Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 lands at rank 39 out of 1636 tested combos in Control. That places this configuration in the top 2.4% of all systems benchmarked for this title, a position that reflects the sheer headroom both components bring to a game that is now several generations old. The ranking is not surprising given the hardware involved, but the data reveals that this combo is not merely fast — it is positioned at a point where the GPU becomes the primary arbiter of performance, and the CPU has ample capacity to feed it.

How This Combo Ranks

The rank of 39 out of 1636 combos is a strong indicator that this pairing is operating near the upper ceiling of what is achievable in Control. There are only 38 other configurations in the entire database that outperform it, which suggests that the combination of the Ultra 7 265K and RTX 4090 is hitting a performance plateau where further gains would require either exotic cooling or silicon lottery wins. The CPU itself sits at the 97th percentile against all processors, and the GPU at the 91st percentile against all graphics cards, so both components are individually elite. When combined, they do not bottleneck each other in any meaningful way at the resolutions tested here; instead, the data shows a system that is balanced enough to let the GPU stretch its legs without the CPU holding it back.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 is the dominant force in this pairing, and its specifications make that clear. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the card delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Control’s textures and effects at any resolution. The boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with 16384 shading units, gives the GPU a theoretical FP32 throughput of 82.58 TFLOPS. In Control, a game that relies heavily on physics-based destruction and particle effects, that raw compute power translates directly into higher frame rates at higher settings. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the card still manages an average of 76.7 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds, and at 1080p Low, it pushes 272.1 FPS. The GPU is clearly the component that scales with resolution and settings, and the data suggests that Control is not overly demanding on VRAM, so the 24 GB capacity is never taxed — but the sheer speed of the memory and the core clock are what drive the results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS deltas across resolutions reveal a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 171.9 to 130.2, a reduction of 24.3%. Stepping up to 4K High further reduces it to 86 FPS, another 33.9% drop from 1440p. This is a clear sign that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU has more than enough headroom to maintain high frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system hits 272.1 FPS, which is likely near the point where the game engine or the CPU’s memory subsystem starts to become the constraint. The data implies that if you want to push beyond 272 FPS, you would need a faster CPU or a lower-resolution target. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the CPU’s 20 cores and 3.9 GHz base clock are not being fully utilized when the GPU is struggling to render at that pixel count.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of how this combo behaves across all settings and resolutions. At 1080p, the range is from 149.9 FPS at Ultra to 272.1 FPS at Low, with Medium at 194.4 FPS and High at 171.9 FPS. The jump from Ultra to Low is 81.5% higher FPS, which is substantial but still keeps every setting well above 144 Hz. At 1440p, the numbers are 116.9 FPS at Ultra, 130.2 FPS at High, 148.3 FPS at Medium, and 209.2 FPS at Low. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is 22.1%, which is less severe than the drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra, which is 34.4%. At 4K, the averages are 76.7 FPS at Ultra, 86 FPS at High, 97.9 FPS at Medium, and 137.9 FPS at Low. The 4K Low result is particularly interesting because it shows that even at the lowest settings, the system can exceed 120 FPS, meaning that competitive players could use 4K with reduced settings without sacrificing smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the ideal settings depend heavily on the target refresh rate. For a 144 Hz monitor, 1440p High is the sweet spot, delivering 130.2 FPS with a comfortable margin above the refresh rate. At 4K, High settings at 86 FPS are suitable for a 60 Hz display, but for 120 Hz panels, the user would need to drop to Medium at 97.9 FPS, which is still below the 120 Hz threshold. For 1080p, every setting exceeds 149.9 FPS, so the choice is purely about visual fidelity versus raw frame rate; Ultra at 171.9 FPS is the best balance for high-refresh 1080p displays. If the goal is maximum frame rate, 1080p Low at 272.1 FPS is the only option that pushes beyond 240 Hz, and 1440p Low at 209.2 FPS also clears 200 FPS. The data indicates that Ultra settings are never worth the FPS penalty unless the display is capped at 60 Hz, as the visual difference between High and Ultra in Control is typically minor compared to the 10-15% FPS cost.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for Control at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system averages 272.1 FPS, which is far beyond any standard display’s refresh rate. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 149.9 FPS average is very high, so the GPU is not fully utilized at this resolution unless the goal is extreme frame rates.

Q: Can this combo maintain 4K 120 FPS in Control?

A: No. The highest 4K average is 137.9 FPS at Low settings, but at Medium it drops to 97.9 FPS, and at High it is 86 FPS. To hit a consistent 120 FPS at 4K, you would need to use Low settings and still fall short by about 15% of the target.

Q: How does the CPU’s 20 cores affect Control’s performance?

A: Control is not a heavily multithreaded title, so the 20 cores are largely underutilized. The CPU’s single-thread performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060, is more relevant, and it is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any resolution tested.

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

A: At 1440p, High averages 130.2 FPS, while Ultra averages 116.9 FPS. That is an 11.4% performance drop for the Ultra preset, which may not be worth it unless the visual improvements are noticeable on your display.

Q: Does the 24 GB VRAM ever become a limiting factor in Control?

A: No. Control is not a VRAM-heavy game, and the 24 GB capacity is far beyond what the game requires. The GPU’s 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is more likely to be a factor in high-resolution texture streaming, but the measured FPS shows no signs of memory-related stutters.

Q: How does this combo compare to the nearest rival CPU pairing?

A: The Ultra 7 265K is 0.2% behind the Core Ultra 7 265KF in average CPU benchmark score, and 0.9% behind the Core i9-14900K. In gaming, this difference is negligible, so the measured FPS in Control would be nearly identical with any of those CPUs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, running at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s provide the memory subsystem with enough throughput to feed the RTX 4090 without creating a bottleneck. In Control, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain high minimum frame rates and ensure that the GPU is never starved of draw calls. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 272.1 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for this game engine. At higher resolutions, the CPU load decreases relative to the GPU, and the measured FPS scales accordingly. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 50009 and single-core score of 7060 indicate that the CPU is exceptionally fast, but Control does not fully utilize its multi-threaded capabilities. Instead, the single-core performance is what matters most, and the 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures that the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s frame generation at any settings. The data suggests that this CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, and its 97th percentile ranking against all CPUs confirms that it is among the best available for gaming workloads.