Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, presents a demanding mix of physics-driven combat and destructible environments. The measured data for this specific configuration—an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 paired with an AMD Radeon RX 7900M—reveals a system that is decisively GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet shows surprising headroom at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate a portable platform capable of delivering high-refresh-rate experiences, but only when settings are tuned correctly.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, confirming that the Radeon RX 7900M is the primary limiting component as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 100 FPS at 1920x1080 to 76 FPS at 2560x1440, a 24% reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields just 51 FPS, a 49% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is classic for a high-end mobile GPU: the 16 GB of VRAM is not the bottleneck, but the raw shading power and memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain 4K fluidity on more demanding presets.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the average drops from 85 FPS to 57 FPS, a 33% loss. At Low settings, the drop is from 120 FPS to 81 FPS, a 32.5% loss. This consistent ~33% penalty across settings at that resolution step suggests the GPU's compute throughput is saturated, not just its memory subsystem. The data implies that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, where 81 FPS is achievable, but the visual compromise is substantial.

Conversely, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more moderate. At High settings, the drop is from 100 FPS to 76 FPS (24%). At Ultra, it goes from 87 FPS to 66 FPS (24.1%). This relatively gentler slope indicates that the CPU, with its 16 Zen 5 cores, is still providing enough headroom at 1440p, allowing the GPU to work closer to its potential. The real cliff appears between 1440p and 4K, where the GPU's architectural limits become apparent.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Control?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average is 81 FPS. At Medium settings, the average drops to 57 FPS, and at High it is 51 FPS. Ultra settings fall below playable thresholds at 44 FPS. The data suggests 60 FPS is attainable at 4K only with the lowest preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming?

A: At 1920x1080, the system achieves 158 FPS on Low, 112 FPS on Medium, 100 FPS on High, and 87 FPS on Ultra. For 1440p, Low settings reach 120 FPS, while High yields 76 FPS. The 1080p resolution is the only one where all presets exceed 60 FPS, and Low settings approach 165 Hz territory.

Q: How does the CPU influence performance at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the gap between Low (158 FPS) and Ultra (87 FPS) is 71 FPS, showing significant GPU load variation. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395, with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz and 64 MB of L3 cache, is clearly not the bottleneck, as even the highest frame rates do not show a plateau that would indicate CPU limitation.

Q: Is the 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The data shows no min FPS anomalies that would indicate VRAM swapping. At 4K Ultra, the average is 44 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra it is 66 FPS. The RX 7900M's 16 GB GDDR6 memory appears adequate for Control's textures, as performance scales consistently with resolution rather than collapsing due to memory pressure.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 100 FPS, while Ultra averages 87 FPS, a 13% penalty for the higher preset. At 1440p, the gap widens slightly: 76 FPS on High versus 66 FPS on Ultra, a 13.2% difference. At 4K, the gap narrows to 51 FPS versus 44 FPS, a 13.7% difference, suggesting Ultra's extra effects are consistently costly.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1192 out of 2888 tested combinations. This places it in the 58.7th percentile, meaning it outperforms the majority of tested systems but is not in the top tier. This is a strong result for a mobile platform, indicating it sits above the median gaming rig.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In Control, these specifications are more than sufficient. The game is not heavily multithreaded, but the CPU's high single-core performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2464, ensures that physics calculations and draw call submissions are never the limiting factor.

