Control

Control with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is a pairing that lands in the lower-mid portion of the database, ranking 2141 out of 2888 tested combos. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the resolution and settings matrix show a system that can hit playable rates at 1080p but struggles to maintain smooth motion at higher resolutions, particularly when the graphics presets are pushed. The data indicates a clear GPU-bound scenario, where the aging Radeon RX 5700 XT is the primary limiting factor, while the modern Intel processor has ample headroom to spare.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. This is a desktop-class chip with a substantial 24 MB of shared L3 cache, and its benchmark scores place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs tested. Its average benchmark score of 46062 puts it statistically in a dead heat with its nearest rivals: it is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX, and 0.2% ahead of both the AMD EPYC 4364P and AMD EPYC 7303.

For a game like Control, which is an Action Adventure title from 2019, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. The data from the measured FPS rows strongly suggests that the Core Ultra 5 235 is not a bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 115 FPS, which is the highest recorded average in the entire dataset. If the CPU were struggling, we would expect to see this number capped at a lower value due to processing limitations. The fact that the FPS scales so dramatically with resolution—dropping to 59 FPS at 4K Low—points directly to the GPU being the constraint. The processor's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4516, is more than sufficient for this game's requirements. In essence, the CPU is providing a stable, high-performance platform that is being held back by the graphics card.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Judging by the measured average FPS, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1080p with Medium settings. This preset delivers an average of 82 FPS, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS, providing a smooth and consistent frame rate that is well-suited for action gameplay. While the Low preset at 1080p yields a higher average of 115 FPS, the Medium preset offers a better balance between visual fidelity and performance, and it is the only preset at 1080p with recorded minimum and maximum values, suggesting a stable frame delivery.

Stepping up to High settings at 1080p drops the average to 73 FPS, which is still playable, but the margin for error in demanding scenes is smaller. Ultra at 1080p falls to 63 FPS, which is on the edge of playability for a fast-paced game. At 1440p, the situation becomes more constrained. The Medium preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, averaging 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS. High at 1440p drops to 55 FPS, and Low is the only preset that breaks the 60 FPS barrier at 87 FPS, but this sacrifices too much graphical quality. At 4K, the data shows that only the Low preset is playable, averaging 59 FPS, while all other presets fall below 42 FPS. The recommendation, therefore, is to prioritize 1080p Medium for the best overall balance, or 1440p Medium if a lower resolution is not desired, accepting that frame rates will hover around 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of a GPU-limited workload. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at the same settings shows a consistent and significant decline in average FPS, which is the expected behavior when the graphics card is the bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 73 at 1080p to 55 at 1440p, a 25% reduction, and then further to 37 at 4K, a 33% reduction from 1440p. This pattern indicates that the RX 5700 XT is being saturated by the increasing pixel count.

The Low preset tells a similar story. The average FPS goes from 115 at 1080p to 87 at 1440p and then to 59 at 4K. Even when the graphical load is minimized, the GPU still cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K, confirming that the card's raw processing power is the limiting factor. The CPU's performance is essentially constant across these resolutions; it is not the variable causing the frame rate to plummet. The data shows that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is capable of delivering high FPS in this game, as evidenced by the 115 FPS result at 1080p Low, but the Radeon RX 5700 XT is unable to keep pace as resolution increases. This confirms that any performance tuning for this combo should focus on the GPU, either by lowering settings or reducing the rendering resolution.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the grand scheme of the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is positioned at rank 2141 out of 2888 total combos for Control. This places it in the bottom 26% of all tested systems, which is a significant indicator of its overall performance tier. The ranking is based on the measured FPS across all tested settings and resolutions, and it reflects the substantial limitation imposed by the GPU.

The CPU itself is a high performer, but the GPU holds the combo back. The RX 5700 XT's average benchmark score of 16361 puts it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, and it is closely matched with its nearest rivals: it is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 0.3% behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon PRO W7500, and 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2. This suggests that the GPU's performance is roughly on par with a modern workstation card, but it is not designed for high-end gaming at high resolutions. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a mid-tier GPU results in a system that is unbalanced for this game, with the GPU being the clear performance bottleneck and thus dictating the low combo rank.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is an RDNA 1.0 architecture GPU with the Navi 10 chip, built on a 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. It has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines, delivering a peak FP32 performance of 9.754 TFLOPS. Its TDP is 225 W, and it is an end-of-life product with a launch MSRP of 399 USD.

In Control, the GPU's role is dominant. The measured FPS data shows that the card's performance is the deciding factor for the overall experience. The 8 GB of VRAM is a potential concern for high-resolution textures, but the data shows that even at 4K, the card is not running out of memory; rather, it is running out of compute power. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 32 FPS, and at 4K High it is 37 FPS, which are both too low for comfortable play. The GPU's raw throughput is simply insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in this title. The card does show its capability at lower resolutions, achieving 115 FPS at 1080p Low, but this is far from the visual quality most players would expect. The benchmark results indicate that the RX 5700 XT is a capable 1080p card for this game, and it can handle 1440p with some settings compromises, but it is not a 4K solution for Control.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in Control?

A: The measured data indicates that 1080p with Medium settings is the best balanced option, providing an average of 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS. This offers a smooth experience while maintaining reasonable visual quality.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which yields an average of 59 FPS. All other 4K presets (Medium, High, Ultra) average below 42 FPS and are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062. It is 0.1% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, 0.1% slower than the Intel Core i9-13900HX, and 0.2% faster than both the AMD EPYC 4364P and AMD EPYC 7303.

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

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor. The average FPS drops significantly as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K (e.g., 73 to 37 FPS on High), while the CPU's high single-thread performance is sufficient to push high frame rates at 1080p Low (115 FPS).

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset averages 87 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS. This is a 39 FPS difference, indicating a substantial performance cost for the highest visual settings.

Q: How does the GPU benchmark compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 16361. It is 0.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, and 0.3% slower than the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell and the AMD Radeon PRO W7500, and 0.9% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2.