Control

Control, Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, presents a demanding mix of physics-based combat and destructive environments. For the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the AMD Radeon 8050S, the benchmark data reveals a configuration that can handle the game, but with significant compromises required at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across the tested settings and resolutions, focusing on where the bottlenecks lie and how to get the best experience from this specific hardware combo. The data shows a clear narrative of a system that is well-suited for 1080p gaming, but which struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance cost as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings drops the average frame rate from 73 FPS to 55 FPS, a reduction of approximately 24.6%. The jump from 1440p to 3840x2160 is even more punishing, with the average falling from 55 FPS to 37 FPS, another 32.7% decrease. This scaling pattern strongly suggests that the AMD Radeon 8050S becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demands outpace what the GPU can deliver.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the game runs at 116 FPS at 1080p, drops to 87 FPS at 1440p, and then falls to 59 FPS at 4K. This consistent pattern across presets indicates that the resolution scaling is a fundamental property of the GPU's rendering capabilities rather than a quirk of a specific setting. The 4K results, in particular, highlight the challenge; even on Low settings, the system barely achieves 59 FPS, suggesting that 4K gaming is only viable with significant graphical compromises.

What is more telling is the performance gap between presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (116 FPS) and Ultra (63 FPS) is 53 FPS, a substantial 45.7% performance hit for maximum quality. However, at 4K, the gap narrows to 27 FPS (59 FPS on Low versus 32 FPS on Ultra), a 45.8% reduction. While the percentage is similar, the absolute numbers at 4K are so low that even the Low preset is near the edge of playability. This indicates that while the GPU is the bottleneck for resolution scaling, the CPU still has enough headroom to drive high frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU's raw power is insufficient for 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 73 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and smooth gameplay. The jump to Ultra (63 FPS) provides diminishing returns for a 10 FPS loss, while Medium (82 FPS) is also viable if a higher frame rate is preferred. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for 1080p, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a frame rate well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more delicate. The High preset drops to 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for many players. The Medium preset at 62 FPS becomes the better choice here, as it is the only setting that breaks the 60 FPS barrier at this resolution. The Low preset at 87 FPS offers a very fluid experience but sacrifices too much visual fidelity to be recommended as a default. Ultra at 48 FPS is playable but not ideal for a game with fast-paced combat like Control.

For 3840x2160, the data paints a clear picture: only the Low preset (59 FPS) provides a consistently playable experience, and even that is borderline. The Medium preset (42 FPS) and High preset (37 FPS) are below the threshold for comfortable action gaming, and Ultra (32 FPS) is nearly unplayable. Therefore, the recommendation for 4K is to use Low settings to achieve a playable frame rate, or to consider lowering the resolution to 1440p to unlock higher quality presets. The measured data shows that this hardware combo is not designed for high-fidelity 4K gaming in Control.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. Its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 and a single-core score of 1700. In the context of Control, which is a game that can utilize multiple cores for physics and AI, this processor provides a solid foundation. The data shows that at 1080p, the system can achieve 116 FPS on Low settings, which indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution. The single-core performance, as measured by the Cinebench R23 score, is sufficient to handle the game's main game logic.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is also noteworthy. The data shows it is within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X's average benchmark score and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT. This places its raw processing power in the same league as those desktop processors, which is impressive for a mobile chip. However, the bottleneck in this system is clearly the GPU. As resolution increases, the CPU's role diminishes, and the GPU's pixel rendering capabilities take over as the primary constraint. The fact that frame rates drop consistently across all settings when moving from 1080p to 4K confirms that the CPU is not the limiting component.

The boost clock of 4.60 GHz is a key factor in maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions. The data shows that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to achieve 116 FPS at 1080p Low, which requires strong single-threaded performance. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with game data access. In summary, the Core Ultra 5 135H is a capable gaming CPU for this title, providing enough performance to avoid being a bottleneck at 1080p and 1440p, but its capabilities are masked by the GPU's limitations at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Control at 4K with High settings?

A: The data shows an average of 37 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings. This is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, indicating that this configuration is not suitable for 4K High settings.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 62 FPS, making it the only tested preset at this resolution that exceeds 60 FPS. High settings drop to 55 FPS, which is still playable but less consistent.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this system?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the system achieves 116 FPS on Low, showing the CPU is capable, but the frame rate drops significantly as resolution increases, which points to GPU limitations.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 29093, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT. This indicates performance parity with those desktop chips.

Q: What is the maximum FPS achievable with this hardware?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 116 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only tested configuration that exceeds 100 FPS.

Q: Is the Radeon 8050S a strong GPU relative to its peers?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 62108, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M but 2.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56. It ranks in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, indicating above-average performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8050S is a mobile GPU based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, featuring 2048 shading units and 32 ray tracing cores. Its performance in Control is the defining factor for this combo's gaming experience. The GPU's average benchmark score of 62108 places it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, which suggests it is a strong performer for its class. However, the measured FPS data shows that its 11.47 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is not enough to handle 4K resolution with high graphical fidelity in this specific title.

The GPU's memory configuration is listed as "System Shared," meaning it relies on the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This is a critical factor for a game like Control, which features complex textures and effects. The effective memory bandwidth is "System Dependent," which could be a bottleneck at higher resolutions where texture data demands are higher. The measured results support this, as the performance drop from 1440p to 4K is severe, regardless of the settings preset.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1295 MHz and a boost of 2800 MHz, are relatively high for a mobile part. This helps at lower resolutions, where the GPU can maintain high utilization. The data shows a 73 FPS average at 1080p High, which is a playable result. However, the GPU's role becomes more complex at 4K. The 32 FPS average on Ultra settings shows that even with the boost clock active, the GPU cannot keep up with the rendering demands. The Radeon 8050S is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can provide a good balance of performance and visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full set of measured FPS data provides a detailed look at this combo's capabilities. At 1920x1080:

• Low: 116 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average (min 70, max 94)
• High: 73 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 87 FPS average
• Medium: 62 FPS average (min 53, max 71)
• High: 55 FPS average
• Ultra: 48 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 59 FPS average
• Medium: 42 FPS average (min 36, max 48)
• High: 37 FPS average
• Ultra: 32 FPS average

The min and max FPS data for the Medium preset shows some variance at each resolution, but the averages provide a stable picture of performance. At 1080p Medium, the range is 70 to 94 FPS, which is a 24 FPS spread, indicating some frame time inconsistency. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 18 FPS (53-71), and at 4K, it is 12 FPS (36-48). This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is more consistently saturated, leading to fewer frame rate spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combos for Control, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and AMD Radeon 8050S ranks 2127th out of 2888 tested configurations. This places it in the lower 26.3% of all combos, which seems low given the individual components' decent benchmark percentiles. This ranking reflects the fact that while the CPU is in the 81st percentile and the GPU is in the 89th percentile, their combination in this game results in performance that is below what many other pairings achieve.

The ranking suggests that this is not an optimal pairing for Control. The GPU's shared memory architecture and the CPU's mobile design likely contribute to this lower-than-expected rank. While the system can play the game, it does so with more compromises than other combos. The data implies that many other systems in the database are able to achieve higher frame rates at similar or better visual quality. This rank is a sobering reminder that component benchmarks do not always translate directly to in-game performance, and that the specific demands of a title like Control can expose weaknesses in a hardware configuration.