, which is consistent with the GPU being the primary driver of this combo's high rank.

What is interesting is that the combo rank is higher than the individual component percentiles might suggest. A GPU at the 94th percentile and a CPU at the 88th percentile combine to produce a result in the top 1% of all combos. This indicates that Control's engine does not penalize the CPU's 10-core configuration, and the RTX 5090's massive memory bandwidth and shading throughput are fully utilized.

The nearest rival data for the CPU shows it is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, yet this combo still ranks 17th. This suggests that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting, and the CPU's role is to simply not bottleneck the GPU. The measured FPS at 4K Low (144.3 FPS) and 1080p Low (247.4 FPS) confirm that the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough to reach frame rates that most other CPUs would struggle to sustain.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-14400F bottleneck the RTX 5090 in Control?

A: Based on the measured data, no. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 247.4 FPS, which is near the practical ceiling for most displays. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,093 is sufficient to keep up with the GPU's output.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 have, and is it enough for Control?

A: The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. Control is a 2019 title, and the measured results show no indication of memory-related performance drops at any resolution or settings preset.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The data shows Medium at 105.3 FPS is the best balance. Low reaches 144.3 FPS, but Medium provides a significant visual upgrade for a 39 FPS cost. High and Ultra drop to 92.2 and 80 FPS respectively, which may be too low for some players.

Q: How does this combo compare to others in the database?

A: It ranks 17th out of 1,636 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 1%. This is notable because the CPU sits at the 88th percentile while the GPU is at the 94th percentile.

Q: Is the RTX 5090's 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance fully used in Control?

A: The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (80 FPS) suggests the GPU is heavily loaded, but the game does not fully saturate the GPU's compute capacity since Control is not a high-end graphics showcase. The GPU's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth is likely the more relevant spec.

Q: What clock speeds does the RTX 5090 operate at?

A: The base clock is 2017 MHz and the boost clock is 2407 MHz. Memory operates at 1750 MHz, which translates to 28 Gbps effective for GDDR7.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 247.4 FPS average
• Medium: 200.8 FPS average
• High: 181.0 FPS average
• Ultra: 158.6 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 213.2 FPS average
• Medium: 154.7 FPS average
• High: 134.9 FPS average
• Ultra: 115.8 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 144.3 FPS average
• Medium: 105.3 FPS average
• High: 92.2 FPS average
• Ultra: 80.0 FPS average

The data shows a clear pattern: at every resolution, Low settings deliver the highest frame rate, and each step up in settings reduces FPS by a similar proportion. The largest absolute drop occurs from Low to Medium at 1440p (58.5 FPS), while the smallest absolute drop is from High to Ultra at 4K (12.2 FPS).

At 1080p, all presets exceed 158 FPS, meaning even Ultra is playable on high-refresh monitors. At 1440p, Low and Medium both exceed 150 FPS, while High and Ultra stay above 115 FPS. At 4K, only Low exceeds 120 FPS, and Ultra dips to exactly 80 FPS.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across settings: Low drops 41.6%, Medium drops 47.6%, High drops 49.1%, and Ultra drops 49.6%. This similarity suggests the GPU's performance degradation is mainly resolution-driven rather than settings-driven, reinforcing the conclusion that the RTX 5090 is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions.