Control

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Control on this combination of an Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 shows a clear performance curve that scales predictably with resolution and preset. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution measured, the system delivers its strongest results. With Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 107 FPS, which is the highest average recorded across the entire test matrix. Moving to Medium settings at 1080p, the average drops to 76 FPS, with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS. High settings at 1080p produce an average of 68 FPS, while Ultra settings yield an average of 59 FPS. The 1080p results show a smooth progression, with each step up in preset costing roughly 8 to 10 FPS on average, except for the jump from Medium to High, which costs 8 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low settings still deliver a comfortable average of 81 FPS, but Medium settings fall to 58 FPS, with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS. High settings at 1440p average 51 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 45 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 23 FPS, which is a steeper penalty than the 31 FPS difference seen at 1080p between the same two presets, indicating that the higher resolution amplifies the cost of increased graphical fidelity. The minimum frame rate recorded at 1440p Medium, 49 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold, suggesting that even the medium preset can experience noticeable dips during intense scenes.

At 3840x2160, 4K resolution, the system is clearly pushed to its limits. Low settings average 55 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution that comes close to the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, showing significant variance under load. High settings average 35 FPS, and Ultra settings average 30 FPS. The recorded data shows that no preset at 4K maintains a consistent 60 FPS, and the average frame rates at this resolution are roughly half of what the same presets achieve at 1080p, confirming that the RTX 2060’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are heavily taxed at 3840x2160.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the dominant performance limiter for Control at all resolutions tested, but the degree of GPU influence grows as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 48 FPS (107 FPS down to 59 FPS), which demonstrates that the graphics card’s workload scales substantially with preset quality. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, provides ample headroom for the game’s physics and logic systems, but the frame rate ceiling at 1080p is set by the RTX 2060’s shading and rasterization capabilities. The Core Ultra 7 265’s high single-thread performance, reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960, ensures that CPU-bound scenarios are unlikely at this resolution, as the GPU saturates first.

At 2560x1440, the GPU’s role becomes even more pronounced. The average frame rates at 1440p are consistently lower than at 1080p across all presets, with the gap ranging from 26 FPS at Low (81 vs. 107) to 14 FPS at Ultra (45 vs. 59). This scaling indicates that the increased pixel count directly raises the GPU’s workload, while the CPU’s contribution remains relatively static. The data shows that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, are sufficient for 1080p but begin to strain at 1440p, particularly on Medium and higher presets where texture and shader complexity increase.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck. The average frame rates at 4K range from 30 FPS at Ultra to 55 FPS at Low, with the GPU’s compute resources, rated at 6.451 TFLOPS FP32, being overwhelmed by the fourfold increase in pixel count relative to 1080p. The CPU’s performance, while strong, has no meaningful impact on the 4K results, as the frame rate is entirely constrained by the graphics card’s ability to process geometry and shading. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows an average drop of roughly 30 to 40 percent across presets, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU is not a limiting factor.

Best Settings per Resolution

The verdict by resolution, based on the recorded data and the 60 FPS playability threshold, shows that this system can only achieve a consistent 60 FPS at two of the three resolutions tested. At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average frame rate of 68 FPS. This is the best setting for 1080p, as it provides a comfortable margin above the threshold while delivering higher visual quality than Medium (76 FPS) or Low (107 FPS). Ultra at 1080p falls short with an average of 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS mark.

At 2560x1440, the only preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Low, which achieves 81 FPS. Medium at 1440p averages 58 FPS, which is below the threshold, and High and Ultra are further behind at 51 FPS and 45 FPS, respectively. Therefore, the best settings for 1440p are Low, as it is the sole playable option, though it sacrifices significant visual fidelity compared to the higher presets.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The closest is Low with an average of 55 FPS, but it still falls short. The verdict data confirms that there are no playable settings at 4K for this combination, meaning that users seeking 60 FPS should avoid this resolution or consider reducing the resolution to 1440p or 1080p. For those willing to accept lower frame rates, the 4K results show that Low is the most viable option, but it does not meet the playability standard.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this system can achieve in Control?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 107 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system run Control at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 1920x1080?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, the average frame rate is 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and playability?

