Control

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800M delivers a robust, though not class-leading, experience in Control, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions and settings. The data indicates a strong 1080p capable setup that begins to strain at 4K, particularly at higher graphical presets, revealing a GPU-bound bottleneck at higher resolutions and a more balanced profile at 1080p.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo in Control?*

A: The highest recorded average is 120 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only measured result exceeding the 100 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 8945HX compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 8945HX scores 76,212 on average. This places it 0.1% above the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76,155) and 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75,779), but 0.4% behind both the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76,492) and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (76,513).

Q: What is the performance delta between the RX 7800M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti?

A: The RX 7800M has an average benchmark score of 27,883, which is 0.5% lower than the GTX 980 Ti's score of 28,020. It also trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973) by 0.3% and the AMD FirePro S7150 (28,117) by 0.8%, while leading the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839) by 0.2%.

Q: At which settings does the combo achieve a 60 FPS average at 2560x1440?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution sees a 57 FPS average on High settings, falling just short of 60 FPS. However, the Low preset yields 91 FPS, and the Medium preset yields 64 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution to cross the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining higher quality than Low.

*Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combo in Control?*

A: The lowest minimum frame rate logged is 37 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. The other Medium preset, at 2560x1440, records a minimum of 55 FPS, and at 1920x1080, it records a minimum of 72 FPS.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Control?*

A: The combo ranks 2,505th out of 3,720 tested combinations, placing it in the 67th percentile of all tested systems.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800M is the primary driver of frame rate in Control, as evidenced by the significant performance scaling across different quality presets. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for the game's assets, as the frame rate drops are more pronounced with settings changes rather than resolution changes. The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2145 MHz, and a boost clock of 2335 MHz, allow it to handle the game's physics and rendering loads. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is capable of delivering high frame rates, but as resolution increases, the demand on the GPU's shading units (3840) and ROPs (96) scales accordingly. The RDNA 3.0 architecture, with 60 RT cores, also supports the game's DirectX 12 Ultimate features, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and expected pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 120 at 1080p to 91 at 1440p, a 24.2% reduction, and then to 61 at 4K, a 33.0% reduction from 1440p. This scaling indicates a growing GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. The trend is similar at High settings, where the average FPS falls from 76 at 1080p to 57 at 1440p (25.0% drop) and then to 39 at 4K (31.6% drop). The most significant bottleneck appears at 4K, where even the Medium preset only achieves an average of 43 FPS. This suggests that while the CPU can feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the RX 7800M's raw pixel throughput is the limiting factor at 4K. The relatively smaller performance gap between 1080p and 1440p compared to the gap between 1440p and 4K confirms that the GPU's compute resources are saturated as pixel count increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The results at this resolution are strong across the board. At Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 120 FPS, indicating a very playable experience for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset yields an average of 85 FPS, with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS, showing consistent frame pacing. High settings produce an average of 76 FPS, while the Ultra preset, which likely enables more demanding effects, still manages a solid 66 FPS average. This resolution shows the combo is fully capable of handling the game's demands without significant CPU or GPU limitations.

2560x1440: At this resolution, the performance takes a noticeable step down, but remains playable. The Low preset delivers an average of 91 FPS, which is still very fluid. The Medium preset averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, indicating occasional dips that could be noticeable on a 60 Hz display. The High preset averages 57 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 50 FPS. This resolution represents a balance point where the GPU is starting to work harder, but the experience is still generally smooth at lower presets.

3840x2160: The 4K results show the GPU hitting its limits. Low settings yield an average of 61 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution that crosses the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS, with a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS, showcasing significant frame time variance. High settings drop to an average of 39 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 34 FPS. These results indicate that 4K gaming with this combo is only viable at Low settings, as higher presets will result in a sub-60 FPS experience that may feel less responsive.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a high-end mobile processor with 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture. While its synthetic benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and a single-core score of 6,030, its role in Control appears secondary to the GPU. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic is handled efficiently. The data shows that at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the frame rates scale well with preset changes, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck. However, the strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a PassMark multithread score of 51,405, suggests that the CPU can handle background tasks and any physics calculations the game throws at it. The 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is unlikely to hold back the GPU in most scenarios, including at 4K where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset provides an average of 66 FPS, which is a good balance for a smooth experience on a standard 60 Hz monitor. However, for gamers with high-refresh-rate displays, the Low preset's 120 FPS average or the Medium preset's 85 FPS average will better utilize the display's capabilities. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it is the only setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS (64 FPS) while also providing the best visual quality among the presets that do so. The High preset's 57 FPS average is borderline, and the Ultra preset's 50 FPS average is not ideal for fast-paced action. For 3840x2160, the data suggests that only the Low preset, with its 61 FPS average, provides a consistently playable experience. The Medium preset's 43 FPS average and minimum of 37 FPS will likely result in noticeable stuttering, and the High and Ultra presets are too demanding for this GPU at this resolution. Therefore, the best experience per the measured rows is achieved by using the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p, or the Low preset at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of Control, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and the AMD Radeon RX 7800M ranks 2,505th out of 3,720 tested combinations. This places it in the upper third of all tested systems, indicating a capable but not top-tier gaming setup for this title. The ranking is likely influenced by the GPU's performance, which sits in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, meaning that while it is a solid performer, there are many faster options available. The CPU, on the other hand, is in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, showing that the processor is a high-end part. The disparity in these percentiles suggests that the overall combo ranking is constrained by the GPU's capabilities. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU is nearly tied with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, being 0.1% faster, and the GPU is nearly tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, being 0.5% slower. This indicates that the combo's performance in Control is representative of a mid-to-high-range mobile platform that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but struggles with 4K high-fidelity gaming.