Control

Control is an Action Adventure title that stresses both the CPU and GPU, and the data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, yet reveals a strong CPU capable of pushing very high frame rates at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate a clear performance hierarchy where the graphical settings and resolution dictate the experience, with the combo ranking in the 2307th position out of 2888 tested combinations for this specific game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance drop as resolution increases, which is typical for a game like Control that features complex visual effects and physics. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 101 FPS, but this falls to 76 FPS at 1440p and further to 51 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern shows that the Intel Arc B570 is the primary limiting factor, as the demand on the GPU increases with pixel count, while the CPU has ample headroom to process the game's logic at these frame rates.

When moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 63 FPS to 48 FPS, a decrease of 15 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K at the same settings is even more punishing, with the average falling from 48 FPS to 32 FPS. This 16 FPS drop between 1440p and 4K, compared to the 15 FPS drop between 1080p and 1440p, indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated as resolution scales, and the performance curve is steepening. The data suggests that at 4K, the Arc B570 is working near its limits, as even the lowest settings only yield 51 FPS.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is substantial, with the average frame rate falling from 51 FPS to 28 FPS. This 23 FPS gap is the largest across all tested resolutions, highlighting how the combination of high resolution and demanding settings severely taxes the GPU. In contrast, at 1080p, the same settings change results in a larger absolute drop of 46 FPS (from 101 to 55), but the starting point is much higher, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution and the GPU is still the dominant factor. The scaling data strongly points to the GPU as the limiting component, as the CPU's performance is more than sufficient to handle the game's requirements even at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 100 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position in the global rankings for Control is notably low, sitting at rank 2307 out of 2888 tested combinations. This places the system in the bottom 20 percent of all tested hardware pairings for this game, which is a clear indicator that this configuration is not optimized for maximum performance in Control. The data suggests that while the individual components may be capable, the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Intel Arc B570 does not yield competitive results compared to other systems in the database.

This poor ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU's performance ceiling, as the CPU's benchmark scores are exceptionally high. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus achieves an average benchmark score of 84003, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, which indicates it is a top-tier processor. However, the Intel Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 places it in only the 65th percentile of all GPUs, showing a significant imbalance in the system's capabilities. The combo's low rank in Control is a direct consequence of this GPU limitation, as the game's frame rates are heavily dependent on graphics processing power.

When compared to other potential pairings, the data suggests that this CPU is vastly overqualified for the GPU. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has a similar average score of 83807 (a 0.2 percent difference), and the AMD EPYC 4584PX, which scores 83090 (1.1 percent higher). These comparisons show that the 290K Plus is a high-performance processor, but its potential is wasted when paired with a GPU that ranks in the 65th percentile. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the system fails to achieve high frame rates at higher resolutions, which is a clear sign of a GPU bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Control with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1080p is the most viable resolution, as it is the only one where the system consistently achieves playable frame rates across all settings. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 63, and with Low settings, it reaches 101 FPS, whereas at 1440p, the average FPS drops below 60 on all settings.

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

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20534 (a 0.1 percent difference). It is also closely matched with the Intel Arc A750, which scores 20582, showing only a 0.1 percent difference.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for this game at 4K resolution?

A: No, the data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The CPU's high benchmark scores, including a 96th percentile ranking, suggest it has ample processing power. The measured FPS at 4K, which ranges from 28 to 51 FPS depending on settings, is far below what the CPU can likely support, pointing to the GPU as the constraint.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The measured FPS shows a significant difference, with Low settings achieving an average of 101 FPS and Ultra settings achieving an average of 55 FPS. This represents a 46 FPS drop, which is a substantial reduction in frame rate when moving to the highest settings.

Q: What are the maximum and minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only settings with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values are at Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the FPS ranges from 61 to 82, at 1440p Medium, it ranges from 46 to 62, and at 4K Medium, it ranges from 31 to 42. Other settings only have average FPS data available.

Q: How does the combo's ranking in Control reflect its overall performance?

A: The combo ranks 2307 out of 2888 tested combinations for Control, which is in the bottom 20 percent of all systems. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's performance, as the CPU's individual benchmark scores are in the top 4 percent of all processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system performs admirably, with an average of 101 FPS at Low settings. This drops to 71 FPS at Medium, 63 FPS at High, and 55 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting also shows a minimum FPS of 61 and a maximum of 82, indicating some frame time variance, but the average remains solid for most gaming scenarios.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance takes a noticeable hit. The average FPS at Low settings is 76, which is still respectable, but this falls to 54 FPS at Medium, 48 FPS at High, and 42 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting at this resolution shows a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, suggesting that the system can struggle to maintain a smooth experience during intense scenes. At 1440p, only the Low setting provides an average above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the system's limitations become apparent. The average FPS at Low settings is 51, which is barely playable, but this drops to 36 FPS at Medium, 32 FPS at High, and 28 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting at 4K shows a minimum FPS of 31 and a maximum of 42, indicating that the system is heavily stressed and frame rates can dip to very low levels. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo, as even the lowest settings fail to maintain a consistent 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the primary determinant of performance in Control, as the measured FPS data shows a clear correlation between graphical settings and frame rates. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the demands on the memory subsystem increase, and the data shows that the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates.

The GPU's clock speeds are set at a base of 2500 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz, which are identical, indicating a fixed clock rate. The memory operates at 2375 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed. These clocks, combined with the 2304 shading units and 144 texture mapping units, contribute to the GPU's overall performance. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS, which is a measure of its raw compute power, but the real-world gaming performance is more accurately reflected in the measured FPS data.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide additional context. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 14195 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649. These scores place the GPU in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, has a nearly identical average benchmark score, showing that the Arc B570 is competitive with that mobile GPU. However, for a demanding game like Control, this level of performance is insufficient for high-resolution or high-settings gameplay, as the data confirms.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a high-end processor that is not the limiting factor in this game, as indicated by its benchmark scores and the FPS data. The CPU has 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This high core count and clock speed provide substantial processing power for game logic, physics, and other CPU-intensive tasks. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency and improve performance.

The CPU's benchmark scores are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. It also achieves a Passmark multithread score of 60860 and a single-thread score of 4823. These scores place the CPU in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, showing that it is a top-tier processor for both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The CPU's average benchmark score of 84003 is only 0.2 percent higher than its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, indicating that it is at the very top of the performance stack.

In Control, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data and handle the game's simulation logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the system can achieve 101 FPS at Low settings, which suggests the CPU is capable of supporting high frame rates. The fact that the FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant, confirms that the CPU is not a bottleneck. The CPU's high performance ensures that it will not limit the system in this game, even with its powerful 24-core configuration, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions.