Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a solid 1440p and 1080p experience in Control, though 4K Ultra remains out of reach for smooth gameplay. This combo ranks in the 49th percentile among 2888 tested configurations, indicating a balanced but not top-tier pairing for this title. The data shows a system that can handle High settings at 1440p with room to spare, while 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium for acceptable frame rates.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Control?*

A: The sweet spot is 2560x1440. At High settings, the combo achieves 67 FPS average, and at Low settings it reaches 107 FPS. 1080p is even smoother (89 FPS High, 141 FPS Low), but 4K dips to 46 FPS at High and only 40 FPS at Ultra, which is below the ideal 60 FPS threshold.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Control?*

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 72 FPS on Low, 51 FPS on Medium, 46 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. For a steady experience, Low or Medium settings are required, as High and Ultra fall below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93785, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the Intel Xeon 6520P, scores 93786 (a 0% delta), while the AMD EPYC 4564P scores 95183, which is 1.5% higher.

Q: What is the GPU's closest competitor in terms of overall benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 27425, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile scores 27435 (a 0% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 27565, which is 0.5% higher.

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

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU's 24 cores and 24 threads can push frame rates to 141 FPS on Low settings, but at 4K, the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth cap performance at 72 FPS on Low, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: For 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 76 FPS average (with a minimum of 65 FPS) offers the best balance, as it is noticeably smoother than High's 67 FPS while still looking significantly better than Low. At 1080p, High at 89 FPS is the recommended choice.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and it has a 125 W TDP. The CPU features a substantial cache hierarchy: 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration is designed for high multi-threaded throughput, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and single-core score of 2439.

In Control, this CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The game's action-adventure genre relies on complex environmental interactions and particle effects, which the 24 cores handle with ease. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 5068 and multi-thread score of 68574 indicate it can handle both the single-threaded game engine logic and any background tasks without bottlenecking the GPU. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 141 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target, suggesting the CPU is not a limiting factor at mainstream resolutions.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785, puts it in elite company. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6520P, scores 93786, a 0% difference, meaning they are effectively tied in overall CPU performance. The AMD EPYC 4564P is 1.5% faster, and the AMD EPYC 9175F is 1.9% faster, but these are server-class chips with different power envelopes. For gaming, the 270K Plus's high boost clock and large L3 cache provide the responsiveness needed for Control's fast-paced combat and telekinetic physics.

Memory bandwidth is rated at 115.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface, which is sufficient for feeding the 24 cores. The CPU also includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units, though the discrete RX 6700 XT handles all rendering in this test. The processor supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes, ensuring the GPU has ample bandwidth for data transfer. Overall, the CPU's performance is more than adequate for this game, as the frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p are primarily driven by GPU workload rather than CPU limitations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The GPU has a base clock of 2321 MHz, a game clock of 2424 MHz, and a boost clock of 2581 MHz. Memory is 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's pixel rate is 165.2 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 413.0 GTexel/s, with an FP32 performance of 13.21 TFLOPS.

In Control, the GPU's role is paramount, as the game features extensive use of destructible environments, physics-based objects, and complex lighting. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures at all tested settings, as the card does not show signs of memory-related stuttering in the measured data. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27425, places it in the mid-to-upper range. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile, scores 27435 (0% delta), while the RTX 3090 is 0.5% faster and the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is 1.1% slower.

The GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. At 1920x1080, the card delivers 141 FPS on Low, 100 FPS on Medium, 89 FPS on High, and 77 FPS on Ultra. At 2560x1440, these numbers drop to 107 FPS, 76 FPS, 67 FPS, and 59 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, the frame rates fall to 72 FPS, 51 FPS, 46 FPS, and 40 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rate drops are more severe than what would be expected from CPU limitations alone.

