Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a robust, high-refresh-rate experience in Control, though the data reveals a clear ceiling at 4K Ultra settings. This combination places in the 576th spot out of 1,636 tested combos, indicating a strong mid-to-upper tier position. The benchmark results show a system that comfortably handles 1080p and 1440p gaming with high frame rates, while 4K demands more careful settings adjustments to maintain smoothness.

FAQ

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination achieves an average of 111.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings. This indicates a very playable experience, well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 48.9 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target, suggesting that Ultra settings at 4K will require a reduction in graphical fidelity for a consistently smooth experience.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low?

A: The frame rate drops from 174.3 FPS at 1080p Low to 90.5 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a significant reduction of 83.8 FPS, but the 4K result remains highly playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests a strong GPU influence. For instance, at 1440p High, the system achieves 85 FPS, while at 4K High, it drops to 59.2 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT?

A: The launch MSRP is 499 USD. This is a factual data point for the GPU's original market positioning.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265K has an average benchmark score of 79,102, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, which scores 79,240. The performance difference is marginal.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the central component for rendering Control's visuals. It is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture and features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This memory configuration is critical for handling the game's high-resolution textures and complex scenes at higher settings.

The GPU's clock speeds are a key factor in its performance. It has a base clock of 1295 MHz and a boost clock of 2430 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz. These clocks, combined with 3,840 shading units, allow the card to process the game's rendering workload efficiently. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings. For example, at 1440p, the average FPS ranges from 130.3 at Low settings to 69.8 at Ultra, demonstrating the GPU's capacity to handle a wide range of visual demands.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is a significant asset for Control, a game known for its physics-based destruction and detailed environments. The data suggests that with this VRAM, the system avoids memory-related stutters, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across different settings at the same resolution. The GPU's raw compute power, measured at 37.32 TFLOPS FP32, is sufficient to drive high frame rates, but the 4K Ultra result of 48.9 FPS indicates that the most demanding settings push the GPU to its limits.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Control, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination ranks 576th out of 1,636. This places it in the 65th percentile of all tested combos, signifying a solidly above-average performance tier. While not at the very top, this rank reflects a system that is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at mainstream resolutions.

The ranking is a holistic measure of the combo's overall capability. The CPU's high average benchmark score of 79,102, which places it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, contributes significantly to this rank. The GPU, with a percentile rank of 76 among all GPUs, is also a strong performer, but the CPU's exceptional standing helps boost the combo's overall position. This indicates that the system is well-balanced, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the GPU to operate effectively.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals show the performance is very tightly clustered. For instance, the Core Ultra 7 265KF has an average score just 0.2% higher. This means that in a CPU-bound scenario, the performance difference would be negligible, further emphasizing that the GPU is the primary driver of the frame rates seen in Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the combo's performance across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers excellent frame rates. With Low settings, it achieves an average of 174.3 FPS, which drops to 125.4 FPS at Medium and 111.3 FPS at High. At Ultra settings, the average is 97.1 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. The average FPS at Low settings is 130.3, at Medium it is 96.1, and at High it is 85. At Ultra settings, the average drops to 69.8 FPS, which is still playable for most users. This resolution represents a sweet spot for the combo, offering a good balance between visual fidelity and frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the demands on the GPU become more severe. The system achieves 90.5 FPS at Low settings, 65.9 FPS at Medium, and 59.2 FPS at High. The Ultra setting is the most demanding, yielding an average of 48.9 FPS. This data shows a clear performance hierarchy, with the system being most capable at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires a trade-off between settings and frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights into the system's bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 111.3 at 1080p to 85 at 1440p, a decrease of 23.6%. When moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 85 to 59.2, a further decrease of 30.4%. This pattern shows a consistent decline as resolution increases.

This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, provides more than enough processing power to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. However, as the pixel count increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows, and its performance becomes the deciding factor for the final frame rate.

The data at Low settings further confirms this. At 1080p Low, the system hits 174.3 FPS, which drops to 130.3 at 1440p and 90.5 at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K is around 48%, showing that even at the lowest settings, the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed by the higher resolution. The system's performance is therefore tightly coupled to the GPU's capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a high-end desktop processor with 20 cores and 20 threads, based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's substantial multi-threaded performance is evident in its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 50,009 and its Passmark multithread score of 58,838.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics calculations, and draw calls. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this combination. For example, the frame rate difference between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings is more pronounced than the difference between 1440p and 4K, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's high single-thread performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,060, is more than sufficient for the game's requirements.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 and its dual-channel memory bus with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s ensure that data can be fed to the GPU efficiently. With a launch MSRP of $394, the CPU is a powerful component that pairs well with the RX 7800 XT, ensuring that the GPU is the primary driver of the performance seen in the benchmark results. The CPU's high percentile rank of 97 among all CPUs confirms its top-tier status, making it an ideal partner for a capable mid-to-high-end GPU like the RX 7800 XT.