Control

# Control with Intel Core Ultra 5 135H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 to deliver a playable Control experience across most settings, but the data reveals a system that is firmly GPU-bound at higher resolutions while exhibiting surprising CPU headroom at 1080p. With measured frame rates spanning from 39 FPS at 4K Ultra to 137 FPS at 1080p Low, this combo ranks 1551st out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the 46th percentile of all tested systems for this game. The RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth provide ample resources for Control's demanding visuals, while the Ultra 5's 14 cores and 18 threads keep the pipeline fed without becoming the primary constraint until frame rates climb past 100 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K shows a classic GPU-limited curve, with each resolution step extracting a significant toll on performance. At High settings, the measured average FPS drops from 87 at 1920x1080 to 66 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 24.1%, then further to 44 at 3840x2160, representing an additional 33.3% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern — where 4K delivers roughly half the 1080p frame rate — indicates that the rendering load is scaling almost linearly with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

The Low settings preset tells a similar story but with a steeper absolute decline. Starting at 137 FPS in 1080p, the frame rate falls to 104 FPS at 1440p (a 24.1% drop) and then to 70 FPS at 4K (a 32.7% reduction from 1440p). The fact that Low settings at 4K (70 FPS) still exceeds High settings at 1440p (66 FPS) by 6.1% demonstrates that the quality preset has a substantial impact on the GPU workload, independent of resolution. This suggests that the RTX 5070's shading units and texture units are the limiting factor, not the memory subsystem or the CPU.

The Medium preset offers the only complete min/max data in the measured set, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 112 FPS, yielding a spread of 29 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 74 FPS with a range of 63 to 85 FPS (22 FPS spread), while 4K Medium produces an average of 50 FPS with a 42 to 57 FPS range (15 FPS spread). The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that as the GPU becomes more saturated, frame pacing becomes more consistent because there is less idle headroom for burst variation.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings shows a 49.0% reduction in average FPS (98 to 50), which is slightly less than the theoretical 75% pixel count increase would suggest. This non-linear scaling implies that some portion of the rendering pipeline — likely vertex processing or draw call overhead — does not scale proportionally with resolution. The CPU's 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost clock provide sufficient single-thread performance to handle these fixed-cost operations, allowing the GPU to remain the dominant bottleneck across all measured configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, brings 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs to Control's rendering engine. The GPU's base clock of 2325 MHz and boost clock of 2512 MHz, combined with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivers 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This bandwidth is critical for Control's high-resolution textures and particle effects, which are known to consume significant memory bandwidth during combat sequences.

The GPU's measured performance in Control aligns with its synthetic benchmark profile. The passmark G3D score of 29137 places the RTX 5070 in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377 across all tests. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318 average, 0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063 average, 0.8% delta), while the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568 average, 2% delta) trails by a small margin. These synthetic results suggest the RTX 5070 is a mid-to-upper tier GPU, which matches its in-game performance where it delivers smooth 1080p and acceptable 1440p frame rates but struggles at 4K Ultra.

At 4K Ultra settings, the RTX 5070 produces only 39 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth for action games. The 4K High preset fares slightly better at 44 FPS, but both fall short of ideal playability. The GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 482.3 GTexel/s texture rate are evidently insufficient for Control's maximum quality settings at 4K, where the game's volumetric lighting and physics-based rendering place heavy demands on both the compute and texture units.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is worth noting for Control specifically. The game, released in 2019, was designed for GPUs with less memory, and the RTX 5070's allocation is more than sufficient. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) ensures that the 192-bit bus is fully utilized, providing the bandwidth necessary to avoid texture streaming bottlenecks. The data shows no evidence of VRAM-related performance cliffs, as the frame rate scaling remains consistent across resolutions and settings, indicating that memory capacity is not the limiting factor in any measured configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 1551st out of 2888 tested combos in Control, positioning it in the 46.3rd percentile of all tested systems. This mid-pack ranking reflects the fact that while the RTX 5070 is a capable GPU, it is paired with a mobile-class CPU that, while competent, does not boost the combo into the upper echelons of the database. The rank implies that roughly 1337 tested combinations deliver better performance in Control, which is plausible given that many desktop-class CPUs with higher boost clocks and more aggressive power delivery would provide additional headroom at lower resolutions.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark performance provides context for this ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H achieves an average benchmark score of 29093, placing it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29123 average, -0.1% delta), the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (29245 average, -0.5% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28940 average, 0.5% delta). These rivals span desktop and workstation segments, indicating that the Ultra 5 135H's multi-threaded performance is competitive with desktop parts from previous generations, despite its 28 W TDP and mobile form factor.

The GPU's ranking relative to other GPUs is slightly higher than the combo's overall ranking. The RTX 5070 sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, while the combo ranks in the 46th percentile of all combos. This discrepancy suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor in the combo's overall standing, particularly in scenarios where the GPU has headroom to spare. At 1080p Low settings, where the CPU's role is most pronounced, the combo produces 137 FPS, which is competitive but not exceptional for a GPU with this synthetic profile. The data suggests that a stronger CPU paired with the same RTX 5070 would likely rank higher in the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates span from 75 FPS at Ultra settings to 137 FPS at Low settings. The High preset produces 87 FPS, while Medium yields 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS and maximum of 112 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 45.3% reduction in average FPS (137 to 75), indicating that Ultra settings impose a significant additional load on the GPU compared to Low. The Medium preset's min FPS of 83 suggests that even at 1080p, the system occasionally dips below the average, though the 83 FPS floor remains comfortably above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop proportionally. Ultra settings produce 57 FPS, High yields 66 FPS, Medium delivers 74 FPS with a range of 63 to 85 FPS, and Low achieves 104 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at each preset shows reductions of 24.0% (Ultra), 24.1% (High), 24.5% (Medium), and 24.1% (Low), demonstrating remarkably consistent scaling across all quality settings. This uniformity suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is the dominant factor, with the CPU contributing minimally to the frame rate variance between presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope becomes tighter. Low settings produce 70 FPS, Medium averages 50 FPS with a range of 42 to 57 FPS, High delivers 44 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44.3% (70 to 39 FPS), which is nearly identical to the 45.3% gap at 1080p. This consistency across resolutions indicates that the relative cost of each quality preset is resolution-independent, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of the workload. The Medium preset's min FPS of 42 at 4K represents the lowest measured frame rate in the entire data set, highlighting that 4K gaming at medium quality is the boundary of playability for this combo.

