Control

# Control — Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti

The measured frame rates for this combination in Control show a system that is firmly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still capable of delivering smooth gameplay across most settings. With a 10-core, 10-thread Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with an 8 GB RTX 3070 Ti, the data indicates a balanced pairing where the graphics card becomes the primary constraint as resolution climbs, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance prevents it from becoming a bottleneck even at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a classic GPU-limited scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 105 FPS at 1920x1080 to 79 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 26 FPS, and then further down to 54 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 49% decline from 1080p to 4K, which aligns with the pixel count increase of roughly 4x, indicating the RTX 3070 Ti's rendering throughput is the limiting factor rather than any CPU constraint.

The scaling pattern holds across other presets. At Ultra settings, the average drops from 91 FPS at 1080p to 69 FPS at 1440p and then to 47 FPS at 4K. The Low preset shows the same trajectory: 166 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. The uniformity of these percentage drops—roughly 45-50% from 1080p to 4K regardless of preset—suggests that resolution scaling is independent of graphical complexity, which is typical for a GPU-bound workload where fill rate and memory bandwidth dominate.

Notably, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K in absolute terms at lower presets. For Low settings, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 40 FPS (166 to 126), while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 41 FPS (126 to 85), showing a near-linear relationship. However, at High settings, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 26 FPS (105 to 79), while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 25 FPS (79 to 54), again nearly linear. This linearity indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti's 608.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance are being fully utilized, with no sudden cliff or hitch at any resolution.

The data suggests that 4K is only viable for this combo if the user accepts lower presets or a sub-60 FPS average. At 4K High, the 54 FPS average is borderline playable, but the Ultra preset's 47 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many action-adventure titles demand. Conversely, 1440p appears to be the sweet spot for this pairing, with High and Medium presets delivering 79 and 89 FPS respectively, comfortably above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combination. The 89 FPS average at 2560x1440 Medium is 10 FPS higher than High's 79 FPS, and the minimum FPS of 76 ensures a smoother experience than the High preset, which lacks a recorded minimum but likely dips lower given the tighter average margin. At 1080p, Medium delivers 118 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays, and the jump to Low (166 FPS) provides diminishing returns for most users.

For 4K users, the Medium preset is the only realistic option that maintains a playable frame rate. The 60 FPS average at 3840x2160 Medium, with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS, is the only preset at this resolution that achieves a 60 FPS average. High at 4K drops to 54 FPS, and Ultra falls to 47 FPS, both of which risk noticeable stutter in fast-paced combat sequences. Low at 4K produces 85 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial for a game like Control, which relies heavily on atmospheric lighting and particle effects.

The Ultra preset is generally not recommended for this combo. At 1080p, Ultra's 91 FPS is 27 FPS lower than Medium's 118 FPS, and the visual uplift from Medium to Ultra is often imperceptible in motion, especially given the game's fast action. At 1440p, Ultra's 69 FPS is playable but leaves little headroom for drops, while at 4K it falls below 50 FPS. The data suggests that Medium is the optimal preset across all resolutions, offering a 33-36% FPS uplift over Ultra while retaining most of the visual fidelity.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 Ti's specifications provide context for the measured results. With 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is ample for Control at 1440p, but the 8 GB capacity may become a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where texture streaming and high-resolution assets can exceed this allocation. The GPU's 6144 shading units and 96 ROPs, paired with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, deliver the 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 throughput that drives the frame rates observed. The 48 RT cores are relevant for Control's ray-traced reflections, though the measured data does not isolate this effect.

The GPU's 75th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the upper tier, but its nearest rivals show a tight cluster. The RTX 3070 Ti's average benchmark score of 29945 is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30433), and within 0.5% of the RTX 2080 Ti (29783). This indicates that the card's performance in Control is consistent with its synthetic benchmarks, as the 4K High result of 54 FPS aligns with what the GPU's raw compute and bandwidth would predict.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is worth noting for Control, as the game's texture quality settings at Ultra can push memory usage higher. The measured FPS drops from Medium to Ultra at 4K (60 to 47 FPS, a 22% reduction) suggest that the GPU is not only compute-bound but also possibly memory-constrained at the highest settings. At 1080p, the Ultra-to-Medium gap is 27 FPS (91 to 118), a 23% reduction, which is proportionally similar, indicating that the VRAM limit may be less critical than the raw compute demand of the Ultra preset.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which achieves a 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS. High settings drop to 54 FPS, and Ultra falls to 47 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: At 1440p, both High (79 FPS) and Medium (89 FPS) presets exceed 60 FPS. At 1080p, all presets including Ultra (91 FPS) stay above 60 FPS, with Low reaching 166 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB VRAM affect performance in Control?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6X memory with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1440p and 4K Medium, but the 22% FPS drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K (60 to 47 FPS) indicates potential memory pressure at the highest settings.

