Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile places in the 2983rd position out of 3720 tested combinations for Control. This ranking, which lands the combo in the lower 20th percentile of all tested systems, reflects a configuration that can handle the game at playable framerates but requires careful settings management, particularly at higher resolutions. The data indicates a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU’s substantial multi-core capabilities are not fully utilized by this 2019 Action Adventure title. Benchmark results show a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions and quality presets, with the combination favoring 1080p and 1440p gameplay over 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 2983 out of 3720 places this specific CPU-GPU pairing firmly in the lower quartile of performance for Control. This is not a top-tier configuration for this title, and the ranking suggests that while the system is capable of running the game, it will not deliver the highest framerates or the most demanding visual settings without compromise. The percentile position indicates that a significant majority of tested combinations achieve higher average FPS, which is a direct consequence of the RTX 5050 Mobile's position in the GPU hierarchy. The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 83, meaning it outperforms 83% of all GPUs in the database on average, but its nearestRivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 and the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, with deltaPct values of 0 and 0.1 respectively. This shows the RTX 5050 Mobile is a mid-range part, and its performance in Control aligns with that classification.

The ranking is also influenced by the fact that Control is a game that scales heavily with GPU power. The data shows that at 4K Ultra settings, the combo manages only 29 FPS average, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1080p Low, it reaches 103 FPS average, which is excellent. This wide range of performance across settings is what drags the overall ranking down, as many other combos can achieve higher framerates at the same settings. The CPU, with its 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, is not the limiting factor here; the GPU’s 83rd percentile ranking is more indicative of the combo’s overall standing. The deltaPct between the RTX 5050 Mobile and its nearest rival, the Quadro M6000, is 0%, meaning they are effectively tied in average benchmark score, which reinforces that the GPU is the performance ceiling for this pairing. Therefore, the 2983rd rank is a reflection of GPU-bound performance in Control, not a deficiency in the processor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile is the dominant component in this combo’s performance for Control. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for the game’s textures and assets at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows it struggles at 4K, particularly at higher settings where the average FPS drops below 40. The GPU’s base clock is 1020 MHz with a boost clock of 1500 MHz, and it has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s, which are modest figures for a modern GPU. The FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, which is a direct indicator of its raw compute power and explains why it performs adequately at lower resolutions but falls short at 4K.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range status. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2365, and in Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 84171. These scores place it in the 83rd percentile, with its nearest rivals being the Quadro M6000 (deltaPct 0%) and the RTX 4070 SUPER (deltaPct 0.1%). This means the RTX 5050 Mobile is essentially on par with older high-end workstation cards but significantly behind modern desktop alternatives. For Control, this translates to a GPU that can handle the game’s physics and particle effects at medium settings, but the data shows that cranking the settings to Ultra at 1440p or 4K will result in sub-60 FPS performance. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the game’s high-resolution textures could exceed the available memory, leading to the observed 29 FPS average. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to maintain high framerates, as evidenced by the 103 FPS average at Low settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in Control?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1080p with Medium settings yields an average of 73 FPS, which is a good balance between visual quality and performance. For higher framerates, 1080p Low achieves 103 FPS average, while 1440p Medium drops to 55 FPS average.

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K?

A: It can run at 4K, but not at high framerates. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 52, which is playable, but at 4K High, it drops to 33 FPS average, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 29 FPS average. The 4K Medium setting shows a min FPS of 32 and an average of 37 FPS, indicating stutter-prone performance.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 43268, which is essentially tied with the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (deltaPct 0%) and the Quadro M6000 24 GB (deltaPct 0%). It is also within 0.9% of the RTX 4090 Mobile, but that rival has a higher average score of 43667.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 Mobile in Control?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 63173, and it ranks in the 93rd percentile, while the GPU ranks in the 83rd. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent drop that is characteristic of GPU-bound performance, not CPU limitations.

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

A: At 1440p Low, the average FPS is 78, while at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 43 FPS average. This is a 35 FPS difference, representing a 45% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the game’s release date affect performance expectations?