A: At 2560x1440, only Low settings achieve 60 FPS with an average of 81 FPS, while at 1920x1080, High settings average 68 FPS, offering higher visual quality with a playable frame rate.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 or the Core Ultra 7 265 the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, all presets fall below 60 FPS, with the highest average being 55 FPS at Low. The GPU is the bottleneck, as its compute and memory resources are insufficient for 4K workloads.

Q: How does the minimum frame rate at 1440p Medium compare to the playability threshold?

A: At 1440p Medium, the minimum frame rate is 49 FPS, which is 11 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that frame pacing may be inconsistent during demanding scenes.

Q: What is the best preset for 1920x1080 if the goal is maximum visual quality while staying above 60 FPS?

A: High settings at 1080p provide an average of 68 FPS, making it the most demanding preset that clears the 60 FPS mark at this resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals recorded in the database, the CPU and GPU in this system have close performance matches that would yield similar results in Control. For the Intel Core Ultra 7 265, the nearest rivals are the AMD EPYC 4464P, with an average benchmark score of 64823 and a delta of -0.3 percent, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, with a score of 64438 and a delta of 0.3 percent. These processors are effectively identical in compute performance, meaning that swapping the Core Ultra 7 265 for either would not noticeably alter the game’s frame rates, as the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The AMD EPYC 7343, with a score of 64202 and a delta of 0.7 percent, and the AMD EPYC 9124, with a score of 65104 and a delta of -0.7 percent, also fall within a narrow performance band, further confirming that the CPU’s headroom is more than sufficient for Control.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, the nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, with an average score of 15283 and a delta of 0 percent, and the AMD Radeon 680M, with a score of 15270 and a delta of 0.1 percent. These GPUs are statistically indistinguishable in benchmark performance, so they would produce nearly identical FPS results in Control at the same settings and resolutions. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, with a score of 15199 and a delta of 0.6 percent, and the AMD Radeon RX 7600, with a score of 15171 and a delta of 0.8 percent, are also close, though the slightly lower scores suggest a marginal performance deficit that could translate to 1 or 2 FPS differences in practice. Users with any of these GPUs should expect the same general behavior: playable at 1080p on High, limited to Low at 1440p, and below 60 FPS at 4K.

The Verdict

This system can run Control, but the playability depends heavily on the chosen resolution and preset. At 1920x1080, the combination of the Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 2060 delivers playable performance across Low, Medium, and High settings, with average frame rates of 107, 76, and 68 FPS respectively. The High preset at 1080p is the recommended choice, as it provides the best visual quality while maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra at 1080p falls just short at 59 FPS, so it is not recommended for a consistent 60 FPS experience.

At 2560x1440, the system is limited to Low settings for a playable experience, with an average of 81 FPS. All higher presets at 1440p, including Medium (58 FPS), High (51 FPS), and Ultra (45 FPS), fall below the 60 FPS playability threshold. For users with 1440p monitors, the Low preset is the only viable option, and they should be prepared for reduced visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is clear: this system cannot sustain 60 FPS at any preset. The highest average is 55 FPS at Low, and all other presets range from 30 to 39 FPS. The RTX 2060’s hardware is insufficient for 4K gaming in Control, so users should avoid this resolution unless they are willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance. Overall, the system is a solid 1080p performer and a capable 1440p option only at the lowest settings, but it is not suitable for 4K gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database’s comprehensive list of tested combinations for Control, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2950 out of 3720 total combos. This places it in the lower 21st percentile of all tested systems, meaning that roughly 79 percent of other hardware combinations achieve better performance in this game. The rank reflects the GPU’s age and limited memory bandwidth, which constrain the system to 1080p and low-to-medium presets for smooth play. The CPU’s strong benchmark scores, such as its Cinebench R23 multicore result of 42216, do not boost the ranking because Control is primarily GPU-bound at the resolutions tested. Users seeking higher rankings should consider upgrading the GPU, as the CPU has ample headroom to support more powerful graphics cards without becoming a bottleneck. The recorded data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it performs adequately, but it trails most modern systems in higher-resolution scenarios.