Control

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Control with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX show a clear resolution scaling pattern that points directly at the GPU as the dominant performance limiter. At 1080p Low, the system produces 225 FPS average; moving to 1440p Low drops that to 170 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls further to 115 FPS. This is a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is a substantial scaling curve that indicates the rendering pipeline is being stressed by pixel count rather than CPU throughput.

The pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. At Ultra quality, the average frame rate goes from 123 FPS at 1080p to 93 FPS at 1440p and then to 63 FPS at 4K. That represents a 49% drop from 1080p to 4K on Ultra, nearly identical to the Low setting scaling. The consistency of this scaling across all quality presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — is the key finding here. When frame rates scale proportionally with resolution regardless of settings, it is a textbook signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The RX 7900 XTX is the component doing the heavy lifting, and the data suggests the CPU is not constraining performance at any resolution.

Another telling detail is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (225 FPS) and Ultra (123 FPS) is 102 FPS. At 4K, that same gap narrows to 52 FPS (115 vs 63). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions reinforces the GPU-bound conclusion — as pixel count rises, the GPU's fill-rate and shading capabilities become the bottleneck, and the CPU's ability to feed frames becomes less relevant. The 4K Medium result of 82 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS and maximum of 94 FPS shows that even mid-tier settings at 4K produce playable frame rates, but the scaling curve strongly suggests that users targeting 4K will be entirely reliant on GPU performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K brings 20 cores and 20 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. In the context of Control's measured results, the CPU's role appears to be entirely secondary. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a limiting factor — even at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 225 FPS average, the frame rate is still climbing without any apparent ceiling imposed by the processor.

The CPU's benchmark profile supports this interpretation. In Cinebench R23 multi-core, the 265K scores 35,850 points, and in single-core it scores 2,020 points. These are strong numbers, placing the CPU in the 94th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score include the Intel Core i7-14700KF with a 1% higher average score and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F with a 1.3% higher average score. None of these comparisons suggest a weak processor that would bottleneck a high-end GPU in a game like Control.

The architecture details also matter here. The 265K uses Arrow Lake-S on a 3 nm process, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. For a game like Control, which is primarily GPU-driven in these measurements, the CPU's cache and memory bandwidth are more than sufficient. The PassMark multi-thread score of 58,594 and single-thread score of 4,928 indicate balanced performance that can handle both the physics and AI workloads in Control without becoming a constraint. The fact that frame rates scale so cleanly with resolution — with no sudden plateau at low resolutions — is the strongest evidence that the CPU is not the limiting component in this configuration.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings optimization across resolutions. At 1080p, all presets deliver excellent frame rates: Low produces 225 FPS, Medium 160 FPS, High 142 FPS, and Ultra 123 FPS. Even the most demanding preset at 1080p exceeds 120 FPS, so users at this resolution have complete freedom to choose Ultra settings without sacrificing smoothness. The minimum frame rate recorded at 1080p Medium is 136 FPS, which is still well above typical high-refresh-rate targets.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts slightly. Ultra delivers 93 FPS average, High 107 FPS, Medium 121 FPS, and Low 170 FPS. For users with a 144 Hz monitor, High or Medium settings are the sweet spot — both clear the 100 FPS mark, and Medium's minimum of 103 FPS ensures consistency. Ultra at 1440p is playable at 93 FPS, but the step down to High gains 14 FPS, which is a meaningful improvement for competitive play or fast-paced action sequences.

The 4K results require more careful selection. Ultra drops to 63 FPS average, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. High improves to 72 FPS, and Medium reaches 82 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS. Low runs at 115 FPS. For 4K users, Medium is the best balance — it maintains a minimum above 60 FPS while providing a 19 FPS improvement over Ultra and a 10 FPS improvement over High. The gap between Medium and Low at 4K is 33 FPS, but the visual quality reduction to Low is substantial for a game like Control with its detailed environments and particle effects. Based on the measured rows, Medium at 4K is the optimal preset, while 1440p users can comfortably run High or Medium depending on their refresh rate.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K bottlenecking the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX in Control?

A: No. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, with a 49% drop from 1080p to 4K at both Low and Ultra presets. This uniform scaling indicates the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination in Control?

