Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a playable experience in Control at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K demands significant settings compromises. This combination, ranking 2296th out of 3720 tested combos for this game, shows a clear performance ceiling that aligns with its mid-range positioning. Benchmark data indicates that the RTX 5050 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the Core Ultra 5 235 provides ample headroom for the game's demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably across all presets. The Low preset delivers an average of 124 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS playability threshold. Moving to Medium reduces the average to 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS, ensuring consistent smoothness even during intense action sequences. The High preset still comfortably clears 60 FPS with an average of 78 FPS. Even the most demanding Ultra preset maintains an average of 68 FPS, which remains above the playable threshold, though it lacks the headroom of lower presets.

Stepping up to 2560x1440 shows a predictable performance drop. The Low preset achieves an average of 94 FPS, still well above 60 FPS. Medium produces an average of 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS; the minimum dipping slightly below 60 FPS suggests occasional framerate hitches during heavy particle effects or physics calculations. The High preset drops to an average of 59 FPS, just shy of the 60 FPS target, while Ultra falls further to 52 FPS. These figures indicate that 1440p is viable only with careful settings selection.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5050's 8 GB memory buffer and 128-bit bus begin to show their limitations. The Low preset is the only playable option, producing an average of 63 FPS. Medium drops to 45 FPS average, with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS, which would feel noticeably stuttery. High manages only 40 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K (18 FPS) is nearly double the gap seen at 1080p (36 FPS difference between Low and Medium), indicating a sharp cliff in performance once memory bandwidth becomes saturated.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra presets is 56 FPS (124 vs 68), demonstrating that the RTX 5050 is being pushed hard by the game's graphical features. However, the Core Ultra 5 235's 14 cores and 14 threads, boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache are more than sufficient for Control's physics-heavy combat encounters. This is evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Ultra, the system maintains a playable framerate, which would not be possible if the CPU were the limiting factor.

As resolution increases to 1440p, the GPU's workload expands, but the CPU's role remains secondary. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings (78 to 59 FPS, a 24% reduction) is almost entirely attributable to the GPU rendering more pixels. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4516 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, ensuring it can feed frames to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

At 4K, the GPU's dominance becomes absolute. The 63 FPS at Low versus 35 FPS at Ultra (a 44% reduction) shows that the RTX 5050's 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are simply insufficient for higher presets. The CPU's utilization likely decreases further, as the GPU is unable to process frames fast enough to keep the CPU busy. This is a textbook example of a mid-range GPU limiting a capable CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2296 out of 3720 tested combinations places it in the lower-middle tier of systems tested for Control. This ranking reflects the RTX 5050's 66th percentile standing among all GPUs, which is the primary performance determinant. The Core Ultra 5 235's 89th percentile CPU ranking does little to boost the overall combo position because the game's framerates are overwhelmingly GPU-limited.

Compared to the 1,424 combinations that rank below this setup, the Core Ultra 5 235 + RTX 5050 offers a solid baseline for 1080p gaming. However, the 2,295 combinations ranked above it include systems with more powerful GPUs that can handle higher resolutions and presets without compromise. The data suggests that this combo sits at a performance tier where 1080p Ultra is achievable, 1440p Medium is borderline, and 4K is restricted to the lowest settings.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context: the RTX 5050's average score of 21035 is just 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153) and 1% below the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237). It edges out the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT by 1.6% (20713). This tight clustering indicates that the RTX 5050 performs similarly to these older or mobile-oriented GPUs, which explains its mid-tier ranking.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control at 60 FPS or above, but only under specific conditions. At 1920x1080, every preset from Low to Ultra clears the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 68 FPS. This makes 1080p the sweet spot for this combination, offering the full visual experience without framerate concerns.

At 2560x1440, the system is partially playable. The Low preset (94 FPS) and Medium preset (67 FPS) both exceed 60 FPS on average, though Medium's minimum of 57 FPS means occasional dips below the threshold. The High preset (59 FPS) and Ultra preset (52 FPS) fail to maintain 60 FPS and should be avoided if smoothness is a priority.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (63 FPS) is playable. All other presets fall well below 60 FPS, with Medium at 45 FPS, High at 40 FPS, and Ultra at 35 FPS. Users with 4K displays would need to significantly reduce graphical fidelity to achieve a playable experience.

The verdict is clear: this is a 1080p gaming system for Control. Owners with 1440p monitors can enjoy the game at Medium settings, while 4K users are restricted to Low. The data does not support this combo for high-refresh-rate 1440p or any form of high-settings 4K gaming.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Core Ultra 5 235's nearest CPU rivals all score within 0.2% of its average benchmark score of 46062. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% slower) would provide nearly identical CPU performance in Control, as would the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, 0.1% faster). The AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, 0.2% slower) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45960, 0.2% slower) are server-class chips with similar synthetic scores, though their real-world gaming performance may differ due to architecture differences not reflected in these benchmarks.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, 0.6% faster) and AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, 1% faster) would produce framerates within 1-2 FPS of the RTX 5050 in most scenarios. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713, 1.6% slower) would be nearly indistinguishable in practice. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379, 1.6% faster) is also a close match, though its mobile form factor may have different thermal characteristics.

Users seeking slightly better performance could look toward GPUs that rank just above the RTX 5050 in the 66th percentile, but the data shows that the improvements would be marginal given the tight clustering of scores among these rivals. The CPU's rivals offer no meaningful advantage for Control specifically, as the game does not heavily tax the processor.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produce an average of 63 FPS. Medium drops to 45 FPS, and High/Ultra fall to 40 and 35 FPS respectively, all below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium is the best playable option, averaging 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS. Low averages 94 FPS but sacrifices visual quality, while High (59 FPS) and Ultra (52 FPS) both fail to maintain 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck at all resolutions. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 66th percentile. The framerate scaling across resolutions and presets follows GPU workload patterns.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2296th out of 3720 combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier. This is primarily due to the RTX 5050's mid-range GPU performance, despite the Core Ultra 5 235 being a high-tier CPU.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum framerates at 1080p Medium?

A: The minimum is 75 FPS and the maximum is 101 FPS, with an average of 88 FPS. This represents the most consistent frame pacing among the playable presets.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: Yes, particularly at 4K. The RTX 5050 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K, the sharp performance drop between Low (63 FPS) and Medium (45 FPS) suggests memory capacity or bandwidth saturation becomes a limiting factor.