Control

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a top-tier experience in Control, but the data reveals a nuanced picture of where this combination sits among the thousands of tested configurations. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates, the CPU’s role, and what settings offer the best balance of performance and visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 4090 combination ranks 106th out of 2,888 tested combos in Control. That places it in the top 3.7% of all configurations, which is an outstanding result for a game that can be demanding at higher resolutions. The ranking reflects the RTX 4090’s sheer horsepower, though the CPU’s mid-range positioning prevents this combo from climbing even higher.

To understand the CPU’s contribution, its average benchmark score is 48,995, which sits at the 90th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals show how tight the competition is at this performance tier. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49,196, a mere 0.4% difference, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49,228, just 0.5% ahead. On the other side, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48,698, which is 0.6% behind, and the Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48,618, trailing by 0.8%. These delta values are minuscule, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 245 is firmly in a performance cluster where no single CPU has a decisive edge in synthetic benchmarks.

In Control specifically, the combo’s rank of 106 is not solely a CPU story. The RTX 4090’s own benchmark position matters. The GPU scores 60,347 on average, placing it at the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60,326 (a 0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60,140 (0.3% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 61,896 (2.5% ahead). The RTX 4090 is essentially tied with these workstation cards in raw benchmark scores, but in gaming, its driver optimization and feature set make it far more potent than those comparisons suggest.

The data indicates that the 106th rank is a strong showing, but not a dominant one. Combos ranked above this likely feature higher-end CPUs, such as flagship Core i9 or Ryzen 9 parts, which reduce CPU bottlenecks at lower resolutions. At 4K, the RTX 4090 is the primary driver, so the rank might be higher there if the ranking were resolution-specific. As is, the overall rank reflects the combo’s performance across all tested conditions, and it is a clear top-tier result.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Control?*

A: The data suggests the CPU can limit performance at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 272, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 76. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 123 FPS, which is far larger than the gap at 4K (63 FPS). This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is reaching its limits, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 130 FPS average, while Medium gives 146 FPS. Both are above 144Hz, but Medium’s 146 FPS provides a safer margin above the refresh rate, with a minimum of 124 FPS also staying above the 144Hz threshold. Ultra drops to 113 FPS, which would cause noticeable frame drops on a 144Hz panel.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its closest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score is 60,347. The Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60,326, a 0% difference, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60,140, which is 0.3% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% faster at 61,896, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 trails by 2.9% with 58,657. These are near-identical scores, but the RTX 4090’s gaming-specific strengths are not fully captured by these synthetic tests.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 5 245 offer competitive multi-threaded performance?

A: Yes. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 32,924, and its PassMark multi-thread score is 38,706. These numbers place it within 0.8% of the Intel Core i5-14600K’s average score, which is a strong result for a 14-core, 14-thread processor. The CPU’s 90th percentile ranking confirms it sits above the vast majority of CPUs.

Q: What is the expected FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 88. This is below the 144Hz target but well above the 60Hz standard, making it suitable for high-refresh 4K displays that run at 120Hz or lower. For a locked 60 FPS experience, Ultra settings at 76 FPS average still exceed that requirement.

Q: How much performance is gained by dropping from Ultra to Low at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 149 FPS, while Low averages 272 FPS. That is a 123 FPS increase, or roughly 82.5% more performance. This large gain indicates that Control is highly sensitive to settings at lower resolutions, where the CPU and GPU have more headroom to push frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset to use depending on your display’s refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p displays, the High preset delivers 172 FPS on average, which is excellent for 144Hz or 165Hz monitors. Medium offers 194 FPS, which can feed a 240Hz panel, while Low hits 272 FPS for competitive play or extreme refresh rates. Ultra at 149 FPS is still above 144Hz, but it sacrifices some performance for visual quality that may not be noticeable at this resolution.

At 1440p, the choice becomes more nuanced. Medium presets average 146 FPS with a minimum of 124 FPS, making it the safest pick for a 144Hz monitor—the minimum stays above the refresh rate, avoiding stutter. High presets at 130 FPS are also viable, but the minimum is not listed, so Medium’s recorded minimum of 124 FPS offers more confidence. Ultra at 113 FPS is playable on a 120Hz display, but it will not saturate a 144Hz panel.

For 4K, the RTX 4090’s performance is strong but not unlimited. High settings average 88 FPS, which is ideal for a 4K 120Hz display, as it stays above 60 FPS and approaches the 120Hz ceiling. Medium averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, making it the best choice for a 120Hz 4K panel. Ultra drops to 76 FPS, which is still smooth on a 60Hz display but will feel less fluid on higher refresh screens. Low at 139 FPS is available, but the visual compromise is severe for a game like Control.

