Control

Control is an action-adventure title from 2019 that stresses both the CPU and GPU in different ways depending on resolution. The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER produces a wide spread of frame rates across the tested configurations, with the data showing a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as pixel count rises. The measured results indicate that this combo is highly capable at 1080p, but the frame rate scaling from 1440p to 4K reveals the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but pronounced drop in performance as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload at the higher end of the spectrum. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 135 FPS, and at 1440p it drops to 102 FPS, a reduction of roughly 24%. Moving to 4K High settings yields 69 FPS, which is a further 32% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is steep, indicating that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the component being pushed hardest when pixel count increases.

Looking at the Low settings row, the scaling is even more aggressive. At 1080p Low, the system produces 214 FPS, which drops to 162 FPS at 1440p (a 24% decrease) and then falls to 110 FPS at 4K (a 32% decrease from 1440p). The fact that even at Low settings the 4K frame rate is less than half of the 1080p figure suggests that the game's rendering pipeline becomes heavily pixel-limited at 4K, regardless of the reduced graphical fidelity. This is a strong indicator that the GPU's rasterization throughput, not the CPU, is the ceiling at 4K.

The Medium settings row provides the only min/max FPS data in the pack, which offers additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 152 FPS with a minimum of 130 FPS and a maximum of 175 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS and a maximum of 133 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. The consistency of the frame pacing, as evidenced by the relatively tight min/max spread at each resolution, suggests that the hardware combination is stable and not suffering from stuttering or severe frame time spikes.

The Ultra settings row shows the most demanding scenario. At 1080p Ultra, the combo still manages 118 FPS, which is respectable, but at 1440p Ultra it drops to 89 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to exactly 60 FPS. The fact that 4K Ultra lands right at 60 FPS is a notable data point, as it suggests that this configuration is just barely able to hit the standard 60 FPS target at maximum settings. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra represents a 49% reduction in frame rate, which aligns with the GPU-bound behavior seen in the other settings rows.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's overall rank in Control is 438 out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the top 15% of all tested systems. This percentile placement is strong, indicating that this specific CPU-GPU pairing is well above average for this particular game. The rank of 438 out of 2888 combos puts it roughly in the 85th percentile, which is consistent with the high-end nature of both the processor and the graphics card.

The CPU's benchmark percentile versus all CPUs is 93, which means the Core Ultra 7 265 outperforms 93% of all processors in the database. This high percentile is reflected in the game's performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU has more influence. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 83, which is slightly lower than the CPU's percentile but still firmly in the upper tier of graphics cards. When combined, these two components create a system that is balanced enough to rank high in a game like Control, which benefits from both strong single-threaded CPU performance and substantial GPU compute power.

The combo rank data does not specify whether the ranking is based on average FPS across all settings or on a specific configuration, but the overall placement at 438 out of 2888 suggests that this pairing is significantly better than the median system. For context, a system ranking in the middle of the pack would be around 1444 out of 2888, so this combo is over 1000 positions ahead of the median. This is a strong indicator that the Intel Ultra 7 265 and RTX 4070 SUPER combination is a well-matched pairing for Control, capable of delivering high frame rates at most settings and resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and uses the AD104 chip, which is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU features 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores. The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The core clocks are set at 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, with memory running at 1313 MHz or 21 Gbps effective.

In Control, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are high enough (135 FPS at High, 118 FPS at Ultra) that the CPU likely has headroom, but the GPU is still the main contributor. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the steep drop in FPS across all settings. The 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this game, which was released in 2019 and does not have the massive texture requirements of more modern titles, so VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck in this scenario.

The boost clock of 2475 MHz is relatively high, and the data suggests that the GPU is able to sustain performance without thermal throttling, given the consistent frame rates observed in the Medium settings row. The pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s are substantial, and these specifications directly impact how well the card handles the increasing pixel counts at higher resolutions. The 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is also a key factor, as Control's rendering engine benefits from raw compute throughput.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's benchmark scores in other tests show it performs well, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and a PassMark G3D score of 29995. These scores are consistent with its 83rd percentile ranking, and they translate well to Control's performance, which is known for its physics-based destruction and particle effects that rely heavily on GPU compute.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset produces an average of 214 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates that the CPU is fully capable of driving the GPU to its limits at this resolution. The Medium preset averages 152 FPS with a minimum of 130 FPS and a maximum of 175 FPS, showing a well-paced experience. The High preset averages 135 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 118 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decline. Low settings average 162 FPS, which is still very high and indicates that the GPU has enough headroom at this resolution to maintain high refresh rates. Medium settings average 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS and a maximum of 133 FPS, which is a solid result for 1440p gaming. High settings average 102 FPS, and Ultra settings average 89 FPS, both of which are comfortable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 110 FPS, which is still playable, but the scaling from 1440p shows a significant drop. Medium settings average 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS, which is a playable but not ideal experience for 4K. High settings average 69 FPS, which is borderline for 60 FPS displays. Ultra settings average exactly 60 FPS, which is the minimum target for most gamers, but the lack of headroom means that any demanding scene could cause dips below that threshold.

The data reveals that the most consistent frame pacing is found in the Medium settings row, which is the only one with min/max values recorded. At 1080p Medium, the difference between min and max is 45 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 35 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 24 FPS. This tightening of the frame time variance at higher resolutions is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the workload is more uniform and less dependent on CPU processing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and provides 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In Control, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p resolution, where the frame rates are high enough to expose any processor limitations. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 214 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that indicates the CPU is not holding back the GPU. The fact that the frame rate scales down to 118 FPS at 1080p Ultra suggests that the GPU is still the primary contributor even at lower resolutions, but the CPU is providing enough processing power to keep the GPU fed.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 and a PassMark multithread score of 49682. These scores are consistent with its 93rd percentile ranking, indicating that it is a top-tier processor for productivity tasks. In gaming, however, single-threaded performance is often more important, and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 is also strong, suggesting that the processor has the per-core performance needed for game logic and physics calculations.

The memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is sufficient for gaming, and the DDR5 support ensures that the processor can keep up with the data demands of modern games. In Control, which features complex physics interactions and destructible environments, the CPU's ability to process these calculations quickly is crucial. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to suggest that the CPU is not a limiting factor, but at 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it delivers 118 FPS on average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 135 FPS is also viable, but the Ultra preset offers better visual fidelity with only a 13% performance penalty, making it the better value in terms of visual quality per frame.

For 1440p gaming, the High preset at 102 FPS is the sweet spot, as it provides a smooth experience on 100 Hz or 120 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 89 FPS is also playable, but the High preset offers a 15% performance boost with only a modest reduction in visual quality. The Medium preset at 115 FPS is another option for gamers who prefer higher frame rates over visual fidelity, but the data suggests that High is the best balance of performance and quality at this resolution.

For 4K gaming, the High preset at 69 FPS is the recommended choice, as it is just above the 60 FPS target and provides good visual quality. The Ultra preset at exactly 60 FPS is playable, but the lack of headroom means that any complex scene could cause frame drops below the 60 FPS threshold, which would be noticeable. The Medium preset at 78 FPS offers a safer margin for 4K gaming, but the visual quality reduction is significant. The Low preset at 110 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the graphical fidelity loss outweighs the performance gain.

Across all resolutions, the High preset appears to be the most balanced configuration for this combo. It delivers 135 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K, all of which are above the 60 FPS target. The data shows that the High preset provides a consistent experience across all three tested resolutions, making it the safest recommendation for users who want to play Control without having to adjust settings frequently.