The benchmark data supports this assessment. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 158 FPS, a frame rate where weaker CPUs often begin to show bottlenecks. The fact that the score scales linearly with GPU load as settings increase—from 158 FPS on Low to 87 FPS on Ultra—indicates the CPU is consistently feeding the GPU without stalling. The 64 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps maintain low latency for game logic.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 sits 1.6% above the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX in average benchmark scores, and 2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX. It trails the Intel Core i9-14900K by 1.7%. These deltas are small, suggesting that in a game like Control, the CPU is not a differentiating factor. The data implies that the GPU is responsible for the vast majority of performance variance between this combo and others.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers a wide range of performance. Low settings produce an average of 158 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play or high refresh rate displays. Medium settings yield 112 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS, showing stable frame times. High settings average 100 FPS, while Ultra drops to 87 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 71 FPS, giving users significant control over the visual-to-performance trade-off.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 120 FPS, Medium at 85 FPS (min 72, max 98), High at 76 FPS, and Ultra at 66 FPS. The minimum frame rate at Medium (72 FPS) is still above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating a playable experience even with occasional dips. The step from High to Ultra at 1440p is 10 FPS, which is a noticeable but not massive cost for the increased visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to struggle with higher presets. Low settings maintain 81 FPS, which is smooth. Medium drops to 57 FPS (min 49, max 66), which is borderline for a 60 Hz display. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra falls to 44 FPS. The data shows that 4K requires a significant settings sacrifice; the difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 37 FPS, highlighting the GPU's difficulty with pixel throughput at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 1192 out of 2888 tested combos, this configuration places in the upper half of all systems benchmarked in Control. This is a notable achievement for a mobile platform, as many desktop systems with high-end components would rank higher, but the combo still outperforms roughly 59% of all tested setups. The percentile position suggests that while this is not a top-tier enthusiast rig, it is a very capable gaming machine.

The rank implies that the combination of the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and the RX 7900M is well-balanced for this specific title. If the CPU were significantly weaker, the rank would likely be lower due to bottlenecks at 1080p. If the GPU were stronger, the rank would improve, but the data suggests that the 7900M is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The fact that the combo ranks where it does indicates that the pairing is effective, but not without compromise.

Comparing to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 7900M is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII and 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60. It trails the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 by 4.3% and the NVIDIA RTX A4500 by 6.3% in average benchmark scores. These deltas are modest, meaning that in real-world gaming, the experience would be similar across these GPUs, with the 7900M holding its own against professional-grade cards.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data points to High settings at 1920x1080, yielding 100 FPS. This provides a smooth, high-fidelity experience without the extra cost of Ultra, which only adds 13 FPS less at 87 FPS. At 1440p, High is also the sweet spot, averaging 76 FPS, which is suitable for a 60-75 Hz monitor. The jump to Ultra at 1440p (66 FPS) is acceptable for those who prioritize visuals, but the min FPS data is not provided.

For users targeting 4K, the recommendation is unequivocally Low settings, which deliver 81 FPS. Medium at 4K (57 FPS) is playable on a 60 Hz display, but the 49 FPS minimum could cause noticeable stutter in demanding scenes. High and Ultra at 4K are not recommended, as they fall below 60 FPS averages and risk inconsistent frame pacing. The data suggests that 4K gaming is possible, but only with reduced graphical fidelity.

If the user has a high refresh rate monitor (144 Hz or above), 1080p Low (158 FPS) or Medium (112 FPS) are the only settings that approach or exceed that threshold. At 1440p, Low (120 FPS) is the only preset that breaks the 100 FPS barrier. The data implies that the system is best utilized at 1080p for esports-style play or at 1440p for a balanced experience, with 4K reserved for slower-paced, visually focused playthroughs.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 31 chip, featuring 4608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2090 MHz and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provide 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Control, this hardware configuration is the primary driver of performance, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU's pixel fill rate (401.3 GPixel/s) and texture rate (601.9 GTexel/s) become critical.

The GPU's 72 ray tracing cores are present, but Control's use of ray tracing is optional and not reflected in the measured FPS data, which uses standard rasterization. The FP32 performance of 38.52 TFLOPS is substantial, allowing the GPU to handle the game's complex lighting and particle effects at 1080p and 1440p with ease. The 180 W TDP is modest for this level of performance, indicating efficient power delivery.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is a key asset. At 4K Ultra, the game does not appear to exceed this limit, as the FPS does not exhibit a sudden cliff typical of memory swapping. The memory bandwidth of 576 GB/s is also sufficient, as the scaling between resolutions is consistent. The data indicates that the GPU's compute power, not its memory subsystem, is the limiting factor, as higher resolutions and settings cause linear FPS drops rather than catastrophic failures.