The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with resolution and graphics presets. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, using benchmark data collected at three resolutions and four quality settings. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly capable at standard resolutions, yet constrained at 4K Ultra. The playable threshold is defined as 60 frames per second, and the following breakdown details exactly where this combination succeeds and where it falls short.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 deliver exceptional performance across all presets. With Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 191.6 FPS, indicating that the system is far from being taxed at this resolution. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 149.7 FPS, which still leaves a substantial margin above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings produce an average of 127.3 FPS, showing that the game remains highly fluid even with increased graphical complexity. The most demanding preset, Ultra, still achieves an average of 97.8 FPS. This performance profile suggests that at 1080p, the bottleneck is rarely the hardware, and the user can comfortably enable maximum settings for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong, though the scaling from 1080p shows a measurable impact. Low settings yield an average of 127.6 FPS, which is a 33% reduction compared to the 1080p Low result, but still far above the playable threshold. Medium settings average 98.9 FPS, representing a 34% decrease from the 1080p Medium score. High settings drop to 84 FPS, a 34% decline from the 1080p High result. Ultra settings at 1440p average 64 FPS, which is the first point where the system approaches the 60 FPS line, but it still clears it. The data indicates that this resolution is well within the capability of the combo, with all presets maintaining playable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. Low settings produce an average of 66.5 FPS, just barely above the playable threshold. Medium settings drop to 53.1 FPS, which falls below 60 FPS and is not considered playable by the defined standard. High settings average 48 FPS, further reducing the frame rate. Ultra settings at 4K are the most demanding, yielding an average of only 34.9 FPS. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is substantial; for example, Ultra settings fall from 64 FPS at 1440p to 34.9 FPS at 4K, a 45% reduction. This demonstrates that 4K resolution, especially at higher presets, imposes a severe load on the RTX 3070, and only the lowest settings can maintain a playable frame rate.

The data shows no min or max FPS values, so the analysis relies solely on average frame rates. This means that while the averages are informative, they do not capture potential frame time spikes or stutters. For a game like The Technomancer, which can have combat-heavy scenes, the absence of minimum FPS data means the smoothness of the experience cannot be fully guaranteed, but the high averages at lower resolutions suggest a generally stable performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the only preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Low, which achieves an average of 66.5 FPS. This is the best playable setting at this resolution, as Medium drops to 53.1 FPS, High to 48 FPS, and Ultra to 34.9 FPS. The data clearly indicates that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromises, limiting the user to the lowest graphical fidelity to maintain smooth gameplay.

For 2560x1440, the situation is far more favorable. The data shows that all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—stay at or above 60 FPS. The most demanding preset that remains playable is Ultra, which averages 64 FPS. This is the optimal choice for 1440p, as it provides the highest visual quality while still clearing the playable threshold. The margin above 60 FPS is slim but sufficient, meaning users can enjoy the full graphical experience at this resolution.

For 1920x1080, every preset is playable, and the best setting is Ultra, which averages 97.8 FPS. This provides a substantial buffer above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate is likely to remain high. Low settings at 1080p achieve 191.6 FPS, which may be useful for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, but Ultra is the recommended choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Examining the nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provides context for how other hardware might perform with this game. The Intel Core i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287, with its closest rival being the Intel Core i5-13600T, which scores 35305, a delta of -0.1%. This negligible difference means the i5-13600T would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in The Technomancer. Similarly, the Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 35365, a delta of -0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, a delta of -0.3%. These processors are all within a fraction of a percent of the i7-12700K, so any of them would behave almost identically in terms of frame rates where the CPU is the limiting factor.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which scores 17083, a delta of 0.7% (meaning the RX 7600 XT is slightly slower). This indicates that the RX 7600 XT would produce nearly the same FPS in The Technomancer, perhaps a frame or two lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037, a delta of 1%, and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019, a delta of 1.1%. These older or lower-tier cards are also very close in performance, though the RTX 3070 holds a slight edge. On the other side, the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468, a delta of -1.5%, meaning it is slightly faster than the RTX 3070 in synthetic benchmarks, but this is a compute-oriented card not designed for gaming.

The practical implication is that users with any of these rival components would see very similar performance. For instance, swapping the i7-12700K for an i5-13600T would not change the frame rates in a meaningful way, as the CPU is rarely the bottleneck at lower resolutions. Similarly, a Radeon RX 7600 XT would offer a near-identical experience to the RTX 3070, which is useful for those comparing upgrade paths or alternative builds.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i7-12700K and RTX 3070 run The Technomancer at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produce an average of 66.5 FPS. Medium settings drop to 53.1 FPS, High to 48 FPS, and Ultra to 34.9 FPS, all of which are below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: Ultra settings are playable, averaging 64 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, with High at 84 FPS, Medium at 98.9 FPS, and Low at 127.6 FPS also being viable.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT in this game?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, while the RX 7600 XT scores 17083, a delta of 0.7% in favor of the RTX 3070. This means the RTX 3070 would deliver slightly higher frame rates, but the difference is negligible in practice.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 at 1080p?

