Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure title, is a demanding showcase of physics-based combat and destructible environments. This analysis examines the specific performance profile of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The data provided offers a clear picture of how this combination handles the game across standard resolutions and presets, with the GTX 1080 Ti acting as the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a consistent 60 FPS?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset delivers an average of 64 FPS, which is the only setting above 1080p that comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages an average of 68 FPS, while High drops to 43 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in general GPU benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti’s average benchmark score of 15548 places it 1.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 and 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M380. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 0.8%, indicating it sits in a tight performance cluster.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 a high-performing CPU in the broader market?

A: Yes, the processor holds a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 64640 is virtually identical to that of the AMD EPYC 4464P, which is only 0.3% faster, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, which it edges out by 0.3%.

Q: What is the impact of the CPU's boost clock on its single-threaded performance?

A: The CPU has a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which contributes to a strong Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 points. This high single-thread performance is relevant for game logic and physics, though the GPU limits frame rates in this specific title.

Q: Does the GTX 1080 Ti's VRAM capacity pose a limitation in Control?

A: The GPU is equipped with 11 GB of GDDR5X memory, which is a substantial amount. The benchmark data shows playable frame rates at 1440p High, suggesting the memory capacity is sufficient for the game's assets at these settings, though the GPU's compute power becomes the limiting factor.

Q: What is the overall standing of this specific CPU and GPU combination in the benchmark database for Control?

A: This combo is ranked 1585th out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the 55th percentile. This indicates that while it is not a top-tier pairing for this game, it performs better than the majority of systems tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is based on the Pascal architecture and features a GP102 chip manufactured on a 16 nm process. Its memory subsystem is a key asset for a title like Control, which uses detailed textures and complex environments. The GPU has 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. This bandwidth is essential for streaming high-resolution textures without causing significant hitches.

The GPU's clock speeds are set at a base of 1481 MHz with a boost clock of 1582 MHz. The raw compute capabilities are substantial for its generation, with 3584 shading units delivering an FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS. The texture and pixel rates are rated at 354.4 GTexel/s and 139.2 GPixel/s, respectively. These specifications suggest a card that was a high-end performer at its launch and remains capable, but the benchmark results in Control show its age relative to modern titles.

In the measured data, the GPU's role is clearly the dominant factor. The performance scaling across resolutions and settings points to a GPU that is fully utilized. At 1080p Low, the system achieves an average of 133 FPS, which is a high frame rate. However, as the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the average FPS drops significantly. This behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card’s fill rate and shading capacity are the primary determinants of performance.

The GTX 1080 Ti's 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15548, reinforces its mid-to-high-end status. It performs similarly to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, being 1.7% faster, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, which is 0.8% faster. This context is important because it means the GPU is not a flagship part anymore, but it still holds its own against newer mainstream options. In Control, this translates to a playable experience at 1440p with adjusted settings, but a struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti combination has a rank of 1585 out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This position, roughly in the 55th percentile, indicates that over half of the tested systems are faster, but a significant portion are also slower. The rank suggests a balanced pairing where the GPU is the clear performance limiter, preventing the combo from reaching higher tiers.

The CPU itself is a high performer, with a 93rd percentile ranking in the overall CPU database. Its average benchmark score of 64640 places it in an elite group of processors, with its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4464P, only 0.3% faster. However, this raw CPU power does not translate into top-tier gaming performance here because the GTX 1080 Ti cannot keep pace with the CPU's ability to feed frames.