The best overall experience is the Medium preset at 1440p, which balances a 146 FPS average and a 124 FPS minimum, ensuring no drops below a 144Hz refresh rate. For 4K users, Medium at 99 FPS average is the recommended starting point, as it provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while maintaining higher visual fidelity than Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data includes 12 distinct resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 272 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded in this dataset. Medium averages 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 223 FPS. High averages 172 FPS, and Ultra drops to 149 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 123 FPS, showing a significant performance cost for higher visual settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, Low averages 206 FPS, which is still extremely high. Medium averages 146 FPS with a minimum of 124 FPS and a maximum of 168 FPS. High averages 130 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 93 FPS, a smaller gap than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 139 FPS, which is the first time Low drops below 200 FPS. Medium averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 76 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 63 FPS, the smallest of the three resolutions. This confirms that at 4K, the RTX 4090’s workload is the dominant factor, and CPU-side settings changes have less impact on frame rates.

The minimum FPS data is only provided for Medium settings across all resolutions: 165 at 1080p, 124 at 1440p, and 84 at 4K. These minimums are all reasonably close to their averages, suggesting stable frame pacing without severe stutters. The maximum FPS values for Medium are 223 at 1080p, 168 at 1440p, and 114 at 4K. The consistency between average and minimum FPS indicates that the combo maintains smooth performance even under load.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about the system’s bottleneck. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 194 at 1080p to 146 at 1440p, a 24.7% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops to 99, a 32.2% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 95 FPS, or 48.9% of the 1080p performance.

This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the Core Ultra 5 245 can keep up with the RTX 4090, allowing frame rates to reach nearly 272 FPS on Low settings. However, as resolution increases, the GPU’s fill rate and shading throughput become the limiting factor. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth are substantial, but 4K requires rendering four times the pixels of 1080p, which explains the steep drop.

The fact that Low settings at 4K (139 FPS) are slower than Ultra at 1080p (149 FPS) highlights this shift. At 1080p Ultra, the CPU is still able to feed the GPU enough frames to exceed 144 FPS. At 4K Low, the GPU is working hard enough that even reduced settings cannot match that performance. This indicates that the RTX 4090 is the primary performance limiter at 4K, while the Core Ultra 5 245 is the limiter at 1080p.

The data also shows that the resolution scaling is not linear. The drop from 1080p to 1440p (24.7% at Medium) is smaller than the drop from 1440p to 4K (32.2%). This is consistent with the pixel count increase: 1440p has 78% more pixels than 1080p, while 4K has 225% more pixels than 1440p. The GPU’s workload grows disproportionately, which is why the frame rate drops accelerate at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor from the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications position it as a mid-range desktop CPU, and its benchmark scores confirm that it performs well but does not dominate.

In synthetic tests, the Core Ultra 5 245 achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,924 and a single-core score of 4,648. Its PassMark single-thread score is 4,394, and its multi-thread score is 38,706. These numbers are competitive, but the nearest rival comparisons show how close the field is. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and AMD Ryzen 9 7900 are within 0.5% of the Core Ultra 5 245’s average score, while the Intel Core i5-14600K is 0.8% behind. This suggests that for gaming, any of these CPUs would deliver similar frame rates when paired with the same GPU.

In Control, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p. The jump from Ultra (149 FPS) to Low (272 FPS) at 1080p is 123 FPS, which is larger than the same settings gap at 4K (63 FPS). This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is able to process game logic and draw calls fast enough to feed the RTX 4090 up to 272 frames per second, but only when the GPU is not heavily burdened by high-resolution textures and effects. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the CPU has spare capacity that goes unused.

The CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads are sufficient for Control, which is primarily a single-threaded game engine with some multi-threaded tasks. The high boost clock of 5.10 GHz helps with single-thread performance, which is crucial for games that rely on a few fast cores. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,394 is respectable, and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,648 shows strong per-core performance. This allows the CPU to keep up with the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions, though it cannot sustain the absolute highest frame rates that a more powerful CPU like a flagship Core i9 might achieve.

The 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for gaming. The L3 cache of 24 MB is modest compared to larger CPUs, but it does not appear to hinder Control’s performance based on the measured FPS. Overall, the Core Ultra 5 245 is a capable partner for the RTX 4090, providing enough speed for 1440p and 4K gaming, with the understanding that at 1080p, some performance is left on the table due to CPU limits.