A: Control was released on 2019-08-26, making it a older title. The benchmark results indicate that the game is not overly demanding on the CPU, as the 20-core processor is not fully utilized, but it is demanding on the GPU, which is why the RTX 5050 Mobile’s performance is the primary factor in the results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo delivers its best results. With Low settings, the average FPS is 103, which is well above the threshold for competitive play and provides a smooth experience. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 73 FPS, with a min FPS of 62 and a max of 84. This is still a very playable range, suitable for most gamers. High settings at 1080p yield an average of 65 FPS, which is acceptable, but Ultra settings bring the average down to 56 FPS, which may feel less fluid during intense scenes. The 1080p results show that the RTX 5050 Mobile has enough raw power to handle the game at this resolution, with the only caveat being that Ultra settings may cause occasional dips below 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 78 FPS, which is still good, but Medium settings fall to 55 FPS average, with a min of 47 and a max of 63. This indicates that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor, as the increased pixel count demands more from the memory bandwidth and compute units. High settings at 1440p average 49 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, and Ultra settings drop further to 43 FPS average. The data shows that 1440p is playable, but only at Low or Medium settings if you want to maintain framerates above 60 FPS. For those who prefer higher visual fidelity, the 49 FPS at High settings might be acceptable, but it is not ideal.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly constrained. Low settings average 52 FPS, which is the only setting at this resolution that approaches playable framerates. Medium settings average 37 FPS, with a min of 32 and a max of 43, indicating inconsistent performance that could lead to stuttering. High settings average 33 FPS, and Ultra settings average 29 FPS. These numbers are all below the 60 FPS target, and even below the 30 FPS minimum for some users. The 4K results clearly show that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Control, as the GPU lacks the necessary memory bandwidth and compute power to handle the higher resolution effectively. The 8 GB VRAM may also be a limiting factor, as the game’s textures at 4K could exceed the available memory, causing the performance to plummet.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K provides valuable insight into the limiting component of this combo. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 65 at 1080p to 49 at 1440p, and then to 33 at 4K. This represents a 24.6% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 32.7% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 49.2%, meaning the system loses nearly half its performance when moving to the highest resolution. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load at higher resolutions overwhelms the GPU’s capabilities. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache, is not the source of this bottleneck, as its performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at all resolutions.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling is slightly different. The average FPS drops from 103 at 1080p to 78 at 1440p, and then to 52 at 4K. This is a 24.3% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33.3% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The overall drop from 1080p to 4K is 49.5%, which is nearly identical to the High settings drop. This consistency suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor across all settings, as the relative performance loss is similar regardless of the quality preset. The fact that the percentage drops are so close indicates that the game’s rendering workload scales linearly with resolution, and the GPU’s performance is the primary determinant of the framerate.

The data also shows that the min FPS values, where available, reinforce the GPU-bound nature. At 1440p Medium, the min FPS is 47, which is 14.5% lower than the average of 55. At 4K Medium, the min FPS is 32, which is 13.5% lower than the average of 37. These dips suggest that the GPU is struggling to maintain consistent framerates at higher resolutions, likely due to memory bandwidth limitations. The overall resolution scaling pattern points to the RTX 5050 Mobile as the bottleneck, and users who want to play Control at higher resolutions will need to lower settings to achieve acceptable performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It has 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. This is a high-end mobile processor, as evidenced by its 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 63173. In Cinebench R23, it scores 40642 in multi-core and 5737 in single-core, which are strong results. However, in the context of Control, the CPU’s role is minimal, as the game is not heavily threaded and relies more on GPU performance.

The nearestRivals for the CPU include the Intel Core i7-13790F with an avgScore of 63080 and a deltaPct of 0.1%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G with an avgScore of 63331 and a deltaPct of -0.2%. This shows that the Core Ultra 7 265HX is competitive with other high-end processors, but its performance in Control is not a differentiator. The measured FPS data shows that the combo’s performance is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, as the framerates scale with resolution and settings in a way that is independent of CPU capabilities. For example, at 1080p Low, the 103 FPS average is likely near the GPU’s maximum output, and the CPU is not limiting the framerate.

The CPU’s high single-core performance, as seen in the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 578, is sufficient for Control’s game logic and physics, but the game does not leverage the CPU’s multi-core capabilities. The 20 cores are largely unused, as Control was released in 2019 and is optimized for fewer threads. The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly struggling with 29 FPS, the CPU is still able to provide the necessary instructions. The combo’s ranking of 2983 out of 3720 is therefore not due to the CPU, but rather the GPU’s mid-range performance. Users with this CPU can expect that any framerate issues in Control are solely attributable to the RTX 5050 Mobile, not the processor.