Control

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER presents a distinct performance profile in Control, where the GPU's raw capability is frequently moderated by the processor's six-core, six-thread architecture. The measured frame rates across the tested presets reveal a configuration that is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p and solid 4K performance, though the scaling patterns indicate where the bottleneck lies. This analysis examines the optimal settings, the GPU's role, and the combined ranking of this hardware set within the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the High preset provides the most balanced experience across all resolutions, delivering an average of 135.6 FPS at 1920x1080, 114.7 FPS at 2560x1440, and 77.1 FPS at 3840x2160. These figures represent a substantial performance tier that remains playable at 4K while leaving headroom for higher refresh rates on lower-resolution displays. The transition from High to Medium yields diminishing returns in visual fidelity for a modest frame rate increase—for instance, at 1440p the Medium preset reaches 127.9 FPS, only 11.5% higher than High, which is unlikely to justify the reduction in graphical quality.

The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, causes the most significant performance drop, particularly at 4K where it averages 67.3 FPS. This represents a 12.7% decrease from the High preset at the same resolution, pushing the experience closer to the edge of smooth gameplay on standard 60Hz displays. At 1080p, Ultra still manages 127.9 FPS, identical to the Medium preset at 1440p, which suggests that the CPU is beginning to constrain the frame rate at lower resolutions regardless of the graphics load. For users prioritizing maximum visual quality with a tolerance for lower frame rates, Ultra is viable, but the data indicates that High offers the best compromise between image quality and performance stability.

The Low preset shows the ceiling of this combination's frame rate potential, reaching 161 FPS at 1080p and 149.3 FPS at 1440p. However, the jump from Low to High at 1080p is only a 15.8% reduction in FPS (161 to 135.6), which is a modest cost for the significant increase in visual complexity. At 4K, the Low preset yields 126.9 FPS, which is higher than the Medium preset at 1440p, demonstrating that resolution scaling has a more pronounced effect on performance than settings adjustments at these high frame rates. The recommendation is clear: the High preset is the optimal default, as it maintains a 77.1 FPS floor at 4K and exceeds 135 FPS at 1080p, ensuring that the gameplay experience remains fluid across the majority of display configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is well-suited for Control's texture-heavy environments, as the high bandwidth allows for rapid asset streaming at higher resolutions. The GPU's boost clock of 2550 MHz, combined with 10240 shading units, provides the computational throughput necessary to drive the frame rates observed in the measured data. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process with 45,900 million transistors, enables a peak FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS, which is directly reflected in the GPU's ability to handle the game's physics and particle effects.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's role becomes more critical as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between the Low preset (161 FPS) and the Ultra preset (127.9 FPS) is 20.6%, indicating that the CPU is partially limiting the frame rate even at the highest settings. However, at 4K, the spread widens dramatically: the Low preset achieves 126.9 FPS while the Ultra preset drops to 67.3 FPS, a 46.9% reduction. This pattern confirms that the RTX 4080 SUPER is fully utilized at higher resolutions, where its 16 GB frame buffer and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth prevent any memory-related bottlenecks. The GPU's percentile ranking of 88 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610, places it just ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 0.2% and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. In Control, this translates to a GPU that can consistently deliver playable frame rates at 4K High settings, while the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1636 tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 253rd, placing it in the top 15.5% of all configurations tested for Control. This ranking is notable given the CPU's modest specifications: the i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, and its average benchmark score of 2305 places it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs. The CPU's closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% faster) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (0.4% faster), illustrating that the processor's computational power is average at best. Despite this, the combo achieves a high rank because the RTX 4080 SUPER compensates for the CPU's limitations, particularly at higher resolutions.

The ranking suggests that Control is a game that scales well with GPU power, as the 4080 SUPER's performance (88th percentile among GPUs) allows the combo to outperform many configurations with more balanced but lower-end GPUs. The data shows that the combo's 4K High average of 77.1 FPS is a strong result, considering the CPU's synthetic benchmarks would suggest a potential bottleneck. The rank of 253 out of 1636 also indicates that there is a significant performance ceiling above this combo, likely achieved by pairing the RTX 4080 SUPER with more powerful CPUs, but for the vast majority of tested hardware, this configuration delivers a superior experience. The delta between the i5-9400 and its nearest CPU rivals is minimal (0.2% to 0.4%), meaning that small CPU improvements would not dramatically alter the ranking, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary driver of this combo's position.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo for the highest frame rate?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves the highest average FPS at 161, but for a balanced experience, the 1080p High preset delivers 135.6 FPS, which is 15.8% lower but offers significantly better visual quality.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 67.3 FPS. This is 12.7% lower than the 4K High preset (77.1 FPS) and may be below the refresh rate of some high-end displays.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes, the 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for Control, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 4K where memory capacity often becomes a limiting factor.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.4% faster than the Intel Xeon E-2134, but 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i7-8809G.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 253rd out of 1636 tested combinations for Control, placing it in the top 15.5% of all hardware pairings in the database.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at lower resolutions?

A: Yes, at 1080p the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only 20.6% (161 vs 127.9 FPS), which is smaller than the 46.9% difference at 4K, indicating that the i5-9400's six-core design becomes a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear trend in how performance scales with resolution. At the High preset, the frame rate drops from 135.6 FPS at 1080p to 114.7 FPS at 1440p, a 15.4% reduction, and then further to 77.1 FPS at 4K, a 32.8% reduction from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that the GPU is increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, but the CPU's influence remains constant. The most telling comparison is the Low preset: it achieves 161 FPS at 1080p, 149.3 FPS at 1440p (7.3% lower), and 126.9 FPS at 4K (15.0% lower than 1440p). This less severe scaling at Low settings suggests that the i5-9400 is limiting the maximum frame rate at lower resolutions, preventing the GPU from fully expressing its potential.

At the Ultra preset, the scaling is more dramatic: 127.9 FPS at 1080p, 105.2 FPS at 1440p (17.7% lower), and 67.3 FPS at 4K (36.0% lower than 1440p). This steeper drop at 4K Ultra indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at this setting, as the increased pixel count and visual effects overwhelm the GPU's capacity. The data reveals that the limiting component switches based on resolution and settings: at 1080p, the CPU constrains performance (evidenced by the relatively small spread between presets), while at 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the limiting factor (evidenced by the large FPS drop). The 4K Medium preset (90.9 FPS) and 4K High preset (77.1 FPS) show a 15.2% difference, suggesting that the GPU has significant headroom at these settings, but the CPU's six threads may prevent higher frame rates. Overall, the resolution scaling analysis confirms that this combo is best utilized at 1440p or 4K with High settings, where the GPU's power is balanced against the CPU's capabilities, yielding the most consistent performance across the measured data.