Control

# Control with Intel Core Ultra 7 265K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060

Control, the 2019 Action Adventure title, shows a fascinating performance profile when paired with Intel's Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060. The measured data reveals a system that scales predictably across resolutions and settings, but with some notable bottlenecks that emerge at higher fidelity levels. This analysis examines the measured FPS rows, the underlying hardware characteristics, and what they imply for both competitive and immersive play.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Control?

A: The top measured average is 150.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 80.5 FPS at the same resolution when Ultra settings are enabled, showing a 46.5% performance cost for maximum fidelity.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest rivals in overall GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5060 scores an average benchmark of 30109, placing it essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097, 0% delta). It also sits within 0.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile and 0.5% of the NVIDIA Tesla M60, indicating a very competitive mid-range position.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Control?

A: This specific combination ranks 779th out of 1636 total tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. This rank reflects the balanced but not top-tier nature of both components.

Q: Does the CPU's benchmark performance exceed its direct rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265K averages 79102 across all CPU benchmarks. It trails the Intel Core i9-14900K by 0.9% (79824) and the AMD EPYC 7413 by 1.2% (80041), but edges out the Core Ultra 7 265KF by 0.2% and matches the i9-14900KF within 0.2%.

Q: What is the largest FPS gap between Low and Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the gap is 33.2 FPS (74.9 Low vs 41.7 Ultra). At 1920x1080, the gap widens to 70.0 FPS (150.5 Low vs 80.5 Ultra), showing that higher resolutions compress the settings-based performance spread.

Q: Is the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Control at 4K?

A: The measured data shows playable but not ideal results at 3840x2160, with 45.7 FPS at High and 41.7 FPS at Ultra. The 8 GB GDDR7 memory, paired with a 128-bit bus delivering 448 GB/s bandwidth, appears to be a limiting factor at this resolution, though the game remains technically playable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 brings a substantial feature set to Control. Its Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process, packs 21,900 million transistors into a 181 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and boosts to 2497 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). This configuration produces 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s.

The 8 GB GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Control, this memory subsystem appears central to performance scaling. The data shows that at 3840x2160, the GPU delivers 74.9 FPS at Low settings but only 45.7 FPS at High — a 38.9% drop. This suggests that higher settings increase memory pressure and texture complexity, which the relatively narrow 128-bit bus struggles to feed. The 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores are present but Control's implementation doesn't heavily leverage ray tracing, so the traditional rasterization pipeline dominates.

The GPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30109, places it in a solid mid-range position. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, matches it almost exactly (0% delta), confirming that the RTX 5060 delivers competitive performance in this class. The 48 ROPs and 120 TMUs suggest decent fill-rate capabilities, which aligns with the observed 119.9 GPixel/s pixel rate.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals distinct scaling patterns across the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the RTX 5060 pushes 150.5 FPS at Low and maintains 94.4 FPS at High. Moving to 2560x1440, these figures drop to 113.8 FPS (Low) and 69.1 FPS (High) — a 24.4% and 26.8% reduction respectively. At 3840x2160, the Low setting still achieves 74.9 FPS, but High falls to 45.7 FPS, a 39.1% drop from 1440p High.

This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as resolution increases. The 1080p to 1440p transition costs roughly 25% performance across all settings, while the 1440p to 4K transition is steeper, averaging around 34% loss. This non-linear degradation suggests that at 4K, the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus begin to bottleneck, particularly at higher settings where texture and geometry demands increase. The Ultra setting at 4K (41.7 FPS) is the only configuration that dips below the 45 FPS threshold, indicating that 4K Ultra is the most demanding scenario this combo faces in Control.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive benchmark database, this pairing of Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 779th out of 1636 tested combinations in Control. This places it in the 47.6th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly half of tested systems outperform it in this specific game. The rank reflects a balanced system where neither component is a standout performer in Control's engine.

The CPU's 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs (average benchmark score 79102) indicates strong overall processing power, while the GPU's 73rd percentile (30109 average) shows more modest graphics capability. This disparity suggests the CPU has headroom that the GPU cannot fully utilize in Control. The nearest CPU rivals — the Core Ultra 7 265KF (-0.2%), Core i9-14900KF (-0.2%), and Core i9-14900K (-0.9%) — all score marginally higher, but the differences are within noise. The combo's mid-pack ranking in Control specifically points to the GPU as the limiting factor, as the CPU is clearly capable of feeding more frames than the RTX 5060 can render at higher settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, built on Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm TSMC process, provides substantial processing resources. Its 20 cores and 20 threads run at a base clock of 3.90 GHz, boosting to 5.50 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3. This configuration powers a single-thread score of 7060 in Cinebench R23 and a multi-core score of 50009, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs.

In Control, the CPU's role is to maintain frame pacing and handle the game's physics and AI systems. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 150.5 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this title. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 41.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR5 support ensure it can quickly feed the GPU, while its dual-channel memory bus and PCIe Gen 5 interface (20 lanes) provide ample data transfer capacity.

The 265K's benchmark scores — including a Passmark multi-thread score of 58838 and single-thread score of 4904 — demonstrate strong overall performance. Its nearest rival, the Core Ultra 7 265KF, scores 79240 on average, just 0.2% higher, confirming that the integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU doesn't meaningfully impact performance in this desktop scenario.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5060 delivers 150.5 FPS at Low, 106.1 FPS at Medium, 94.4 FPS at High, and 80.5 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 44.4 FPS, while Medium to High costs 11.7 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 13.9 FPS. This shows diminishing returns as settings increase, but all 1080p configurations remain above 80 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the scores are 113.8 FPS (Low), 82.1 FPS (Medium), 69.1 FPS (High), and 64.9 FPS (Ultra). The Low to Medium drop is 31.7 FPS, Medium to High costs 13.0 FPS, and High to Ultra costs only 4.2 FPS. This final small gap suggests that Ultra at 1440p is only marginally more demanding than High, making it a viable option for quality-focused players.

At 3840x2160, the performance is 74.9 FPS (Low), 52.5 FPS (Medium), 45.7 FPS (High), and 41.7 FPS (Ultra). The Low to Medium gap is 22.4 FPS, Medium to High costs 6.8 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 4.0 FPS. Only Low settings achieve the 60 FPS target at 4K, while Medium approaches playability at 52.5 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the data strongly supports using Ultra settings, as the 80.5 FPS average remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. Players seeking maximum smoothness can opt for High (94.4 FPS) or Low (150.5 FPS) if competitive play demands higher frame rates.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings provide 64.9 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. High settings (69.1 FPS) offer only a marginal improvement, while Medium (82.1 FPS) sacrifices noticeable fidelity for a 26.5% frame rate boost. Low settings at 113.8 FPS are ideal for esports-style play.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Low settings (74.9 FPS) are the only configuration that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium (52.5 FPS) and High (45.7 FPS) require accepting sub-60 FPS performance. Ultra (41.7 FPS) should be avoided unless visual fidelity takes absolute priority. The data suggests that 4K players should either drop to Low for smooth gameplay or consider reducing to 1440p for a better overall experience, as the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth limit its 4K capabilities in Control.