The RX 6700 XT's 40 ray tracing cores are present, but the measured FPS data does not include ray tracing settings, so their impact on Control's performance is not directly quantified here. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, all of which are relevant for modern game compatibility. The GPU's TDP is 230 W, requiring a 550 W suggested PSU, and it uses a dual-slot design with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors. The card is 267 mm long, fitting most mid-tower cases. Overall, the GPU provides a capable 1080p and 1440p experience, with 4K playable only on lower presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Control covers three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 141 FPS, followed by Medium at 100 FPS, High at 89 FPS, and Ultra at 77 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 115 FPS, indicating a consistent experience with minimal frame time spikes.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 107 FPS average, Medium achieves 76 FPS (with a minimum of 65 FPS and maximum of 87 FPS), High achieves 67 FPS, and Ultra achieves 59 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 8 FPS, which is a 12% performance penalty for the extra visual fidelity. The Medium preset's minimum of 65 FPS stays above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the safest choice for consistent gameplay at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 72 FPS average, which is the only 4K setting that breaks the 60 FPS barrier. Medium drops to 51 FPS (with a minimum of 44 FPS and maximum of 59 FPS), High drops to 46 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS is 47% lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 77 FPS, highlighting the GPU's struggle with the increased pixel count. The data shows that 4K gaming is possible but requires the Low preset for smooth performance, with Medium being borderline acceptable at 51 FPS average.

Comparing resolutions, the drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings costs 22 FPS (from 89 to 67 FPS), a 25% reduction. The drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings costs an additional 21 FPS (from 67 to 46 FPS), a 31% reduction. This scaling is typical for a GPU with 384.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, as the memory subsystem becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The Low preset at 4K still manages 72 FPS, which is only 4 FPS less than the High preset at 1440p, suggesting that settings adjustments can compensate for resolution increases more effectively than the other way around.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 1484 out of 2888 tested combinations in Control. This places it in the 49th percentile, meaning roughly half of all tested combos perform better and half perform worse. The rank reflects a balanced pairing where the CPU's high performance (96th percentile) is offset by the GPU's mid-range standing (72nd percentile), resulting in an overall mid-pack result for this specific game.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are all server-class processors: the Intel Xeon 6520P (93786, 0% delta), AMD EPYC 4564P (95183, -1.5% delta), and AMD EPYC 9175F (95615, -1.9% delta). These are not typical gaming CPUs, but their scores indicate that the 270K Plus is in the same performance tier as high-end enterprise silicon. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (27435, 0% delta), RTX 3090 (27565, -0.5% delta), and RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell (27135, 1.1% delta). The RTX 3090 being only 0.5% faster in average benchmark score is notable, as it is a much larger card, but the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB VRAM and RDNA 2 architecture deliver competitive performance in this title.

The combo's rank of 1484 suggests that while individual components are strong, the pairing does not unlock top-tier performance in Control. This is likely due to the GPU being the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU could easily push higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful GPU. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 141 FPS, which is CPU-bound territory, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU drops to 40 FPS, showing a 72% reduction in performance from the best case. The mid-pack rank is consistent with the GPU's 72nd percentile standing, indicating that the GPU's performance is the primary determinant of this combo's position.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo in Control, the recommended preset depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 89 FPS average is the clear choice, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (100 FPS) at a cost of only 11 FPS, which is imperceptible on most monitors. The Ultra preset at 77 FPS is also viable, but the 12 FPS drop from High may not justify the marginal visual improvements.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 76 FPS average (with a minimum of 65 FPS) is the best balance of quality and performance. It maintains a minimum frame rate above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay during intense combat sequences. The High preset at 67 FPS is playable but risks dips below 60 FPS, while the Low preset at 107 FPS sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors. The Ultra preset at 59 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, making it a borderline choice for those who prioritize visual quality over consistency.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 72 FPS average is the only recommended option for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 51 FPS (with a minimum of 44 FPS) will experience noticeable stutter during heavy action, and High (46 FPS) and Ultra (40 FPS) are not suitable for a responsive experience. For 4K, players should either accept the Low preset's reduced detail or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better balance.

Overall, the data shows that this combo is best used at 1440p with Medium or High settings, or at 1080p with High or Ultra settings. The 4K experience is limited to Low settings for 60 FPS gameplay, which undermines the purpose of playing at that resolution. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the most consistent experience across all measured metrics, with a minimum FPS of 65 and an average of 76, making it the recommended starting point for most players.