Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Control with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 reveals a clear progression as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces 162 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that figure to 147 FPS, a reduction of roughly 9%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 105 FPS, which is about 35% below the 1080p result. This pattern indicates that the GPU remains the dominant scaling factor as pixel count rises, since the CPU has more headroom at lower resolutions.

The High preset tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the average is 130 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 98 FPS, a 25% decrease. At 4K High, the average is 66 FPS, which is nearly half the 1080p figure. The gap between 1440p and 4K is steeper than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, suggesting that the memory bandwidth and raw throughput of the RTX 5070 become increasingly taxed as the render target expands. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB and the 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for these workloads, but the frame rate scaling shows diminishing returns at higher pixel densities.

The Medium preset at 4K yields 75 FPS average with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 111 FPS with a range of 94 to 127 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 142 FPS with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS. These ranges indicate that frame pacing remains stable even when the GPU is under heavy load, with the delta between minimum and maximum staying within 23 FPS across all resolutions for Medium settings.

Ultra settings produce the lowest averages across the board. At 4K Ultra, the average is 58 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it is 85 FPS. At 1080p Ultra, it is 113 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p Ultra is a 25% drop, while the drop from 1440p to 4K Ultra is 32%. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce effects that are disproportionately expensive at higher resolutions, likely related to the RTX 5070's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores being engaged more heavily.

Overall, the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p Low to the GPU at 4K Ultra. The i5-9400's six threads at 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost are adequate for lower resolutions, but the RTX 5070's frame output becomes the bottleneck as resolution climbs. The data shows that users targeting 4K should expect playable but not high-refresh results, while 1440p offers a balanced experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 832nd out of 3720 tested combos in Control. This places it in the top 22% of all tested configurations. The percentile positions of the individual components help contextualize this rank. The i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 5070 sits at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank is therefore higher than the CPU's percentile would suggest, indicating that the GPU is pulling most of the weight in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks illustrate its mid-pack positioning. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 in average benchmark, which is 0.2% higher than the i5-9400's 2254. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, a 0.3% deficit. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a 0.4% deficit. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, a 0.4% advantage. These deltas are all within 0.4 percentage points, meaning the i5-9400 performs essentially on par with these alternatives in general compute tasks.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar tight clustering. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 40318, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 5070's 40377. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40063, a 0.8% deficit. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40870, a 1.2% advantage. The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile scores 39568, a 2% deficit. Despite the RTX 5070's much newer architecture and higher specifications, its average benchmark score is within 2% of these older or lower-tier cards, which suggests that the benchmark suite may not fully capture the Blackwell 2.0 architecture's strengths in this particular title.

In Control specifically, the combo rank of 832 out of 3720 indicates that the pairing is above average but not exceptional. The gap between the CPU's 47th percentile and the combo's 78th percentile implies that the game is not heavily CPU-bound at the settings tested. Users with higher-end CPUs might see marginal gains, but the RTX 5070 is the primary driver of the frame rates observed.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS is 142, with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations in Control?

A: It ranks 832nd out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations.

Q: What is the performance difference between the i5-9400 and its nearest CPU rival?

A: The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, which is 0.2% higher than the i5-9400's 2254 average benchmark score.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 maintain a stable frame rate at 4K Medium?

A: Yes, the 4K Medium preset shows an average of 75 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS.

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

A: The lowest average is 58 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40870, which is 1.2% higher than the RTX 5070's 40377 average benchmark score.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 105 FPS average. The Medium preset achieves 75 FPS average with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS. The High preset achieves 66 FPS average. The Ultra preset achieves 58 FPS average. This shows a 47 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K, indicating that the highest settings carry a substantial performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 147 FPS average. The Medium preset achieves 111 FPS average with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS. The High preset achieves 98 FPS average. The Ultra preset achieves 85 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 62 FPS, which is larger than at 4K. This suggests that at 1440p, the CPU and GPU have more headroom to express the differences between settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 162 FPS average. The Medium preset achieves 142 FPS average with a minimum of 121 FPS and a maximum of 164 FPS. The High preset achieves 130 FPS average. The Ultra preset achieves 113 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 49 FPS. Interestingly, the 1080p Medium maximum of 164 FPS exceeds the 1080p Low average of 162 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset can occasionally hit higher peaks than Low on average.

Comparing across resolutions for the High preset, the data shows 130 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The step from 1080p to 1440p is a 25% reduction, while the step from 1440p to 4K is a 33% reduction. This non-linear scaling suggests that the RTX 5070's memory subsystem, with 192-bit bus and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth, becomes a more significant constraint as resolution increases.

