Control

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a 3.80 GHz base clock and a 4.80 GHz boost clock. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are typical for a high-end mobile part. In the context of Control, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, and the benchmark results show that this processor is more than capable of keeping up with even the most demanding graphics settings at lower resolutions. The processor’s PassMark multithreaded score of 24873 and single-thread score of 3468 indicate robust performance, though the game’s frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU at higher resolutions. The Core Ultra 7 155H sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32697, placing it in a tight cluster with rivals like the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, deltaPct 0) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, deltaPct 0.1). This suggests that for Control, the CPU is not a bottleneck; the measured FPS deltas across settings are far more dependent on the GPU’s workload. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 203 FPS, which is a clear indicator that the CPU can sustain very high frame rates when the GPU is not heavily taxed. The architecture’s efficiency, with a 28 W TDP, also means sustained performance is consistent, as thermal throttling is less likely to interfere with frame pacing in a game like Control.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate this combo achieves in Control?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 203, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H has an average benchmark score of 32697, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core i5-14600T’s score of 32707 (deltaPct 0) and slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F’s score of 32750 (deltaPct -0.2).

Q: Does lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p yield a significant FPS boost?

A: Yes, at High settings, the average FPS increases from 97 at 2560x1440 to 128 at 1920x1080, a gain of 31 FPS. At Low settings, the gain is even larger, from 153 to 203 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most consistent frame pacing at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset has the only recorded min/max FPS values (62 min, 85 max), indicating a frame range of 23 FPS, which is tighter than the other presets where min/max data is unavailable.

Q: How does the GPU’s 32 GB VRAM influence performance in Control?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on the RTX 5090 is far beyond what Control requires, so the game’s frame rates are not limited by VRAM capacity. The measured FPS differences between settings are more attributable to compute and bandwidth utilization.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested systems for this game?

A: The combo ranks 563rd out of 2888 tested combinations for Control, placing it in the top 20% of all recorded systems.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Control shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the dominant limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 203 at 1920x1080 to 153 at 2560x1440, a 24.6% reduction, and then further to 103 at 3840x2160, another 32.7% drop. This steep decline indicates that even with a high-end GPU like the RTX 5090, the sheer pixel throughput at 4K imposes a significant workload that cannot be fully offset by the CPU’s capabilities. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 22 threads, is clearly not the bottleneck at 1080p Low, as the 203 FPS figure demonstrates headroom; however, at 4K, the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are stretched, resulting in the lower frame rates.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 128 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24.2%, and from 1440p to 4K is 33.0%, showing that the relative cost of each resolution step is nearly identical regardless of the preset. This consistency suggests that the rendering pipeline in Control scales linearly with pixel count, and the RTX 5090’s 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance are being utilized efficiently. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 57 FPS, which is still playable but indicates that the game’s maximum visual fidelity settings impose a heavy load that pushes the GPU close to its limits, even with a top-tier card. The data reveals that the limiting component transitions from the CPU at 1080p Low (where frame rates are high enough to expose CPU overhead) to the GPU at 4K Ultra (where the GPU’s compute and memory system are saturated).

Settings Recommendations

For this combo, the data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate stability, particularly at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, Medium yields an average FPS of 73, with a recorded min of 62 and max of 85. This 23 FPS range is the only measured frame pacing data available, and it indicates that the system can maintain a reasonably consistent experience without dipping below 60 FPS. In contrast, High at 4K averages 65 FPS, which is lower and lacks min/max data, implying potential for more variance. At 2560x1440, Medium provides 109 FPS average (93 min, 125 max), which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a solid margin for demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 153 FPS, but this comes at a significant visual cost that is unnecessary given the hardware’s capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 144 FPS (122 min, 165 max), which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays, while High at 128 FPS is also excellent. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, drops to 111 FPS at 1080p and 84 FPS at 1440p, which may be preferable for users prioritizing image quality over raw frame rate. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 57, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, making this preset less recommended unless the user is willing to accept occasional dips. Overall, the data shows that Medium is the sweet spot: it maintains higher minimum frame rates (62 at 4K) than other presets and provides a significant FPS boost over High (73 vs 65 at 4K) while preserving most visual fidelity. For competitive play or high-refresh monitors, Low at 1080p (203 FPS) or 1440p (153 FPS) are viable options, but for a balanced experience, Medium is the measured recommendation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 563rd out of 2888 tested combos for Control, which places it in the 80.5th percentile of all systems tested. This is a strong result, though not at the very top, indicating that there are 562 other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates in this game. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU: while the RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card (92nd percentile of all GPUs), the Core Ultra 7 155H is a mobile processor that, while capable, is not the fastest available. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 32697 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, deltaPct 0), and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812, deltaPct -0.4) is only slightly ahead. This suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, the system would perform on par with those alternatives, but the GPU is the primary driver of the combo’s overall ranking.