The complete data set reveals that no configuration achieves 60 FPS at 4K, while all configurations at 1080p exceed 60 FPS. At 1440p, the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS at 57 FPS, but all other presets meet or exceed the 60 FPS threshold. This breakdown provides a clear picture of the combo's capabilities: it is a solid 1080p performer, a capable 1440p system with preset limitations, and a marginal 4K option limited to Low and Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal preset for this combo depends on the target resolution and the user's frame rate preferences. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 98 FPS and a minimum of 83 FPS. The High preset at 87 FPS is also viable, but the 11.2% improvement in average FPS from High to Medium (87 to 98) comes at a modest visual cost, making Medium the recommended choice for users prioritizing smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 75 FPS is playable but provides diminishing returns over High given the 13.8% frame rate penalty.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 66 FPS is marginally above the 60 FPS threshold, but the Medium preset at 74 FPS with a 63 FPS minimum offers a more comfortable margin for frame time spikes. The data suggests that Medium is the safer recommendation at 1440p, as the 63 FPS minimum ensures that even the most demanding scenes remain above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The Low preset at 104 FPS provides a high refresh rate experience for users with 144 Hz displays, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the 40.5% frame rate increase over Medium.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 70 FPS is the only configuration that delivers a consistent 60+ FPS experience. The Medium preset at 50 FPS average with a 42 FPS minimum is playable but may suffer from noticeable stuttering during intense combat sequences. For 4K users, the Low preset is the recommended choice, as the 40% frame rate improvement over Medium (70 vs 50 FPS) outweighs the visual quality reduction. The High and Ultra presets at 44 FPS and 39 FPS respectively are not recommended for 4K gaming, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold and the minimum frame rates are not measured, suggesting potential for even lower dips.

For users with adaptive sync displays, the Medium preset at any resolution offers the most consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the complete min/max data. The 1080p Medium range of 83 to 112 FPS, the 1440p Medium range of 63 to 85 FPS, and the 4K Medium range of 42 to 57 FPS all show tighter variance than would be expected from the average values alone, indicating that the Medium preset benefits from balanced GPU utilization.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for 60+ FPS gameplay with this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, all presets deliver 60+ FPS with the lowest being Ultra at 75 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low, Medium, and High presets exceed 60 FPS, but Ultra falls short at 57 FPS. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset at 70 FPS reaches 60+ FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 39 FPS, which is 35% below the 60 FPS threshold. This configuration is not recommended for smooth gameplay, as the frame rate is too low for action-oriented sequences.

Q: What is the highest quality preset that maintains 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 produces 66 FPS average, which is above 60 FPS. However, the Medium preset at 74 FPS with a 63 FPS minimum provides a safer margin for frame time consistency.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, showing a 45.3% reduction from Low to Ultra at 1080p, which is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads rather than CPU limitations.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's performance compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 is 0.1% above the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318), 0.8% above the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063), and 2.0% above the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568).

Q: What is the frame rate range at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The measured range is 83 FPS minimum to 112 FPS maximum, with an average of 98 FPS. This 29 FPS spread indicates moderate frame time variance, but the minimum remains well above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H, built on the Meteor Lake architecture with a 7 nm process, provides 14 cores and 18 threads with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This mobile processor, designed for a 28 W TDP, delivers synthetic benchmark scores that place it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29093. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 and single-core score of 1700 indicate balanced performance across both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads, which is relevant for Control's hybrid rendering approach that uses both CPU and GPU resources.

In Control, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the combo achieves 137 FPS. At this frame rate, the CPU must process game logic, physics, and draw calls at a rate exceeding 137 per second, which requires strong single-thread performance. The Ultra 5's boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache, provides the necessary throughput for these tasks. The CPU's 112 KB L1 cache per core further reduces memory latency for frequently accessed game data.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks shows it is competitive with desktop parts. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X scores 29123 (0.1% higher), the Intel Xeon Phi 7210 scores 29245 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT scores 28940 (0.5% lower). These small deltas indicate that the Ultra 5 135H's multi-threaded performance is on par with these desktop CPUs, despite its mobile form factor and lower power envelope.

However, the data suggests that the CPU is not the primary constraint in Control for this combo. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a consistent pattern across all settings, indicating that the GPU is saturated at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at lower resolutions, but the data shows continued scaling from 1080p to 1440p and beyond. The CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample parallel processing capability for Control's multi-threaded tasks, while the 4.60 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded game logic runs efficiently.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 22422 and single-thread score of 3521 further contextualize the CPU's capabilities. These scores, combined with the data compression score of 251651 and encryption score of 15026, indicate that the CPU can handle a wide range of workloads beyond gaming, but in Control specifically, the GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the determining factor for frame rates. The CPU's role is to keep the GPU fed with draw calls and game state updates, and the measured frame rates suggest it does so effectively up to the GPU's maximum throughput.