The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile. The measured data shows a combination that is capable of high frame rates, yet the scaling across resolutions and settings reveals a clear hierarchy of bottlenecks. This analysis interprets the benchmark results to understand where this mobile flagship duo excels and where its performance curve begins to flatten.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 provides a clear picture of how the system handles increasing pixel counts. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 140 FPS at 1080p to 92 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 50 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial performance hit, but the pattern is not entirely uniform.

Looking at the Low settings row, the scaling is more telling. At 1080p Low, the system produces 214 FPS, which drops to 140 FPS at 1440p and then to 77 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is 45%, while the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35%. This indicates that the GPU is being progressively more stressed as resolution increases, which is expected. However, the fact that the system can still achieve 77 FPS at 4K Low suggests that the RTX 4080 Mobile has significant headroom even at the highest resolution, and the CPU is not the primary limiter in this scenario.

The Medium settings data includes min and max FPS values, which provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 164 FPS with a min of 139 and max of 189. At 1440p Medium, the average is 107 FPS with a min of 91 and max of 123. At 4K Medium, the average is 59 FPS with a min of 50 and max of 68. The spread between min and max FPS remains relatively consistent across resolutions, suggesting that frame pacing is stable and there are no sudden spikes in rendering complexity.

The data implies that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound in certain scenes, as the frame rates exceed what the GPU alone might sustain in a pure rasterization test. The Ryzen 9 8945HX, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, provides ample processing power, but the game engine's single-threaded performance may become a factor. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint, as evidenced by the more pronounced FPS drops. The RTX 4080 Mobile's 12 GB of VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the raw compute power at 4K is what holds the average to 50 FPS at High settings.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the average frame rate at 2560x1440 with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 92 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is a 34% drop from the 1080p High result of 140 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still well-utilized at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4080 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 38135. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, scores 38299, which is a 0.4% delta. The RTX 5080 Mobile scores 38349, also a 0.4% delta. The data shows these are very close in average score, despite likely differences in architecture.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1920x1080?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 214 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 109 FPS. This is a 105 FPS difference, or roughly a 49% reduction in performance when moving from Low to Ultra. The Medium preset sits between them at 164 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo of AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile ranks 1209 out of 3696 tested combos. This places it in the 67th percentile of all tested systems, indicating it performs better than the majority but is not at the absolute top tier.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-core performance suggest it could bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 42713, which is very high. However, at 1080p Low, the system produces 214 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The data suggests that at these high frame rates, the CPU's single-thread performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030, is more likely to be a limiting factor than the multi-core score.

Q: What is the VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth of the GPU?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. This is a substantial amount of VRAM for a mobile GPU and should be sufficient for high-resolution textures in this game.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 7424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The base clock is 1290 MHz, with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The memory operates at 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective, across a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. The 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM is a critical asset for The Technomancer, as the game's world can be texture-heavy.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities are impressive, with an FP32 performance of 24.72 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 386.3 GTexel/s. The pixel rate is 133.2 GPixel/s. These figures suggest the GPU is well-equipped to handle the game's rendering demands. The benchmark data supports this, as the GPU achieves high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K High, the 50 FPS average shows the GPU is working hard, but the frame rate remains playable.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 81st among all GPUs, which is strong. Its average benchmark score is 38135, placing it in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 and RTX 5080 Mobile. The deltaPct values for these rivals are -0.4% and -0.6%, respectively, indicating that the RTX 4080 Mobile is essentially on par with these in synthetic tests. However, in this specific game, the measured FPS shows that the GPU's performance scales well with resolution, but the 4K Ultra setting (39 FPS) shows its limits.

The 110 W TDP is a consideration for mobile thermal management, but the data shows that the GPU can sustain high clock speeds under load. The memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s is sufficient for the game's needs, as evidenced by the stable frame times at Medium settings where min and max FPS are recorded. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures compatibility with modern rendering features, though The Technomancer's 2016 release date means it likely relies on older DirectX 11 paths, which the GPU handles efficiently.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset yields an average of 214 FPS, the Medium preset yields 164 FPS (with a min of 139 and max of 189), the High preset yields 140 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 109 FPS. This shows a clear progression of decreasing performance as settings increase, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 105 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread of 50 FPS indicates some variability, but the average remains high.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop but remain highly playable. Low averages 140 FPS, Medium averages 107 FPS (with a min of 91 and max of 123), High averages 92 FPS, and Ultra averages 72 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 68 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread is 32 FPS, which is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more consistently utilized.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. Low averages 77 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS (with a min of 50 and max of 68), High averages 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 38 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread is 18 FPS, indicating that the GPU is consistently near its limit. The 39 FPS at Ultra is the only sub-40 FPS result in the entire dataset, highlighting the stress that 4K Ultra places on the system.

