Control Laptop and Desktop Benchmarks

Artistic synthesis.

Developed by Remedy Entertainment, Control is a story-driven action-adventure that sends the main character through a constantly changing building. Read on to find out how this visual extravaganza plays on various desktop and laptop GPUs.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Alex Alderson), Published 09/13/2019 🇩🇪 🇷🇺 ...

Technology

Control has been developed by Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind the Alan Wake, Quantum Break and the Max Payne series. Control may look and feel familiar if you have played any of those games then, with Remedy opting for a third-person point-of-view (POV) once again. In short, Control has excellent graphics, if your machine is powerful enough to display them, which Remedy has complemented with creative level design, and detailed cut-scenes. The studio has incorporated stunning cinematic camera work and excellent English voice-acting too. In general, Control impressed us with a first-class atmosphere and its exciting story-telling.

The graphics are visually impressive on a macro level, but things become more ambiguous upon looking closely. Textures, for example, are not as sharp as they could be. However, lighting effects offset this slightly and bring the game to life. Remedy has incorporated a sophisticated physics system too that includes destructible environments, putting you in the thick of the action.

Sadly, the gameplay cannot quite keep up with the visual fireworks. Despite there being various upgrades and abilities, fights sequences become repetitive. We would have liked to see Remedy include something like bullet-time, as it did in the Max Payne series, which would have kept the fights feeling fresh even after several hours of gameplay.

Setting the fight sequences aside, Remedy has done a great job at organising the graphics menu. You must scroll through each of the tabs, but the options are laid out clearly, with the red and white text contrasting nicely with the black background. We have included screenshots of the Display menu below, which separates graphics options into Monitor, Quality and Ray Tracing. The latter only becomes activated if you start the game in DirectX 12. The same applies to NVIDIA DLSS. Control can apply all graphics changes without a restart, which is something we always like to see.

While Control looks and plays well without any graphics glitches, we encountered strange issues on some devices. Specifically, the installer reproducibly crashed on some laptops, and we noticed frequent scaling issues on our 4K external monitor if we set the game to DirectX 12. A reboot typically solved the latter issue, while installing the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable minimised installer crashes on laptops.

Oddly, Control refused to show DX12 mode on some systems, despite running on suitable hardware. We also experienced several crashes with ray tracing active. The loading times are a bit long too, even when running on a fast PCIe NVMe SSD. However, the game installed quickly, despite needing 23 GB of space.

Benchmark

Control does not have a built-in benchmark as many games do, so we chose a reproducible part of the game instead. As the video below demonstrates, we chose the mission Directorial Override as our benchmark, which you reach after around 1-2 hours of gameplay. Our benchmark lasts around 25 seconds, during which we sprint around the upper floor of the great hall. Our benchmark is not particularly taxing, making it a good representation of average frame rates throughout the game. 35 FPS looked smooth to our eyes, primarily because the game always remains in a third-person POV.

Remedy has included three presets, which it calls Low, Medium and High. As we mentioned earlier, there is Ray Tracing too, although not every scene seems to make use of its advanced lighting. We have included screenshots of the same scene running on each preset and with ray tracing switched on. Ray tracing improves the reflective quality of panes of glass, for example, but not all textures.

Results

HD (1280x720) & FHD (1920x1080)

We would recommend using at least a recent dedicated laptop GPU if you want to play Control in 720p on the Low preset. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050, for example, averaged 80 FPS. However, the game proves too much for the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 at these settings. Switching to 1080p and the Medium preset requires jumping to at least a Radeon RX 460 if you are using a desktop and a GeForce GTX 1060 or GeForce GTX 1650 on a laptop. The desktop version of the GeForce GTX 1060 should be powerful enough to play Control in 1080p on the High preset, while we would recommend a GeForce GTX 1070 or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti on a laptop.

