Control

Control with an Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a very strong performance profile, placing 545th out of 2888 tested combinations in this game. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom for high refresh-rate 1080p play. The RTX 5070's 12 GB of VRAM and high memory bandwidth prove sufficient for even the most demanding settings at 4K, though the gap between Medium and Ultra presets suggests diminishing returns at the top end.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a classic resolution-scaling curve, with the most dramatic drop occurring between 1080p and 1440p, and a more moderate decline from 1440p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces an average of 206 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 156 FPS, a 24% reduction. The step from 1440p to 4K at Low settings brings the average down to 105 FPS, another 33% decline. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, as the RTX 5070 has more than enough headroom to render frames faster than the processor can feed it.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher settings. With High settings, the averages are 130 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 25% from 1080p to 1440p and 33% from 1440p to 4K, respectively. This consistency suggests that the GPU workload scales predictably with pixel count, and the CPU is not introducing bottlenecks at these settings. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend: 113 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K.

The limiting component becomes clear when examining the 4K to 1080p ratio. At Low settings, the 4K average is 51% of the 1080p average. At High settings, it is 51% as well. This near-identical ratio across presets strongly indicates the GPU is the sole bottleneck at these resolutions, as a CPU-bound scenario would show a smaller performance gap when lowering resolution. The RTX 5070's 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 compute are what determine these frame rates, and the data shows they scale linearly with pixel throughput. For players targeting 4K, the system delivers playable frame rates, though the 58 FPS average at Ultra shows that the most demanding settings push the GPU to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance at every resolution. At 1080p, Medium delivers an average of 146 FPS, which is 12% higher than High's 130 FPS and 29% higher than Ultra's 113 FPS. At 1440p, Medium averages 111 FPS, compared to 98 FPS on High and 85 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, Medium maintains a playable 75 FPS average, with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 86 FPS, while High drops to 66 FPS and Ultra falls to 58 FPS.

The jump from Medium to High costs performance without a proportional visual benefit, based on the frame rate data. The 4K Medium average of 75 FPS is 12% higher than High's 66 FPS, and the 1440p gap is 12% as well (111 vs 98 FPS). Conversely, the step from High to Ultra is less costly: 4K drops from 66 to 58 FPS, a 12% reduction, and 1440p drops from 98 to 85 FPS, a 13% reduction. This suggests that Ultra settings are more demanding than High, but the frame rate penalty is consistent across resolutions.

For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, Low settings at 1080p are the clear choice, with a 206 FPS average that far exceeds any display's refresh rate capability. However, the data shows that Medium at 1080p still provides 146 FPS, which is sufficient for most high-refresh monitors. At 1440p, Medium's 111 FPS average is the sweet spot for smooth gameplay, while at 4K, Medium's 75 FPS average is the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS, as evidenced by the 63 FPS minimum. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 58 FPS average, would be suitable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate smoothness, but the data indicates Medium offers the best experience per the measured rows.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 brings 14 cores and 14 threads to this game, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 scores of 14769 multi-core and 2085 single-core, along with a Passmark single-thread score of 4516, place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. This performance headroom is evident in the game's frame rates at 1080p Low, where the 206 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of driving frame rates well beyond what most displays can show.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 at 46030 (0.1% behind), the Intel Core i9-13900HX at 46098 (0.1% ahead), and the AMD EPYC 4364P at 45970 (0.2% behind). These deltas are negligible, indicating the Ultra 5 235 sits in a tightly packed performance tier. In Control, the CPU's role becomes more apparent as resolution decreases and settings are lowered. At 1080p Low, the GPU is not the bottleneck, and the frame rate is likely limited by the CPU's single-thread performance, which is strong given its 5.00 GHz boost clock.

The data suggests that the CPU's 14 cores are more than sufficient for this game, as Control is not known for heavy multi-threading. The Passmark multithread score of 37816 and data compression score of 390711 indicate strong general-purpose compute, but the game's frame rates do not show any signs of CPU limitation beyond the extreme 1080p Low case. The 3 nm process node and Arrow Lake architecture provide efficient power delivery, though this does not directly translate to gaming performance. The CPU's DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures the GPU is fed with data without stalling, which is critical for maintaining the high frame rates seen at 1440p and 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p is the ideal resolution. At Medium settings, it delivers 111 FPS average, which is smooth and visually detailed, while 4K Medium drops to 75 FPS and 1080p Medium offers 146 FPS but with less visual fidelity than 1440p.

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

A: Yes, at Medium settings the 4K average is 75 FPS, with a minimum of 63 FPS. High settings drop to 66 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 58 FPS. The 4K Medium preset is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 46062 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% behind), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, 0.1% ahead), and the AMD EPYC 4364P (45970, 0.2% behind). Performance differences are within measurement error.

Q: Is the RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM enough for Control?

A: The measured data shows no evidence of VRAM limitations. At 4K Ultra, the system still achieves a 58 FPS average, indicating the 12 GB GDDR7 memory with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game's demands.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Low settings average 206 FPS, while Ultra settings average 113 FPS. This represents a 45% reduction in frame rate when moving to the highest preset at 1080p.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p High compared to 4K High?

A: At 1440p High, the average is 98 FPS, while at 4K High it drops to 66 FPS. This is a 33% performance reduction, consistent with the GPU-bound scaling pattern observed across all presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this system for Control, as evidenced by the consistent resolution scaling patterns. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the game's texture-heavy environments. The GPU's 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, combined with a boost clock of 2512 MHz, deliver the compute power needed for the frame rates observed.

In terms of benchmark scores, the RTX 5070 achieves a Passmark G3D score of 29137 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 172660, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318 average, 0.1% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, 0.8% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870, 1.2% ahead). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 indicates strong DirectX 12 performance, which is relevant for Control's use of modern rendering features.

The GPU's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores support ray tracing and DLSS, though the measured data does not include these features. The pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s are the hard limits that determine the 4K performance envelope. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the GPU produces 58 FPS average, which is a 50% reduction from the 1080p Ultra average of 113 FPS. This halving of performance with a 4x increase in pixel count is consistent with a GPU that is fully utilized, confirming that the RTX 5070 is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 206 FPS average
• Medium: 146 FPS average, with a minimum of 124 FPS and maximum of 168 FPS
• High: 130 FPS average
• Ultra: 113 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 156 FPS average
• Medium: 111 FPS average, with a minimum of 94 FPS and maximum of 127 FPS
• High: 98 FPS average
• Ultra: 85 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 105 FPS average
• Medium: 75 FPS average, with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 86 FPS
• High: 66 FPS average
• Ultra: 58 FPS average

The 1080p data shows a clear step-down from Low to Medium (60 FPS difference), then smaller steps to High (16 FPS) and Ultra (17 FPS). This suggests that Low settings remove enough GPU load to expose the CPU's frame rate ceiling, while Medium and above are GPU-bound. At 1440p, the gaps are 45 FPS (Low to Medium), 13 FPS (Medium to High), and 13 FPS (High to Ultra). At 4K, the gaps narrow to 30 FPS (Low to Medium), 9 FPS (Medium to High), and 8 FPS (High to Ultra). The converging frame rates at higher resolutions indicate the GPU is becoming the sole bottleneck, with each settings tier having a smaller absolute impact on performance. The 4K Medium preset, with its 63 FPS minimum, is the most demanding configuration that maintains a playable frame rate throughout, while the Ultra preset's 58 FPS average means it will dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.