Control

Control on this pairing of an Intel Core i5-9400 with an Intel Arc B570 presents a clear, data-driven hierarchy of playability. The benchmark results indicate that the most balanced experience is achieved at Medium settings across all tested resolutions, offering the best compromise between visual fidelity and frame rate stability. While Low settings yield the highest frame rates, the jump to Medium provides a substantial improvement in image quality for a relatively modest performance cost, making it the recommended default preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data clearly establishes Medium as the optimal settings preset for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 101 FPS on Low to 71 FPS on Medium, a 30% performance decrease that is traded for a significant visual upgrade. This 71 FPS average remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the minimum recorded FPS of 61 confirms that the experience stays fluid even during demanding scenes. Moving to High settings at this resolution reduces the average to 63 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for dips, while Ultra drops to 55 FPS, introducing potential stutter.

The pattern repeats at 2560x1440, where Medium delivers a 54 FPS average with a minimum of 46 FPS. This is the only settings tier at this resolution that maintains an average above 50 FPS, making it the clear choice for a consistent experience on a 1440p display. High settings at 1440p produce 48 FPS, which is playable but often perceived as less smooth, and Ultra falls to 42 FPS. At 3840x2160, Medium is again the most viable option, yielding 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS. While not a high-refresh-rate experience, it is significantly more playable than High's 32 FPS or Ultra's 28 FPS.

For players prioritizing maximum fluidity over fidelity, Low settings are the alternative. The data shows this preset delivers 101 FPS at 1080p, 76 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. However, the substantial frame rate gains come at the cost of visual detail, and the 4K result on Low (51 FPS) is only marginally better than the Medium result (36 FPS) in terms of playability, making Medium the smarter choice at that resolution. The Ultra preset is only advisable for players with adaptive sync displays who prioritize maximum graphical fidelity, as the frame rates fall below 60 FPS in all cases, with a low of 28 FPS at 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the dominant performance driver in this configuration. Its specifications within the FACT PACK highlight a GPU built for modern rendering workloads. The 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s, which is substantial and well-suited to the texture-heavy environments of an action-adventure title like Control. This memory capacity is likely the reason why the step from Medium to High settings does not cause a catastrophic collapse in performance, as the GPU has enough VRAM to hold the additional assets.

Clock speeds are notable, with both base and boost clocks locked at 2500 MHz. This consistent clock rate suggests stable performance under sustained load, which is crucial for maintaining frame times in a game with frequent combat and physics interactions. The GPU's raw compute capabilities are defined by its 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, which together produce a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s. These figures directly support the measured FPS numbers, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less likely to be the sole bottleneck.

The B570's position in the market, per the nearestRivals data, shows it performing nearly identically to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct of 0.1) and the Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct of -0.1). Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 and Passmark G3D score of 14195 place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. This context explains why the card can handle Control's Medium settings at 1440p with a solid 54 FPS average, as it is punching in a weight class that includes last-generation high-end mobile parts. The 150 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface are consistent with a mid-range desktop card that relies on efficient architecture, built on a 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 serves as a capable but secondary partner to the Arc B570. With 6 cores and 6 threads, it lacks hyper-threading, which can be a limiting factor in heavily threaded titles, but Control's engine appears to scale well enough on this configuration. The base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide sufficient single-thread performance to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the benchmark results. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the game's data streaming needs.

Benchmark scores for the i5-9400 show a modest processor that sits in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and single-core score of 935 are modest by modern standards. However, the nearestRivals data indicates it is closely matched with several mobile and lower-tier desktop parts. The deltaPct values show it is virtually identical in average benchmark score to the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (-0.2%), Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3%), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4%), and Intel Core i3-10305 (-0.4%). This suggests that the CPU is not a performance outlier in either direction; it is a stable, mid-range foundation.

In the context of Control's measured FPS, the CPU does not appear to be the primary bottleneck at most settings. The scaling from Low to Medium to High at 1080p shows a consistent drop in FPS (101 to 71 to 63), which is characteristic of an increasing GPU load. If the CPU were severely limiting performance, the frame rate would plateau regardless of settings. The fact that FPS continues to decrease as settings increase indicates the GPU is doing the heavy lifting. Only at the very lowest resolution and setting (1080p Low, 101 FPS) might the CPU's 6-thread limit begin to constrain the maximum achievable frame rate, but the data does not show a hard ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2307 out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This places it in the lower half of the benchmark database, which is a sobering statistic when considering the GPU's individual 65th percentile ranking. The discrepancy suggests that while the GPU is capable, the pairing's overall performance in this specific game is dragged down, likely by the CPU's age and thread count.

This rank of 2307 out of 2888 means that roughly 80% of tested hardware combinations deliver better performance in Control. This is a verdict on the pairing's balance rather than its absolute capability. The measured FPS data shows playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the combo rank indicates that many other setups achieve higher averages. For instance, the GPU alone is ranked near the RTX 3070 Mobile, but a modern pairing with that GPU would likely rank much higher than 2307, highlighting that the i5-9400 is the weaker link in this duo.

The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates on Medium settings. At 1440p, it is borderline for 60 FPS, and at 4K, it is only viable on Low settings. The rank reflects this reality; it is not a high-end experience, but it is a functional one. The percentileVsAllCpus score of 47 for the CPU underscores this, indicating that the processor is essentially average, while the GPU's 65th percentile score shows it is above average. The combo's performance is consequently capped by the CPU's capabilities in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: Medium settings provide the best experience, with an average of 71 FPS and a minimum of 61 FPS. This offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, staying above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this hardware run Control at 1440p with a stable frame rate?

A: Yes, on Medium settings the average frame rate is 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS. This is playable, though not consistently 60 FPS. High settings at 1440p average 48 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its closest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The B570's average benchmark score is 20556. It is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (score 20534, deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Arc A750 (score 20582, deltaPct -0.1).

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 4K resolution?

A: The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 51 FPS, which is achieved on Low settings. Medium settings deliver 36 FPS, High delivers 32 FPS, and Ultra delivers 28 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a performance bottleneck in this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests it is a limiting factor. The combo ranks 2307 out of 2888, and the CPU sits in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. The FPS scaling indicates the GPU is still the primary driver, but the CPU's 6-core/6-thread design likely prevents higher peak frame rates.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 28 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution on Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average FPS for the Intel Core i5-9400 with Intel Arc B570 in Control, broken down by resolution and settings preset. Minimum and maximum FPS values are included where recorded in the data.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 101 FPS average.
• Medium: 71 FPS average, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS.
• High: 63 FPS average.
• Ultra: 55 FPS average.

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 76 FPS average.
• Medium: 54 FPS average, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS.
• High: 48 FPS average.
• Ultra: 42 FPS average.

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 51 FPS average.
• Medium: 36 FPS average, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS.
• High: 32 FPS average.
• Ultra: 28 FPS average.

The data shows a consistent performance scaling pattern. At each resolution, the delta between Low and Medium is significant (e.g., 30 FPS at 1080p), while the delta between High and Ultra is smaller (e.g., 8 FPS at 1080p). The minimum FPS values for Medium settings are crucial; they show that the frame rate does not dip below 61 FPS at 1080p and 46 FPS at 1440p, ensuring a stable experience. This consistency is why Medium is the recommended preset, as it provides the highest visual fidelity while maintaining a playable and stable frame rate across all tested resolutions.