Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers a robust 1440p experience in Control, with 1080p performance pushing well beyond typical high-refresh-rate targets. The data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, though the gap between Low and Ultra settings reveals the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a clear and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 144 at 1080p to 109 at 1440p, a reduction of roughly 24%. Moving from 1440p to 4K High, the average drops further to 73 FPS, a 33% decline from the 1440p figure. This tapering pattern suggests that while the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K, it still maintains playable performance.

The scaling behavior changes notably when examining Low settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 228 FPS, which drops to 172 FPS at 1440p Low — a 25% reduction. At 4K Low, the average is 116 FPS, representing a 33% drop from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that resolution scaling is smooth, but the absolute frame rates suggest that at 1080p, the system is likely hitting a CPU or engine-level ceiling, as the jump from Low to High at 1080p only costs 84 FPS (228 to 144), while at 4K the same settings change costs 43 FPS (116 to 73).

The limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has enough headroom that the Core Ultra 5 235's 14 threads become more relevant, particularly at Low settings where the GPU is underutilized. At 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are exercised more heavily. The fact that 4K Ultra yields 64 FPS while 4K Low yields 116 FPS — a 52 FPS spread — demonstrates that Control's visual features scale significantly with GPU load, making the graphics card the clear limiting factor at this resolution.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 at High settings provides an average of 109 FPS, which balances visual quality with a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K High, the average drops to 73 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 94 FPS, which is 15 FPS lower than High's 109 FPS. The data shows that Ultra settings provide diminishing returns at this resolution, as the 4K Ultra average of 64 FPS is only 9 FPS lower than the 1440p Ultra figure.

Q: Is 4K gaming feasible with this hardware?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average is 83 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, indicating a stable experience. At 4K High, the average is 73 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 64 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience, Medium settings at 4K are the safest choice.

Q: Why does the 1080p Low preset produce 228 FPS?

A: At 1080p Low, the GPU is far from saturated, allowing the CPU to push frame rates to 228 FPS. This is the highest measured average in the dataset, and it suggests that the Core Ultra 5 235's 14 cores and 5.00 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's VRAM affect performance?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than adequate for Control, even at 4K Ultra. The memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s supports the measured frame rates, and the data shows no evidence of VRAM-related stuttering, as the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (70 FPS) is still relatively close to the average.

Q: What settings should be avoided for consistent frame times?

A: The 4K Ultra preset, averaging 64 FPS, is the only setting where the average dips near the 60 FPS line. For players prioritizing smoothness, the 1440p Ultra preset at 94 FPS or the 4K High preset at 73 FPS offers better margins.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Control, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER holds a combo rank of 303 out of 2888 tested combos. This places it in the top 11% of all tested configurations, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of systems in this game.

The CPU's individual standing supports this rank. The Core Ultra 5 235 achieves an average benchmark score of 46062, placing it in the 89th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, +0.1% delta), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, -0.1% delta), and the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, +0.2% delta). These margins are razor-thin, meaning the CPU's performance is essentially equivalent to these competitors in general compute tasks, but its 14 threads and 24 MB of L3 cache are adequate for Control's engine demands.

The GPU's rank is less dominant. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 31087, putting it in the 76th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31676, -1.9% delta) and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell (31532, -1.4% delta), which score slightly higher in synthetic tests. However, in Control, the measured FPS data shows this GPU delivering strong results, suggesting that the game's engine responds well to the Ada Lovelace architecture's features.

The discrepancy between the GPU's modest percentile rank and the combo's strong game rank suggests that Control is not particularly demanding on raw GPU compute, but rather benefits from consistent driver optimization and sufficient VRAM bandwidth. The combo rank of 303 reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely bottlenecks the other.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows the following averages: Low settings produce 228 FPS, Medium produces 162 FPS (with a minimum of 137 and maximum of 186), High produces 144 FPS, and Ultra produces 125 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 103 FPS, which is the largest of any resolution. This indicates that at 1080p, the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, and the CPU's 14 threads are capable of maintaining high frame rates even at Low settings where the GPU load is minimal.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 172 FPS, Medium at 122 FPS (minimum 104, maximum 141), High at 109 FPS, and Ultra at 94 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 13 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 15 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (104) is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting a stable experience across all settings at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the data shows: Low at 116 FPS, Medium at 83 FPS (minimum 70, maximum 95), High at 73 FPS, and Ultra at 64 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 10 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 9 FPS. The 4K Medium settings provide the most balanced experience, with a minimum of 70 FPS ensuring no significant drops below 60 FPS.

The settings progression at each resolution follows a consistent pattern: Low is always the highest, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being the lowest. The relative differences between settings shrink as resolution increases, which confirms that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K regardless of the visual preset chosen.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the data supports multiple configurations. At 4K, the Ultra preset averages 64 FPS, which is technically above 60 but leaves minimal headroom for complex scenes. The High preset at 4K averages 73 FPS, providing a safer margin, while the Medium preset averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, making it the most reliable choice for consistent frame pacing at this resolution.

At 1440p, the High preset at 109 FPS is the sweet spot for players with high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 94 FPS is also viable and offers the best visual fidelity while still maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. For competitive play or maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 172 FPS is available, though it sacrifices significant visual quality.

At 1080p, all settings exceed 120 FPS, with Low at 228 FPS, Medium at 162 FPS, High at 144 FPS, and Ultra at 125 FPS. Players with 144 Hz displays can comfortably use High or Ultra settings, while those with 240 Hz panels may prefer Low or Medium to maximize frame rates.

The overall recommendation from the data is to use High settings at 1440p for the best balance of visual quality and performance. This configuration delivers 109 FPS, which is 45 FPS higher than the 4K High result and only 35 FPS lower than the 1440p Low result. The 4K Medium preset is the recommended fallback for players prioritizing resolution over frame rate, as it provides 83 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This configuration is particularly relevant in Control at lower resolutions, where the CPU must feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The absence of hyper-threading (14 threads for 14 cores) is notable, but the high boost clock compensates in single-threaded workloads.

The CPU's benchmark results indicate strong multi-core performance: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085. The PassMark multi-thread score of 37816 places it in the 89th percentile overall. In Control, the data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 228 FPS, which is likely near the engine's frame rate cap or the CPU's limit. At 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 125 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still able to keep up with the CPU's output.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for Control's level streaming and object management. The 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors suggest efficient power delivery, though the 65 W TDP is modest compared to the GPU's 285 W TDP. The data does not show any CPU-related stuttering at 4K, as the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU-bound scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process and contains 45,900 million transistors. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Control's high-resolution textures. The core clocks are 2340 MHz base and 2610 MHz boost, with 8448 shading units and 66 RT cores.

In Control, the GPU's role becomes dominant at 4K. The measured frame rates show that at 4K Ultra, the average is 64 FPS, which is 29% lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 125 FPS. This scaling is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, and the 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor, as evidenced by the stable minimum FPS at 4K Medium (70 FPS).

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 31811 places it in the 76th percentile, and its nearest rival, the TITAN RTX, scores 31676. In Control, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER demonstrates that its 44.10 TFLOPS FP32 performance is well-utilized, particularly at Medium and High settings where the frame rates remain above 70 FPS even at 4K. The 96 ROPs and 264 TMUs handle the game's post-processing and texture filtering efficiently, as shown by the smooth scaling from Medium to High at all resolutions.