The Technomancer

CPU Role - cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It runs with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. The CPU's benchmark scores show strong single-thread and multi-thread performance: a 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and a 3DMark 16-thread score of 8484, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18760 and single-core score of 1930.

For The Technomancer, an Action RPG from 2016, the CPU's high single-thread performance is relevant because the game's engine was designed in an era when most titles relied heavily on one or two threads. The Ryzen 7 7700's 3DMark 2-thread score of 2043 and 4-thread score of 3931 indicate that even when the game uses only a few cores, the processor delivers ample headroom. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration ensures that background tasks and any additional game threads will not cause bottlenecking. The CPU's percentile rank versus all CPUs is 87, meaning it outperforms the majority of processors in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (average benchmark score 40048, delta 0.1%), Intel Core 5 221E (40144, delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen 9 270 (40246, delta -0.4%), and Intel Core i9-13905H (40313, delta -0.6%). These deltas are small, all within 0.6% of the Ryzen 7 7700's average benchmark score of 40081, confirming that the CPU sits in a tightly contested performance tier.

The game's release date of 2016-06-27 means it predates the CPU by several years, and the recorded data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the average FPS reaches 273, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. This suggests that the CPU has no trouble feeding the GPU even in the least demanding graphical settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 140, but this drop is more attributable to GPU load than to CPU limitations, as the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities (Cinebench R23 multi-core 18760, PassMark multithread 34470) are far beyond what a 2016 title would require. The processor's 3DMark 8-thread score of 6933 and max-thread score of 8479 show consistent scaling from 8 to 16 threads, indicating that the CPU will not be a limiting factor at any resolution in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 444 out of 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places the combo in the top 12% of all recorded combinations, a strong result for a game that is over a decade old relative to the hardware. The percentile position reflects that most combos in the database are either less capable in CPU performance, GPU performance, or both. The CPU's percentile rank of 87 and the GPU's percentile rank of 84 both sit above the combo's overall rank, which indicates that the pairing is well balanced for this title.

The combo rank of 444 out of 3696 means there are 443 combos that perform better, and 3252 that perform worse. The data shows that the 1080p Low average FPS of 273 is exceptionally high, and even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains an average of 50 FPS. The rank is not purely determined by raw FPS, but by how the combo compares across all tested configurations. Since the game is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the combo's rank is more dependent on the GPU than the CPU, as most modern CPUs can handle the game's threaded workload. The Ryzen 7 7700's average benchmark score of 40081 puts it just 0.1% above the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048), which is a negligible difference in real-world gaming. The RTX 4070 Ti, with an average benchmark score of 44795, sits 0.8% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45152), 1.3% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45384), 1.6% above the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44075), and 1.7% below the Intel Arc A730M (45592). These rival deltas show that the GPU is near the top of its class in the database, which contributes to the combo's favorable rank.

The recorded data indicates that the combo's performance in this game is not limited by either component at lower resolutions, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the primary constraint. The rank of 444 reflects a configuration that delivers smooth gameplay at 1440p and playable frame rates at 4K, which is consistent with the hardware's capabilities.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the combo scales across three resolutions: 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 273 at 1080p to 178 at 1440p, a reduction of 95 FPS (35%), and then to 98 at 4K, a further reduction of 80 FPS (45%). This scaling pattern indicates that at Low settings, the GPU is the limiting factor even at 1080p, since the CPU can produce far more frames than the GPU can render. At Medium settings, the average FPS decreases from 210 at 1080p to 137 at 1440p (a 35% drop) and then to 75 at 4K (a 45% drop from 1440p). The High settings show a similar trend: 179 at 1080p, 117 at 1440p (35% lower), and 64 at 4K (45% lower). At Ultra settings, the average FPS goes from 140 at 1080p to 91 at 1440p (35% lower) and then to 50 at 4K (45% lower).

The consistent percentage drops across all settings, roughly 35% from 1080p to 1440p and 45% from 1440p to 4K, highlight that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in all configurations. The CPU's performance does not change with resolution, so if the CPU were limiting, the FPS would remain flat or drop less steeply. The fact that the drops are uniform across settings suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti's rendering load scales predictably with pixel count. The 4K Ultra average of 50 FPS is the lowest recorded value, and the 1080p Low average of 273 FPS is the highest. The scaling behavior confirms that the Ryzen 7 7700 provides sufficient headroom at all resolutions, and the RTX 4070 Ti determines the final frame rate. The 1440p results, with averages between 91 and 178 FPS depending on settings, show that this resolution is the sweet spot for the combo, as it balances visual quality with smoothness. The 4K results, ranging from 50 to 98 FPS, demonstrate that the GPU can handle 4K but with some settings compromises required for consistently high frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across all tested settings and resolutions.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: average 273 FPS
• Medium: average 210 FPS, with a minimum of 178 FPS and maximum of 241 FPS
• High: average 179 FPS
• Ultra: average 140 FPS