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

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck, evidenced by the linear FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K. The FPS drops by roughly 50% when resolution quadruples, which is the expected pattern for a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 105 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors up to 100 Hz.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium in terms of performance?

A: At every resolution, Ultra delivers approximately 22-23% fewer FPS than Medium. At 1080p, this is 91 vs 118 FPS; at 1440p, 69 vs 89 FPS; at 4K, 47 vs 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 971st out of 2888 tested combos in Control, placing it in the 66th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects a solidly mid-to-upper tier position, consistent with the RTX 3070 Ti's 75th percentile GPU ranking and the Core Ultra 5 225's 85th percentile CPU ranking. The combo's rank suggests that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it outperforms the majority of tested systems in this game.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for this ranking. The Core Ultra 5 225 achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655, with the latter being particularly important for Control's game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking means it outperforms 85% of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945 avg score, 0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018 avg, -0.2% delta)—show that this CPU sits in a very tight performance band. The i9-12900T at 37112 avg score (-0.5% delta) is marginally ahead, but the differences are within 0.5%, indicating near-parity with these alternatives.

The combo's rank of 971 out of 2888 means that 1917 other combinations performed better in Control. This is a reasonable result for a mid-range GPU paired with a strong but not top-tier CPU. The RTX 3070 Ti's nearest rival comparisons—the RTX 5070 Mobile (29928 avg, 0.1% delta) and RX 6800 (30095 avg, -0.5% delta)—show that the GPU is competitive with newer mobile parts and slightly behind desktop alternatives, which explains why the combo does not break into the top 500.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This configuration, built on the Arrow Lake architecture and 3 nm process node, delivers strong single-thread performance that is critical for Control's gameplay logic. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 places the CPU in the 85th percentile, and the single-thread PassMark score of 4412 reinforces this strength. For a game like Control, which relies on physics-based interactions and real-time lighting calculations, this single-thread capability ensures that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions.

The multi-threaded performance, while not as critical for this game, is also respectable. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and PassMark multi-thread score of 30459 indicate that the CPU can handle background tasks and streaming without impacting frame rates. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide sufficient data locality for the game's assets, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that memory bandwidth is not a constraint.

At 1080p, the CPU's role becomes more pronounced, as lower resolution reduces the GPU load. The fact that FPS scales from 166 at Low to 91 at Ultra at 1080p suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output even at high frame rates. The absence of a CPU bottleneck is further evidenced by the linear resolution scaling; if the CPU were limiting, we would expect the FPS to plateau at higher resolutions, which does not occur. The CPU's 10 threads, while not as numerous as higher-core-count parts, are sufficient for Control's engine, which typically utilizes 4-6 threads effectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 166 FPS average
• Medium: 118 FPS average, 101 FPS minimum, 136 FPS maximum
• High: 105 FPS average
• Ultra: 91 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 126 FPS average
• Medium: 89 FPS average, 76 FPS minimum, 103 FPS maximum
• High: 79 FPS average
• Ultra: 69 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 85 FPS average
• Medium: 60 FPS average, 51 FPS minimum, 69 FPS maximum
• High: 54 FPS average
• Ultra: 47 FPS average

The complete dataset shows a consistent pattern: each step up in preset reduces FPS by roughly 10-15% at a given resolution, and each step up in resolution reduces FPS by roughly 30-35% at a given preset. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a 17-19 FPS spread at each resolution, indicating moderate frame time variance. At 1080p Medium, the 101 FPS minimum ensures no drops below 100 FPS, while at 4K Medium, the 51 FPS minimum means occasional dips below the 60 FPS average are possible during intense scenes.

The Low preset's high frame rates at 1080p (166 FPS) and 1440p (126 FPS) demonstrate the GPU's raw throughput capability when not constrained by visual complexity. However, the 4K Low result of 85 FPS suggests that even at the lowest settings, the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth of the RTX 3070 Ti become limiting factors at this resolution. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, 1080p Low offers the best performance, but for a balanced experience, 1440p Medium with its 89 FPS average and 76 FPS minimum is the recommended configuration.