Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, is a demanding title that stresses both the CPU and GPU, but the data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B390 reveals a system that is heavily constrained by its graphics solution. The benchmark results indicate a combination that struggles to maintain playable framerates at higher resolutions, with the Arc B390 acting as the definitive bottleneck. The overall combo rank of 3311 out of 3720 tested combinations places this pairing in the lower 11th percentile of all tested systems, a position that aligns with the GPU's low standing among its peers.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and consistent decline as resolution increases, confirming that the graphics processor is the limiting component in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 65 FPS, which is the highest performance point recorded. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 50 FPS, a 23.1% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 33 FPS, representing a 49.2% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated by pixel count, with the CPU having ample headroom to spare.

The trend persists across all quality presets. At High settings, the average framerate goes from 41 FPS at 1080p to 31 FPS at 1440p (a 24.4% drop) and then to 21 FPS at 4K (a 48.8% drop from 1080p). For the Medium preset, the figures are 46 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic fall, starting at 36 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 27 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 18 FPS at 4K. The consistent percentage drops across presets indicate that the resolution scaling is independent of the graphical workload, a clear sign that the rendering pipeline is hitting a hard limit in the GPU's fill rate or shader throughput.

The data suggests that the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is not the factor limiting performance. The 24-core processor, with its 5.50 GHz boost clock, is more than capable of feeding frames to the Arc B390 at 1080p and 1440p. However, at 4K, the gap between the Low (33 FPS) and High (21 FPS) presets narrows to 12 FPS, illustrating that even the lowest settings cannot overcome the GPU's architectural limitations at that resolution. The framerate loss from 1080p to 4K is a staggering 49.2% at Low and 48.8% at High, which is substantial and points directly at the graphics card's inability to process the increased pixel load efficiently.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware, this combination ranks 3311 out of 3720 combos, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. This ranking is a direct consequence of the graphics card's performance tier, which severely limits the overall gaming potential of the platform. The data shows that while the CPU is a high-end part, it is effectively wasted in this configuration for gaming purposes, as the GPU cannot translate the processor's capabilities into higher framerates.

The combo ranking is not an indictment of the CPU, but rather a reflection of the GPU's standing. The Intel Arc B390, with a percentile rank of 9 among all GPUs, is positioned near the entry-level segment. Its average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it in direct competition with legacy parts like the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463, and the GeForce GT 710, which scores 1443. The delta percentages show the B390 is only 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX and 2.7% faster than the GT 710. This context is crucial; the combo's rank is expected given the GPU's performance class.

The disparity between the CPU's potential and the GPU's delivery is stark. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus scores in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785, placing it in the same league as server-class processors like the AMD EPYC 4564P, which has an average score of 95183. Yet, when paired with the Arc B390, the system’s gaming performance is relegated to the bottom tier. The data implies that any modern dedicated GPU would substantially improve this combo's rank, but as measured, the system is profoundly unbalanced.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the clear performance bottleneck in this system. Its specifications paint a picture of a low-power integrated graphics solution rather than a discrete gaming card. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. While the clock speed is respectable, the raw compute resources are limited, resulting in a FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS. This is a modest amount of compute power for a modern game like Control, which features complex physics and particle effects.

The most limiting factor is the memory configuration. The Arc B390 uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR5 system memory rather than having its own dedicated VRAM. This architecture shares bandwidth with the CPU, and the "System Dependent" bandwidth results in a significant performance penalty in memory-intensive scenarios. For a game like Control, which has detailed textures and dynamic environments, this shared memory setup is a severe handicap, likely causing stuttering and low framerates even when the core compute units are not fully utilized.

The GPU's performance is quantified by its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which is an extremely low result. This score places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all over a decade old. The B390 is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 1.5% faster than the GeForce 800M, but 1.9% slower than the AMD EPYC 9175F's integrated solution. These deltas are negligible, indicating that the Arc B390 is not a viable option for smooth gaming at any resolution above 720p, and even at 1080p, it only manages playable framerates on the lowest settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable configuration for a consistently playable experience is 1080p with Low settings. This preset achieves an average of 65 FPS, which is the only scenario where the system approaches a smooth 60 FPS threshold. The data shows that at 1080p Medium, the average drops to 46 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action sequences. The High preset at 1080p yields 41 FPS, and Ultra drops to 36 FPS, both of which are suboptimal for a game that requires precise timing and reaction.

At 1440p, the situation becomes untenable. Even on Low settings, the average framerate is 50 FPS, which is acceptable for slower games but may feel inconsistent in Control's combat encounters. The Medium preset at 1440p produces an average of 35 FPS, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience, and High (31 FPS) and Ultra (27 FPS) are simply too slow. The 4K resolution is not playable under any settings, with the highest average being 33 FPS on Low, and the Ultra preset bottoming out at 18 FPS.

The measured minimum FPS data for the Medium preset provides further insight into stability. At 1080p, the minimum is 40 FPS, and at 1440p, it is 30 FPS, while at 4K, it drops to 20 FPS. These minimums indicate that even the average framerates are not representative of the worst-case stutters. For a stable experience, the data suggests that users should prioritize the 1080p Low preset and accept the visual compromises. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 19 FPS (from 65 to 46), which is a significant loss for marginal visual gains.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings is the only configuration that delivers a high average framerate of 65 FPS. All other settings at this resolution fall below 46 FPS, and higher resolutions yield sub-50 FPS averages.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: No. The highest average framerate at 3840x2160 is 33 FPS on Low settings, and it drops to 18 FPS on Ultra. These results are far below the threshold for a smooth gaming experience.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its direct rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM. It also has a 2.5% advantage over the GeForce GT 710.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus the reason for the low framerates?

A: No. The CPU is in the 96th percentile of all processors, but the GPU is in the 9th percentile. The 4096x2160 to 1920x1080 framerate drops indicate a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU limitation.

Q: What is the average framerate difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: The average framerate at 1080p High is 41 FPS, while at 4K High it is 21 FPS. This represents a 48.8% performance drop when moving from the lower to the higher resolution.

Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combo for Control?

A: This combination ranks 3311 out of 3720 tested combos for the game, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested in this database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a high-end desktop processor that is completely underutilized in this pairing. It features 24 cores and 24 threads, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's benchmark results are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and a single-core score of 2439. These scores place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, making it a top-tier part for productivity and multi-threaded workloads.

However, in the context of Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The data shows that this is not a bottleneck. The framerate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-limited scenario, as the percentage drops are nearly identical across all presets. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the framerate would remain similar regardless of resolution. Instead, the 49.2% drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings proves that the CPU is capable of delivering frames much faster than the GPU can render them.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s and support for DDR5 memory are also not contributing to the low performance. The shared memory architecture of the GPU is the primary suspect, as it must compete with the CPU for the same memory bandwidth. The CPU's high scores in Passmark tests, such as 804322 in data compression and 68574 in multithread, indicate that it has sufficient computational headroom. The data suggests that swapping the Arc B390 for a discrete GPU with dedicated VRAM would unlock the full potential of this processor in gaming scenarios, but as measured, the CPU's capabilities are largely irrelevant to the final framerate output in Control.