At 1080p, even the Ultra preset delivers an average above 140 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 178 FPS, indicating that frame times are consistent with no significant dips below the average. The Low to Medium jump is 63 FPS (from 273 to 210), while the Medium to High jump is 31 FPS (from 210 to 179), and the High to Ultra jump is 39 FPS (from 179 to 140). The scaling between settings is not linear, with the largest drop occurring from Low to Medium.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: average 178 FPS
• Medium: average 137 FPS, with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 158 FPS
• High: average 117 FPS
• Ultra: average 91 FPS

At 1440p, the Ultra preset still maintains an average above 90 FPS, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Medium preset's minimum of 116 FPS stays comfortably above 100 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 41 FPS (from 178 to 137), from Medium to High is 20 FPS (from 137 to 117), and from High to Ultra is 26 FPS (from 117 to 91). The relative differences between settings are smaller at 1440p than at 1080p, which is typical as the GPU becomes more heavily loaded.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: average 98 FPS
• Medium: average 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 87 FPS
• High: average 64 FPS
• Ultra: average 50 FPS

At 4K, the Low preset delivers an average of 98 FPS, which is still smooth, but the Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced action. The Medium preset's minimum of 64 FPS indicates that even the lower bound stays above 60 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is 23 FPS (from 98 to 75), from Medium to High is 11 FPS (from 75 to 64), and from High to Ultra is 14 FPS (from 64 to 50). The reductions are smaller in absolute terms at 4K because the GPU is already near its limits.

The data shows that the combo is capable of 60+ FPS at 4K with Medium or lower settings, and 60+ FPS at 1440p with Ultra settings. At 1080p, all settings produce averages above 140 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD104 chip fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process. It has 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, with 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). It comes with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The card's FP32 performance is 40.09 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s. The GPU has a TDP of 285 W and uses a single 16-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 600 W. Its production status is end-of-life, and it was released on 2023-01-02.

For The Technomancer, the GPU's role is dominant across all measured configurations. The benchmark results show that the RTX 4070 Ti's PassMark G3D score of 31624 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024 place it well above the median GPU. Its percentile rank versus all GPUs is 84, indicating it outperforms 84% of the GPUs in the database. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (average score 45152, delta -0.8%), AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45384, delta -1.3%), NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44075, delta 1.6%), and Intel Arc A730M (45592, delta -1.7%). The deltas are small, ranging from -1.7% to +1.6%, which means the RTX 4070 Ti is closely matched with its immediate competitors in raw benchmark terms.

In this game, the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient, as the game's textures and effects do not require large memory pools. The 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that data transfer is not a bottleneck. The FPS scaling with resolution, as described in the previous section, directly implicates the GPU as the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the 273 FPS average suggests that the GPU is still the constraint, because the CPU could theoretically render more frames if the GPU were faster. The 4K Ultra average of 50 FPS shows the GPU working at its maximum capacity for this title. The RTX 4070 Ti's FP32 throughput of 40.09 TFLOPS is more than adequate for a 2016 game, but the resolution scaling indicates that pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are the key factors limiting performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate determine how quickly it can fill 4K frames, and the measured data reflects this.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all settings produce averages above 140 FPS, so the Ultra preset is recommended for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The 1080p Ultra average of 140 FPS is well above 60 FPS, and even the minimum observed value at Medium (178 FPS) suggests no frame rate issues at this resolution.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 91 FPS, which is suitable for a 90 Hz or 100 Hz monitor. If a higher refresh rate display is used, the High preset at 117 FPS provides a noticeable improvement in smoothness with a modest reduction in visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 137 FPS is also viable for competitive play, but the High preset offers a better balance between image quality and performance.

At 4K, the Ultra preset's average of 50 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that many users prefer for action RPGs. The High preset matches 60 FPS exactly at an average of 64 FPS, making it the recommended choice for a 60 Hz display. The Medium preset at 75 FPS provides additional headroom and is the better option for displays with variable refresh rates. The Low preset at 98 FPS is available but sacrifices too much visual quality for the marginal gain over Medium.

For a consistent 60+ FPS experience across all resolutions, the data suggests using Ultra at 1080p, High at 1440p, and Medium at 4K. For a 144 Hz display at 1440p, the High preset is the best fit, as it stays above 117 FPS on average. For a 4K 120 Hz display, none of the settings reach 120 FPS, but the Medium preset at 75 FPS offers the best visual quality among playable options.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 140 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 4K with 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, the High settings produce an average of 64 FPS, and the Medium settings produce an average of 75 FPS, both of which exceed 60 FPS. The Ultra settings average 50 FPS, which is below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40081, which is 0.1% above the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048), 0.2% below the Intel Core 5 221E (40144), 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 9 270 (40246), and 0.6% below the Intel Core i9-13905H (40313).

Q: What is the lowest recorded average FPS in the dataset?

A: The lowest recorded average FPS is 50, measured at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How much does the average FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 179 at 1920x1080 to 117 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 62 FPS (35%).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile rank versus all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has a percentile rank of 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of all GPUs in the database.