The measured FPS data shows that this combo’s ranking is heavily influenced by the resolution and settings chosen. At 1080p Low, the 203 FPS average would place it among the top performers, but at 4K Ultra, the 57 FPS average is more modest. The combo’s rank of 563 out of 2888 suggests that many other systems, likely with desktop-class CPUs, achieve higher frame rates at 1080p, where CPU overhead is more significant. However, the RTX 5090’s massive 32 GB VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensure that the system remains competitive at 4K, where the GPU is the bottleneck. The deltaPct values for the GPU’s nearest rivals show that the RTX 5090 (avgScore 79842) is closely matched by the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605, deltaPct 0.3) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940, deltaPct 1.1), indicating that the graphics performance is robust but not uniquely dominant. Overall, the combo ranks well for a mobile CPU paired with a top-tier GPU, but it does not top the charts due to the CPU’s mid-range standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 203 FPS, Medium produces 144 FPS (with a min of 122 and max of 165), High produces 128 FPS, and Ultra produces 111 FPS. The frame rate difference between Low and Ultra is 92 FPS, showing a significant scaling cost for higher visual fidelity. At 2560x1440, the averages are 153 FPS for Low, 109 FPS for Medium (min 93, max 125), 97 FPS for High, and 84 FPS for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with Low losing 50 FPS, Medium losing 35 FPS, High losing 31 FPS, and Ultra losing 27 FPS. This indicates that the GPU’s workload increases proportionally with pixel count, and the RTX 5090’s performance scales predictably. At 3840x2160, the averages are 103 FPS for Low, 73 FPS for Medium (min 62, max 85), 65 FPS for High, and 57 FPS for Ultra. The transition from 1440p to 4K results in further reductions: Low loses 50 FPS, Medium loses 36 FPS, High loses 32 FPS, and Ultra loses 27 FPS.

The data reveals that the absolute FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is 100 FPS for Low, 71 FPS for Medium, 63 FPS for High, and 54 FPS for Ultra. This means that at lower settings, the game is more sensitive to resolution changes because the GPU is less saturated, allowing the CPU to push higher frame rates at 1080p, which then fall sharply as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. At Ultra settings, the GPU is already heavily loaded at 1080p (111 FPS), so the relative drop to 4K (57 FPS) is smaller in percentage terms. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max values at all three resolutions, providing a complete picture of frame pacing: at 1080p, the range is 43 FPS (122-165), at 1440p it is 32 FPS (93-125), and at 4K it is 23 FPS (62-85). This narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU’s consistent workload reduces frame time variance, leading to smoother gameplay despite lower average FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for high-resolution gaming. In Control, the GPU’s role is dominant at 4K, where the measured FPS drops to 57 at Ultra settings, indicating that the card’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are being fully utilized. The GPU’s 21760 shading units and 680 texture mapping units (TMUs) handle the game’s complex rendering effects, while the 176 ROPs manage the final pixel output. The RTX 5090’s 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842, places it ahead of most cards, though its nearest rivals—the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605, deltaPct 0.3) and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940, deltaPct 1.1)—are within a narrow margin.

The GPU’s 32 GB VRAM is far more than Control requires, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor; instead, the bandwidth and compute throughput dictate performance. At 1080p Low, the GPU is underutilized, allowing the CPU to drive frame rates to 203 FPS. As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s workload scales, and the frame rates drop accordingly, confirming that the RTX 5090 is the primary performance limiter at higher pixel counts. The card’s 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and data transfer do not bottleneck performance, as evidenced by the consistent FPS scaling across settings. The GPU’s 575 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface provide ample power and bandwidth for the card to operate at full capacity, and the dual-slot design with a 16-pin power connector is typical for a high-end card. In Control, the RTX 5090’s performance is strong, but the data shows that even this flagship GPU cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, highlighting the game’s demanding nature at maximum settings.