The data shows that the 1440p resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, as it provides high frame rates across all settings. At 1440p High, the 92 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and even 4K High at 50 FPS is playable. The 1080p results are exceptionally high, suggesting that the CPU may be limiting the GPU at this resolution, as the frame rates exceed what the GPU might achieve in a pure GPU-bound scenario.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 140 FPS is an excellent choice for users with high-refresh-rate displays. The Ultra preset at 109 FPS is also viable, but the 31 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains, especially given that High already provides a very smooth experience. The Medium preset at 164 FPS could be chosen for maximum performance, but the trade-off in visual fidelity is significant.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 92 FPS is the recommended choice for a balanced experience. It provides a smooth frame rate that is suitable for most gaming scenarios. The Medium preset at 107 FPS offers a slight performance boost, but the visual difference between High and Medium may be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 72 FPS is still playable, but it represents a 22% drop from High, which may not be worth the increased graphical fidelity. For users with 144 Hz monitors, the Medium preset might be preferable to stay closer to the refresh rate.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 77 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 59 FPS is playable but may dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes, as the min FPS is 50. The High preset at 50 FPS is a compromise, but the Ultra preset at 39 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience. For 4K gaming, the Low or Medium presets are the most practical choices to maintain playable frame rates, as the visual differences at 4K are less pronounced than at lower resolutions.

The data suggests that the High preset at 1440p offers the best overall balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 92 FPS. This provides a significant margin above the 60 FPS threshold and allows for some headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 1080p is also an excellent choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, with an average of 164 FPS.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The CPU is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a 64 MB L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core. Its performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and a single-core score of 6030. The CPU's percentile ranking is 95th among all CPUs.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where frame rates are exceptionally high. At 1080p Low, the system produces 214 FPS, which is a very high number that suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output. However, the data also shows that the CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030, may be a limiting factor at these extreme frame rates. The game, released in 2016, likely relies on a few heavily threaded tasks, and the CPU's high multi-core score does not necessarily translate to better performance in older game engines.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s and support for DDR5 memory are adequate for the game's requirements. The 28 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the GPU and other peripherals. The CPU's 55 W TDP is relatively low for a 16-core mobile processor, which is beneficial for thermal management in a laptop chassis.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, as the frame rates drop consistently with resolution, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor. However, at 1080p, the CPU may be preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential, as the frame rates are exceptionally high but the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is not perfectly linear. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, have a very similar average benchmark score (76155 vs 76212), indicating that the CPU is at the top of its class.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile ranks 1209 out of 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places the combo in the upper third of all tested systems, as it is better than approximately 67% of the tested combinations. The rank of 1209 indicates that while this is a high-performing system, there are many other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in this specific game.

The rank is influenced by both the CPU and GPU. The CPU's percentile rank of 95th among all CPUs is very high, but the GPU's percentile rank of 81st among all GPUs is slightly lower. This suggests that the GPU is the weaker link in this combo for this game, which is consistent with the resolution scaling data. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the RTX 5080 Mobile and MX570, have similar average benchmark scores, but in this game, the RTX 4080 Mobile's performance is what determines the combo's rank.

The combo's rank of 1209 out of 3696 means that there are 2487 combos that rank lower. This is a strong result, but it also indicates that the system is not at the absolute top tier for this game. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is a weak point, as many other combos likely achieve higher frame rates at this setting. However, the 1080p and 1440p results are very strong, which contributes to the overall rank.

The data shows that this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it delivers high frame rates. At 4K, the system is capable but not exceptional, with the Low and Medium presets providing playable frame rates. The rank of 1209 reflects this balanced performance profile, where the system excels at lower resolutions but is not optimized for the most demanding 4K scenarios.