A: 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. High settings run at 107 FPS average, while Medium runs at 121 FPS with a minimum of 103 FPS. Both are well above 60 FPS and suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: Can this system run Control at 4K at playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but not at maximum settings. Ultra averages 63 FPS, which is marginal. Medium averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS, making it the recommended 4K preset for consistent performance above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when increasing settings from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: The drop from Low (225 FPS) to Ultra (123 FPS) is 102 FPS, representing a 45% reduction. This is entirely GPU-driven, as the CPU has ample headroom at these frame rates.

Q: Does the 20-core configuration of the 265K matter for Control's performance?

A: The data suggests it does not limit performance. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,850 places it in the 94th percentile, and no frame rate plateau is observed even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be most likely to bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this configuration?

A: The only minimum frame rate data available is for Medium settings: 136 FPS at 1080p, 103 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate stable performance without significant frame time spikes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is unequivocally the primary performance driver in this configuration. The measured FPS data shows that resolution changes produce larger frame rate swings than settings changes, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, the GPU's capabilities are showcased most dramatically — Low settings produce 225 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 123 FPS. The RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Control's textures and effects at any resolution tested.

The GPU's clock behavior supports its role as the bottleneck. With a base clock of 1929 MHz, a game clock of 2365 MHz, and a boost clock of 2498 MHz, the RX 7900 XTX scales its frequency to meet rendering demand. The 96 ray tracing cores and 192 ROPs contribute to the GPU's ability to handle Control's physics-based rendering and destructible environments. The 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 compute throughput is the raw muscle behind the frame rates observed, and the data shows this muscle is being fully utilized.

The GPU's benchmark profile is worth noting in context. Its PassMark G3D score of 31,238 puts it in the 64th percentile against all GPUs, which may seem low for a flagship card, but its nearest rivals in aggregate score include the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (1.2% higher) and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (0.4% higher). These comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores that span many workloads, not just gaming. In Control specifically, the measured frame rates show the RX 7900 XTX delivering 4K Ultra performance at 63 FPS, which is a strong result for a demanding title. The 82 FPS at 4K Medium with a minimum of 69 FPS demonstrates that the GPU has enough headroom to maintain playable frame rates even when pushing high pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 225 FPS average
• Medium: 160 FPS average, 136 FPS minimum, 184 FPS maximum
• High: 142 FPS average
• Ultra: 123 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 170 FPS average
• Medium: 121 FPS average, 103 FPS minimum, 139 FPS maximum
• High: 107 FPS average
• Ultra: 93 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 115 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average, 69 FPS minimum, 94 FPS maximum
• High: 72 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

The complete dataset reveals several key trends. First, the step from Low to Medium costs roughly 29% of performance at each resolution: 65 FPS at 1080p, 49 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. The step from Medium to High costs a further 11-13%: 18 FPS at 1080p, 14 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. The step from High to Ultra costs an additional 13-14%: 19 FPS at 1080p, 14 FPS at 1440p, and 9 FPS at 4K. This diminishing returns curve is consistent across resolutions, confirming that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the sole performance constraint.

Second, the minimum FPS data at Medium settings shows that frame pacing remains stable: the 1080p minimum of 136 FPS is 85% of the average, the 1440p minimum of 103 FPS is 85% of the average, and the 4K minimum of 69 FPS is 84% of the average. This consistency indicates no CPU-related stuttering or frame time spikes, further reinforcing the GPU-bound conclusion. The maximum FPS values at Medium settings (184 FPS at 1080p, 139 FPS at 1440p, 94 FPS at 4K) show that the system can burst well above average in less demanding scenes, but the averages are what matter for sustained gameplay.

Third, the overall combination ranks 536th out of 3,720 tested combinations in Control, placing it in the top 14% of all CPU-GPU pairings for this game. Given that the RX 7900 XTX's aggregate GPU percentile is 64th, this strong in-game ranking suggests that the specific pairing with the 265K extracts near-maximal performance from the GPU. The CPU's 94th percentile standing means it is never the weak link, allowing the RX 7900 XTX to operate at its full potential in Control. The result is a system that delivers 4K Medium at 82 FPS, 1440p High at 107 FPS, and 1080p Ultra at 123 FPS — all of which are excellent outcomes for a demanding action-adventure title.