Control

Control, Remedy’s surreal action-adventure from 2019, remains a demanding showcase for GPU-heavy effects, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 produces a revealing set of benchmark data. The measured results show a system that is decisively limited by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the six-core processor proves sufficient to keep frame rates high at 1080p. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, settings scaling, and the CPU’s role in this specific configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 115 FPS at 1920x1080 to 87 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 28 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 59 FPS, which is just under half of the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario; the RX 9070’s rendering load increases dramatically with pixel count, while the CPU’s role diminishes.

The same trend is visible across all settings presets. At Low settings, the system produces 162 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1440p to 4K is 44 FPS, which is larger than the 25 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p. This non-linear decline suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading resources are being saturated as resolution increases. For Ultra settings, the frame rates are 100 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K, showing that even the most demanding preset cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that 1080p and 1440p are the sweet spots for this combo, with 4K only viable at Low or Medium settings. The 59 FPS average at 4K High is borderline for smooth gameplay, while the 51 FPS at 4K Ultra is below the standard for a fluid experience. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 42 FPS, highlighting that the RX 9070 has significant headroom when graphical effects are reduced. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 62 FPS, but the minimums are less constrained, suggesting the CPU is not preventing the GPU from reaching high output.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for this configuration. At 1920x1080, Medium yields an average of 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 148 FPS, providing a smooth and responsive experience. Moving to 2560x1440, Medium averages 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 3840x2160, Medium produces 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS, making it the only preset that comes close to maintaining 60 FPS at 4K.

High settings are also viable for 1080p and 1440p, with averages of 115 FPS and 87 FPS respectively. However, the jump from Medium to High at 4K drops the average from 66 FPS to 59 FPS, which may introduce noticeable stutter on displays without adaptive sync. Ultra settings, while visually impressive, are only recommended for 1080p, where the 100 FPS average still provides a good experience. At 1440p Ultra, the 75 FPS average is acceptable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, and at 4K Ultra, the 51 FPS average falls below the playable threshold for most users.

Low settings provide the highest frame rates—162 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K—but the visual degradation is significant. For a game like Control, which relies heavily on atmospheric effects and destructible environments, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal choice, as it preserves a substantial portion of the visual quality while maintaining competitive frame rates. The data supports Medium as the default recommendation, with High as a viable alternative for lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake generation, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 2254. In synthetic tests, it achieves 6629 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 points in single-core, indicating a modest but capable processor for gaming workloads. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 2259 (0.2% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 (0.4% lower), showing that the i5-9400 sits in a tight performance band.

In Control, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed. The difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p is 62 FPS (162 vs 100), but the minimum frame rates for Medium are 110 FPS, which is above the 100 FPS average for Ultra. This suggests that even at Ultra settings, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to maintain high frame rates, and the bottleneck is primarily the GPU’s rendering load. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes further, as the frame rate differences between presets are almost entirely attributable to GPU load.

The i5-9400’s 6 threads are sufficient for Control’s engine, which does not appear to scale heavily beyond 6 cores based on this data. The lack of hyper-threading could be a limiting factor in CPU-intensive scenes, but the measured FPS numbers do not show any anomalous dips that would indicate a CPU bottleneck. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides adequate single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the 935-point single-core score in Cinebench R23. Overall, the CPU is not the limiting component in this combo, except possibly at very low resolutions where the GPU is underutilized.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 1221 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top third of all configurations. This rank is respectable, given that the GPU is a high-end part (69th percentile among all GPUs) while the CPU is a mid-range part (47th percentile). The combo’s position suggests that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, and the CPU is not significantly dragging down performance.

Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 9070 scores 23877 on average, with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z scoring 23736 (0.6% lower) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S scoring 24063 (0.8% higher). The combo rank of 1221 indicates that this pairing performs well in Control, but it is not at the top of the charts. The rank reflects the CPU’s limitation in certain scenarios, but the overall experience is positive, as the GPU can compensate for the CPU’s moderate performance.

The combo rank of 1221 out of 3720 means that 2499 other combos perform worse, which is a strong showing for a system with a 6-core CPU from 2018. The data implies that users with this combo can expect smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K requiring settings adjustments. The rank also suggests that upgrading the CPU would provide diminishing returns, as the GPU is already the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The maximum average FPS at 1920x1080 is 162, achieved at Low settings. At Medium settings, the average drops to 129 FPS, while High yields 115 FPS and Ultra yields 100 FPS.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which produces an average of 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS. At High settings, the average is 59 FPS, and at Ultra, it drops to 51 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rival, the Core i7-1068NG7?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, while the Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, which is 0.2% higher. This makes the two CPUs nearly identical in overall performance.

Q: What is the combo rank for this specific CPU and GPU in Control?

A: The combo ranks 1221 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 33% of all configurations tested in this game.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum FPS at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset provides the highest minimum FPS at 2560x1440, with a minimum of 83 FPS and an average of 98 FPS. Low, High, and Ultra do not have recorded minimum FPS values.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck at 3840x2160, as the frame rate differences between presets (93 FPS at Low vs 51 FPS at Ultra) are entirely attributable to GPU load. The CPU’s influence is minimal at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 162 FPS average
• Medium: 129 FPS average, 110 FPS minimum, 148 FPS maximum
• High: 115 FPS average
• Ultra: 100 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 137 FPS average
• Medium: 98 FPS average, 83 FPS minimum, 112 FPS maximum
• High: 87 FPS average
• Ultra: 75 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 93 FPS average
• Medium: 66 FPS average, 56 FPS minimum, 76 FPS maximum
• High: 59 FPS average
• Ultra: 51 FPS average