Control

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900M sits at rank 1192 out of 2888 tested combos in Control. That places this configuration in the 59th percentile of all recorded combinations — a solid mid-upper tier result, but not a chart-topping one. The rank implies that while this pairing is capable of handling Control at high resolutions, there are many other systems that deliver higher frame rates in this specific title.

What makes this ranking particularly interesting is the discrepancy between the CPU and GPU individual standings. The RX 7900M is a top-tier mobile GPU, sitting at the 94th percentile against all GPUs. The Core Ultra 5 135H, meanwhile, ranks at the 81st percentile against all CPUs. When combined, the pair underperforms what those individual percentiles might suggest, landing at roughly the 59th percentile of combos in this game. This gap hints at a potential bottleneck or optimization issue specific to Control's engine.

The data shows that this combo delivers playable frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions, with the weakest performance being 44 FPS at 4K Ultra. That is still technically playable, but it is well below the smooth 60 FPS threshold that most gamers target. At the other extreme, the combo reaches 158 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the hardware has substantial headroom when settings are dialed back.

# FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Control?

A: According to the measured FPS data, 1440p High delivers 76 FPS average, which balances visual quality with smooth gameplay. For a higher frame rate, 1080p High achieves 100 FPS. The 4K High preset produces 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RX 7900M compare to its nearest rivals in GPU performance?

A: The RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97,487. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro VII, scores 97,131 — a difference of just 0.4%. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 scores 101,872, which is 4.3% higher. The RX 7900M outperforms the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 by 5.4% and the NVIDIA RTX A4500 by 6.3%.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 5 135H stack up against similar CPUs?

A: The Core Ultra 5 135H has an average benchmark score of 29,093. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, scores 29,123 — a negligible 0.1% difference. The Intel Xeon Phi 7210 scores 29,245 (0.5% higher), while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT scores 28,940 (0.5% lower). The Intel Core i5-13500HX scores 29,270, which is 0.6% higher.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: The measured data includes min FPS values only for Medium settings: 49 FPS at 4K, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 96 FPS at 1080p. These minimums show that even at 4K, the frame rate stays above 48 FPS, which is the minimum for a consistent experience in most action games.

Q: Does the combo support ray tracing features in Control?

A: The RX 7900M features 72 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing capabilities. However, the measured FPS data in the FACT PACK does not include any ray tracing benchmarks, so the actual ray tracing performance in Control cannot be assessed from this data.

Q: What is the thermal design power of each component?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H has a TDP of 28 watts, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M has a TDP of 180 watts. This significant difference in power allocation suggests the GPU is the dominant power consumer and likely the primary driver of performance in graphically intensive titles like Control.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread mobile processor built on Intel's Meteor Lake architecture using a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In Control, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, but still important for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 158 FPS, which is likely near or at the CPU's limit for this game's physics and update loops. At 1080p High, the average drops to 100 FPS, suggesting that the GPU begins to take on more load as settings increase.

The benchmark data for the Core Ultra 5 135H shows a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11,875.5 and a single-core score of 1,700. In PassMark tests, the CPU achieves 22,422 in multithread and 3,521 in single-thread. These numbers indicate a capable mid-range mobile processor that can handle modern game engines without becoming a major bottleneck at 60 FPS targets.

However, the rank of 1192 out of 2888 combos suggests that the CPU may hold back the RX 7900M in certain scenarios. The GPU's 94th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 81st percentile creates a mismatch where the GPU may not reach its full potential in CPU-limited scenes. Control is known for its physics-based destruction and telekinetic abilities, which can be CPU-intensive, so the 14-core configuration with 18 threads helps distribute this workload.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings levels (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K). At 1080p, the combo delivers 158 FPS on Low, 112 FPS on Medium (with a min of 96 and max of 129), 100 FPS on High, and 87 FPS on Ultra. This progression shows a consistent 10-15% drop per settings tier, with the gap from Low to Ultra being approximately 45%.

At 1440p, the frame rates scale down: 120 FPS on Low, 85 FPS on Medium (min 72, max 98), 76 FPS on High, and 66 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is 38 FPS (24%), while at Ultra settings it is 21 FPS (24%). This consistent percentage drop across settings suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at these resolutions.

At 4K, the numbers become more demanding: 81 FPS on Low, 57 FPS on Medium (min 49, max 66), 51 FPS on High, and 44 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low result of 81 FPS is notable because it is still above 60 FPS, indicating that even at the highest resolution, the RX 7900M can maintain smooth frame rates if settings are reduced. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is the only measured configuration below 48 FPS, making it the most demanding scenario.

