Control

The combination of an Intel Core i5-9400 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 in Control produces a wide range of frame rates depending on resolution and preset. Measured data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). The combo ranks 537 out of 1636 tested configurations, placing it in the upper third of the database. The RTX 3080 sits at the 80th percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-9400 is at the 50th percentile, indicating a strong graphics card paired with a mid-range processor. This analysis interprets the measured FPS, the roles of CPU and GPU, and provides practical settings guidance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 118.1 at 1080p to 87.4 at 1440p and 57.8 at 4K — a 51% reduction from 1080p to 4K. Medium settings show a similar pattern: 132.9 → 98 → 64.7, a 51% drop. Ultra goes from 104.9 → 78.5 → 54.8, a 48% reduction. Low settings, however, show a smaller relative decline: 163 → 138.7 → 94, a 42% drop. This suggests that when the GPU load is reduced (Low preset), the i5-9400 can still push high frame rates, but the RTX 3080 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and presets. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p the difference is 58.1 FPS (163 vs 104.9), at 1440p it is 60.2 FPS (138.7 vs 78.5), and at 4K it shrinks to 39.2 FPS (94 vs 54.8). This compression indicates that at 4K, even Low settings are heavily GPU-bound, and the CPU has less influence on the final frame rate.

CPU Role

The i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost of 4.10 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 7969 and single-core is 1125. It holds the 50th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2300 (delta 0.2%), the i3-1125G4 scores 2299 (delta 0.2%), the Xeon E-2134 scores 2295 (delta 0.4%), and the i7-8809G scores 2319 (delta -0.6%). This places the i5-9400 as a typical mid-range part. In Control, the CPU does not appear to bottleneck the RTX 3080 at 1080p: the measured 163 FPS on Low and 118.1 on High are well above typical display refresh rates. The 6 threads and 9 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient to feed the GPU at these settings. At 4K, the frame rates are much lower (54.8–94), but that is driven by the GPU's rendering load, not by CPU limits. The CPU's dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game's data streaming. Overall, the i5-9400 provides a solid foundation for this GPU, with no obvious CPU-induced frame rate ceilings in the measured data.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS suggests that Medium is the most balanced preset across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 132.9 FPS, which is 27% higher than Ultra's 104.9 and 12% higher than High's 118.1. For 1440p, Medium gives 98 FPS, a 25% improvement over Ultra (78.5) and 12% over High (87.4). At 4K, Medium is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS, with 64.7; High is 57.8 and Ultra is 54.8. Low settings at 4K reach 94 FPS, but that sacrifices visual quality. For a 60 Hz display at 4K, Medium is the clear choice. For 1440p, Medium or High both work well, with Medium offering a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. At 1080p, even Ultra is playable at 104.9 FPS, but Medium provides a significant frame rate boost for high-refresh monitors. The data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for this CPU-GPU combination, delivering smooth performance without the steep FPS penalty of Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra?

A: 104.9 FPS.

Q: Which preset at 4K stays above 60 FPS?

A: Medium, with 64.7 FPS. High (57.8) and Ultra (54.8) fall below 60.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and 0.4% higher than the Xeon E-2134 (2295). It is 0.6% lower than the i7-8809G (2319).

Q: What is the RTX 3080's percentile ranking?

A: It is at the 80th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low is 138.7 FPS, Ultra is 78.5 FPS, a difference of 60.2 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 3080 have enough VRAM for Control?

A: The card has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory, and the measured results show playable frame rates at all settings, so the VRAM is sufficient.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080 is an Ampere-based GPU with 8704 shading units, 68 RT cores, and 272 tensor cores. It has a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1710 MHz, with 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus providing 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. Its FP32 performance is 29.77 TFLOPS. It sits at the 80th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores 35860 (delta -0.2%), while the Radeon RX 7900 GRE scores 36101 (delta -0.9%) and the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile scores 35435 (delta 1%). The RTX 3080's launch MSRP is 699 USD. In Control, the GPU is the dominant factor at 4K, where even at Medium settings the FPS is 64.7, and at Ultra it drops to 54.8. The high memory bandwidth and 10 GB VRAM are sufficient for the game's textures. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution: at 1440p High it delivers 87.4 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it reaches 104.9. The card's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present, but the measured FPS does not isolate ray tracing effects; the standard presets show a clear GPU-bound pattern. The RTX 3080's 80th percentile ranking confirms it is a high-end part, and the measured results in Control align with that positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 57.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 94 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 64.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 54.8 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 87.4 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 138.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 98 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 78.5 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 118.1 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 163 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 132.9 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 104.9 |

The highest measured FPS is 163 at 1080p Low, and the lowest is 54.8 at 4K Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is largest at 1440p (60.2 FPS) and smallest at 4K (39.2 FPS), reinforcing that the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck at 4K. At 1080p, the CPU still has headroom, as evidenced by the 58.1 FPS gap between Low and Ultra. These numbers provide a clear picture: the i5-9400 + RTX 3080 combo is capable of smooth 60+ FPS at 1440p on High and at 4K on Medium, making it a versatile pairing for Control.