Control

Control with the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT presents a mixed bag of results, heavily dependent on resolution and quality settings. The data indicates that this combo is capable of smooth, high-refresh-rate gameplay at 1080p but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher graphics presets. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance to determine the optimal configuration and the role each component plays.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific combination of an Intel Core i5-9400 and an AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, the benchmark data points to the Low preset as the only setting that consistently delivers a high-refresh-rate experience across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 148 FPS, which is a significant jump of 43 FPS over the next fastest preset (High) at the same resolution. This suggests that the Low preset allows the GPU to stretch its legs, likely reducing the load on the CPU and avoiding potential bottlenecks.

However, for those prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rates, the High preset offers a more balanced experience at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, High yields an average of 94 FPS, which is still well within the range of smooth gameplay for most monitors. At 2560x1440, the High preset maintains a respectable 71 FPS average. The Medium preset sits between High and Low, providing 105 FPS at 1080p and 80 FPS at 1440p, but the incremental gain over High is relatively small compared to the visual trade-off.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combo. It is the most demanding setting, and the data shows it produces the lowest frame rates at every resolution. At 1080p, Ultra drops to an average of 81 FPS, which is a 13 FPS decrease compared to High. This performance penalty becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions, making Ultra a poor choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate. The best experience per the measured rows is achieved by using the High preset at 1080p or 1440p, as it provides a strong balance between visual quality and playable performance, or choosing Low if maximum frame rates are the primary goal.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is a substantial graphics card based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. Its core clocks are listed with a base of 2150 MHz, a game clock of 2495 MHz, and a boost clock of 2600 MHz. This memory capacity and bandwidth are crucial for high-resolution gaming, as they allow the GPU to store and access large textures and geometry data without stuttering.

The GPU's role in this game is clearly performance-defining, particularly as resolution increases. The data shows that the frame rate scales inversely with resolution and settings, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound scenarios. For instance, the average FPS at 4K with High settings is 48, while at 1080p with the same settings it is 94. This shows that the RX 6750 XT is working progressively harder to fill more pixels. The card's FP32 performance of 13.31 TFLOPS and its 2560 shading units are the primary drivers of this raw rendering capability.

The RX 6750 XT's 12 GB VRAM buffer is a significant asset. Based on the data, the card does not appear to be limited by memory capacity, as the frame rates do not show the sudden collapse often associated with VRAM exhaustion at 4K. Instead, the performance drops are gradual and consistent with raw compute limitations. The card's position in the benchmark hierarchy, with a percentile of 71 versus all GPUs, confirms it is a capable performer, but the measured results in Control show its limits at extreme resolutions with high-quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. Looking at the High preset, the average FPS drops from 94 at 1080p to 71 at 1440p, and finally to 48 at 4K. This represents a 24.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 32.4% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is a substantial 48.9%, meaning the card is delivering less than half the frame rate at 4K compared to 1080p.

This pattern is consistent across all presets. With the Low preset, the frame rate goes from 148 at 1080p to 112 at 1440p and 76 at 4K. The absolute drop is larger at higher settings, but the relative scaling is similar. This scaling behavior is a strong indicator that the limiting component is the GPU. If the CPU were the primary bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, because the CPU's workload would stay the same while the GPU's workload increases.

The data clearly shows that the Intel Core i5-9400 is able to feed the GPU enough data at lower resolutions to reach high frame rates, but as the pixel count grows, the GPU's rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor. The difference between the 4K High (48 FPS) and 4K Low (76 FPS) results further emphasizes this point; reducing the graphical load on the GPU yields a significant performance gain, even at the same resolution. This confirms that the RX 6750 XT's compute and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints on performance in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides specific average frame rates for twelve combinations of resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low preset averages 148 FPS, Medium averages 105 FPS (with a minimum of 90 and a maximum of 121 FPS), High averages 94 FPS, and Ultra averages 81 FPS. These numbers show a clear performance hierarchy, with the Low preset offering a 57.4% performance advantage over the Ultra preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 112 for Low, 80 for Medium (with a minimum of 68 and a maximum of 92 FPS), 71 for High, and 62 for Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 80.6%, which is wider than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more stressed. At 3840x2160, the averages are 76 for Low, 54 for Medium (with a minimum of 46 and a maximum of 62 FPS), 48 for High, and 42 for Ultra. The margin between the fastest and slowest presets at 4K is 81.0%, indicating that the GPU's resource limits are being heavily taxed.