Control
1280x720 Low Quality Preset 1920x1080 Medium Quality Preset 1920x1080 High Quality Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	240 (226^min) fps ∼20% 137 (121^min) fps ∼15% 106 (94^min) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	239 (226^min) fps ∼20% 115 (102^min) fps ∼12% 87.1 (76^min) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	239 (237^min) fps ∼20% 123 (108^min) fps ∼13% 94.8 (83^min) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2060	237 (217^min) fps ∼20% 96.2 (84^min) fps ∼10% 72.7 (64^min) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce GTX 1080	233 (213^min) fps ∼20% 88.4 (78^min) fps ∼9% 67.1 (57^min) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), i7-7740X Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition	233 (206^min) fps ∼20% 107 (93^min) fps ∼11% 82 (71^min) fps ∼8%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	222 (198^min) fps ∼19% 97.3 (86^min) fps ∼10% 72.3 (63^min) fps ∼7%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	212 (157^min) fps ∼18% 80 (70^min) fps ∼9% 59.1 (52^min) fps ∼6%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK Alienware 17 R4	212 (184^min) fps ∼18% 81.1 (71^min) fps ∼9% 61.9 (53^min) fps ∼6%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	210 (190^min) fps ∼18% 72.3 (63^min) fps ∼8% 52.8 (45^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce GTX 1070	207 (188^min) fps ∼17% 74.8 (65^min) fps ∼8% 55.6 (48^min) fps ∼6%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK Asus G752VS	202 (170^min) fps ∼17% 70.6 (62^min) fps ∼8% 51 (44^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (Desktop), i7-7740X i7-7740X Asus X299 Prime	200 (173^min) fps ∼17% 78 (68^min) fps ∼8% 58.5 (50^min) fps ∼6%
AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop), i7-7740X i7-7740X Asus X299 Prime	158 (136^min) fps ∼13% 55 (47^min) fps ∼6% 39.3 (33^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop), i9-9900K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060	152 (137^min) fps ∼13% 51.6 (45^min) fps ∼6% 37.8 (32^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	144 (129^min) fps ∼12% 46.6 (41^min) fps ∼5% 33.7 (29^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP75 Leopard 9SC	143 (127^min) fps ∼12% 45.7 (39^min) fps ∼5% 33.4 (28^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GE72 7RE	95 (84^min) fps ∼8% 30.2 (26^min) fps ∼3% 21.9 (18^min) fps ∼2%
AMD Radeon RX 460 (Desktop), i7-7740X XFX RX-460P4DFG5 Double Dissipation 4 GB, Asus X299 Prime	83 (72^min) fps ∼7% 23.8 (20^min) fps ∼3% 16.3 (14^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GL62M 7RD-077	80 (69^min) fps ∼7% 24.4 (21^min) fps ∼3% 17.4 (15^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ Asus GL753VD	74.8 (66^min) fps ∼6% 23.5 (20^min) fps ∼3% 16.9 (14^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M, 6700HQ MSI GE72 965M Ti	56 (47^min) fps ∼5% 19 (14^min) fps ∼2% 13 (11^min) fps ∼1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000), R5 2500U Honor Magicbook	25.6 fps ∼2% 8.3 fps ∼1% 5.9 fps ∼1%
NVIDIA GeForce 940M, 5700HQ MSI GP62 2QD	11 (6^min) fps ∼1%

QHD (2560x1400) & UHD (3840x2160)

Gaming in QHD on the High preset requires at least a GeForce GTX 1080 or GeForce RTX 2060 on a laptop, or a desktop version of the GeForce GTX 1070 at a push. We would recommend the desktop version of the GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce RTX 2060 though if your budget can stretch that far. However, no GPU in our comparison table can average even 35 FPS in 4K on the High preset.

Control
2560x1440 High Quality Preset 3840x2160 High Quality Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	70.2 (61^min) fps ∼3% 34.8 (29^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	62.8 (55^min) fps ∼3% 31.6 (27^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	56.7 (50^min) fps ∼3% 28.1 (24^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop), i7-7740X Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition	53.2 (46^min) fps ∼2% 25.8 (22^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2060	47 (40^min) fps ∼2% 22.7 (19^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	46.9 (41^min) fps ∼2% 23 (20^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce GTX 1080	41.4 (35^min) fps ∼2% 19.7 (16^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK Alienware 17 R4	38.7 (33^min) fps ∼2% 18.8 (16^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	37.7 (33^min) fps ∼2% 18.4 (16^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (Desktop), i7-7740X i7-7740X Asus X299 Prime	37.1 (31^min) fps ∼2% 17.9 (15^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce GTX 1070	35.2 (30^min) fps ∼2% 17.2 (14^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	33.1 (28^min) fps ∼1% 15.1 (13^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK Asus G752VS	32.1 (27^min) fps ∼1% 15.7 (13^min) fps ∼2%
AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop), i7-7740X i7-7740X Asus X299 Prime	24.9 (21^min) fps ∼1% 12.1 (10^min) fps ∼2%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop), i9-9900K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060	23.6 (20^min) fps ∼1% 11.3 (10^min) fps ∼1%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	20.8 (18^min) fps ∼1% 9.7 (8^min) fps ∼1%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP75 Leopard 9SC	20.6 (17^min) fps ∼1% 9.8 (8^min) fps ∼1%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GE72 7RE	11.8 (9^min) fps ∼1% 3.3 (2^min) fps ∼0%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ Asus GL753VD	10.4 (9^min) fps ∼0% 5.2 (4^min) fps ∼1%

Ray Tracing (1920x1080)

Ray Tracing pushes GPUs hard, and not even the GeForce RTX 2080 can average 60 FPS at 1080p and the High preset. The entire RTX 20 series portfolio can handle Ray Tracing at 1080p, although frame rates can drop to as low as 30 FPS on the laptop version of the GeForce RTX 2060. We also tried Ray Tracing on GTX cards, but none were able to average even 20 FPS.

