Control

Control is a demanding action-adventure title from 2019 that pushes both CPU and GPU hard, and this particular pairing of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 produces a fascinating set of benchmark results. The data reveals a system that is exceptionally capable at lower resolutions but begins to show its limits when pixel count climbs, and the relationship between the processor and graphics card shifts dramatically depending on the settings and resolution chosen. The measured FPS values provide a clear picture of where this combo excels, where it struggles, and what users can expect when tweaking the in-game presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about which component is the bottleneck at each step. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits an average of 137 FPS, which drops to 104 FPS at 2560x1440, and then falls to 70 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33% reduction from 1440p to 4K, making the total decline from 1080p to 4K a substantial 49%. This heavy scaling with resolution strongly indicates that as the pixel count increases, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 becomes the limiting factor, as the CPU's workload remains constant while the GPU's pixel-pushing duties expand.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, but the magnitude of the drop varies. With High settings, FPS goes from 87 at 1080p to 66 at 1440p (a 24% drop) and then to 44 at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p, and 49% from 1080p). The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 98 FPS at 1080p, 74 at 1440p, and 50 at 4K. Interestingly, the Ultra preset demonstrates the most dramatic relative decline: from 75 FPS at 1080p, it falls to 57 at 1440p and then to 39 at 4K. The fact that the 4K to 1080p ratio remains near 0.5 for every preset suggests that the GPU's rendering load is scaling almost perfectly with resolution, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario at 4K.

At 1080p, the data suggests the CPU is doing more of the heavy lifting. The jump from Low to Ultra settings only reduces FPS from 137 to 75, which is a 45% decrease. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, this difference would be much larger. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H with its 16 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock is likely able to feed the RTX 5070 enough data to keep it busy at this resolution, but the GPU's performance ceiling becomes apparent as resolution increases. The 4K results, where even Low settings only produce 70 FPS, underscore that the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the game's demands at this high pixel count.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Control?

A: The highest recorded average is 137 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 104 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings, indicating that lowering the preset is the most effective way to maximize FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 66 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS. This represents a 14% performance decrease for the jump from High to Ultra, suggesting that the Ultra preset's extra visual effects come at a noticeable cost.

Q: Is the system capable of 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No, the measured data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves 70 FPS, but the Medium preset averages 50 FPS, and High drops to 44 FPS. No 4K preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold, with the closest being Low at 70 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for the Medium preset. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 42 FPS, at 2560x1440 it is 63 FPS, and at 1920x1080 it is 83 FPS. This indicates that the Medium preset maintains a playable floor even at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score of 44466, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D's 44573 and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX's 44342. This places it in a very tight competitive cluster.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile ranking?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is ranked in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 40377. This places it well above the median but not in the top tier of graphics cards.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of Control, this combination of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 lands at rank 1551 out of 2888 tested combos. This position, which is just past the midway point of the database, is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths. The CPU sits in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 82nd percentile, yet their combined performance in this game places them in the 46th percentile of all combos tested. This discrepancy suggests that Control's specific rendering engine does not scale perfectly with the raw power of these components, or that the game's optimization favors different hardware configurations.

The ranking implies that while this is a capable system for Control, there are 1337 other combos that produce higher frame rates. This could be due to the game's reliance on certain architectural features or the fact that Control is a title from 2019 that may not fully utilize the newer NVIDIA Blackwell 2.0 architecture's capabilities. The data shows that the combo's performance is not limited by the CPU in most scenarios, as the 16-core processor with a 5.10 GHz boost clock is formidable. Instead, the RTX 5070's performance at higher resolutions is the primary factor dragging the combo down the rankings, as its 4K performance is notably weaker than its 1080p performance.

