Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile delivers a compelling high-refresh-rate experience in Control, though the data reveals a clear progression of performance scaling from 1080p to 4K. The benchmark results indicate that this combination is capable of handling the game’s demanding physics and particle effects, but the extent of that capability varies significantly with resolution and quality settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a substantial drop in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 122 FPS, which drops to 93 FPS at 1440p and further to 62 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, a clear sign that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 194 FPS, which falls to 147 FPS at 1440p and 99 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 24%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 33%, indicating that the pixel throughput demands grow faster at higher resolutions. This is typical for a game like Control, which relies heavily on screen-space effects and post-processing that scale directly with pixel count.

The Medium settings preset provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum FPS values recorded. At 4K Medium, the average is 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average rises to 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 138 FPS with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS. The minimum FPS values at each resolution stay above 60 FPS, suggesting that even the most demanding scenes remain playable.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest scaling curve. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 106 FPS, dropping to 80 FPS at 1440p and 54 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured scenario that falls below 60 FPS, indicating that this particular combination struggles to maintain fluid motion at maximum quality and resolution. The data suggests that the RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions where frame rates are higher.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. This mobile chip features a 24 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 15,028 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,743 in single-core, placing it in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU’s role in Control is evident when examining the FPS figures at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves nearly 200 FPS, which indicates that the processor can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate even a high-refresh-rate display. The 22 threads and 16 cores provide ample parallelism for the game’s AI routines and physics calculations, which are known to be multi-threaded.

Comparing the Core Ultra 7 155H to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the data shows it performs nearly identically to the Intel Core i5-14600T, with a negligible 0% delta in average score. It is also within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 and 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F. This suggests that the CPU is not a performance differentiator in this combo, as the GPU dominates the frame rate at most settings.

The CPU’s boost clock of 4.80 GHz is sufficient for single-threaded tasks that Control relies on for game logic and rendering commands. However, the benchmark data shows that at 4K resolutions, the FPS drops significantly regardless of settings, which implies that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher pixel counts. The processor’s performance is more than adequate for this game, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is a high-end laptop GPU based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. It comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s. The GPU’s boost clock is 1695 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is relevant for Control’s use of modern rendering features.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 27,212 in Passmark G3D and 12,347 in GPU compute, placing it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000, which is 0.8% slower, and the RTX A6000, which is 0.9% faster. The GPU’s 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Control at any resolution, as the game’s textures and effects are unlikely to exceed this capacity.

The GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates range from 106 to 194 FPS depending on settings, which indicates that the GPU is capable of pushing high pixel counts. However, at 4K, the RTX 4090 Mobile’s performance drops to between 54 and 99 FPS, showing that the GPU’s raw compute power is the primary constraint at this resolution. The 32.98 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantial, but Control’s visual effects demand significant processing power at 4K.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s is a critical factor in maintaining performance at higher resolutions. The data shows that the drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe than from 1080p to 1440p, which suggests that the memory subsystem is being taxed more heavily at 4K. The 16 GB VRAM capacity provides headroom for future titles, but for Control, the GPU’s compute units are the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile ranks 866 out of 3,720 tested combinations in Control. This places it in the top 23% of all combos tested, indicating that it is a strong performer for this game. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, with the high-end GPU providing most of the performance.

This ranking is lower than what the individual components’ percentile scores might suggest. The CPU is in the 83rd percentile and the GPU is in the 84th percentile, yet the combo ranks in the 77th percentile among tested combinations. This discrepancy suggests that Control may be more sensitive to other factors, such as memory latency or driver optimization, rather than raw component performance.

The combo’s rank of 866 out of 3,720 is respectable but not elite. It outperforms many combinations with lower-tier GPUs, but it falls short of the top-performing combos that likely feature desktop-class CPUs. The data indicates that the RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary driver of this ranking, as the CPU’s performance is comparable to mid-range desktop processors.

In practical terms, this ranking means that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and it can handle 4K at lower settings. The measured FPS data supports this, showing that 4K Medium averages 70 FPS, which is above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The ranking also suggests that the combo is not overkill for Control, as it does not achieve the absolute highest frame rates available.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 194 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 138 FPS with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS. The High preset averages 122 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 106 FPS. This indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a noticeable drop from 1080p. The Low preset averages 147 FPS, which is a 24% reduction from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. The High preset averages 93 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 80 FPS. These figures suggest that the GPU is still capable of driving high refresh rates at 1440p, but the margin for error is smaller.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly, with the Low preset averaging 99 FPS, the Medium preset averaging 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS, the High preset averaging 62 FPS, and the Ultra preset averaging 54 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rates decrease proportionally with the increased pixel count. The Ultra preset’s 54 FPS average is the only measured result below 60 FPS, indicating that this setting is not recommended for this combo at 4K.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the Low preset provides the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra. The gaps between settings become more pronounced at higher resolutions, with the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p being 88 FPS, while at 4K it is 45 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s performance ceiling is reached at 4K regardless of settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo achieves in Control?*

A: The maximum average FPS is 194, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: No, the average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 62 FPS, which is just above 60 FPS but not a comfortable margin. The minimum FPS was not recorded for this setting.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H performs identically to the Intel Core i5-14600T, with a 0% delta in average benchmark score. It is also within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth and size?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s.

Q: Which setting provides the best balance of performance and quality at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS, providing a solid experience with good visual quality.

*Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Control?*

A: The combo ranks 866 out of 3,720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 23% of all tested combos.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience at 1920x1080, the High preset is recommended as it averages 122 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides better visual fidelity than Low or Medium. The Ultra preset at 106 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize image quality, but the frame rate is lower.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset offers the best balance, averaging 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS. The High preset at 93 FPS is also acceptable, but the Ultra preset at 80 FPS may dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes. The Low preset at 147 FPS is excessive for most displays and sacrifices visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the highest setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, with 70 FPS and a minimum of 60 FPS. The High preset at 62 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 54 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 99 FPS provides the best frame rate but at a significant visual cost.

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset delivers the most consistent performance across all resolutions, with minimum FPS values that never fall below 60 FPS at any resolution. This makes it the safest choice for players who want to maintain a smooth experience without sacrificing too much visual quality. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p provides the highest frame rates, but for a balanced experience, Medium is the recommended setting.