A system for controlling convergence of gain to a target value for a variable gain amplifier comprising a detector module configured to determine a magnitude value of a variable gain amplifier output. Also, part of this embodiment is a comparator module configured to compare the magnitude value to a target value and responsive to the comparison, generate an up_dn signal. A digital control module is configured to receive the up_dn signal and processes the up_dn signal to generate a control vector. One or more digital to analog converters are configured to convert the control vector to an analog control signal such that the analog control signal controls the gain of the variable gain amplifier. Various methods of operation exist for this hardware configured to improve convergence time to a target gain value while controlling the rate of change of the gain.