Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title that stresses both GPU fill-rate and CPU draw-call overhead. The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER produces a playable but resolution-sensitive experience, with benchmark data showing a clear transition from CPU-bound behavior at 1080p to a firmly GPU-bound state at 4K. The measured results across four quality presets and three resolutions reveal that this combination is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it maintains competitive frame rates, while higher resolutions require significant settings compromises.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 in Control demonstrates a classic GPU-limited curve. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 91 FPS, but this drops to 69 FPS at 1440p and further to 46 FPS at 4K. That represents a 24% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint as resolution increases, with the 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus struggling to feed the renderer at higher pixel counts.

The drop from Medium to Low settings at 4K is particularly telling: the average frame rate rises from 33 FPS to 46 FPS, a 39% improvement that highlights how much headroom exists in lower-quality presets. However, even at Low 4K, the 46 FPS result is below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this GPU cannot fully saturate a 4K display in Control regardless of settings. At 1440p, the picture is more balanced: Low settings hit 69 FPS, while High drops to 43 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle the resolution but only with significant visual compromises.

The 1080p data reveals a different constraint. The jump from Low (91 FPS) to Medium (64 FPS) is a 30% reduction, while High (57 FPS) and Ultra (50 FPS) show diminishing returns. This pattern suggests that at 1080p, the CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, but the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 1408 shading units become the bottleneck as settings increase. The measured frame times at 1080p Medium (55 FPS minimum, 74 FPS maximum) show a tight distribution, indicating stable performance rather than CPU-induced stutter.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Control?

A: Based on measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS, achieving 91 FPS at Low and 57 FPS at High settings. At 1440p, only Low settings reach 69 FPS, while 4K remains below 50 FPS across all presets.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 12986 places it within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940) and AMD Radeon RX 580 (12928). It sits 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (13075) and 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon 740M (12870), indicating near-identical raw compute performance.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 5 225 bottleneck the GTX 1660 SUPER in Control?

A: At 1080p Low, the 91 FPS result suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor, as the GPU maintains high output. However, at 1080p Ultra (50 FPS), the frame rate is constrained by the GPU’s shading throughput, not the CPU’s 10-core, 10-thread configuration with a 4.90 GHz boost clock.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the lower 15% of all pairings. This reflects the GTX 1660 SUPER’s mid-range position (53rd percentile among all GPUs) rather than the CPU’s stronger standing (85th percentile among all CPUs).

Q: Is 6 GB of VRAM sufficient for Control at high settings?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the measured results show no catastrophic frame rate drops, with minimums of 55 FPS at 1080p Medium and 41 FPS at 1440p Medium. At 4K, the 25 FPS Ultra result and 28 FPS Medium minimum suggest VRAM capacity or bandwidth constraints, as the 336.0 GB/s bandwidth struggles with higher-resolution textures.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 scores 3655 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is not directly listed for rivals, but its overall average benchmark score of 36938 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018) and 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093), indicating competitive per-core performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 brings a 10-core, 10-thread configuration based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. With a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, the CPU delivers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655. This is crucial for Control, which relies heavily on draw-call processing and physics calculations that favor high clock speeds over raw core counts.

The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938, places it in the upper echelon of desktop processors. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945 with a 0% deltaPct, meaning the two are effectively identical in synthetic workloads. The Intel part also sits within 0.5% of the Intel Core i9-12900T (37112), despite having half the threads, highlighting the efficiency of the Arrow Lake architecture.

In Control specifically, the CPU’s role is to maintain a consistent frame pacing at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 91 FPS indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond the GTX 1660 SUPER’s capabilities. However, the CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s streaming requirements, as evidenced by the absence of severe frame time spikes in the measured data. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting component in this combo, as frame rates scale predictably with GPU settings and resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core Ultra 5 225 and GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 2471 out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the bottom 15% of all configurations. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s modest performance tier, as the GTX 1660 SUPER sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 12986. The CPU, by contrast, ranks at the 85th percentile, creating a significant imbalance where the processor has substantial headroom that the graphics card cannot utilize.

This ranking means that users with this combo will experience frame rates below the median for most tested systems. At 1080p High, the 57 FPS result is playable but far from the high-refresh-rate territory that more powerful GPUs achieve. The 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS is at the very bottom of playability, and the data suggests that this combo is best viewed as a 1080p-oriented configuration. The rank of 2471 also indicates that a large majority of tested combos outperform this pairing, which is expected given the GTX 1660 SUPER’s end-of-life production status and its position relative to newer GPUs like the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% faster in synthetic tests).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 91 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset to exceed 90 FPS. Medium settings drop to 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS, maintaining a smooth experience. High settings yield 57 FPS, while Ultra falls to 50 FPS. The 41 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates the GPU’s sensitivity to quality presets.

At 2560x1440, performance declines across the board. Low settings achieve 69 FPS, which remains playable, but Medium drops to 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS. High settings produce 43 FPS, and Ultra falls to 38 FPS. The 1440p data shows a narrower spread between presets (31 FPS), indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 46 FPS, Medium drops to 33 FPS with a minimum of 28 FPS, High falls to 29 FPS, and Ultra is effectively unplayable at 25 FPS. The 4K results show a 21 FPS spread between Low and Ultra, with even the lowest quality preset failing to reach 60 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 28 FPS indicates occasional drops below 30 FPS, which would be noticeable during intense combat sequences.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended configuration. It delivers 64 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum, ensuring consistent performance above the 60 FPS target for most of the gameplay. The 74 FPS maximum shows that the combo has headroom for less demanding scenes, and the visual improvement over Low settings is substantial without the performance penalty of High (57 FPS) or Ultra (50 FPS).

At 1440p, Low settings are the only viable option for smooth gameplay, producing 69 FPS. Medium settings at 49 FPS may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, but the 41 FPS minimum introduces noticeable stutter during action-heavy moments. The data clearly shows that High and Ultra at 1440p (43 FPS and 38 FPS respectively) are not recommended for a responsive experience.

For 4K, the data suggests avoiding this resolution entirely with this combo. Even Low settings at 46 FPS fall short of the 60 FPS target, and the Medium preset’s 28 FPS minimum makes it unsuitable for fast-paced gameplay. Players with 4K displays should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p or 1080p to achieve playable frame rates, as the GPU lacks the pixel throughput and memory bandwidth for 4K in Control.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU116 chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process by TSMC. With 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, the GPU delivers a peak FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p but becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s base clock of 1530 MHz and boost clock of 1785 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 125 W TDP reflects its mid-range positioning. In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 12699 in Passmark G3D and 52490 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, scores 12940 with a 0.4% deltaPct, while the AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 12928 with a 0.4% deltaPct, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is firmly in the mid-range segment.

In Control, the GPU’s role is decisive. The measured frame rates show that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p Low. The 4K results, particularly the 25 FPS Ultra score, highlight the GPU’s inability to handle the game’s high-resolution textures and effects. The 12 nm process and 6,600 million transistors indicate a design that was competitive at launch in 2019 but is now outpaced by newer architectures. The GPU’s end-of-life production status and 53rd percentile ranking underscore that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it delivers acceptable performance without requiring excessive settings compromises.