Control

# Control — Intel Core Ultra X7 368H + AMD Radeon RX 7900M

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H and AMD Radeon RX 7900M delivers a compelling Control experience, with measured frame rates ranging from 44 FPS at 4K Ultra to 158 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance ensures it never becomes the primary bottleneck in this action-adventure title. The combo ranks 1192nd out of 2888 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all systems measured for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p High, the system achieves 100 FPS average, which drops to 76 FPS at 1440p High, and further to 51 FPS at 4K High. This represents a 24% performance reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is more aggressive at lower settings, where 1080p Low delivers 158 FPS, 1440p Low drops to 120 FPS, and 4K Low lands at 81 FPS — a 24% and 33% drop respectively, showing a consistent pattern across settings.

The resolution scaling pattern strongly indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly a quarter of the frame rate, and the jump to 4K costs another third. This is classic GPU-bound behavior, where the rendering workload increases with pixel count and the graphics card's compute and memory bandwidth become the constraining factors. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 576.0 GB/s bandwidth on the RX 7900M are substantial, yet the data shows that 4K Ultra (44 FPS) pushes the system to its limits.

Interestingly, the scaling from Medium to High settings at each resolution is relatively modest — at 1080p, Medium delivers 112 FPS versus 100 FPS on High, and at 4K, the gap is 57 FPS versus 51 FPS. This suggests that Control's High preset does not add an overwhelming amount of GPU workload over Medium. However, the Ultra preset imposes a more significant penalty: at 1080p, Ultra drops to 87 FPS (a 13% reduction from High), at 1440p it falls to 66 FPS (a 13% reduction), and at 4K it reaches 44 FPS (a 14% reduction). The consistent percentage penalty across resolutions for Ultra settings indicates that the additional effects and rendering features scale uniformly with resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the dominant performance driver in this configuration, particularly at higher resolutions. With 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation units, the GPU has substantial raw compute capability. The chip runs at a base clock of 1825 MHz with a boost clock of 2090 MHz, and its 38.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance places it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs in the benchmark database. The memory subsystem is equally robust: 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus provides 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Control's detailed textures and effects at 4K resolution.

The GPU benchmark scores corroborate the gaming performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 7900M scores 4201, and its Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 129499 and 158760 respectively. The average benchmark score of 97487 puts it 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII, 4.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60, and 6.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4500. These relative positions suggest that the RX 7900M is a high-end mobile GPU that competes with professional workstation-class parts, which aligns with its strong gaming frame rates in Control.

The GPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate deltas between Low and Ultra settings. At 4K, Low delivers 81 FPS while Ultra delivers 44 FPS — a 45% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is 120 FPS to 66 FPS (45% reduction), and at 1080p, it's 158 FPS to 87 FPS (45% reduction). The uniform percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU's compute and memory resources are being taxed proportionally by the Ultra preset's additional effects, regardless of pixel count. The RX 7900M's 72 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support suggest it can handle Control's advanced rendering features, though the data shows that enabling all effects at 4K pushes the frame rate below the 50 FPS threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H plays a supporting but non-trivial role in this system's Control performance. With 16 cores and 16 threads, the CPU offers substantial parallel processing capability, running at a base clock of 2.00 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The Panther Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process, includes 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 2.5 MB of L2 cache per core, which helps maintain consistent frame delivery. The CPU's 25 W TDP is modest for a mobile processor, but its performance metrics indicate it is well-suited for gaming workloads.

In CPU benchmarks, the Core Ultra X7 368H achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28221 and a single-core score of 3984, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. Its PassMark multithread score of 32956 and single-thread score of 4005 reinforce its strong position. The average benchmark score of 40518 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core 7 253PE (40557, -0.1% delta), Intel Core 5 223PE (40585, -0.2% delta), AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (40431, +0.2% delta), and Intel Xeon 6507P (40426, +0.2% delta). This places the CPU in a tightly contested performance tier where small differences are within noise.

For Control specifically, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, physics calculations, and game logic. The data suggests that at 1080p Low, where the GPU is less stressed, the CPU is still able to keep up — the 158 FPS result indicates no CPU bottleneck at this setting. Even at 1080p Ultra (87 FPS), the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU workload increases rather than CPU limitations. The 16-core configuration provides ample headroom for Control's threaded engine, and the boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance for game logic that may not be fully parallelized. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 153.6 GB/s via dual-channel LPDDR5X is sufficient to avoid starving the GPU, particularly given the RX 7900M's dedicated 16 GB VRAM.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 158 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 112 FPS, and at 1080p High it achieves 100 FPS, so players seeking maximum smoothness should use the Low preset at 1080p.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Control?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 57, which is playable. At 4K High, it drops to 51 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 44 FPS. For a consistently smooth 4K experience, Medium settings are the highest recommended based on the measured data.

