Control

# Control with Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 to deliver a capable 1440p experience in Control, with the data showing this combination ranks in the 58th percentile of all tested combos (rank 1192 out of 2888). The CPU's 20-core, 20-thread Arrow Lake design with a 2.40 GHz base and 5.30 GHz boost clock provides substantial headroom for the game's physics and simulation workloads, while the RTX 3070's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and Ampere architecture handle the visual demands. Benchmark results indicate that at 1080p, the combo achieves over 100 FPS on High settings, but the 4K Ultra preset drops to 44 FPS, revealing a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is built on the Arrow Lake-S architecture with 20 cores and 20 threads, a configuration that emphasizes parallel throughput over hyper-threading. Its base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz give it strong single-thread performance, reflected in a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 and multi-core score of 42216. In the context of Control, which relies on both physics simulation and draw-call processing, this CPU provides ample compute headroom. The 30 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache reduce latency for frequently accessed game data, while the 102.4 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth ensures the GPU receives data without bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 93 versus all CPUs places it in the top tier of processors, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 4464P (avg score 64823, -0.3% delta) and Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (avg score 64438, 0.3% delta). This indicates the 265 is statistically indistinguishable from its closest competitors in synthetic tests. For Control specifically, the 20-core design means the game's multi-threaded physics and AI routines can spread across available cores, though the measured FPS data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the combo hits 158 FPS, which is likely CPU-scaled, but the drop to 44 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates the GPU's workload dominates.

The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4689 and multithread score of 49682 further confirm balanced performance. The 3 nm process node from TSMC and 17,800 million transistors contribute to a 65 W TDP, making it an efficient choice for sustained gaming sessions. However, the data does not show any CPU-specific bottleneck at 1080p, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured data shows an average of 76 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings, which is playable for most action-adventure titles.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 17208 is within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (avg score 17083), making them effectively equal in raw compute performance.

Q: Is this CPU better than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F?

A: The data shows the 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640, which is 0.3% higher than the 265F's 64438, but this difference is negligible in real-world gaming scenarios.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 81 FPS, while Medium drops to 57 FPS and Ultra falls to 44 FPS. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, Low is the only viable preset at 4K.

Q: How much FPS improvement is seen when dropping from 1080p to 1440p on High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average is 100 FPS, while 1440p High delivers 76 FPS. This represents a 24% reduction, indicating the GPU is beginning to become the limiting factor.

Q: Does the CPU's 20-core configuration benefit Control's performance?

A: The CPU's high multi-threaded score (Cinebench R23 multi-core 42216) suggests it can handle Control's physics and AI workloads, but the FPS data shows resolution-dependent scaling, meaning the GPU dominates at higher settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 100 FPS, which is smooth for the game's fast-paced combat and environmental destruction. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 112 FPS, offering a slight improvement over High, while Low jumps to 158 FPS. For players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, Low at 1080p provides the highest headroom, but Medium appears to be the sweet spot—112 FPS with better visual quality than Low.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 76 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for a game with frequent action sequences. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 85 FPS with a minimum of 72 FPS, ensuring no significant dips below playable thresholds. Ultra at 1440p drops to 66 FPS, which may be tolerable for slower exploration segments but risks stutter during intense encounters. The data suggests Medium at 1440p is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

For 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset is the only one that clears 60 FPS, hitting 81 FPS average. Medium at 4K drops to 57 FPS, which is borderline, while High and Ultra fall to 51 FPS and 44 FPS, respectively. Given the game's reliance on smooth motion for its supernatural combat, 4K players should use Low settings unless they accept sub-60 FPS. The measured minimum FPS for 4K Medium is 49, which indicates occasional stutters even at this mid-tier preset.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 places at rank 1192 out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This represents the 58th percentile, meaning roughly 41% of tested configurations perform better. The ranking reflects the RTX 3070's mid-range positioning in 2025, as the GPU sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, however, ranks in the 93rd percentile, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 3070's average score of 17208 is 0.7% above the RX 7600 XT (17083) but 1.5% below the Tesla K40c (17468). This narrow margin indicates that the combo's ranking is influenced more by the GPU's overall capabilities than by the CPU's strong synthetic scores. The data shows that the CPU's high percentile (93) does not translate to a top-tier combo ranking, reinforcing that Control is GPU-bound at most settings. For context, the combo's rank of 1192 means it outperforms configurations with weaker GPUs but falls behind those with newer or higher-tier graphics cards, even when paired with the same or similar CPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound pattern. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 100 at 1080p to 76 at 1440p (a 24% reduction) and then to 51 at 4K (a 49% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is steeper than what would be expected if the CPU were the bottleneck, as the frame rate degrades almost proportionally with the pixel count increase (1080p to 1440p is 1.78x pixels, 1440p to 4K is 2.25x pixels). The measured data shows that the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become saturated at higher resolutions, particularly with Ultra settings.

At Low settings, the scaling is less severe: 158 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p (a 24% drop), and 81 FPS at 4K (a 49% drop from 1080p). This consistent pattern across settings indicates that the GPU's compute throughput, not memory capacity, is the primary constraint. The CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at 1080p Low (158 FPS) confirms it is not a limiting factor, as the FPS ceiling appears to be set by the GPU's pixel fill rate and shading capacity. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS suggests that the GPU's 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance is insufficient for the game's highest visual demands at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers excellent performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 158 FPS, which is far beyond the 60 FPS target and suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium settings yield 112 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and maximum of 129 FPS, providing a smooth experience with minimal frame time variance. High settings achieve 100 FPS, while Ultra drops to 87 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. The data shows that even the most demanding preset at 1080p is playable without compromise.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's limits. Low settings hit 120 FPS, which is excellent for 1440p. Medium settings produce 85 FPS average with a minimum of 72 FPS and maximum of 98 FPS, ensuring no major stutters during gameplay. High settings deliver 76 FPS, while Ultra falls to 66 FPS. The minimum FPS data for Medium (72) indicates that the game maintains playable frame rates even during intense scenes, though the margin above 60 FPS is thinner than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 81 FPS, which is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS. Medium settings achieve 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS, meaning the game will dip below 60 FPS during demanding moments. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra drops to 44 FPS. These numbers suggest that 4K gaming on this combo requires significant settings compromises, as even Medium fails to maintain a consistent 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary performance driver in this combo, given its mid-range positioning relative to the high-end CPU. The GPU features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, with a base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1725 MHz. Its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a constraint at 4K with high-quality textures. The GPU's 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores support Control's ray-traced reflections and DLSS features, though the measured FPS data does not include ray tracing-specific benchmarks.

The RTX 3070's PassMark G3D score of 22214 places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the RX 7600 XT (0.7% lower) and GTX 690 (1% lower). The GPU's compute performance of 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 is substantial, but the 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS indicates that the memory bandwidth and pixel throughput (165.6 GPixel/s) are insufficient for the game's most demanding settings. The GPU's TDP of 220 W suggests it draws significant power under load, and its end-of-life production status means it is no longer being manufactured.

The GPU's role in Control is evident from the resolution scaling data: as pixel count increases, the FPS drops proportionally, confirming that the RTX 3070 is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and strong synthetic scores provide no performance headroom at 4K, as the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize the CPU's full capabilities. At 1080p, however, the GPU is sufficient to keep frame rates high, and the CPU's fast single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 5960) ensures minimal frame pacing issues.