Control

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile achieves a combo rank of 1234 out of 3720 tested combinations in Control. This places the pairing in the 67th percentile of all tested systems, indicating a solidly above-average configuration for this title. The ranking reflects a balanced partnership where neither component is drastically outclassing the other, though the data suggests the GPU carries more of the performance load at higher resolutions.

What makes this rank notable is the context of the components themselves. The RTX 4080 Mobile sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 5 125H lands in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. The system's overall game rank of 1234 is slightly lower than either component's individual percentile would suggest, implying that Control is not purely GPU-bound in every scenario. The delta between component percentiles and the combo rank hints at some CPU limitation at lower resolutions, which becomes more apparent when examining the measured FPS data across settings.

The 3720 tested combos include a wide spectrum of hardware, from entry-level integrated graphics to flagship desktop parts. Finishing in the top third of that field means this mobile setup delivers a convincing experience for Control, particularly considering the power constraints of a laptop form factor. The RTX 4080 Mobile's 110 W TDP is a limiting factor compared to desktop counterparts, yet the measured results show the combo still outpaces the vast majority of tested systems.

FAQ

Q: What is the best 4K setting for this combo in Control?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS, making it the only 4K setting that maintains a playable frame rate with a recorded floor. High averages 57 FPS, while Ultra drops to 50 FPS. Low reaches 90 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the combo averages 112 FPS, which is nearly double the 57 FPS seen at 3840x2160 High. The scaling is not perfectly linear, indicating that resolution scaling affects both GPU and CPU load, but the GPU becomes increasingly dominant at 4K.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 Mobile have enough VRAM for Control at maximum settings?

A: The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. Control's Ultra preset at 4K averages 50 FPS, suggesting the memory capacity is sufficient, but the 110 W power envelope limits the GPU's ability to maintain higher frame rates at that setting.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 5 125H a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests CPU limitations emerge at 1080p. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 177 FPS, which is a significant jump from 134 FPS at 1440p Low. The 14-core, 18-thread processor with a 4.50 GHz boost clock handles the game's physics and AI, but frame rates above 170 FPS appear to hit a CPU ceiling.

Q: How does this combo compare to the GPU's nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile's average benchmark score of 38135 is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce MX570's 38299 and 0.6% lower than the RTX 5080 Mobile's 38349. It is 1.3% higher than both the RTX 4070 and Tesla P4, which score 37648 and 37628 respectively.

Q: What minimum FPS can be expected at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only setting with recorded minimum FPS values. At 1080p the minimum is 107 FPS, at 1440p it is 81 FPS, and at 4K it is 55 FPS. These floors indicate consistent frame pacing without severe drops.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the underlying performance characteristics of this combo. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 112 FPS at 1920x1080 to 84 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 57 FPS at 3840x2160. The percentage drops are 25% from 1080p to 1440p and 32% from 1440p to 4K. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases, which is expected given the RTX 4080 Mobile's 24.72 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 133.2 GPixel/s pixel rate.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The combo produces 177 FPS at 1080p, 134 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24%, while from 1440p to 4K it is 33%. The 4K Low result of 90 FPS is higher than the 4K High result of 57 FPS, showing a 37% improvement from lowering settings. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, and reducing graphical load directly translates to higher frame rates.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded at each resolution. At 1080p the range is 107-144 FPS with a 126 average, at 1440p it is 81-109 FPS with a 95 average, and at 4K it is 55-74 FPS with a 64 average. The consistent spread of roughly 20-30 FPS between minimum and maximum across resolutions indicates stable performance without thermal or power throttling anomalies.

The scaling behavior at Ultra settings shows the steepest degradation: 97 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 25%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 32%. This mirrors the High preset scaling, confirming that the GPU's rasterization throughput is the determining factor once pixel count increases. The CPU's role diminishes at higher resolutions, as the 18-thread processor has ample headroom for Control's game logic.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 177 FPS, which is the fastest result in the entire dataset. Medium averages 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and maximum of 144 FPS. High averages 112 FPS, while Ultra averages 97 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 80 FPS, representing a 45% reduction in performance when moving to maximum settings. This wide spread indicates that Control's visual settings have a substantial impact on GPU load even at 1080p.