The min FPS data at Medium settings provides additional insight into frame time consistency. At 4K Medium, the min of 49 FPS versus an average of 57 FPS shows a 14% variance. At 1440p Medium, the min of 72 versus average of 85 shows a 15% variance. At 1080p Medium, the min of 96 versus average of 112 shows a 14% variance. This consistent variance pattern suggests the game's frame pacing is stable across resolutions.

# Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about which component is limiting performance. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 158 at 1080p to 120 at 1440p (a 24% decrease) and then to 81 at 4K (a 32% decrease from 1440p). This accelerating drop as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

At Ultra settings, the progression is 87 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p (a 24% decrease), and 44 FPS at 4K (a 33% decrease from 1440p). The similar percentage drops at Low and Ultra settings indicate that the GPU remains the bottleneck throughout the settings range. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat across resolutions at lower settings, since the CPU workload would stay constant while GPU load increases.

The data shows that the RX 7900M is clearly the dominant component in this pairing for Control. The 4K Low result of 81 FPS versus the 1080p Low result of 158 FPS represents a 49% performance reduction, which closely aligns with the 4x pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K (though not perfectly, as the game's rendering complexity doesn't scale linearly with pixel count). This behavior confirms that the GPU's 576.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 4608 shading units are the key performance drivers.

Interestingly, the 1440p to 4K drop is steeper than the 1080p to 1440p drop for all settings. For example, at High settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24 FPS (24%), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 25 FPS (33%). This non-linear scaling suggests that at 4K, the GPU may be approaching its memory bandwidth limit, as the 256-bit bus and 576.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle to feed the 4K frame buffer.

# Settings Recommendations

For the best experience in Control with this hardware, the data suggests prioritizing 1440p High as the sweet spot. The 76 FPS average at this setting is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the visual quality at High settings is typically sufficient for most action-adventure titles. The 1440p Medium setting at 85 FPS offers additional headroom with a small visual sacrifice, making it a better choice for players who prefer higher frame rates.

At 1080p, the High setting at 100 FPS is ideal for competitive or fast-paced play, while Ultra at 87 FPS still provides a smooth experience with maximum visual fidelity. The 1080p Medium setting at 112 FPS is recommended for players who want to ensure frame rates never dip below 96 FPS, as indicated by the min FPS data.

For 4K gaming, the data shows that only Low settings (81 FPS) and Medium settings (57 FPS) are viable options. The 4K High at 51 FPS and Ultra at 44 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS target, which may cause noticeable judder in fast action sequences. If 4K is the primary resolution, Medium settings at 57 FPS are the highest quality option that still maintains playable frame rates, though the min FPS of 49 indicates occasional dips.

The overall recommendation is to target 1440p with High or Medium settings for the best balance of visual quality and performance. The GPU has enough headroom to handle dynamic resolution scaling or future game updates that may increase GPU load. Players who prioritize frame rate above all else should use 1080p Low at 158 FPS, though this sacrifices most of the visual features that Control's art direction benefits from.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is a flagship mobile GPU built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features the Navi 31 chip with 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. The GPU has 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation units. Clock speeds are 1825 MHz base and 2090 MHz boost, with memory running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial amount of VRAM for a mobile GPU, and the data shows it is sufficient for Control at all tested settings and resolutions. The GPU also features 72 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In Control, the GPU's role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling analysis. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (158 FPS) suggests the GPU is capable of very high frame rates when not constrained by other factors. The 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS shows the GPU's limits at maximum settings, but this is an extreme configuration that most users would not expect to run smoothly on mobile hardware.

The GPU's benchmark scores support its high percentile ranking: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,201, Geekbench OpenCL score of 129,499, and Geekbench Vulkan score of 158,760. The average benchmark score of 97,487 places it at the 94th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro VII, scores nearly identically at 97,131 (0.4% difference), while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 is 4.3% faster.

The power draw of 180 W TDP is substantial for a mobile component, but it enables the high clock speeds and performance levels observed. The GPU's pixel rate of 401.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 601.9 GTexel/s are the specifications that likely contribute most to Control's rendering performance, as the game features complex particle effects and environmental destruction.

The 94th percentile ranking means the RX 7900M outperforms the vast majority of GPUs in the database, and the measured FPS data confirms this in practice. The combination of 16 GB VRAM, high bandwidth, and strong rasterization performance makes this GPU well-suited for Control's demanding visual effects. The only noticeable limitation appears at 4K Ultra, where the 44 FPS average suggests the GPU cannot quite maintain 60 FPS at the highest settings, but this is a common trade-off for even top-tier mobile GPUs.