The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, presents an interesting test for modern hardware. The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a wide range of performance depending on resolution and settings, with the data showing a system that can handle high-refresh 1080p gaming but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K on the highest presets. This analysis breaks down the measured results to understand the role each component plays in this specific title.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread mobile processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and can boost up to 5.40 GHz, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The processor features a substantial 64 MB of L3 cache, alongside 1 MB of L2 cache per core and 64 KB of L1 cache per core. This configuration places it in the top tier of mobile CPUs, as evidenced by its 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs in the database.

In the context of The Technomancer, a title from 2016, the CPU's sheer core count is less of a factor than its high clock speeds. The game's engine, typical of that era, is unlikely to scale perfectly across 16 cores. However, the Ryzen 9 8945HX’s impressive single-threaded performance, indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030, is more relevant. This strong single-core capability ensures that the game's primary simulation and draw-call threads are not bottlenecked, allowing the GPU to be the limiting factor in most scenarios.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and a Passmark multithread score of 51405. While The Technomancer may not fully utilize all 32 threads, this headroom means there is no risk of background tasks or less-optimized game threads causing stutters. The CPU's average benchmark score of 76212 places it in close competition with several other high-end parts. For instance, it is a mere 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX and 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D. This shows that in the broader ecosystem of high-performance processors, the 8945HX is at the very top, providing a stable foundation for gaming.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 holds a rank of 1535 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places the combo in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, which is a surprising result given the high-end nature of both components. This mid-pack ranking suggests that the game's performance is heavily influenced by factors beyond raw CPU and GPU compute power, such as driver overhead, game engine optimization for specific hardware generations, or even memory bandwidth limitations.

This rank, while not stellar, is not a reflection of a weak system. Instead, it highlights the game's age. The Technomancer was released in 2016, and its rendering paths and engine were not designed to take advantage of the features in modern Blackwell architecture or the high core counts of contemporary processors. The combo’s performance is therefore dictated by how efficiently the game can utilize the RTX 5070’s 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power. The data indicates that this utilization is not perfect, leading to a performance profile that sits closer to the middle of the pack rather than near the top, where this hardware would typically be expected to rank in more modern titles.

When looking at the GPU's individual standing, the RTX 5070 places in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% ahead), the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (2% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (0.8% ahead). These are not consumer gaming parts, which further clarifies that the synthetic benchmarks measure raw compute potential. The in-game rank, however, shows that the RTX 5070’s real-world gaming performance in this specific title is not directly correlated with its strong synthetic showing.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and expected trend as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop provides key insights into the game's bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 166 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 109 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 60 FPS, which is a further 45% drop from 1440p. This pattern of significant performance loss with each resolution step indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly stressed, but the CPU still has enough headroom to keep feeding it frames at lower resolutions.

However, the scaling is not purely linear. The jump from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings costs 57 FPS, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 49 FPS. This suggests a shift in the bottleneck. At 1080p, the game is likely more CPU-bound, as the 8945HX's strong single-core performance is what allows the high frame rates. As the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU's rendering workload becomes the dominant factor. The RTX 5070, with its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, is trying to push more pixels, and its performance scales accordingly.

The data shows that The Technomancer is a demanding title at higher resolutions. The transition from 1080p to 4K at High settings sees the average FPS drop from 109 to 39, a 64% reduction. This steep decline is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario. At 1080p, the CPU can maintain a high frame rate, but the GPU cannot keep up with the 4x pixel count of 3840x2160. The limiting component at 1080p is the CPU, while at 4K, it is unequivocally the GPU. The sweet spot where neither component is entirely overwhelmed appears to be 1440p, where the frame rates are still playable, but the load is more balanced.

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

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo performs admirably. With Low settings, the average FPS is 166. Medium settings yield an average of 128 FPS, with a minimum of 108 and a maximum of 147 FPS. High settings produce an average of 109 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 85 FPS. All of these results are well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making 1080p a very viable resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. The Low preset delivers an average of 109 FPS. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS, with frame times ranging from a minimum of 71 FPS to a maximum of 96 FPS. High settings average 71 FPS, which is still comfortably playable. The Ultra preset, however, sees a more significant hit, averaging 56 FPS. This is the first instance where the average dips below the 60 FPS mark, indicating that the Ultra preset at 1440p is a demanding workload for the RTX 5070 in this game.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. The Low preset manages to average 60 FPS, which is exactly at the playability threshold. The Medium preset averages 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 and a maximum of 53 FPS. High settings average 39 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to an average of just 31 FPS. None of the settings at 4K, except for Low, provide a consistently smooth experience. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a practical resolution for this title with this GPU, as even the Medium preset fails to maintain a stable 60 FPS.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a high-end mobile GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process. It features 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, alongside 48 RT cores and 192 Tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. It is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's raw compute power is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. The 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantial, but the game's engine appears to have a ceiling on how much of this it can utilize. The 12 GB of VRAM is a key asset. At 4K with Ultra settings, the game is likely consuming a significant amount of memory, and the 12 GB capacity ensures that the GPU does not run out of memory, which would cause severe stuttering. The measured minimum FPS of 39 at 4K Medium suggests that while the GPU is the bottleneck, it is not a memory capacity issue.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is another crucial factor. The Technomancer, with its detailed environments, likely requires high memory throughput to feed the rendering pipeline. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is indicative of the memory bandwidth being saturated. The RTX 5070's individual benchmark scores show a mixed profile; it scores well in synthetic tests like Geekbench OpenCL (172660) and Vulkan (178923), but its Passmark DirectX 11 score of 277 is comparatively low. This low DirectX 11 score is particularly relevant, as The Technomancer is a DirectX 11 title. This suggests that the GPU's driver overhead in legacy APIs may be limiting its performance in this specific game, preventing it from reaching the frame rates its raw specs might suggest.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset, averaging 85 FPS, provides the best visual experience while still maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS. For those who prioritize maximum fluidity on a high-refresh monitor, the High preset at 109 FPS is an excellent choice, sacrificing some visual fidelity for a significant boost in smoothness. The Medium preset at 128 FPS is also a strong option, but the jump from High to Ultra is typically more visually impactful than from Medium to High.

At 2560x1440, the High preset, averaging 71 FPS, is the recommended starting point. It offers a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset, at 56 FPS, is playable but may not be ideal for fast-paced action, as the lower frame rate can feel less responsive. For a more stable experience, the Medium preset at 83 FPS is a safe choice, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that High is the best overall experience at 1440p, as it provides the highest visual quality while maintaining a playable frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more complicated. The Low preset is the only one that achieves an average of 60 FPS. The Medium preset, at 46 FPS, is not ideal for a smooth experience but is playable for a slower-paced RPG. The High and Ultra presets, averaging 39 and 31 FPS respectively, are not recommended for general play, as the frame rates are too low for a comfortable experience. Users with a 4K display should either play at Low settings to achieve 60 FPS or consider dropping to 1440p to unlock the higher-quality presets. The data shows that the RTX 5070 is not capable of delivering a high-fidelity 4K experience in this title, so the best strategy is to prioritize frame rate over graphical fidelity at this resolution.