Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, but 4K Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy driven by resolution and settings, with the CPU proving more than capable of keeping pace.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?*

A: The strongest experience is at 2560x1440. The High preset averages 76 FPS, while Medium delivers 85 FPS, both well within smooth playability. At 1920x1080, the High preset reaches 100 FPS for those prioritizing frame rates, but the visual jump to 1440p makes it the sweet spot.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 in this game?

A: No. Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the pair achieves 158 FPS, showing the frame rate is driven by the GPU. The CPU's 14 cores and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide ample headroom for this title.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of FPS?

A: At every resolution, Ultra costs a significant amount of performance. At 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 66 FPS from High's 76 FPS, a 10 FPS reduction. At 4K, Ultra falls to 44 FPS from High's 51 FPS, making it a heavy setting for the RTX 3070.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Medium with this combo?

A: The measured average is 112 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. This provides a very smooth experience with a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Q: Should the game be played with ray tracing?

A: The FACT PACK does not include any data for ray tracing, so no analysis can be made. The provided benchmark results are for the standard presets only.

*Q: Where does this combo rank in Control?*

A: This combination ranks 1607 out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top 43% of systems for this game. It is a solidly above-average pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivers a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This is a crucial factor in Control, a game known for its heavy use of destructible environments and physics. The data shows the GPU’s performance ceiling in this title. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 44, indicating the GPU is heavily strained. The 8 GB frame buffer is a likely constraint, as the increased texture and geometry detail at 4K demands more memory than the lower resolutions.

The RTX 3070's 5888 shading units and boost clock of 1725 MHz position it as a strong 1440p performer. The measurements show a clear progression: at 1440p with High settings, the average is 76 FPS. This is a playable level, but the margin to a locked 60 FPS is not as large as at 1080p. The GPU's FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS helps it handle the game's physics and particle effects, but the 4K data reveals its limits. The jump from High to Ultra at 4K results in a drop to 44 FPS, a 17% decrease, showing the Ultra preset's extra effects place a heavy load on the Ampere architecture.

The GPU's 46 RT cores and 184 Tensor cores are present, but the benchmark data does not include ray tracing results. Without those numbers, the analysis must stick to the standard rasterization performance. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest that is the boundary. The 3070’s role in this pairing is to provide high frame rates at lower resolutions, while 4K is a stretch. The G3D score of 22214 shows it is a capable card, but the 4K Ultra average of 44 FPS is the evidence of its performance ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the RTX 3070 scales across the three tested resolutions. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 with the High preset, the average drops from 100 FPS to 76 FPS, a 24% reduction. This is a significant but expected loss, as the pixel count increases by 78%. The GPU is clearly the limiting factor here, as the CPU has the headroom to push higher frame rates.

The scaling from 1440p to 3840x2160 is even more punishing. The High preset falls from 76 FPS to 51 FPS, a 33% drop. This indicates that the 3070 is being pushed to its limits at 4K. The 4K High average of 51 FPS is just above the playable threshold, but it is not a smooth experience for a fast-paced action game. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a major contributor, as the higher resolution textures and effects exceed the frame buffer's comfortable capacity.

The resolution scaling for the Low preset shows a similar trend, with 158 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low average is still higher than the 4K High average, showing that lowering the settings can mitigate the GPU's VRAM and compute limitations. The data indicates that the RTX 3070 is a 1080p and 1440p workhorse, but 4K requires significant settings reduction to remain playable. The game's engine is heavy on the GPU, and the 3070's 8 GB frame buffer is the primary bottleneck at ultra-high resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for Control provides clear advice for the best experience. At 1080p, the High preset is the optimal choice, offering an average of 100 FPS. This delivers a smooth, high-quality experience without the performance cost of Ultra, which only yields 87 FPS. The Medium preset is a fallback, but High is the sweet spot for visual fidelity and performance.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended pick. It delivers an average of 85 FPS with a minimum of 72 FPS, providing a stable gameplay experience. The High preset drops to 76 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium setting offers a higher frame rate with a moderate visual compromise. The Ultra preset is not recommended at this resolution, as it falls to 66 FPS, which is too close to the 60 FPS threshold for comfort.

At 4K, the Low preset is the only option that provides a playable experience. The 81 FPS average is surprisingly high, but this is achieved by sacrificing most visual effects. The Medium preset drops to 57 FPS, and the High preset to 51 FPS, both of which are not consistent enough for a smooth experience. The Ultra preset is a poor choice, with an average of 44 FPS, and is not recommended. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, but the visual impact is noticeable. The Medium preset may be acceptable for some, but the data suggests that the Low preset is the best for maintaining a high frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS across resolutions and settings provides a complete picture. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 158 FPS. The Medium preset averages 112 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. The High preset averages 100 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 87 FPS. This shows a clear performance hierarchy, with Low being the best for frame rates and Ultra costing about 45% of the performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 120 FPS. The Medium preset averages 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS. The High preset averages 76 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 66 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs about 20-25% of the average FPS across most settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 81 FPS. The Medium preset averages 57 FPS, with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS. The High preset averages 51 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 44 FPS. The 4K resolution is extremely demanding, with the Ultra preset falling below 45 FPS. The data shows that the RTX 3070 is unable to maintain high frame rates at 4K with any preset except for Low.

The combo ranks 1607 out of 3720 tested systems, placing it in the upper half of performance. The measured FPS shows a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p with high settings, but 4K is only playable on Low. The 4K Medium setting has a minimum of 49 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target but not consistently smooth.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It is based on the Arrow Lake architecture and is built on a 3 nm process. The CPU's benchmark scores show it as a strong performer, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085. This places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a high-end part.

In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 158 FPS, which is a high mark. At this resolution, the CPU is the primary driver of frame rates, as the GPU has less work to do. The CPU's strong single-core performance is important for this title, as it relies on a single primary thread for game logic.

The CPU's performance is not a bottleneck at any resolution. At 4K Low, the average is 81 FPS, and the CPU is still able to provide enough headroom for the GPU to work. The CPU's performance in Passmark's multi-thread tests, with a score of 37816, shows it is a capable part for multi-threaded workloads. The 24 MB L3 cache and 102 GB/s memory bandwidth help to keep data flowing to the GPU.

The comparison to rivals is telling. The Intel Core i9-13900HX has a similar average benchmark score, with a delta of -0.1%, indicating the Ultra 5 235 is slightly behind. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 is a close rival, with a delta of 0.1%. This shows that the Ultra 5 is a competitive part, but it is not the absolute fastest. However, in Control, the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the GPU is stressed at 4K and the frame rates are determined by the GPU's performance.

The CPU's 14 threads are a mix of performance and efficiency cores, but the 5.00 GHz boost clock is the key spec for gaming. The game’s single-threaded nature is a reason it can push 158 FPS at 1080p. The core count is useful for background tasks, but the primary factor is the high clock speed. The CPU's performance is more than adequate for the RTX 3070, and the bottleneck in Control is consistently the GPU at higher resolutions and settings.

The data indicates that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a strong partner for the RTX 3070 in Control. The CPU's single-thread performance and high core count provide a solid foundation for the game. The GPU is the main reason for frame rate variations across resolutions, and the CPU is not a limiting factor. The system is a well-balanced pairing that is optimized for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The combo rank of 1607 out of 3720 confirms a good overall performance for this game.