Control

Control pairs the Intel Core i5-9400 with the AMD Radeon RX 9060, a combination that lands in the 56th percentile of all tested system configurations for this title. The data places this pairing at rank 1632 out of 2888 combos, indicating a mid-pack standing where neither component dominates nor bottlenecks the other to an extreme degree. Benchmark results show a system capable of smooth 1080p play but one that begins to struggle as resolution climbs, with the measured frame rates revealing a clear ceiling imposed by the graphics card at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1632 out of 2888 tested configurations places it slightly above the median, a position that reflects balanced but unexceptional hardware. The RX 9060 alone sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-9400 rests at the 47th percentile among CPUs, suggesting the graphics card carries more weight in this pairing’s overall standing. Within the game’s benchmark database, this combination outperforms roughly 56% of all recorded systems, a result consistent with a mid-range setup that delivers acceptable performance without challenging high-end configurations.

When examining the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 9060’s average benchmark score of 16014 sits within 2.1% of four comparable cards. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti leads this group with an average score of 16129, placing the RX 9060 just 0.7% behind, a margin small enough to be considered noise in real-world gaming. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700 trail by 1.0% each, while the Radeon Pro W5500 falls 2.1% behind. This clustering shows the RX 9060 performs squarely in a competitive tier, and the measured FPS in Control aligns with that positioning—solid at 1080p, acceptable at 1440p, and marginal at 4K.

The CPU’s nearest rivals paint a similar picture of tight competition. The i5-9400’s average benchmark score of 2254 sits within 0.4% of the Core i7-1068NG7, Core i7-10710U, Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, and Core i3-10305. This grouping indicates the processor’s six-core, six-thread design delivers performance on par with several other mid-range chips, and in Control specifically, the CPU proves sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions but becomes less relevant as the graphics card becomes the limiting factor at higher settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its clock speeds span a base of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost of 2990 MHz, with memory running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). These specifications place the card in a position where it can handle modern titles at 1080p and 1440p with ease, but the 8 GB VRAM capacity and 128-bit bus become limiting factors at 4K, particularly with higher texture quality settings that demand more memory bandwidth.

In Control, the GPU’s role is clearly dominant across all measured configurations. The frame rate differences between settings at each resolution show the graphics card scaling directly with workload, while the CPU maintains consistent performance. At 1080p, the RX 9060 delivers 130 FPS at Low settings, dropping to 92 FPS at Medium, 82 FPS at High, and 71 FPS at Ultra—a progression that reflects the GPU’s compute capabilities rather than any CPU limitation. The card’s 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the game’s physics-based rendering and particle effects, though the 28 RT cores are not specifically leveraged in this title’s standard benchmark runs.

The GPU’s 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 334.9 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample headroom for the game’s visual effects, but the 4K results tell a different story. At 3840x2160, the card manages only 36 FPS at Ultra settings, suggesting the memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck when the render target quadruples in size. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while respectable for a 128-bit card, struggles to feed the GPU’s compute units at 4K resolutions, resulting in the steep performance drop observed in the measured data.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the clear sweet spot, with average FPS ranging from 71 at Ultra to 130 at Low. At 2560x1440, the range drops to 54-98 FPS, while 3840x2160 falls to 36-66 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where all settings remain comfortably playable.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RX 9060’s average benchmark score of 16014 is just 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti’s 16129, and it leads the AMD Radeon R9 370X by 1.0%. This places it in a tightly contested tier where performance differences are minimal.

Q: Is the i5-9400 holding back the RX 9060 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a limiting factor at most settings. The i5-9400’s average score of 2254 sits within 0.4% of its nearest rivals, and the measured FPS scaling with settings suggests the GPU is the primary constraint, particularly at higher resolutions.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 62 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is playable but notably lower than the 82 FPS seen at 1080p High, indicating a significant performance cost for the resolution increase.