The 2560x1440 results show a predictable step down. Low averages 134 FPS, Medium averages 95 FPS with a range of 81-109 FPS, High averages 84 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 61 FPS, a 45% reduction that matches the 1080p scaling. The Medium preset's minimum of 81 FPS is particularly notable, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more modest. Low averages 90 FPS, which remains highly playable. Medium averages 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS and maximum of 74 FPS. High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K provides the best balance, with a minimum that dips slightly below 60 FPS but an average that stays comfortably above it. The High preset's 57 FPS average is borderline, while Ultra's 50 FPS may be too low for demanding players.

The Ultra preset across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: 97 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The Low preset, by contrast, only drops 49% from 177 FPS to 90 FPS. The similar percentage drops across settings suggest that Control scales evenly with resolution, and the RTX 4080 Mobile's 12 GB memory buffer is sufficient to prevent VRAM-related stutters at any tested configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. The GPU contains 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². Its 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines provide the raw throughput needed for Control's particle effects and physics-based destruction.

The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz with an effective speed of 18 Gbps. This configuration proves adequate for Control at all tested settings, as evidenced by the absence of severe frame time spikes in the Medium preset's minimum FPS values. The 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS average suggests the GPU is compute-bound rather than memory-bound at maximum settings.

Clock speeds are modest for a high-end part: a 1290 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. The 110 W TDP is the key constraint, as the GPU must balance power between the 7424 shading units and the 58 RT cores. Control does not heavily utilize ray tracing in the measured configurations, so the RT cores likely remain idle, allowing the shading units to operate at full capacity. The FP32 throughput of 24.72 TFLOPS provides ample compute for the game's lighting and post-processing effects.

The GPU's benchmark results position it competitively. Its Passmark G3D score of 24926 and average benchmark score of 38135 place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rival data shows it within 0.6% of the RTX 5080 Mobile's 38349 score and 1.3% above the RTX 4070's 37648. This tight clustering indicates that mobile GPU performance in this tier is closely matched, and Control's results reflect the GPU's strong but not exceptional standing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a Meteor Lake architecture processor with 14 cores and 18 threads, built on Intel's 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz provide the computational headroom needed for Control's AI routines and physics simulations. The 28 W TDP is typical for a mobile processor, and the combination of performance and efficiency cores allows the CPU to adapt its power draw based on workload demands.

Cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration supports fast access to frequently used game data. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 21100 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12804.5 indicate strong multi-core performance, which is relevant for Control's use of multiple threads for physics and game logic.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 27507 places it in the 79th percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 at 27535 (0.1% higher), Intel Core i5-12600K at 27578 (0.3% higher), and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G at 27382 (0.5% lower). These small deltas show the Ultra 5 125H performs within a tight band of established desktop processors, though it is a mobile part with lower sustained power limits.

In Control, the CPU's role becomes evident at 1080p Low, where the combo reaches 177 FPS. This frame rate is likely constrained by the CPU's single-thread performance, as the Passmark single-thread score of 3399 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1647.5 represent the processor's ability to handle game loop logic. At higher resolutions, the CPU has more headroom, and the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 4K Low result of 90 FPS is 49% lower than the 1080p Low result, confirming the GPU's dominance at high pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports a clear hierarchy of settings for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset's 97 FPS average is entirely playable, and players with high-refresh displays can still benefit from the Low preset's 177 FPS. The Medium preset's 126 FPS with a 107 FPS minimum offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the High preset's 84 FPS average is a strong recommendation for most users. It maintains smooth gameplay while delivering better visual fidelity than Medium's 95 FPS at the cost of some image quality. The Medium preset's 81 FPS minimum ensures consistent frame delivery, making it the safest choice for those sensitive to frame drops. Ultra at 73 FPS is viable but may show occasional dips in demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the optimal choice. Its 64 FPS average and 55 FPS minimum provide the only 4K configuration that stays near the 60 FPS target with recorded stability. The High preset's 57 FPS average is playable but lacks the headroom of Medium, and Ultra's 50 FPS may introduce noticeable stutter. The Low preset's 90 FPS is the fastest 4K option but sacrifices significant visual quality.

For the overall best experience across all resolutions, the Medium preset emerges as the most versatile. It is the only setting with complete minimum and maximum FPS data, and its performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent. Players prioritizing visual fidelity should choose High at 1080p or 1440p, while those seeking maximum frame rates should opt for Low. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where its 97 FPS average remains competitive.