Control

Control with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a pairing that delivers exceptional frame rates, but the performance scaling across resolutions reveals a nuanced story about where the bottleneck lies in this 2019 action-adventure title. The data shows that this combination is highly capable at every tested setting, yet the relationship between CPU and GPU becomes increasingly clear as resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, but with a significant twist at the low end. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 279 FPS, which drops to 211 FPS at 1440p and further to 142 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RTX 5090 is still the primary limiter even at lower resolutions. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Low settings shows a 33% performance drop, which is substantial but not as steep as one might expect from a flagship GPU.

At High settings, the resolution scaling tells a different story. The frame rate goes from 176 FPS at 1080p to 133 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 90 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32%. This pattern suggests that the GPU workload is scaling predictably with pixel count, and the CPU is providing sufficient headroom at all resolutions for this setting level.

Medium settings show a similar trend, with 198 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, and 101 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 24% and 33% respectively. Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates, with 153 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 33%.

The most revealing data point comes from comparing Low settings across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 279 FPS, but at 4K Low it drops to 142 FPS. This 49% reduction is smaller than the 50% reduction seen from High settings at 1080p to 4K, suggesting that the CPU begins to play a more significant role at very high frame rates. The fact that 1080p Low produces nearly double the frame rate of 4K Low indicates that the RTX 5090 is still the dominant constraint, but the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is keeping pace admirably.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 features 14 cores and 14 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This processor is built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process node from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Benchmark results for this CPU show strong single-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and a multi-core score of 14769. The Passmark single-thread score of 4516 places it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. The nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which scores 46030, representing a 0.1% delta. Other close competitors include the Intel Core i9-13900HX at 46098 (-0.1% delta), the AMD EPYC 4364P at 45970 (0.2% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7303 at 45960 (0.2% delta).

In the context of Control, the CPU's role becomes apparent at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 279 FPS, which is a demanding scenario for any processor. The 14-core configuration with 5.00 GHz boost clock provides sufficient single-thread performance to drive these high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The game's physics and AI calculations appear to benefit from the strong per-core performance rather than raw multi-threading capability.

The fact that the combo ranks 64th out of 2888 tested combinations indicates that the CPU is not holding back the RTX 5090 in most scenarios. The gap between 1080p and 1440p performance at Low settings (24% drop) is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, but the smaller drop from 1440p to 4K (33%) suggests that the CPU is still contributing meaningfully at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. The core clocks are 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, with 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Ray tracing is handled by 170 RT cores, while 680 tensor cores manage AI workloads.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities are substantial, with FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS and FP16 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1). Pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The Passmark G3D score of 39650 places this GPU in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842. The nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605, a 0.3% delta. Other competitors include the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 (0.6% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 (1.1% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X at 80959 (-1.4% delta).

In Control, the RTX 5090 demonstrates its dominance at 4K resolution. Even at Ultra settings, the combo maintains 78 FPS average, which is playable for most users. The GPU's 32 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, which was released in 2019 and does not require massive memory allocations even at 4K Ultra. The bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and asset loading never become bottlenecks.

The scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K shows a 23% performance penalty (from 101 FPS to 78 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset adds significant GPU workload through increased draw distances, particle effects, and post-processing. The RTX 5090 handles these demands with authority, but the frame rate drop is notable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the measured frame rates span from 153 FPS at Ultra to 279 FPS at Low. The Medium preset delivers 198 FPS with a minimum of 168 FPS and maximum of 228 FPS, while High achieves 176 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 126 FPS, representing an 82% performance increase with the lowest settings. This wide range indicates that Control's settings have a substantial impact on GPU load, and the RTX 5090 can exploit this at lower resolutions.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop predictably. Low settings produce 211 FPS, Medium delivers 150 FPS (with 127 FPS minimum and 172 FPS maximum), High achieves 133 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 116 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 95 FPS, which is an 82% increase for the lowest settings. The minimum FPS at Medium (127) is still very high, suggesting smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes.

At 4K, the performance becomes more closely grouped. Low settings produce 142 FPS, Medium delivers 101 FPS (with 86 FPS minimum and 116 FPS maximum), High achieves 90 FPS, and Ultra produces 78 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 64 FPS, representing an 82% increase. The minimum FPS at Medium of 86 is noteworthy, as it indicates that even in the most demanding moments, the system maintains frame rates well above 60 FPS.

The medium preset across all resolutions shows the most complete data, with both minimum and maximum FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the system ranges from 168 to 228 FPS, at 1440p Medium from 127 to 172 FPS, and at 4K Medium from 86 to 116 FPS. These ranges suggest that Control's performance varies by roughly 30% during typical gameplay, which is consistent for an action-adventure title with dynamic physics and destruction.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 64th out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This places it in the top 2.2% of all tested configurations, which is exceptional for a system with a mid-range CPU paired with a flagship GPU. The ranking suggests that the RTX 5090 is the primary driver of performance, and the Core Ultra 5 235 is not significantly limiting the overall experience.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 89th among all CPUs indicates that it is a strong performer but not at the absolute top of the stack. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, both of which are mobile processors. This suggests that the desktop Core Ultra 5 235 offers competitive performance in a desktop form factor.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92nd among all GPUs places it near the top of the GPU hierarchy. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are professional and laptop GPUs, which is unusual but reflects the GPU's position as a flagship consumer product. The combination of a top-tier GPU with a solid mid-range CPU results in a ranking that is higher than either component's individual percentile, indicating that the pairing is well-balanced for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 101 FPS average (with 86 FPS minimum) provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 90 FPS is also viable, but the 11% performance penalty over Medium may not justify the visual improvements. Ultra at 78 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes, and the 23% drop from Medium is significant.

At 1440p, the High preset at 133 FPS is the recommended choice, as it offers a substantial visual upgrade over Medium (150 FPS) while maintaining frame rates well above 120 Hz refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 116 FPS is also viable for high-refresh displays, but the 13% penalty over High is noticeable. Low at 211 FPS is unnecessary for most users unless competing in esports-style gameplay.

For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 153 FPS provides the best experience, as the performance is still high enough for 144 Hz displays while delivering maximum visual quality. The High preset at 176 FPS is an alternative for users who prefer higher frame rates, but the visual difference between High and Ultra is typically less pronounced than the 15% performance gap suggests. The Medium preset at 198 FPS is the sweet spot for users with 240 Hz displays who want to maximize frame rates without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

The data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most consistent performance across all resolutions, with the smallest gap between average and minimum FPS. At 4K Medium, the 86 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay even in the most demanding sequences, making it the safest recommendation for users who prioritize consistency over absolute visual quality.