Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a thoroughly capable Control experience, with benchmark results showing that the combination clears the 60 FPS threshold at every tested resolution and preset, though the margin narrows significantly at 4K Ultra settings. The data indicates a system that scales predictably with resolution and quality settings, positioning it as a strong performer for this 2019 action-adventure title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows consistently high performance across all four quality presets. The Low preset produces an average of 206 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded for this combination. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 146 FPS, with a minimum of 124 FPS and a maximum of 168 FPS, providing the only complete min/max data in the entire dataset for this resolution. The High preset yields 130 FPS average, while the Ultra preset still maintains a robust 113 FPS average. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the RTX 5070 is rarely the limiting factor, with even the most demanding settings leaving substantial headroom above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected scaling with resolution. The Low preset delivers 156 FPS average, which is still more than double the playable threshold. Medium settings produce 111 FPS average, with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS, representing a 24% drop from the 1080p Medium result. The High preset averages 98 FPS, while Ultra settings maintain 85 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 71 FPS, which is narrower than the 93 FPS gap observed at 1080p, suggesting that resolution scaling begins to compress the differences between quality presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance profile changes more dramatically. The Low preset still achieves 105 FPS average, which is playable and smooth. Medium settings deliver 75 FPS average, with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS, placing the minimum right at the edge of the playable threshold. The High preset produces 66 FPS average, which is the best playable setting at this resolution according to the verdict data. Ultra settings drop to 58 FPS average, falling just below the 60 FPS threshold and making it the only non-playable configuration in the entire dataset. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 47 FPS spread, indicating that the GPU is becoming increasingly stressed as pixel count rises.

Comparing the Medium preset across all three resolutions reveals a clear pattern: 146 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 75 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 32% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The High preset shows a similar trajectory with 130, 98, and 66 FPS respectively. These figures demonstrate that the RTX 5070 handles the jump from 1440p to 4K less gracefully than the jump from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for a GPU of this class.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The verdict data shows playable settings at 3840x2160 include Low, Medium, and High presets, with High being the best playable option at 66 FPS average. The Ultra preset falls short at 58 FPS average, just below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best setting at 1440p for this combination?

A: According to the verdict data, Ultra is the best setting at 2560x1440, achieving 85 FPS average. All four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at this resolution, with even the most demanding preset maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance difference exists between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The measured FPS shows a 93 FPS difference between Low (206 FPS average) and Ultra (113 FPS average) at 1920x1080. This indicates that the Ultra preset costs roughly 45% of the Low preset's performance, yet still delivers nearly double the playable threshold.

Q: Is there any resolution where this system fails to hit 60 FPS?

A: The only configuration that falls below 60 FPS is 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which produces 58 FPS average. Every other combination of resolution and preset tested — 12 configurations total — clears the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures for the Medium preset across resolutions?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 124 FPS; at 2560x1440, the minimum is 94 FPS; and at 3840x2160, the minimum is 63 FPS. All three minimums remain above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the GPU in terms of market position?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs tested, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs tested. This suggests the CPU is a relatively stronger component in the pairing, though the GPU still performs well overall.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor in Control's performance at higher resolutions, while the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and higher frame rates. At 1920x1080, the jump from Low to Ultra only reduces average FPS from 206 to 113, which is a 45% reduction. This relatively modest scaling suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates, but the GPU's workload still scales with settings.

When moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all presets drops by roughly 24-28%, which is a smaller percentage than the resolution increase would suggest. This indicates that the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p, allowing the CPU to push frame rates higher than the raw pixel count might imply. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, provides ample processing power for a game like Control, which was released in 2019 and does not heavily utilize modern multi-core architectures.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's role becomes much more pronounced. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper, around 32-33% for Medium and High presets, and the Ultra preset finally pushes the GPU past its limit at 58 FPS. The fact that the CPU's 96th percentile ranking does not prevent the GPU from becoming the bottleneck at 4K confirms that resolution scaling is primarily a GPU-bound operation. The RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the texture and geometry demands of Control at 4K, but the raw compute power of 30.87 TFLOPS is the limiting factor at Ultra settings.

