Control

Control pairs the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, and the measured frame rates across three resolutions reveal a system that scales predictably with workload. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p delivers high refresh rate performance, 1440p remains highly playable, and 4K demands careful settings management. This combination sits in the upper tier of tested configurations, ranking 570th out of 1636 combos in this title, placing it comfortably in the top third of all tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 110.4 at 1920x1080 to 87.1 at 2560x1440, then down to 55.4 at 3840x2160. That represents a 21% reduction going from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 36% drop moving from 1440p to 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 101 FPS at 1080p, 71.4 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as resolution rises. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is 75.8 FPS (176.8 vs 101.0), suggesting the CPU has headroom to feed the graphics card. At 4K, that same gap narrows to 39.7 FPS (89.7 vs 50.0), meaning the GPU is saturated and settings changes have less relative impact. The 4K Low result of 89.7 FPS versus the 1080p Ultra result of 101 FPS is telling — even at drastically different quality levels, the resolution penalty nearly cancels out the settings advantage.

For 1440p, the sweet spot appears to be High settings at 87.1 FPS, which stays above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual quality. The 4K resolution is playable at Medium settings with 66.9 FPS, but Ultra at 4K drops to exactly 50 FPS, which may feel stuttery on high refresh rate displays. The data clearly shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring compromises.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for Control at all tested settings, as even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset maintains a playable 50 FPS average. The GPU’s boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz contribute to its 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which handles the game’s physics-heavy combat sequences without dipping below playable thresholds.

The RX 6800 XT ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49982. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, which scores 2.6% lower on average, and the Intel Arc A550M, which scores 0.5% higher. This places the RX 6800 XT in a competitive position, though the deltaPct values are small — within a few percentage points of its closest competitors.

In Control specifically, the GPU’s 72 ray tracing cores and RDNA 2.0 architecture support DirectX 12 Ultimate, which the game can leverage for enhanced effects. The measured results show that at 1080p, the GPU is not the bottleneck — the 176.8 FPS Low setting suggests the CPU and memory subsystem can push frames well beyond what the GPU can render at higher quality settings. However, at 4K, the GPU’s 288.0 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the constraining factor, as evidenced by the 50 FPS ceiling at Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K provides 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture chip features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: it achieves 50009 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7060 in single-core, placing it in the 97th percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (0.2% lower average score), Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.2% lower), and Intel Core i9-14900K (0.9% lower). These close margins indicate that the 265K is essentially on par with the previous generation’s flagship, with the AMD EPYC 7413 scoring 1.2% higher but being a server-class part not directly comparable for gaming.

In Control, the CPU’s role becomes evident at 1080p where frame rates reach 176.8 FPS on Low settings. This high ceiling suggests the 20-core processor can handle the game’s AI and physics calculations without bottlenecking the GPU. The single-thread performance of 7060 in Cinebench R23 is particularly relevant, as Control’s gameplay logic tends to favor stronger per-core performance over raw multi-threaded throughput. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU influence diminishes, with the GPU taking over as the primary performance limiter.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 570th out of 1636 tested combinations in Control. This places it in the 65th percentile of all tested combos, meaning roughly one-third of configurations tested faster in this game. The ranking reflects a balanced system where neither component drastically underperforms relative to the other.

The combo’s position makes sense given the GPU’s 87th percentile ranking versus the CPU’s 97th percentile. The CPU has more headroom than the GPU, so in GPU-bound scenarios like 4K Ultra, the system performs closer to the GPU’s tier. In CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p Low, the system benefits from the CPU’s strong single-thread performance. The 570th rank suggests that while this is a capable gaming system, there are faster combinations available, particularly those pairing higher-end GPUs with similarly strong CPUs.

The deltaPct values for both components show they are competitive within their respective tiers. The CPU trails the Core i9-14900K by only 0.9%, while the GPU trails the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER by 2.6% but leads the CMP 50HX by 1.9%. These small margins mean the combo’s overall rank is more influenced by how Control scales with each component than by raw benchmark averages.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 110.4 FPS, which is sufficient for most displays, while Medium hits 127.5 FPS for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1080p still manages 101 FPS, making it viable for players with 100Hz+ monitors who want maximum quality.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 87.1 FPS is the best balance of quality and performance. Dropping to Medium only gains 6.4 FPS (93.5), while Low jumps to 137.4 FPS but sacrifices too much visual detail for the modest gain. Ultra at 1440p yields 71.4 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 66.9 FPS is the recommended starting point. High drops to 55.4 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration but will feel less responsive during combat. Ultra at 50 FPS is the minimum playable threshold, while Low at 89.7 FPS shows that even at 4K, the system can achieve high frame rates if visual quality is heavily reduced. Players with VRR displays may find the 50-55 FPS range acceptable, but for consistent 60 FPS gameplay, Medium is the highest preset that reliably maintains that target.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K 60 FPS?

A: At 4K Medium settings, the average FPS is 66.9, which exceeds 60 FPS. However, at High settings it drops to 55.4 FPS, so Medium is the highest preset that reliably stays above the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 0.2% lower than the Core Ultra 7 265KF and Core i9-14900KF, 0.9% lower than the Core i9-14900K, and 1.2% lower than the AMD EPYC 7413 in average benchmark scores.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset at 87.1 FPS offers the best combination of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, High hits 110.4 FPS, while 4K requires Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more limiting at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 176.8 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 101 FPS. This large settings gap indicates the CPU has sufficient headroom and the GPU becomes the limiting factor as quality increases.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT rank among GPUs?

A: It ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 49982. It scores 0.5% lower than the Intel Arc A550M, 1.7% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000, and 2.6% higher than the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 Ultra is 71.4. This is playable but leaves less headroom than the High preset at 87.1 FPS, which may be preferable for competitive play.