Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a strong 1080p and 1440p experience in Control, with 4K remaining viable at reduced settings. The data indicates a balanced pairing where the GPU is the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, while the processor provides ample headroom.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The combination produces an average of 122 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, indicating a very smooth experience for standard monitors.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Control?*

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 62 on High and 54 on Ultra. To achieve a higher frame rate at 4K, dropping to Medium (70 FPS) or Low (98 FPS) is necessary.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64,640. This places it 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F and 0.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7343, while being 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 4464P and 0.7% behind the AMD EPYC 9124.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 146 on Low to 80 on Ultra. This represents a 45% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Does the GPU bottleneck the CPU at 4K?

A: The data suggests yes. The FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44 FPS (from 98 to 54), which is a much larger swing than what would be expected if the CPU were the limiting factor.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The lowest recorded minimum FPS is 59, observed at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. The minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset across all resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and can boost up to 5.30 GHz. The processor features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. Its 65 W TDP classifies it as a mainstream desktop part.

Benchmark results show the processor's capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 42,216 points in multi-core and 5,960 points in single-core tests. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 49,682, with a single-thread score of 4,689. These results place it in the 93rd percentile among all tested CPUs, indicating strong overall performance.

In the context of Control, this level of CPU performance appears to be more than sufficient. At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches an average of 193 FPS, which is a high frame rate that often exposes CPU limitations in other titles. The fact that the system can achieve this on Low suggests the Core Ultra 7 265 is not the primary constraint. The processor's high single-thread score of 5,960 in Cinebench R23 is particularly relevant for game logic and physics, ensuring that frame pacing remains consistent even when the GPU is under heavy load.

The CPU's headroom is further evidenced by the scaling of frame rates with resolution. When moving from 1080p High (122 FPS) to 4K High (62 FPS), the performance drops by roughly half, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound behavior. This indicates that the processor is delivering frames fast enough for the GPU to process, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The 20-core configuration also provides ample parallelism for any background tasks or streaming overhead that might occur during gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. Its memory operates at an effective speed of 21 Gbps. With 5,888 shading units and 46 RT cores, it is a capable mid-to-high-end graphics card, placing it in the 81st percentile among all GPUs.

The GPU's memory configuration is a key factor in Control. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's textures and effects at 4K, as evidenced by the playable frame rates at that resolution. The high memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and asset loading do not become bottlenecks, allowing for smooth traversal through the game's environments.

The RTX 4070's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 174,152, aligns with its strong showing in Control. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance changes when settings are altered. For instance, at 1440p, moving from Low to Ultra settings reduces the average FPS from 146 to 80. This 66 FPS gap is directly attributable to the increased shading and texture work required by the GPU.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at 4K. Here, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 44 FPS (98 to 54), showing that the GPU is being pushed to its limits. The 4K Ultra average of 54 FPS is at the edge of playability, but the Medium setting provides a more comfortable 70 FPS, suggesting that users should tune settings to balance visual fidelity with frame rate. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM is adequate for 4K Medium, but the data does not specify if higher settings exceed this capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is ranked 650th out of 2,888 tested combos for Control. This places it in the top 22.5% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result given the wide range of hardware combinations that exist. This ranking indicates that the pairing is well-suited for this title.

The CPU itself holds a percentile rank of 93, meaning it performs better than 93% of all CPUs in the database. The GPU, with a percentile rank of 81, is also a high performer. The combo's rank of 650 is likely influenced by the GPU's lower percentile compared to the CPU, as the graphics card is the more significant factor in determining frame rates at higher resolutions.

The combo's position suggests that while the CPU is a top-tier component, the RTX 4070 holds the system back from reaching the very highest echelons of performance. Configurations with more powerful GPUs, such as the RTX 4080 or 4090, would likely rank higher. However, this pairing offers a balanced experience, and its ranking reflects that it can handle Control well at most settings, with only the most demanding 4K Ultra preset proving to be a challenge.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the system is likely GPU-bound at higher settings, with the CPU having enough headroom to push frame rates to high levels. The average FPS at 1080p High is 122, which drops to 92 at 1440p and 62 at 4K. This represents a 24.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 49.2% drop from 1080p to 4K.

These scaling patterns are typical of a GPU-limited scenario. The percentage decrease in frame rate is roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count. The total number of pixels at 1440p is 1.78 times that of 1080p, and 4K is exactly 4 times that of 1080p. If the system were CPU-limited, we would expect to see a much smaller difference between resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution.

The data supports this theory. At Low settings, the FPS at 1080p is 193, which drops to 146 at 1440p and 98 at 4K. The 1080p Low result is very high, suggesting the CPU is capable of even more, but the GPU is still the limiting factor at this resolution. The fact that 4K Low (98 FPS) is still higher than 1080p Ultra (106 FPS) is interesting. This indicates that the GPU has to work much harder on Ultra settings at a lower resolution than it does on Low at a higher resolution, further confirming the GPU's role as the bottleneck.

The gap between settings also widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 87 FPS (193 to 106). At 4K, the difference is 44 FPS (98 to 54). This is because at lower resolutions, the GPU can more easily process the extra work required for Ultra settings, but at 4K, the sheer pixel count limits the GPU's ability to maintain high frame rates, compressing the range of performance across settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average FPS for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination in Control.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all settings. On Low, it achieves an average of 193 FPS. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 137 FPS, with a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 157 FPS. High settings produce an average of 122 FPS. Ultra settings reduce performance to an average of 106 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low settings yield an average of 146 FPS. Medium settings produce an average of 104 FPS, with a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 119 FPS. High settings result in an average of 92 FPS. Ultra settings lower the average to 80 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system becomes more demanding on the GPU. Low settings provide an average of 98 FPS, which is still very playable. Medium settings reduce the average to 70 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS. High settings achieve an average of 62 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding, producing an average of 54 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the frame rate ranges from 116 to 157 FPS. At 1440p, it ranges from 88 to 119 FPS. At 4K, it ranges from 59 to 80 FPS. These ranges indicate that frame pacing is consistent, with no major stutters or spikes observed in the data, even at the demanding 4K resolution. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium of 59 FPS is close to the average, suggesting a stable experience without significant drops.