Control

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile delivers a playable but not uniformly smooth experience in Control, with results that scale predictably with resolution and settings. The measured data reveals a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-core performance keeps frame rates from collapsing at lower settings. This analysis walks through the benchmark results step by step, focusing on what the numbers mean for actual gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking pattern in the measured FPS is the steep drop as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 79 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 59 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 40 FPS, which is another 32% lower than the 1440p result. This scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, indicating that the RTX 4060 Mobile is the primary bottleneck—the CPU is not holding the system back at these settings.

The trend holds across all quality presets. At Low settings, the frame rate goes from 124 FPS at 1080p, to 94 FPS at 1440p, to 64 FPS at 4K. That is a 48% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is more moderate than the High preset’s 49% drop, but still substantial. The fact that even Low settings cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the title. The RTX 4060 Mobile, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, simply does not have the raw throughput to push 4K at high frame rates in this game.

For players targeting 4K, the data suggests a choice between playable frame rates at lower quality or cinematic speeds at higher quality. The 4K Medium setting yields an average of 45 FPS, which is borderline for action gameplay. The 4K High and Ultra settings drop to 40 FPS and 35 FPS respectively, which are more suited to slower-paced exploration. The sweet spot for this combo is clearly 1440p, where the High preset achieves 59 FPS and the Medium preset hits 67 FPS, both comfortably within the playable range.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node, featuring 3072 shading units and 24 RT cores. Its boost clock of 1890 MHz, combined with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yields a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. These specs are modest by desktop standards, but they are competitive for a mobile part. The GPU’s benchmark scores reflect this positioning: it sits at the 67th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 22729.

In Control, the GPU’s role is dominant, as the resolution scaling data suggests. The 4K results are telling: even at Low settings, the average FPS is 64, which is far from the 124 FPS seen at 1080p Low. This is a 48% reduction, and it happens because the GPU’s fill rate and bandwidth are overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels in a 4K frame. The RTX 4060 Mobile’s 90.72 GPixel/s pixel rate is simply not enough to maintain high frame rates at that resolution.

The GPU’s relative standing against rivals is informative. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, has an average benchmark score of 22895, which is 0.7% higher than the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 22729. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is 0.8% lower, and the Intel Arc B580 is 1.3% lower. These are tiny differences, suggesting that in Control, the RTX 4060 Mobile performs very close to its direct competitors. The real-world FPS numbers confirm this: at 1080p High, the combo hits 79 FPS, which is a solid result but not exceptional for a modern mid-range GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor from the Meteor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It features 24 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 17984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1810.5 in single-core, placing it at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. These numbers indicate a strong multi-threaded performer, which is typical for a high-end mobile chip.

In Control, the CPU’s role is secondary but not negligible. The game is not heavily CPU-bound, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution. However, the CPU’s performance does set an upper limit on frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 124 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for this game. The single-core score of 1810.5 in Cinebench R23 suggests that the CPU can handle the game’s physics and AI without bottlenecking the GPU at standard settings.

The CPU’s nearest rivals show how close this processor is to its peers. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 has an average score of 35719, which is 0.1% higher than the Core Ultra 9 185H’s 35670. The Intel Core 7 250H is 0.2% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is 0.4% higher. These differences are within noise, meaning the CPU is not a distinguishing factor in Control performance. The bottleneck is almost entirely the GPU, particularly at 1440p and 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data allows for clear recommendations on which preset to use, depending on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 88 FPS and a minimum of 75 FPS. This ensures smooth gameplay with no noticeable dips, even in intense scenes. The High preset drops to 79 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium preset provides a more stable experience.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the clear winner, with an average of 67 FPS and a minimum of 57 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS target for most players, and the minimum frame rate is still respectable. The High preset at 59 FPS is close, but the slight dip below 60 FPS might be noticeable to sensitive players. For those who prioritize visual quality, High is acceptable, but Medium offers a more consistent experience.

At 4K, the options are more constrained. The Medium preset averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Low preset averages 64 FPS, but at that quality level, the game loses much of its visual appeal. Given that Control is a visually striking game, players with a 4K display should consider dropping to 1440p for a better balance of quality and performance. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it only yields 35 FPS at 4K and 68 FPS at 1080p, which is a marginal improvement over High.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile ranks 2278th out of 3720 combos for Control. This places it in the 61st percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 61% of all tested systems. This is a solid result for a mobile platform, but it is far from the top tier. The ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range position, as the CPU is definitely not the limiting factor.

The rank is influenced by the GPU’s performance relative to other GPUs. The RTX 4060 Mobile sits at the 67th percentile, while the CPU is at the 85th percentile. The combo rank of 61% is slightly lower than both individual percentiles, which suggests that the GPU is holding back the overall system in this game. If the CPU were paired with a more powerful GPU, the rank would likely be higher. However, for a laptop, this is a competitive result.

The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates with medium to high settings. At 4K, it struggles, but that is expected for a mobile GPU. The rank of 2278 out of 3720 is a fair representation of the system’s capabilities, and it indicates that this is a middle-of-the-pack performer for Control.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. The following breakdown details every measured value.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 124 FPS, which is the highest of any configuration. The Medium preset averages 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS. The High preset averages 79 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 68 FPS. This shows a clear progression: each step up in quality costs roughly 10-15 FPS, with the largest drop between Low and Medium.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 94 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset averages 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS. The High preset averages 59 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 52 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 27 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become the bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 64 FPS, which is the only configuration above 60 FPS at this resolution. The Medium preset averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. The High preset averages 40 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 35 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 19 FPS, and the difference between High and Ultra is only 5 FPS, suggesting that the game’s Ultra settings add little visual benefit for the performance cost.

The data consistently shows that the Medium preset offers the best trade-off between visual quality and frame rate, with playable averages at all resolutions. The Low preset is only recommended for competitive play at 1080p, where the 124 FPS average is a significant advantage.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?*

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At Medium settings, it produces an average of 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS, which is smooth and stable. At 1080p, the frame rates are higher, but the visual quality is lower. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 64 FPS, and Medium drops to 45 FPS.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: No. The Ultra preset provides only marginal visual improvements over High, but the performance cost is significant. At 1080p, Ultra averages 68 FPS compared to High’s 79 FPS, a 14% drop. At 1440p, Ultra averages 52 FPS versus High’s 59 FPS, and at 4K, Ultra drops to 35 FPS versus High’s 40 FPS.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar systems?

A: The GPU is within 1.3% of its nearest rivals in average benchmark score, including the RTX 2080 and RX 7700 XT. The CPU is within 0.7% of its nearest rivals. This means the combo performs as expected for its hardware class, with no significant outliers.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck, especially at 1440p and 4K. The frame rate drops by 48% from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which is a GPU limitation. The CPU’s single-core score of 1810.5 is sufficient to keep up with the GPU at most settings.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Control?*

A: Yes, but not at high quality. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 64, which is playable. At 4K Medium, it drops to 45 FPS, which is borderline. For a consistent experience, 1440p Medium or High is recommended.

Q: What is the minimum FPS I can expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum is 57 FPS, with an average of 67 FPS and a maximum of 77 FPS. This is a stable experience, with no major dips below 60 FPS.