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

A: The RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97487, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro VII, 4.3% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, 5.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60, and 6.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A4500.

Q: What settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: At 1080p, Medium settings deliver 112 FPS, which is a strong balance. At 1440p, High settings at 76 FPS offer good quality with smooth gameplay. At 4K, Medium at 57 FPS is the realistic ceiling for maintaining acceptable frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The Core Ultra X7 368H's 16 cores and 5.00 GHz boost clock provide ample performance, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low (158 FPS) where CPU load is most likely to be the limiting factor. The consistent GPU-bound scaling across resolutions confirms this.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Control?

A: This combination ranks 1192nd out of 2888 tested combos, placing it in the upper 59% of all systems. This is a solid position, reflecting the strong GPU and capable CPU working together effectively for this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the system has substantial headroom: Low delivers 158 FPS, Medium delivers 112 FPS, High delivers 100 FPS, and Ultra delivers 87 FPS. For competitive or fast-paced play, Medium at 112 FPS is the recommended balance — it provides a 12% improvement over High while maintaining smooth motion on high-refresh-rate displays. The jump from Medium to High costs only 12 FPS, so players with 100 Hz displays can safely select High for better visuals without dropping below their refresh rate.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain solid but the headroom narrows. Low delivers 120 FPS, Medium delivers 85 FPS, High delivers 76 FPS, and Ultra delivers 66 FPS. The Medium preset at 85 FPS is the sweet spot for 1440p gaming, offering a 12% improvement over High while keeping well above 60 FPS. High at 76 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, but Ultra at 66 FPS begins to approach the threshold where motion smoothness may suffer on some displays.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly GPU-limited. Low delivers 81 FPS, Medium delivers 57 FPS, High delivers 51 FPS, and Ultra delivers 44 FPS. Medium is the recommended preset for 4K, as it maintains a playable 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS. High at 51 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 44 FPS should be avoided for action sequences. Players who insist on 4K Ultra should be prepared for sub-45 FPS performance, which may be acceptable for slower exploration but not for combat-heavy scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo across all resolutions and settings is as follows. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 158 FPS, Medium produces 112 FPS (with a minimum of 96 and maximum of 129), High produces 100 FPS, and Ultra produces 87 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low delivers 120 FPS, Medium delivers 85 FPS (minimum 72, maximum 98), High delivers 76 FPS, and Ultra delivers 66 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low achieves 81 FPS, Medium achieves 57 FPS (minimum 49, maximum 66), High achieves 51 FPS, and Ultra achieves 44 FPS.

The data reveals consistent scaling patterns. Moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 24-26% across all settings. Moving from 1440p to 4K reduces frame rates by approximately 32-33% across all settings. The Medium preset consistently shows the smallest variance between minimum and maximum FPS, indicating more stable frame pacing compared to other presets. The minimum FPS values for Medium (96 at 1080p, 72 at 1440p, 49 at 4K) suggest that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains playable performance. The maximum FPS values (129 at 1080p, 98 at 1440p, 66 at 4K) show the system's peak capability when scenes are less demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H + AMD Radeon RX 7900M combination ranks 1192nd out of 2888 tested combos for Control, placing it in the 58.7th percentile of all systems measured. This is a strong showing, indicating that this mobile platform outperforms a majority of tested configurations in this game. The rank reflects the synergistic balance between the CPU and GPU: the Core Ultra X7 368H provides sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RX 7900M, while the GPU's high-end specifications handle Control's demanding rendering requirements.

In the context of the broader benchmark database, the GPU's 94th percentile ranking is notably higher than the combo's game-specific rank, suggesting that some CPU-GPU pairings in the database achieve better Control performance through more favorable combinations. The CPU's 87th percentile ranking also exceeds the combo's game rank, indicating that neither component is underperforming relative to its peers — rather, Control's specific workload characteristics may favor certain hardware configurations. The measured data confirms that this combo is well-suited for Control at 1080p and 1440p with high frame rates, and capable at 4K with adjusted settings. Players with this hardware can expect a smooth experience at most settings, with the understanding that 4K Ultra represents the system's performance limit.