The Medium preset is the only one that includes min and max FPS data. At 1080p, the range is 90 to 121 FPS, which is a 31 FPS spread, suggesting some frame time variance. At 1440p, the range narrows to 68 to 92 FPS, and at 4K, it is 46 to 62 FPS. This data shows that as resolution increases, the average FPS drops, and the frame time consistency also appears to tighten, which is typical of a GPU that is consistently saturated. The absolute numbers indicate that while 4K is playable on Low settings, the High and Ultra presets at this resolution are not suitable for smooth gameplay, falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 1712 out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places it in the upper half of all tested configurations, specifically in the 54th percentile. This ranking suggests that while this is not a top-tier, enthusiast-level setup for this game, it is a competent mid-range performer that can handle the game well at the right settings.

This rank of 1712 is a holistic measure of the combo's capability across all tested scenarios. Given that the GPU is a strong performer on its own, ranking in the 71st percentile, the overall combo rank is likely held back by the CPU. The i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, has a benchmark percentile of 47, which is below average. This indicates that in CPU-bound scenarios, which are more common at lower resolutions and lower settings, the i5-9400 may not be able to keep up with the GPU's potential, pulling the combo's overall ranking down. The data shows that the combo's performance is best when the GPU is the primary bottleneck, which occurs at higher resolutions and higher settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks shows an average score of 2254, with a percentile of 47, placing it just below the median of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, with performance deltas of -0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, indicating that it is tightly grouped with these parts.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is to manage the game's logic, physics, and draw calls. The data suggests that the i5-9400 is sufficient to keep the GPU well-fed at lower resolutions. For example, at 1080p with the Low preset, the combo achieves 148 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires a capable CPU to process the necessary frames. However, the CPU's limitations become apparent when comparing the frame rates at 1080p Low (148 FPS) to 1080p High (94 FPS). The 54 FPS difference is almost entirely due to the increased GPU load, but the fact that the frame rate doesn't scale even higher on Low suggests the CPU might be nearing its limit.

The CPU's 6 threads are a potential bottleneck in more demanding scenes. The benchmark data shows that the CPU's single-core performance (392 in Cinebench R20) is modest. In a game like Control, which can utilize multiple cores, the lack of hyper-threading could limit performance in complex scenarios. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache helps mitigate latency, and the 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is standard for the platform. While the CPU is not the primary bottlenecks at 4K, it likely contributes to the frame rate plateau seen at 1080p Low, preventing the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this hardware?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the best resolution for this combo, as it offers the highest frame rates across all settings. The average FPS at 1080p ranges from 81 on Ultra to 148 on Low, ensuring a smooth experience regardless of the chosen preset.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT powerful enough for 4K gaming in Control?

A: The data shows that 4K gaming is only viable on the Low preset, which achieves an average of 76 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 54 FPS, and High and Ultra are below 50 FPS, indicating that 4K with higher visual fidelity is not a smooth experience with this card.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the Low and Ultra presets?

A: The performance gap is substantial. At 1080p, the Low preset is 67 FPS faster than Ultra (148 vs 81 FPS). At 1440p, the difference is 50 FPS (112 vs 62 FPS), and at 4K, the difference is 34 FPS (76 vs 42 FPS).

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RX 6750 XT in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops significantly as resolution increases (e.g., 94 FPS at 1080p High vs 48 FPS at 4K High), which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. However, the CPU's modest performance may limit maximum frame rates in less demanding scenes at 1080p.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking compared to other systems?

A: This specific combo ranks 1712 out of 3720 tested systems, placing it in the 54th percentile. This indicates that it performs better than the average system tested for this game, but it is not in the top tier of performers.

Q: Are there any specific frame rate stability issues at certain settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data. At 1080p, the range is 90 to 121 FPS, showing a 31 FPS variance. At 1440p, the range is 68 to 92 FPS, and at 4K, it is 46 to 62 FPS. This indicates that frame times can vary, especially at lower resolutions, but the average FPS remains playable.