Control
1920x1080 High Quality Preset & High Ray Tracing Preset (DX12)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	58.8 (52^min) fps ∼16%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	56.2 (51^min) fps ∼16%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	49.1 (44^min) fps ∼14%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	43.6 (37^min) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2060	40.8 (37^min) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	35.2 (30^min) fps ∼10%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	18.2 (15^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce GTX 1080	17.4 (14^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile, i7-7820HK Alienware 17 R4	16.9 (12^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce GTX 1070	13.9 (11^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 6820HK Asus G752VS	13.8 (11^min) fps ∼4%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop), i9-9900K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060	9.1 (7^min) fps ∼3%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	8.4 (7^min) fps ∼2%

Please note:

Gaming tests are often time-consuming and are hampered by activation or installation limits. Hence, we can currently only provide some of the benchmarks for Control. We shall update this article with more GPUs in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Test Systems

Device	Graphics Card	Processor	RAM	OS
Desktop-PC I	MSI GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X) MSI GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i9-9900K	4 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop-PC II	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (11 GB GDDR5X) ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB GDDR5) XFX Radeon R9 Fury (4 GB HBM) Sapphire Radeon R9 290X (4 GB GDDR5) Sapphire Radeon R9 280X (3 GB GDDR5) MSI Radeon R7 370 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7740X	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop-PC III	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8 GB GDDR6) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6) NVIDIA Titan X (Pascal) (12 GB GDDR5X) AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (8 GB HBM2) XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 (8 GB GDDR5) Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB GDDR5) Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 570 (8 GB GDDR5) Gainward GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5) Zotac GeForce GT 1030 (2 GB GDDR5)	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop-PC IV	NVIDIA Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X	4 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GT76	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-9900K	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE65	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP75	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Alienware 17 R4	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X)	Intel Core i7-7820HK	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
ASUS G752VS	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6820HK	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GT62VR	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6820HK	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE72	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
ASUS GL753VD	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (4 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL62	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE72	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6700HQ	1 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI PE60	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6700HQ	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI CX72	NVIDIA GeForce 940MX (2 GB DDR3)	Intel Core i7-6700HQ	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP62	NVIDIA GeForce 940M (2 GB DDR3)	Intel Core i7-5700HQ	1 x 8 GB DDR3	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI CX61	NVIDIA GeForce 920M (2 GB DDR3)	Intel Celeron 2970M	1 x 8 GB DDR3	Windows 10 64 Bit
Honor Magicbook	AMD Radeon RX Vega 8	AMD Ryzen 5 2500U	1 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit

4K Monitor	NVIDIA drivers	AMD drivers
ASUS PB287Q, Philips Momentum 436M6VBPAB	ForceWare 436.15	Adrenalin 19.9.1

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 716 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2009

I discovered my interest in computers in my childhood, growing up with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 in the early 1990s. I was especially fascinated with computer games, even from an early age. From Monkey Island through Lands of Lore to Doom, I tried every game I could get my hands on. I have been working for Notebookcheck since 2009 with my focus mostly being on high-performance gaming laptops.

Translator: Alex Alderson - Senior Tech Writer - 14857 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018

Prior to writing and translating for Notebookcheck, I worked for various companies including Apple and Neowin. I have a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, which I have since converted to a Law Degree. Happy to chat on Twitter or Notebookchat.

contact me via: @aldersonaj, Bluesky

> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Control Laptop and Desktop Benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2019-09-13 (Update: 2026-02-25)

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > Control (2019)
		low 1280x720 Low Quality Preset	med. 1920x1080 Medium Quality Preset	high 1920x1080 High Quality Preset	QHD 2560x1440 High Quality Preset	4K 3840x2160 High Quality Preset

Legend
5	Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
	May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
	May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?	Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
	Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.

Technology

Benchmark

Results

HD (1280x720) & FHD (1920x1080)

QHD (2560x1400) & UHD (3840x2160)

Ray Tracing (1920x1080)

Please note:

Overview

Test Systems

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