A: The data suggests not. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS is 191.6, which is extremely high. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 35287 and its 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate it has ample headroom, so the GPU is likely the limiting factor at higher presets.

Q: What is the combo rank for this hardware in The Technomancer?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K and RTX 3070 combination ranks 1545 out of 3696 tested combos, placing it in the upper half of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Are there any settings that are not playable at 1440p?

A: No, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable at 1440p, with averages ranging from 64 FPS at Ultra to 127.6 FPS at Low.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU across different resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with Low settings reaching 191.6 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated, and the CPU’s performance is sufficient to feed the graphics card. The i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, has a strong single-thread score of 1043 in 3dmark and a cinebench_r23 single-core score of 1850.5, which supports high frame rates in games that are not heavily multi-threaded. At 1080p, the RTX 3070 is likely the limiting factor, but even so, it delivers over 97 FPS at Ultra, so neither component is a significant bottleneck.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop by roughly one-third across all presets compared to 1080p. For example, High settings fall from 127.3 FPS at 1080p to 84 FPS at 1440p. This indicates that the GPU is becoming more heavily utilized, as the increased pixel count places a greater load on the graphics card. The CPU’s role diminishes somewhat, as the frame rates are still high enough that the processor is not the primary constraint. The drop from 84 FPS at High to 64 FPS at Ultra at 1440p shows that the GPU’s performance scales with preset complexity, confirming its dominant role at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The frame rates drop dramatically, with Ultra falling to 34.9 FPS and High to 48 FPS. Even Low settings only manage 66.5 FPS, which is barely above the playable threshold. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe, with Medium dropping from 98.9 FPS to 53.1 FPS, a 46% reduction. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 3070’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to handle the massive pixel throughput required at 4K. The CPU’s performance is largely irrelevant at this resolution, as the frame rates are constrained by the graphics card’s raw compute power.

The data also shows that the CPU’s multi-threaded performance is not a factor in this game. The i7-12700K scores 9979 in 3dmark_max_threads and 19784 in cinebench_r23_multicore, but The Technomancer does not appear to be a highly threaded workload. The consistent frame rate drops across resolutions and presets indicate that the GPU is the primary driver of performance, with the CPU providing adequate support without becoming a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination ranks 1545 out of 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places the system in the 58th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms more than half of the systems tested. This is a respectable position, reflecting the strong performance of the RTX 3070, which holds a 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs, and the i7-12700K, which is in the 84th percentile among CPUs.

The ranking is influenced by the game’s demanding nature at higher resolutions. At 1080p, this combo would likely rank higher due to the excellent frame rates, but the 4K results drag down the overall standing. The rank of 1545 suggests that there are many systems with more powerful GPUs, such as higher-tier RTX 30-series cards or newer generations, that achieve better performance in this title. However, for a mid-range to high-end build from the Alder Lake and Ampere era, this combination is solidly above average.

The comparison to rivals reinforces this position. The RTX 3070’s nearest rival, the RX 7600 XT, would perform nearly identically, meaning that systems with that GPU would likely rank similarly. The CPU rivals, such as the i5-13600T, would also produce comparable results, as the CPU is not a bottleneck in this game. Therefore, this ranking is representative of a broad range of systems with similar hardware.

The Verdict

The question of whether this PC can run The Technomancer is answered definitively by the data: yes, but with significant caveats at 4K. At 1920x1080, the system excels, with all presets clearing the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra settings achieving 97.8 FPS. This is the ideal resolution for this combo, providing a smooth and visually rich experience. At 2560x1440, the system also performs well, with Ultra settings averaging 64 FPS, which is just above the playable threshold. This is a viable option for users with 1440p monitors, though the margin is slim, and some may prefer High settings at 84 FPS for a more comfortable buffer.

At 3840x2160, the system is only playable at Low settings, which average 66.5 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra settings all fall below 60 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay. Users attempting 4K will need to accept substantial graphical compromises, and even then, the frame rate is close to the threshold. The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p and 1440p are fully playable at the highest settings, while 4K is limited to Low presets.

For a game released in 2016, this level of performance is more than adequate for most users. The RTX 3070, despite being from the Ampere generation, handles the game well at mainstream resolutions. The i7-12700K provides ample CPU performance, ensuring that the system is not held back by processing power. The data confirms that this is a capable gaming PC for The Technomancer, with the only limitation being the extreme demands of 4K Ultra settings, which would require a more powerful GPU.