Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile delivers a compelling, high-refresh-rate experience in Control, with the data showing a clear progression in performance as resolution scales down. This combination ranks in the top 38% of all tested combos, and the measured FPS figures indicate that the system is well-balanced for this title, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor only at the highest resolution and settings.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in Control reveals a predictable yet instructive pattern. The data shows that moving from 4K (3840x2160) to 1440p (2560x1440) to 1080p (1920x1080) produces substantial frame rate gains across all settings presets. At High settings, average FPS increases from 52 at 3840x2160 to 77 at 2560x1440, representing a 48.1% uplift. Dropping further to 1920x1080 yields 102 FPS, a 32.5% improvement over the 1440p result and a 96.2% increase over the 4K figure. This steep scaling curve suggests that at 4K, the system is heavily GPU-bound, as pixel throughput demands rise quadratically with resolution.

The scaling behavior at Low settings is even more pronounced. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 83. This jumps to 123 at 2560x1440, a 48.2% gain, and reaches 162 at 1920x1080, a 31.7% improvement over 1440p and a 95.2% increase over 4K. The fact that these gains are roughly proportional to the pixel count difference indicates that at Low settings, the system is operating in a more balanced or CPU-limited state, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

Medium settings show a similar scaling pattern. The 3840x2160 result of 59 FPS rises to 87 at 2560x1440 (a 47.5% gain) and to 115 at 1920x1080 (a 32.2% gain from 1440p). The move from 1080p to 1440p to 4K represents a 47.5% and 48.7% reduction in FPS, respectively, which is close to what would be expected if the limiting factor were purely pixel throughput. The Ultra settings, the most demanding preset, show the system's limits most clearly. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 45, which rises to 67 at 2560x1440 (a 48.9% gain) and to 89 at 1920x1080 (a 32.8% gain from 1440p).

The scaling behavior suggests that the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile is the dominant limiting component at 4K Ultra, where it can only maintain 45 FPS. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 162 FPS, indicating that the GPU is no longer the bottleneck and that the CPU's capabilities are being more fully utilized. The range of average FPS across all settings at 1080p, from 89 to 162, and the strong scaling from 4K to 1080p, suggest that the GPU's performance is the primary constraint on frame rates, with the CPU able to feed it sufficient data at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 1, based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU's cache configuration includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a 24 MB shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Its benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759, placing it at the 84th percentile among all CPUs. In Passmark, it scores 25933 in multi-thread, 3509 in single-thread, and 1806 in physics.

In Control, the CPU's role is not to drive extreme frame rates but to maintain consistent performance. The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 162 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound to a degree, given the high frame rate. However, the CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads are far more than what a game like Control typically requires, so the limiting factor at lower resolutions is likely the game's engine's ability to utilize the CPU. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz should provide strong single-threaded performance, which is often what matters most in game physics and logic. The CPU's single-core Cinebench R23 score of 1759 is competitive, and the multi-core score of 14551 indicates it can handle background tasks without impacting game performance. The 28W TDP is low for a mobile part, but the performance in this game suggests it is not a limiting factor, as the system consistently delivers high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile ranks 1422nd out of 3720 tested combos in Control, placing it in the top 38% of all tested systems. This rank is influenced by the GPU's performance, which, while strong, is not the top-tier for this game, as the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile sits at the 80th percentile against all GPUs. The CPU ranks at the 84th percentile against all CPUs, indicating that both components are above average. The combo's rank of 1422 suggests it outperforms a majority of systems, but there is a significant number of more powerful combos ahead, likely those with higher-end desktop GPUs or more powerful mobile variants. The deltaPct values from the nearest rivals show that the CPU's avg benchmark score of 34083 is within 0.5% of several other CPUs, including the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, which are strong contenders. The GPU's avgBenchmarkScore of 35435 places it close to the NVIDIA Quadro GV100, which is a professional-grade card, indicating that the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile is a capable graphics processor in a mobile form.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160, the system delivers 52 FPS on High, 83 on Low, 59 on Medium, and 45 on Ultra. The Medium setting has a minimum frame rate of 50 and a maximum of 68, showing a 18 FPS spread. At 2560x1440, the High preset yields 77 FPS, Low yields 123, Medium yields 87 (with a min of 74 and max of 100), and Ultra yields 67. At 1920x1080, High produces 102 FPS, Low produces 162, Medium produces 115 (with a min of 98 and max of 132), and Ultra produces 89. This data reveals that the Low setting at 1080p provides the highest average frame rate at 162 FPS, while the Ultra setting at 4K provides the lowest at 45 FPS. The spread between the best and worst case scenarios is 117 FPS. The Medium settings across all resolutions show the most consistent frame times, with the minimum and maximum values being relatively close, indicating a stable experience. The Low and High settings do not have min/max data, but the averages are consistent with the scaling pattern.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra in Control?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with the Ultra preset is 89.

Q: How does the 165H CPU compare to its nearest rival in performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has an average benchmark score of 34083, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H and 0.4% lower than the AMD EPYC 4244P and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 45, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the system support ray tracing?

A: The GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile, has 46 RT Cores, and the DirectX version is 12 Ultimate (12_2), so it is capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the GPU?

A: The GPU has a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, with a 192-bit bus width and 12 GB of GDDR7 memory.

Q: How many cores does the CPU have?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Ultra preset provides the best experience for users with a 1080p monitor, as it delivers 89 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For 1440p users, the High preset at 77 FPS is the best choice, as it balances visual quality with a playable frame rate. At 4K, the High preset at 52 FPS is the most playable option, while the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 59 FPS, which is very close to 60 and provides a good visual experience. For users with high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, the Low preset at 162 FPS will maximize the refresh rate, but the Ultra preset at 89 FPS is still smooth and offers better visual quality. The Low preset at 1440p delivers 123 FPS, which is 84% higher than the High preset, but the visual quality is significantly lower. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 87 FPS and is a good middle ground. Overall, the High preset is recommended for 1440p and 4K, while the Ultra preset is recommended for 1080p users who want the best visuals.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile is a high-performance mobile GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. It has 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, and its boost clock is 1447 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. Its pixel rate is 115.8 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 266.2 GTexel/s, with a peak FP32 performance of 17.04 TFLOPS. In Passmark, it scores 24004 in G3D and 10101 in GPU compute, placing it at the 80th percentile against all GPUs. This GPU is clearly designed for high-end performance, and in Control, it delivers frame rates that are respectable but not top-tier. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is crucial for high-resolution textures and effects, and the 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game at all settings. The GPU's performance at 4K Ultra is limited to 45 FPS, which indicates that Control at this resolution is demanding, but the High preset at 52 FPS is more playable. The GPU's strong compute and rasterization performance allow for high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, as shown by the 162 FPS at Low and 102 FPS at High. The presence of RT and Tensor cores suggests that the GPU can also handle ray tracing and DLSS features, although the measured data does not include these settings. Overall, the GPU is a significant contributor to the combo's strong rank, providing a balance of performance and features.