Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a fascinating, if lopsided, result in Control. This combo ranks 563rd out of 2,888 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20% of all configurations. The data reveals a system where the GPU is overwhelmingly dominant, but the mobile CPU holds back performance at lower resolutions, creating a scaling pattern that flips entirely at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and what the numbers say about where the bottleneck truly lies.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Control?*

A: The combo ranks 563rd out of 2,888 tested combos. This places it in the 80.5th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly 80% of other combinations while trailing the top 20%.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H compare to its nearest CPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score is 27,507. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, scores 27,535, which is a negligible 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i5-12600K and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X both score 27,578, putting them 0.3% ahead. The AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G trails at 27,382, which is 0.5% behind.

*Q: What is the maximum measured average FPS for this combo in Control, and at what settings?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 203, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that breaks the 200 FPS barrier in the measured data.

Q: What is the lowest measured average FPS for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 57, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only measured configuration that drops below 60 FPS.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This is a massive memory pool for a game like Control.

Q: What are the core and thread counts of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H?

A: The CPU has 14 cores and 18 threads. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz and it boosts up to 4.50 GHz, with 18 MB of shared L3 cache.

How This Combo Ranks

The 563rd position out of 2,888 combos is a strong result, but it is not a top-tier ranking. The data suggests that this combo is held back by the CPU, not the GPU. With a GPU that ranks in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, the expectation would be a higher combo rank. The CPU, however, sits in the 79th percentile, which is a noticeable gap. This discrepancy indicates that the processor is the limiting factor in many scenarios.

Looking at the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RTX 5090 is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (which scores 79,605) and 0.6% ahead of the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396). It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940). On the flip side, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959, which is 1.4% higher. These are all extremely close margins, showing that the RTX 5090 is at the very top of the GPU hierarchy, even when its nearest rivals are considered.

The CPU’s rivals tell a similar story of tight competition. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800 is a mere 0.1% ahead, and the Intel Core i5-12600K and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X are both 0.3% ahead. These differences are within the margin of error for most benchmarks. The combo rank of 563, therefore, is not a reflection of a weak GPU, but rather a sign that the mobile CPU cannot fully feed the desktop-class GPU in Control. The rank is respectable, but the data shows that the GPU’s potential is not fully realized.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed star of this pairing. It is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. The GPU has 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units. It also features 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The boost clock is 2,407 MHz, and the base clock is 2,017 MHz.

The memory subsystem is where this GPU truly stands out. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the bandwidth reaches 1.79 TB/s. The memory clock runs at 1,750 MHz with an effective speed of 28 Gbps. This is an enormous amount of memory bandwidth, which is crucial for a game like Control that features heavy use of physics and particle effects. The GPU’s pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1).

In Control, the GPU’s role is to handle the rendering of the game’s complex environments, destructible objects, and the protagonist’s telekinetic powers. The 32 GB VRAM ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, the game’s textures and effects can be stored in memory without stuttering. The benchmark results show that the GPU is capable of delivering high frame rates, but the CPU becomes the bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 4K, the GPU is more fully utilized, as the resolution scaling places a greater load on the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo performs across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 203. Medium settings yield 144 FPS (with a minimum of 122 and a maximum of 165). High settings drop to 128 FPS, and Ultra settings settle at 111 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiting factor, as the GPU is capable of far higher frame rates than the 111-203 FPS range shown.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down, but remains very playable. Low settings produce 153 FPS on average. Medium settings deliver 109 FPS (with a minimum of 93 and a maximum of 125). High settings drop to 97 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 84 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable, but the frame rates are still high enough for smooth gameplay on a high-refresh-rate monitor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is finally pushed to its limits. Low settings produce 103 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 153 FPS at 1440p. Medium settings average 73 FPS (with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 85). High settings drop to 65 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 57 FPS. This is the only resolution where the combo fails to maintain 60 FPS at the highest settings. The 4K results show that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, as the CPU’s limitations are overshadowed by the massive rendering load.

The data shows a clear pattern. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance, as the FPS does not scale as high as the GPU would allow. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as the FPS drops to levels that are more consistent with the GPU’s raw capabilities. The 1440p results represent a balance between the two, where both components are working relatively evenly.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 203 at 1080p to 153 at 1440p (a 24.6% decrease) and then to 103 at 4K (a 32.7% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 49.3%. This is a significant reduction, but the fact that 4K Low still achieves over 100 FPS shows that the GPU is not being fully stressed at lower settings.

At High settings, the average FPS drops from 128 at 1080p to 97 at 1440p (a 24.2% decrease) and then to 65 at 4K (a 33.0% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 49.2%. The pattern is similar to Low settings, but the absolute numbers are lower. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 111 at 1080p to 84 at 1440p (a 24.3% decrease) and then to 57 at 4K (a 32.1% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 48.6%.

The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the scaling is not purely resolution-driven. If the GPU were the only limiting factor, the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K would be more uniform across all settings. Instead, the data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is holding back performance. The FPS at 1080p Ultra (111) is only slightly higher than the FPS at 1440p High (97), which indicates that the CPU is the primary constraint at lower resolutions. At 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, and the FPS drops to levels that are more representative of the GPU’s raw performance.

The limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is the bottleneck, as the FPS is lower than what the GPU could theoretically deliver. At 4K, the GPU is the bottleneck, as the FPS drops to levels that are consistent with the GPU’s rendering capabilities. The 1440p results are a transitional zone where both components are contributing to the overall performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a mobile processor from the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 7 nm process. It has 14 cores and 18 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The L3 cache is 18 MB (shared), with L1 and L2 caches at 112 KB and 2 MB per core, respectively. The CPU’s TDP is 28 watts, which is low for a processor that is paired with a 575-watt GPU. The memory support is DDR5, with a dual-channel bus and a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

The CPU’s benchmark scores show that it is a capable processor, but it is not a high-end desktop chip. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 12,804.5, and the single-core score is 1,647.5. The Cinebench R20 scores are 7,161 (multi-core) and 1,010 (single-core). The Passmark multi-thread score is 21,100, and the single-thread score is 3,399. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 27,507, and it ranks in the 79th percentile of all CPUs.

In Control, the CPU is responsible for handling the game’s physics, AI, and game logic. The game is known for its heavy use of physics-based destruction and particle effects, which can be demanding on the CPU. The 14 cores and 18 threads provide enough parallel processing power to handle these tasks, but the relatively low boost clock of 4.50 GHz limits single-threaded performance.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the FPS is 203, which is high, but the GPU is capable of much more. The CPU’s performance in Cinebench R23 (12,804.5 multi-core) suggests that it can handle multi-threaded workloads, but Control may not be able to fully utilize all 14 cores. The single-core performance (1,647.5 in Cinebench R23) is more relevant for the game’s main thread, and this is where the CPU falls short of high-end desktop chips.

The CPU’s nearest rivals (AMD Ryzen 7 5800, Intel Core i5-12600K, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X) all have average benchmark scores within 0.3% of the Ultra 5 125H. This means that the CPU is not significantly weaker than these desktop processors in synthetic benchmarks. However, the data from Control shows that the CPU is still the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 28-watt TDP is a major factor, as it limits the CPU’s ability to sustain high boost clocks over long periods. The combo’s 563rd rank out of 2,888 is a direct result of this CPU limitation, which prevents the RTX 5090 from reaching its full potential at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, the CPU’s limitations are masked by the GPU’s workload, resulting in a more balanced performance profile.