The scaling between presets also tells a story about component roles. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 60 FPS, while at 4K, the same preset difference is only 30 FPS. This compression suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU's fixed-cost operations — like shading and rasterization — begin to dominate, making the relative cost of quality settings smaller in absolute terms. The CPU's 5.50 GHz boost clock and 36 MB of shared L3 cache provide sufficient single-thread performance for Control's game logic, but the data shows that this is rarely the limiting factor except possibly at the highest frame rates around 206 FPS.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Control, and it does so with significant headroom at most settings. The verdict data is unambiguous: at 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra settings achieving 113 FPS average — nearly double the 60 FPS threshold. The best playable setting at this resolution is Ultra, which is the maximum quality option available.

At 2560x1440, the system maintains playability across all presets as well. The Ultra preset delivers 85 FPS average, which is the best setting according to the verdict data. This means users can enjoy maximum quality at 1440p without worrying about frame rate drops below the playable threshold. The margin is comfortable, with even the most demanding settings providing 25 FPS of headroom above 60 FPS.

The 3840x2160 resolution is where the system begins to show its limits. The verdict data lists Low, Medium, and High as playable settings, with High being the best at 66 FPS average. This means users can run the game at 4K with high quality settings and maintain frame rates above 60 FPS, but only just. The Ultra preset fails to meet the threshold at 58 FPS average, which is a clear indication that 4K Ultra is beyond this combination's capabilities. For users seeking the absolute best visual quality at 4K, the system will require either a reduction to High settings or acceptance of sub-60 FPS performance.

Overall, the verdict is positive: this system runs Control well at all resolutions, with only 4K Ultra falling short of the 60 FPS target. The 66 FPS at 4K High is a strong result, and the 85 FPS at 1440p Ultra provides an excellent balance of visual quality and smoothness.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93,785, which is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon 6520P at 93,786 — a delta of 0%. In practical terms, a system using the Xeon 6520P would perform essentially the same in CPU-bound scenarios. The AMD EPYC 4564P scores 95,183, which is 1.5% higher, while the AMD EPYC 9175F at 95,615 is 1.9% higher, and the AMD EPYC 4565P at 95,764 is 2.1% higher. These differences are small enough that users would not notice them in real-world gaming performance, particularly in a game like Control where the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40,377 places it alongside the AMD Radeon Pro 580, which scores 40,318 — a delta of 0.1%. This means the Radeon Pro 580 would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Control. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40,063, which is 0.8% lower, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40,870, which is 1.2% higher. The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile scores 39,568, which is 2% lower. None of these alternatives would change the fundamental verdict for Control: they would all produce similar FPS figures at each resolution and preset, with the same 4K Ultra limitation likely present.

It is worth remembering the nearest rivals for the GPU are professional workstation cards rather than gaming-oriented products. This is an artifact of the benchmark database's scoring methodology, which aggregates across multiple tests. For gaming specifically, the RTX 5070's architecture and driver optimizations would likely produce different relative performance than these synthetic scores suggest, but based solely on the data provided, these are the closest matches.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best setting is Ultra, which achieves 113 FPS average. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, and it does so with a wide margin of 53 FPS above the threshold. Users can enable all visual features without concern for frame rate drops.

At 2560x1440, the best setting is also Ultra, delivering 85 FPS average. This provides 25 FPS of headroom above the 60 FPS threshold, making it a safe choice for smooth gameplay. The 85 FPS average is still well within the range where most displays can show consistent frame pacing.

At 3840x2160, the best setting is High, at 66 FPS average. This is the highest quality preset that maintains playable performance at 4K. The 66 FPS average provides only 6 FPS of headroom above the threshold, which means users might experience occasional dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes, though the data does not include minimum FPS figures for this preset to confirm. For users who prioritize frame rate stability over visual quality, the Medium preset at 75 FPS average with a documented minimum of 63 FPS would be a more conservative choice, ensuring that even the worst-case frame times remain above the playable threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 780th out of 3,720 tested combos in Control, placing it in roughly the 79th percentile of all system configurations. This is a strong showing, particularly given that the GPU alone ranks in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs and the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The combo's rank is slightly lower than the GPU's individual percentile, which suggests that some of the higher-ranked combinations likely pair the RTX 5070 with even more powerful CPUs, or that the game's performance is slightly more GPU-bound than CPU-bound at the tested settings.

Given that there are 3,720 total combinations tested, the 780th rank means this system outperforms approximately 2,940 other configurations. This places it comfortably in the upper quartile of tested systems, which aligns with the measured FPS data showing playable performance at nearly every setting across all three resolutions. The rank reflects a balanced system that can handle Control at high quality without major compromises, though it stops short of the top tier where 4K Ultra would be playable.