The GPU, in contrast, holds a 58th percentile ranking, which aligns more closely with the combo's overall standing. The GTX 1080 Ti's average score of 15548 is its performance anchor. This data suggests that if a user were to upgrade the GPU, the combo's rank in Control would improve dramatically, as the CPU has ample headroom. The measured FPS data supports this, showing that the system is almost always limited by graphics processing rather than CPU logic.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of performance across four presets and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system shows strong performance. The Low preset averages 133 FPS, which drops to 95 FPS on Medium, 84 FPS on High, and 73 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS, indicating a generally smooth experience with minor fluctuations.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease as expected. The Low preset averages 101 FPS, a significant drop from 1080p. Medium averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. The High preset averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS. This resolution offers a viable path to high refresh rate gaming only on Low, but High is still playable.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. The Low preset averages 68 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that is consistently playable. Medium drops to an average of 48 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS, while High and Ultra average 43 FPS and 37 FPS, respectively. These numbers clearly show that 4K is not a suitable target for this combo if a smooth experience is desired, except perhaps on the lowest settings.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the difference between Low and Ultra presets is more pronounced at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 60 FPS (133 vs 73). At 1440p, the gap is 46 FPS (101 vs 55). At 4K, the gap narrows to 31 FPS (68 vs 37), demonstrating that the GPU is running out of headroom even at Low settings.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K highlights the GPU-bound nature of this system. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the High preset results in a frame rate drop from 84 FPS to 64 FPS, a reduction of about 24%. This is a significant penalty for a 78% increase in pixel count, suggesting that the GPU is already working hard.

The jump from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing. On the High preset, the average FPS falls from 64 to 43, a drop of approximately 33%. This steep decline indicates that the GTX 1080 Ti's memory bandwidth and compute resources are insufficient to handle the 4K pixel workload while maintaining high-quality settings. The scaling is not linear, and the performance loss accelerates with resolution.

This behavior confirms that the limiting component is the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU's workload (game logic, physics, draw calls) does not increase proportionally with pixel count. The fact that FPS drops sharply with resolution is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock, is more than capable of handling the CPU-side demands of Control, leaving the GTX 1080 Ti as the sole constraint on performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is found at the 2560x1440 resolution with the High preset, which yields an average of 64 FPS. This provides a good balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, staying above the 60 FPS threshold for most of the gameplay. The minimum FPS for this setting is not listed, but the average suggests it is a stable choice.

For users with a 1080p display, the High preset at 1920x1080 is an excellent choice, averaging 84 FPS. This allows for high refresh rate monitors to be utilized effectively, as the frame rate is well above 60 FPS and close to 100 FPS territory on lower settings. The Ultra preset at 1080p still averages 73 FPS, which is also a viable option for those who prioritize visual quality over maximum frame rates.

At 4K, the options are limited. The Low preset at 3840x2160 is the only setting that averages above 60 FPS, hitting 68 FPS. This is a playable experience, but it sacrifices most visual effects. The Medium preset at 4K averages 48 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced moments but will struggle in combat-heavy scenes. The data suggests that 4K gaming should be reserved for the Low preset, or the resolution should be lowered to 1440p for a better experience.

The Medium preset at 1440p provides a minimum of 61 FPS and an average of 72 FPS, making it a slightly safer choice for maintaining a consistent 60+ FPS experience than High, which averages 64 FPS. For users who experience frame drops, Medium is the recommended fallback.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor from the Arrow Lake-S architecture, featuring a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This high boost clock is crucial for gaming, where single-threaded performance often dictates the frame rate ceiling. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 points confirms its strong per-core performance.

In Control, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics calculations, and the rendering thread. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this pairing. The most compelling evidence is the resolution scaling: if the CPU were limiting performance, the frame rates would remain flat regardless of resolution. Instead, the FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, which is the signature of a GPU bottleneck.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 64640, which is comparable to server-class EPYC processors, indicates it has substantial headroom. Its nearest rivals, the AMD EPYC 4464P and Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of -0.3% and +0.3% respectively. This suggests that in this system, the processor is never the cause of low frame rates in Control.

The processor's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for the game's assets. With the GPU being the limiting factor, the CPU is effectively waiting for the graphics card to finish its work. This is a common scenario with high-end CPUs paired with older or mid-range GPUs, and it means that the system's performance in Control can be significantly improved by a GPU upgrade without needing to change the processor.