For the Low preset, the scaling is 162 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 105 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is only 9%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 29%. This indicates that at Low settings, the CPU can keep up with the GPU at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K the GPU's workload dominates.

The Ultra preset shows 113 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 25%, and from 1440p to 4K is 32%. The minimum FPS is only recorded for Medium settings across all resolutions, with values of 121 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that the Medium preset maintains playable frame rates even in demanding scenes.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual fidelity for this combination. At 1080p Medium, the average of 142 FPS with a minimum of 121 FPS ensures smooth gameplay on high-refresh displays. At 1440p Medium, the average of 111 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS remains above the 60 FPS threshold for most monitors. Even at 4K Medium, the average of 75 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS is playable on standard 60 Hz displays.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual quality over frame rate. At 1440p High, the average of 98 FPS is still smooth, and at 1080p High, the average of 130 FPS is excellent. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 66 FPS, which may be borderline for users sensitive to frame pacing. The lack of recorded minimum FPS for High settings means there is less certainty about worst-case performance.

The Low preset maximizes frame rate, with 162 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 105 FPS at 4K. This is suitable for competitive play or for users with very high refresh rate displays, but the visual quality reduction is significant. The Ultra preset, while offering the best image quality, only achieves 58 FPS at 4K, which falls below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p Ultra, the 85 FPS average is acceptable, and at 1080p Ultra, the 113 FPS average is strong.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo. The recorded minimum and maximum FPS values for Medium settings provide confidence in frame stability. The 4K Medium result of 75 FPS average is particularly notable, as it demonstrates that this combination can handle 4K gaming without requiring the lowest settings. Users with 1440p monitors should find Medium or High both satisfactory, depending on their preference for visual detail versus frame rate headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The lack of hyper-threading means the CPU has a fixed thread count, which can be a limitation in games that scale well beyond six threads. However, the measured FPS data for Control suggests that this is not a significant constraint in this title. The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache, providing adequate data locality for game workloads.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks place it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. In Cinebench R23, it scores 6629 in multi-core and 935 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 5141 in multi-core and 1389 in single-core. These scores indicate a mid-range performer that is not a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 in most scenarios.

The comparison with nearest rivals shows that the i5-9400 is highly competitive within its class. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which is 0.2% faster in average benchmark, and the Intel Core i3-10305, which is 0.4% faster, are the closest competitors. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 is 0.4% slower. These tiny deltas mean that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would yield no meaningful difference in Control's frame rates.

The CPU's role in Control becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 162 FPS average suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates. The 147 FPS at 1440p Low shows only a mild reduction, indicating that the CPU is still not the limiting factor. However, the 105 FPS at 4K Low suggests that the GPU's workload has increased to the point where the CPU's thread management becomes less relevant.

The i5-9400's six threads are sufficient for Control's engine, which appears to scale well with the available cores. The 4.10 GHz boost clock provides strong single-threaded performance, which is important for game logic and physics. The 65 W TDP indicates that the CPU runs efficiently, though this is not directly reflected in the FPS data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of the measured performance. With 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation units, the GPU has substantial raw compute power. The 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are available for ray tracing and AI-enhanced features, though their impact on Control's frame rates is not directly measured in the provided data. The GPU's base clock of 2325 MHz and boost clock of 2512 MHz are relatively high, contributing to the observed frame rates.

The GPU's memory configuration includes 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a significant amount of memory bandwidth, which helps explain the relatively strong 4K performance. The 4K Medium average of 75 FPS, with a minimum of 63 FPS, suggests that the memory subsystem is not overwhelmed even at high resolutions.

The RTX 5070's synthetic benchmarks place it at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 5077. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 178923, and in OpenCL, it scores 172660. These scores indicate a high-end GPU that should be capable of handling demanding titles.

The comparison with nearest rivals shows that the RTX 5070's average benchmark score is closely matched by several older or lower-tier cards. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 is 0.1% faster, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 is 0.8% slower, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is 1.2% faster, and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile is 2% slower. These small deltas are surprising given the architectural differences, but they suggest that the benchmark suite may not fully exercise the RTX 5070's Blackwell 2.0 features.

In Control, the GPU's role is evident in the scaling across settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 49 FPS (162 to 113). At 1440p, the difference is 62 FPS (147 to 85). At 4K, the difference is 47 FPS (105 to 58). The GPU's ability to handle these settings is consistent, with no single preset causing an anomalous drop in performance.

The RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for Control at all tested settings, as there is no evidence of memory-related stuttering or frame drops in the measured data. The GPU's 250 W TDP and suggested 600 W PSU are considerations for system builders, but these are not reflected in the FPS data. The dual-slot design and 245 mm length make it compatible with most modern cases.