Control

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 72nd out of 3,720 tested combos for Control. That places it in the top 2% of all pairings, a position driven almost entirely by the GPU’s raw output. The CPU’s own percentile standing is 96th among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 92nd percentile, so both components are elite individually; together, they form a system that leaves very little performance on the table. The rank of 72 is notable because it is not the very top spot, meaning there are 71 other combinations that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title, but the delta between this combo and those above it is likely small given the sheer headroom both parts provide. For a game released in 2019, this hardware is dramatically over-provisioned, which is reflected in the measured FPS data showing every preset at every resolution clearing the 60 FPS threshold with substantial margin.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame value of 72 out of 3,720 is a strong result, but it is worth interpreting carefully. Being in the 98th percentile of all tested combinations means this system outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, yet it is not the absolute fastest pairing for Control. The data shows that the bottleneck at lower resolutions is not the GPU, so other CPUs paired with the RTX 5090 could edge out this combo in 1080p scenarios where the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s multi-threaded might is less relevant. However, at 4K, the gap narrows because the GPU becomes the dominant factor, and the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are sufficient to keep frame rates high even at Ultra settings. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 84,003 and the GPU’s average of 79,842 both sit near the top of their respective charts, so the ranking reflects a balanced pairing rather than a lopsided one. In practical terms, this rank means that for Control specifically, you would need to seek out exotic combinations—such as a higher-clocked CPU or a multi-GPU setup—to surpass this system, and even then, the gains would be marginal at best.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals how the workload shifts. At 1920x1080, the CPU plays a more significant role because the GPU can render frames faster than the processor can feed it. The data shows a 279 FPS average at Low settings, which drops to 153 FPS at Ultra, a reduction of 45% from the lowest preset to the highest. That drop is primarily due to the GPU working harder on effects and geometry, but the CPU still has to keep up with draw calls and physics. At 2560x1440, the averages are 211 FPS at Low and 116 FPS at Ultra, a 45% reduction again, but the absolute numbers are lower because the GPU is now rendering more pixels. At 3840x2160, the pattern continues: 142 FPS at Low and 78 FPS at Ultra, a 45% reduction. The consistent percentage drop across resolutions suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at all three resolutions, but the CPU’s headroom becomes more apparent at 1080p where the 279 FPS Low result indicates that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus can drive extremely high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The CPU’s 24 cores and 24 threads, along with a 5.80 GHz boost clock, provide ample single-thread performance for Control’s engine, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The GPU’s role dominates at 4K, where the RTX 5090’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 176 ROPs are fully utilized, but at 1080p, the CPU’s contribution is more measurable, as evidenced by the 279 FPS Low result being higher than any 1440p or 4K number.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting with 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression: Low settings yield an average of 279 FPS, Medium drops to 198 FPS (with a minimum of 168 and maximum of 228), High delivers 176 FPS, and Ultra settles at 153 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, showing a 60 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, which indicates some frame pacing variance but nothing that would cause perceptible stutter given the high average. At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low at 211 FPS, Medium at 150 FPS (min 127, max 172), High at 133 FPS, and Ultra at 116 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 95 FPS, a 45% reduction, consistent with the pattern at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 142 FPS, Medium at 101 FPS (min 86, max 116), High at 90 FPS, and Ultra at 78 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a 30 FPS spread between min and max, which is tighter than at lower resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is more consistently loaded at higher pixel counts. The minimum FPS of 86 at 4K Medium is still well above the 60 FPS playable threshold, and even the Ultra preset’s 78 FPS average leaves 18 FPS of headroom. The data indicates that this system never dips below 86 FPS in any measured scenario, which is remarkable for a game with Control’s particle effects and destructible environments.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with a score of 83,807 and a delta of 0.2%, meaning it performs nearly identically to the 290K Plus. The AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83,090 (1.1% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9135 scores 82,980 (1.2% slower). On the other side, the AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85,072, which is 1.3% faster. These deltas are all within a couple of percentage points, so swapping the 290K Plus for any of these would result in virtually indistinguishable frame rates in Control, especially at 4K where the GPU dominates. The GPU’s nearest rivals are more interesting: the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605 (0.3% slower than the RTX 5090’s 79,842), and the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396 (0.6% slower). The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (1.1% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959 (1.4% faster). The fact that a Tesla P100, which is a datacenter card, is within 0.3% of the RTX 5090 in average benchmark score is notable, but in actual gaming, the RTX 5090’s dedicated RT cores and 32 GB of VRAM would provide a different experience. For Control specifically, any of these GPU alternatives would likely produce similar FPS at 1080p, but at 4K Ultra, the RTX 5090’s higher memory bandwidth and shading units (21,760) would pull ahead. The practical takeaway is that this combo is not uniquely fast; several other pairings would deliver within a few percentage points of its performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which runs at an average of 153 FPS. There is no setting that cannot maintain 60 FPS at this resolution, so the answer is simply the highest quality option. At 2560x1440, Ultra also qualifies, with an average of 116 FPS, again leaving a 56 FPS margin over the playable threshold. At 3840x2160, Ultra runs at 78 FPS, which is 18 FPS above the 60 FPS mark, so it is the best setting. The verdictByResolution data confirms that all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at all three resolutions, which means the system has enough headroom to max out the game everywhere. The best settings per resolution are therefore Ultra at every resolution, with the caveat that the 4K Ultra average of 78 FPS is the lowest margin of safety. If you wanted to ensure a higher minimum frame rate, dropping to High at 4K would give you 90 FPS average, but that is not necessary to stay above 60 FPS. The data shows that the Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 86 FPS, which is still well above the threshold, so even the most conservative interpretation of the data allows for Ultra settings everywhere.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Control at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 78, which is 18 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four presets at 4K are marked as playable.

Q: What is the highest FPS this combo achieves in Control?

A: The highest measured average is 279 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only result above 250 FPS in the data.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5090’s average benchmark score is 79,842, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB’s 79,605. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% faster with a score of 80,959.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for Control at 1080p?

A: The CPU’s role is more significant at 1080p, as evidenced by the 279 FPS Low result, which is higher than any 1440p or 4K number. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, with the 4K Low average of 142 FPS being lower than the 1080p Low result.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo in Control?

A: The only min/max data available is for the Medium preset at each resolution. The lowest minimum is 86 FPS at 3840x2160 Medium, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does this combo rank in the top 100 for Control?

A: Yes, it ranks 72nd out of 3,720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2% of all pairings.

The Verdict

This PC can run Control at maximum settings across all tested resolutions. The verdictByResolution data lists all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—as playable at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160. The best settings at each resolution are Ultra, with average FPS of 153 at 1080p, 116 at 1440p, and 78 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the closest to the 60 FPS threshold, but it still clears it by 18 FPS, and the minimum recorded FPS across all Medium presets is 86 at 4K, indicating that the system never drops below that level in the measured scenarios. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking both support the conclusion that this is a high-end pairing, and the measured data confirms that it exceeds the requirements for smooth gameplay in Control. For a game from 2019, this hardware is overkill, but the data shows it delivers consistently high frame rates with no compromises needed. The 72nd rank out of 3,720 combos is a strong showing, and the only way to improve on it would be to use a faster CPU or GPU, which would yield marginal gains at best. In summary, this system is more than capable of running Control at its highest settings with excellent performance.