Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title, and the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows a configuration that scales predictably with resolution. The data indicates a system where the graphics card is the primary constraint, particularly as pixel count increases, but the processor’s headroom ensures that lower resolutions translate directly into higher frame rates. This combination lands in the 1237th position out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 94 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that average to 71 FPS, a reduction of 23 frames, and then to 48 FPS at 4K, another 23-frame drop. This linear decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling almost perfectly with the increase in pixel count, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario.

The trend holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 149 FPS at 1080p to 113 FPS at 1440p and finally to 76 FPS at 4K. The consistent ~36 FPS delta between 1080p and 4K across both Low and High presets suggests that the RTX 5060's compute and memory subsystems are being saturated in a uniform way, regardless of the visual complexity. This is a classic sign that the GPU is the limiting component; the CPU is not introducing a bottleneck that would cause the scaling to flatten out at higher resolutions.

The most telling data point for the limiting component is the difference between the Medium and Ultra presets at 4K. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS, while Ultra averages 42 FPS. That 12 FPS penalty for the highest preset is proportionally larger than the penalty seen at 1080p, where Medium averages 106 FPS and Ultra averages 82 FPS (a 24 FPS difference). While the absolute drop is larger at 1080p, the percentage drop is steeper at 4K, indicating that the GPU is running out of raw throughput and memory bandwidth as the resolution and settings both increase. The 4K results are firmly in the territory where visual fidelity settings have a magnified impact on performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The card’s boost clock is rated at 2497 MHz. These specifications directly explain the performance ceiling observed in the measured FPS. The 8 GB frame buffer is a critical factor; at 4K resolution, the high memory pressure is likely causing the GPU to work at its limit, which is reflected in the sub-60 FPS averages on the High and Ultra presets.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 20891 and its 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs position it as a mid-range performer. When compared to its nearest rivals, the data shows it is very closely matched with the AMD Radeon 860M (deltaPct of -0.3), the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (deltaPct of -0.3), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (deltaPct of -0.8). It is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, with a deltaPct of 1.2. These rivals’ scores are all within a narrow band of the RTX 5060’s average benchmark score of 26331, confirming that this GPU is not a class leader but is competitive within its immediate segment.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3628 provides a synthetic measure of its DirectX 12 capabilities. In Control, this translates to the ability to handle the game's physics and particle effects, but the 48 ROPS and 120 TMUs are the hardware units that ultimately dictate pixel fill rate and texture filtering. The measured results show that at 1080p, the card can push well over 100 FPS on most presets, but the 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS demonstrates that the architecture is stretched thin when asked to render the game’s complex environments at maximum detail and resolution. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS is the theoretical compute ceiling, and the game’s engine appears to be efficiently utilizing this resource, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from Low to High settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and single-core score of 7303 demonstrate substantial processing power. In the context of Control, a game that is generally not CPU-intensive, this processor provides a massive amount of headroom. The measured FPS data confirms this; the fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any tested setting.

The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 4823 and multi-thread score of 60860 place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, with a deltaPct of 0.2, and the AMD EPYC 4584PX, with a deltaPct of 1.1. The Ultra 9 290K Plus is slightly ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135 (deltaPct of 1.2) and behind the AMD EPYC 7F72 (deltaPct of -1.3). These comparisons show that while the CPU is a top-tier part, its performance deltas against the closest competitors are minor, reinforcing that the gaming performance of this combo is almost entirely dependent on the GPU.

The high boost clock of 5.80 GHz is the key attribute for gaming, as Control’s game logic and draw call processing benefit from high single-core throughput. With 36 MB of shared L3 cache, the processor can keep frequently accessed data close at hand, reducing latency. However, the benchmark results indicate that even at 1080p Low settings, where the CPU load is at its highest relative to the GPU, the system still achieves 149 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than the RTX 5060 can render, making the graphics card the definitive performance limiter in this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting the highest visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1080p yields an average of 82 FPS, which is playable, but the data shows that the High preset at 1080p provides a better balance, with an average of 94 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 12 FPS, which may not be worth the marginal visual improvements granted by the highest settings. At 1440p, the High preset is the most sensible choice for a smooth experience, averaging 71 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 62 FPS.

The Medium preset emerges as the best overall experience for higher resolutions. At 1440p, it averages 80 FPS, a significant improvement over the High preset’s 71 FPS, and it provides a solid foundation for a high-refresh-rate monitor. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option for maintaining reasonable fluidity, averaging 54 FPS. The Low preset at 4K averages 76 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too severe for a modern title. The measured data suggests that the "sweet spot" for this combo is the Medium preset, as it offers the most consistent frame pacing relative to the other settings, with the 1440p Medium result of 80 FPS being the best balance of fidelity and performance across all tested configurations.

The High preset is also a strong contender for 1080p and 1440p gaming. It provides a substantial increase in visual quality over Medium, with only a moderate performance penalty. However, the Ultra preset is not recommended for 4K, as the 42 FPS average falls below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience. The data clearly indicates that the RTX 5060 is best utilized with a High or Medium preset, reserving Ultra for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate and are willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination holds a rank of 1237 out of 2888 tested combos in Control. This places it in the 57th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is a solid mid-pack performer. This ranking is a direct result of the GPU's mid-range standing, as the CPU is a top-tier component that is unlikely to be the limiting factor in any gaming scenario.

The high CPU percentile (96th) and the GPU’s 72nd percentile highlight a performance imbalance in this pairing. The system is effectively "GPU-limited" in Control, meaning the processor is capable of much more than the graphics card can deliver. This is not necessarily a negative, as it ensures that the GPU is always running at maximum utilization, but it does mean that the combo’s overall ranking is capped by the RTX 5060’s capabilities. The nearest rival GPUs, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, show that the graphics card is performing as expected, with a deltaPct of 1.2 indicating it is slightly faster than that competitor.

The rank of 1237 is not a reflection of poor performance, but rather a consequence of the vast number of high-end combinations in the database. This combo will handle Control well at 1080p and 1440p, but it will struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum settings. The data suggests that this is a well-balanced system for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the CPU’s power ensures that the GPU is fully utilized to produce the highest possible frame rates for its class.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following figures are the exact measured averages from the database. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 149 FPS on Low settings, 106 FPS on Medium, 94 FPS on High, and 82 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution also recorded a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS, showing a frame time variance of 32 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 113 FPS on Low, 80 FPS on Medium, 71 FPS on High, and 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p recorded a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS, a variance of 24 FPS. This tighter frame window compared to 1080p suggests that the GPU is working more consistently under load.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 76 FPS on Low, 54 FPS on Medium, 48 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K recorded a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Low preset maintains an average above 60 FPS, highlighting the significant strain that 4K resolution places on the RTX 5060. The 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS represents the lowest performance point in the dataset, while the 1080p Low result of 149 FPS represents the peak.