Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a playable experience in Control at 1080p and 1440p, but falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 4K with higher presets. At 4K, the combination manages 76 FPS on Low settings, but drops to 48 FPS on High and 42 FPS on Ultra. At 1440p, the system clears 60 FPS across all presets, with Ultra averaging 62 FPS. At 1080p, performance is strong, with Ultra averaging 82 FPS and Low reaching 149 FPS. The data indicates this is a capable 1440p-class machine for this title, with 4K reserved for lower fidelity settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear performance hierarchy across the four presets. Low settings produce an average of 149 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combination. Medium settings reduce the average to 106 FPS, with a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS. High settings yield 94 FPS on average, while Ultra settings still maintain a solid 82 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 67 FPS, indicating that the RTX 5060 has substantial headroom even at the most demanding preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down as expected. Low settings average 113 FPS, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. High settings produce 71 FPS on average, and Ultra settings deliver 62 FPS. The 1440p results show a tighter spread between presets compared to 1080p, with a difference of 51 FPS between Low and Ultra. The minimum FPS of 68 FPS at Medium settings indicates that even during demanding scenes, the system stays above the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 76 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that clears the 60 FPS mark. Medium settings average 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS. High settings average 48 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 42 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 34 FPS reduction, showing that the RTX 5060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become limiting factors at this resolution. The minimum FPS of 46 FPS at Medium settings confirms that 4K gameplay will experience noticeable stutter during intense action.

The frame rate data reveals a consistent pattern: the RTX 5060 provides smooth performance at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K requires significant compromises. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings results in a 20 FPS drop, from 62 FPS to 42 FPS. Similarly, at High settings, the drop is 23 FPS, from 71 FPS to 48 FPS. These figures indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the CPU’s performance remains relatively constant across resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates at higher resolutions, while the CPU becomes more relevant at lower resolutions and higher frame rates. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 67 FPS, which suggests that the RTX 5060 has enough headroom to render the game at high speeds, but the CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU without creating a bottleneck. The Core Ultra 5 225’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz and single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655, contribute to this balanced behavior.

At 1440p, the GPU begins to take on more responsibility, as evidenced by the narrower spread between presets. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 51 FPS, compared to 67 FPS at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the higher resolution increases the pixel count and shading load. The RTX 5060’s 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient to maintain 62 FPS at Ultra, but the GPU is clearly working harder than at 1080p.

At 4K, the GPU’s role becomes even more pronounced. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 34 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is heavily saturated at all presets. The RTX 5060’s 8 GB of GDDR7 memory is likely a limiting factor, as Control’s textures and effects at 4K can exceed this capacity. The CPU’s role at 4K is minimal, as the frame rates are constrained by the GPU’s rendering capabilities. The Core Ultra 5 225’s multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891, is more than adequate for this workload, but it does not influence the 4K results.

The scaling between resolutions and presets provides further evidence of this division. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 106 FPS at 1080p to 80 FPS at 1440p, a 26 FPS reduction, and then to 54 FPS at 4K, another 26 FPS reduction. This consistent drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance, with the CPU maintaining a stable baseline. The data shows that the Core Ultra 5 225 is not a bottleneck at any resolution, as even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset only utilizes a fraction of the CPU’s capabilities.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which achieves an average of 82 FPS. This is the recommended setting for 1080p users, as it provides the highest visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The margin above the 60 FPS threshold is 22 FPS, indicating that there is headroom for occasional dips during combat or heavy particle effects. Low settings at 1080p produce 149 FPS, but Ultra is the better choice for visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is also Ultra, with an average of 62 FPS. This is a marginal result, as the system barely clears the threshold. The data shows that Ultra at 1440p is playable, but users should be aware that the average FPS is only 2 FPS above the threshold. For a more comfortable experience, High settings at 1440p provide 71 FPS, which offers a 9 FPS buffer over Ultra. Medium settings at 1440p average 80 FPS, providing an even larger margin.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 76 FPS. This is the only preset at 4K that clears the threshold, and it does so with a 16 FPS margin. Medium settings at 4K average 54 FPS, which is 6 FPS below the threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that 4K users must accept Low settings to achieve playable frame rates, sacrificing significant visual quality.

The recommendation across resolutions is clear: use Ultra at 1080p and 1440p, but reduce to Low at 4K. The 1440p Ultra result is borderline, so users who prioritize consistent frame rates may prefer High settings for a more stable experience. The 1080p Ultra result is robust, with enough headroom to handle demanding scenes. At 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining 60 FPS, and even then, the minimum FPS is not recorded, suggesting potential variability.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control at 1080p and 1440p with all presets, including Ultra, while maintaining an average frame rate above 60 FPS. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 82 FPS, comfortably clearing the threshold. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 62 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold but with a narrow margin. The verdict by resolution confirms that both 1080p and 1440p are fully playable, with all four presets available.

At 3840x2160, the system is only playable on Low settings, which average 76 FPS. The Medium preset struggles, averaging 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS, falling short of the 60 FPS playable threshold. High and Ultra presets at 4K average 48 FPS and 42 FPS, respectively, which are not playable by the 60 FPS standard. The data is clear: 4K gaming with this combination requires the Low preset, and even then, the experience may not be consistent during intense scenes.

The playable settings at 4K are limited to Low, while 1440p and 1080p offer the full range of presets. The combo ranks 1665 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the upper half of tested systems. The RTX 5060’s 8 GB memory capacity is the primary limitation at 4K, as higher presets likely exceed this capacity, causing frame rate drops. For users with 1440p monitors, this system provides an excellent experience with Ultra settings. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only path to 60 FPS, and visual quality will be significantly reduced.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has an average score of 36945, which is identical to the Core Ultra 5 225’s average of 36938, with a 0% deltaPct. This means the Ryzen 5 5600F would behave nearly identically to the Core Ultra 5 225 in Control. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D has an average score of 37018, which is 0.2% higher, making it a marginally faster alternative. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093, 0.4% higher, and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112, 0.5% higher. These differences are negligible in gaming, so any of these CPUs would produce similar frame rates in Control.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a tight cluster around the RTX 5060’s average score of 26331. The AMD Radeon 860M has an average score of 26401, which is 0.3% higher, making it a slightly faster alternative. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 scores 26421, also 0.3% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary scores 26553, 0.8% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT scores 26011, which is 1.2% lower than the RTX 5060. These deltas are small, meaning that swapping the RTX 5060 for any of these GPUs would result in near-identical performance in Control.

The data suggests that this combination is well-balanced, with both the CPU and GPU sitting in the middle of their respective performance tiers. Users considering an upgrade or downgrade can expect similar results with any of the listed rivals. The Ryzen 5 5600F and RX 6750 XT would provide the closest match, while the Core i9-12900T and RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary would offer slight improvements. The differences are within 1.2%, so the gaming experience would be effectively unchanged.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 1665 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 55th percentile of all systems. This rank reflects the system’s ability to handle the game at 1080p and 1440p with high settings, while struggling at 4K. The CPU’s percentile of 85 among all CPUs indicates strong overall processing power, while the GPU’s percentile of 72 among all GPUs shows solid graphics performance. The combination’s rank in Control is influenced by the GPU’s memory limitations at 4K, which drags down the overall position.

In the context of all tested combos, this system sits in the upper-middle range. The rank of 1665 out of 3720 means that approximately 55% of tested systems are slower, while 45% are faster. This positioning is consistent with the measured frame rates, which show smooth performance at mainstream resolutions but not at 4K. The data indicates that this combo is a solid choice for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but users with 4K displays would need to accept Low settings or consider a more powerful GPU.

The ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 5060’s 8 GB memory, which limits 4K performance in Control. The GPU’s 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests that it is a mid-to-upper tier card, but not a top-tier option. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking is higher, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 225 is a stronger component relative to its peers. The combination’s overall rank in Control reflects this balance, with the GPU being the limiting factor at high resolutions. For users targeting 1440p, this combo ranks highly, but for 4K, it falls short of the top performers.