When considering the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average score that is essentially identical (deltaPct of -0.2%), meaning the 388H offers no meaningful advantage in multi-threaded workloads. However, the game's performance is likely more dependent on single-core speed, where the 388H's 2200.5 Cinebench R23 single-core score is strong. The combo's rank also reflects that the 2888 combinations tested include many with more powerful GPUs, which would naturally push this pairing down the list, especially in a game that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the benchmark results show a wide spread of performance depending on the preset. The Low preset delivers a very high average of 137 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or high refresh rate monitors. The Medium preset drops to 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 and a maximum of 112, providing a smooth experience with better visual quality. The High preset averages 87 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS standard, while the Ultra preset brings the average down to 75 FPS. This 1080p data indicates that the RTX 5070 has enough headroom to handle even the most demanding settings at this resolution, with the Ultra preset still delivering a very playable experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. Low settings still produce a very high 104 FPS, allowing for high refresh rate gameplay. Medium settings average 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 85, which is a solid result for 1440p gaming. The High preset yields 66 FPS, which is right at the edge of the 60 FPS target, and the Ultra preset falls to 57 FPS. This shows that at 1440p, users will need to choose between High and Ultra presets depending on whether they prioritize frame rate or visual fidelity, with the High preset offering a more consistent experience.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5070 struggles to maintain high frame rates. The Low preset is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 70 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 and a maximum of 57, which is playable but not optimal for fast-paced action. High settings average 44 FPS, and Ultra settings only manage 39 FPS. The data shows a clear trend where the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing power are insufficient to maintain the frame rates seen at lower resolutions, making 4K gaming a challenge for this combo unless users are willing to significantly lower the preset to Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in determining the combo's performance in Control, particularly at higher resolutions. With 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, it offers a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, which is substantial but not unlimited. At 3840x2160, the game's texture and geometry demands likely exceed what this bandwidth can efficiently feed, resulting in the observed frame rates of 44 FPS on High and 39 FPS on Ultra. The GPU's base clock of 2325 MHz and boost clock of 2512 MHz are high, but they cannot compensate for the sheer volume of pixel data that must be processed at 4K.

The GPU's 6144 shading units and 80 ROPs are responsible for the raw pixel throughput, and the measured pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s is respectable. However, the benchmark results show that this is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The fact that the 4K Low preset only achieves 70 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra preset achieves 75 FPS, is telling. It suggests that the GPU's performance is more heavily impacted by resolution than by the complexity of the visual effects, which indicates that the memory subsystem and the rendering pipeline are the primary bottlenecks at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores support this analysis, with a Passmark G3D score of 29137 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5077. While these numbers are strong, they don't tell the whole story for Control. The game's specific engine may not be fully optimized for the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, which could explain why the combo's rank in-game is lower than what the individual component percentiles would suggest. The 82nd percentile ranking of the GPU indicates it is a high-performing card, but Control's demands at 4K expose its limitations, making it clear that this resolution is not this card's forte.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a mobile processor with 16 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 2.10 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its role in Control is to feed the GPU with frame data and handle the game's physics and AI computations. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution, as the FPS drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p, the CPU's strength is more evident, as it is able to push the GPU to its limits, evidenced by the 137 FPS at Low settings. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18911 and single-core score of 2200.5 indicate strong performance, which is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in a game that requires fast single-threaded processing for game logic.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core are substantial, and this helps reduce latency when accessing frequently used data. This is particularly important in a game like Control, which has complex level geometry and physics interactions. The data shows that even at 4K, the CPU is not limiting performance, as the FPS is nearly identical to what would be expected from the GPU alone. This confirms the 388H's ability to keep up with the RTX 5070 without creating a bottleneck. The CPU's percentile ranking of 88 places it in the top tier, and its average benchmark score of 44466 is closely matched by its nearest rivals, indicating it is a well-rounded performer.

The fact that the CPU has 16 threads but no hyper-threading (16 cores, 16 threads) is interesting, as many modern games benefit from additional threads. However, Control's performance does not appear to suffer from this, as the frame rates are consistent with what the GPU can deliver. The CPU's memory support for LPDDR5X with a bandwidth of 153.6 GB/s is also a factor, as it ensures that data can be fed to the GPU quickly without stalling. Overall, the CPU's role is to provide a stable platform for the GPU to operate at its full potential, and the data confirms that it does so effectively.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo in Control depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 75 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. For users with high refresh rate monitors who prioritize smoothness, the Medium preset at 98 FPS offers a significant boost in frame rate with only a modest reduction in visual fidelity. The Low preset at 137 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where frame rate is the absolute priority, as the visual downgrade is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 66 FPS is the sweet spot, as it offers a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 74 FPS is also viable for those who want a bit more headroom, but the jump to Ultra at 57 FPS introduces noticeable frame pacing issues that may detract from the experience. For users who own a 1440p monitor with a 144 Hz refresh rate, the Low preset at 104 FPS is the only way to get close to that target, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for most players. The data suggests that High is the best compromise for a smooth and visually appealing experience at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset at 70 FPS is the only one that offers a consistently playable experience, but it does so by significantly reducing the visual detail. The Medium preset at 50 FPS is playable for slower-paced sections, but the minimum of 42 FPS indicates that it will drop below the 60 FPS threshold in demanding scenes, which can be jarring. The High and Ultra presets at 44 and 39 FPS respectively are not recommended, as they do not provide a smooth experience. For 4K gaming, the data indicates that users should use the Low preset and accept the visual compromises, or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p to enjoy the higher quality presets.