Q: Does the RX 9060’s VRAM capacity affect Control’s performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory appears sufficient at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest memory bandwidth constraints. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the card delivers only 36 FPS, a drop that correlates with the increased memory pressure from higher resolution textures and effects.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 1632 out of 2888 configurations, placing it in the 56th percentile. This indicates it outperforms a majority of tested systems but sits below the top-tier configurations that achieve higher frame rates across all settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that Medium settings at 1920x1080 offer the best balance of visual quality and performance. At this configuration, the combo delivers 92 FPS average with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS, providing smooth gameplay without the substantial drop seen at High or Ultra. The Low setting achieves 130 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity, while High drops to 82 FPS and Ultra to 71 FPS—both still playable but with diminishing returns for the performance cost.

At 2560x1440, Medium remains the recommended choice, delivering 70 FPS average with a 59-80 FPS range. This keeps gameplay fluid while maintaining reasonable visual quality. High settings at this resolution drop to 62 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced action, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS, making it less ideal for consistent performance. Low at 98 FPS is viable for competitive play but loses the graphical detail that Control’s atmospheric design benefits from.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that only Low settings achieve a playable 66 FPS average. Medium drops to 47 FPS, High to 42 FPS, and Ultra to 36 FPS, all of which fall below the smoothness threshold for an action-adventure title. Users prioritizing 4K should stick to Low settings or consider lowering the resolution, as the GPU’s memory bandwidth limitations become apparent at this level.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 130 FPS, the highest measured in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 92 FPS average with a measured range of 78 to 106 FPS, providing a solid balance of smoothness and visual quality. High settings drop to 82 FPS average, while Ultra settles at 71 FPS—still above the 60 FPS threshold for comfortable play but noticeably lower than the lower presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings achieve 98 FPS average, a 25% drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 70 FPS with a range of 59 to 80 FPS, maintaining playability at a moderate visual quality. High settings fall to 62 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 54 FPS, the first preset to dip below the 60 FPS mark in this resolution. The data shows a consistent pattern of diminishing returns as settings increase.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations become pronounced. Low settings average 66 FPS, the only 4K preset that remains above 60 FPS. Medium settings drop to 47 FPS with a range of 40 to 54 FPS, High falls to 42 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 36 FPS. These results clearly indicate that the RX 9060’s 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB VRAM cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU’s capability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides six cores and six threads, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosting up to 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support deliver adequate bandwidth for feeding the GPU in Control. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 2254 places it at the 47th percentile among all processors, with its nearest rivals—the Core i7-1068NG7, Core i7-10710U, Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, and Core i3-10305—all scoring within 0.4% of this figure.

In Control, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU across most measured configurations. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 130 FPS, suggesting the processor can keep up with the GPU’s output at lower settings. However, the frame rate scaling with settings indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as visual demands increase. The i5-9400’s six-thread design is sufficient for this game’s workload, which does not appear to heavily utilize multi-threading based on the consistent performance across different CPU-demanding scenarios.

The processor’s 65 W TDP and Coffee Lake architecture contribute to its efficiency, but its lack of hyper-threading could become a bottleneck in more CPU-intensive titles. For Control specifically, the data shows no evidence of CPU limitation—the FPS drops are directly proportional to resolution and settings increases, which points to GPU constraints rather than processor inadequacy.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 82 to 62, a 24.4% decrease. From 1440p to 4K at High settings, the average falls from 62 to 42, a 32.3% decrease. This compounding effect shows that the GPU’s rendering load scales non-linearly with pixel count, and the RX 9060’s memory bandwidth becomes increasingly strained at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is more consistent: 130 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p (a 24.6% drop), and 66 FPS at 4K (a 32.7% drop from 1440p). This uniformity suggests that at lower settings, the GPU is still the primary constraint, but the CPU provides enough headroom to maintain stable performance. The Medium settings show 92 FPS at 1080p, 70 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, with the 4K figure representing a 32.9% drop from 1440p—consistent with the other settings’ scaling patterns.

The resolution scaling analysis reveals that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The consistent percentage drops across all settings indicate that the CPU is not introducing additional bottlenecks at higher resolutions. If the CPU were limiting, the frame rate would plateau at lower resolutions before dropping more steeply at higher ones, but the data shows a smooth, predictable decline that aligns with GPU rendering workload. The RX 9060’s 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB VRAM are the primary constraints at 4K, where the game’s texture and buffer requirements exceed what this card can efficiently handle.