Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a robust Control experience, firmly placing this system in the top tier of tested configurations. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy where the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking at any resolution. This pairing ranks 438th out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the 85th percentile of all systems evaluated for this title.

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

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 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 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 24 MB L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel interface, yielding 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

For Control, an action-adventure title with significant physics and particle effects, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame pipeline. The processor's single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, which is critical for the game's main game logic thread. Multi-core performance, measured at 32924 in Cinebench R23, provides ample headroom for background tasks and the game's asynchronous compute workloads.

The benchmark data shows that the Core Ultra 5 245 sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (avg score 49196, deltaPct -0.4), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (avg score 49228, deltaPct -0.5), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (avg score 48698, deltaPct 0.6), and the Intel Core i5-14600K (avg score 48618, deltaPct 0.8). This places the Ultra 5 245 within 1% of these competitors, indicating that CPU performance is not a differentiator in this system's Control results.

The processor's Passmark single-thread score of 4394 and multithread score of 38706 suggest it can handle the game's demands at all tested settings. However, the measured FPS data reveals that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, where CPU overhead is most visible, the system achieves 214 FPS average, which is far above the refresh rates of most displays. The CPU's 14 threads are more than sufficient for Control's engine, which typically utilizes 4-8 threads effectively.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this combo?

A: The data shows the system maintains high frame rates across all resolutions. At 1440p High, the average FPS is 102, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 4K High, the average drops to 69 FPS, still smooth but closer to the 60 FPS threshold. For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, 1440p High offers the most comfortable margin.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 438th out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This places it in the top 15% of all systems evaluated, indicating a high-performance pairing that outperforms the vast majority of configurations tested for this game.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 214 on Low to 118 on Ultra, representing a 96 FPS difference (45% reduction). This demonstrates that Ultra settings impose a significant GPU load, but the system still delivers playable frame rates above 100 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The measured data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system produces 214 FPS, and at 4K Low it produces 110 FPS. The scaling pattern shows that as resolution increases and GPU load grows, FPS drops proportionally, while the CPU maintains sufficient throughput. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 83rd percentile confirms the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has a launch MSRP of $270. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER has a launch MSRP of 599 USD. These values represent the initial pricing at release.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average FPS is 69, which is smooth. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 60 FPS average, which is the minimum for playable 4K. The system is capable of 4K gaming, but users may need to adjust settings between High and Ultra to maintain frame rates above 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 438th out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This ranking places the system in the 84.8th percentile of all configurations tested, meaning it outperforms roughly 85% of the systems evaluated for this game. This is a strong result that reflects the balanced nature of the pairing.

The CPU alone ranks in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. The combo rank of 438th is consistent with what would be expected from this pairing, sitting slightly above the GPU's percentile ranking. This suggests the system is performing close to its theoretical maximum, with the CPU providing enough support to not drag down the overall result.

The ranking of 438th out of 2888 means there are 437 tested combos that outperform this system. These likely include configurations with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or 4080, paired with similarly strong CPUs. However, the 2450 combos ranked below this system include many with older or lower-tier components, indicating that this combination represents a significant performance tier in the testing database.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. All measurements were taken with the game's built-in benchmark, representing real gameplay conditions.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 214 FPS average
• Medium: 152 FPS average (min 130, max 175)
• High: 135 FPS average
• Ultra: 118 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 162 FPS average
• Medium: 115 FPS average (min 98, max 133)
• High: 102 FPS average
• Ultra: 89 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 110 FPS average
• Medium: 78 FPS average (min 66, max 90)
• High: 69 FPS average
• Ultra: 60 FPS average

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each settings tier increases performance by approximately 15-20 FPS when moving from Low to High, with Ultra adding a smaller increment. At 1080p, even Ultra settings exceed 115 FPS, making this resolution trivial for the system. At 1440p, all settings remain above 89 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. At 4K, only Low and Medium settings exceed 78 FPS, while High and Ultra hover near the 60-70 FPS range.

The minimum FPS values provided for Medium settings show that at 1080p the 1% lows are 130 FPS, at 1440p they are 98 FPS, and at 4K they are 66 FPS. These minimums indicate smooth frame pacing with no severe stutters, as the delta between average and minimum is consistent across resolutions.

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

Resolution scaling is a key indicator of system balance. The data shows that at High settings, FPS drops from 135 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p (24.4% reduction) and then to 69 at 4K (48.9% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound system.

For comparison, at Low settings, FPS drops from 214 at 1080p to 162 at 1440p (24.3% reduction) and then to 110 at 4K (48.6% reduction from 1080p). The percentage drops are nearly identical across settings, which is a strong indicator that the GPU is the sole limiting factor. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the scaling would be more pronounced at lower resolutions where the CPU has to feed more frames.

The pixel count increases by 2.25x from 1080p to 1440p and by 4x from 1080p to 4K. The FPS scaling does not match this linear pixel increase, which is expected because GPU performance does not scale perfectly with resolution due to memory bandwidth and other factors. However, the consistent pattern across settings confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient to handle the increased load at 4K without hitting a memory ceiling.

The fact that at 1080p Low the system produces 214 FPS, which is well above the CPU's single-thread capabilities for most games, indicates the Core Ultra 5 245 has significant headroom. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 4394 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 are ample for Control's engine, which does not require extreme single-thread performance to exceed 200 FPS.

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

The measured data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for different use cases. The system's performance across all settings is uniformly strong, but the best experience depends on the target resolution and frame rate preferences.

For 1080p gaming: The Ultra preset at 118 FPS average is the clear choice. The system has enough performance headroom to run the highest settings while maintaining frame rates above 115 FPS. The jump from High (135 FPS) to Ultra (118 FPS) costs 17 FPS but provides the full visual experience. Since even the lowest recorded average at 1080p is 118 FPS, there is no reason to compromise on visual quality at this resolution.

For 1440p gaming: The High preset at 102 FPS average offers the best balance. The Ultra preset drops to 89 FPS, which is still smooth but sacrifices 13 FPS for marginal visual improvements. The Medium preset at 115 FPS is also viable for competitive play, but High provides a better visual experience without dropping below the 100 FPS mark. The 1440p High preset is the sweet spot for this system, delivering high-refresh-rate gaming with excellent image quality.

For 4K gaming: The Medium preset at 78 FPS average is the recommended choice for a smooth experience. The High preset at 69 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 60 FPS is right at the edge of playability, with any frame drops potentially causing noticeable stutter. The Low preset at 110 FPS is unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rates over visual quality. For 4K, Medium provides the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance, staying well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Across all resolutions, the system demonstrates that it can handle Control with high visual settings. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores are underutilized in this game, as Control's implementation of these features is not the primary performance driver. The GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance provides ample rasterization capability for this title, which is reflected in the consistent frame rates across the tested configurations.