The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT. The benchmark data reveals a configuration that scales predictably across resolutions and settings, with a clear performance hierarchy that favors lower graphical loads. The measured frames per second (FPS) indicate that this combo is more than capable of handling the game at high refresh rates on standard monitors, but begins to show its limits when pushed to 4K with maximum detail.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the High preset provides the most balanced experience for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 114.2 FPS, which is a substantial 24.2 FPS improvement over the Ultra preset’s 90 FPS. This gap widens at higher resolutions, where the Ultra preset’s demands on the GPU become increasingly apparent. While the Low preset at 1080p achieves a very high 172.5 FPS, the visual fidelity loss is typically not worth the extra frames for a game like this. The Medium preset at 133.4 FPS is also viable, but High offers a better balance of visual quality and performance headroom.

The argument for High becomes even stronger at 2560x1440. Here, the High preset achieves 73.2 FPS, which is comfortably playable, while Ultra drops to 56 FPS. This suggests that the graphical jump from High to Ultra is not a worthwhile trade-off for the performance cost. At 3840x2160, the situation clarifies further; High is the only preset that maintains a playable average at 38.2 FPS, while Medium dips to 48.1 FPS and Ultra falls to a stutter-prone 32.2 FPS. For users with 144Hz monitors, the High preset at 1080p is the clear choice, while those on 1440p displays will find it to be the only way to stay above the 60 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary driver of performance in The Technomancer. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s, is more than sufficient for the game’s textures at all tested settings. The GPU’s boost clock of 2581 MHz and game clock of 2424 MHz allow it to handle the DirectX 12 workload efficiently. The data shows a clear pattern: FPS scales almost directly with the graphical settings, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck in most scenarios.

The GPU’s 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are responsible for the rasterization work, and the benchmark results show that the card’s 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a decisive factor. The only point where the GPU’s dominance is questioned is at 1080p with Low settings, where the 172.5 FPS result suggests the CPU might be catching up. However, the GPU’s strong showing in the PassMark G3D benchmark, where it scores 19786 and sits in the 77th percentile of all GPUs, reinforces its role as the performance leader in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i3-12100F and the RX 6700 XT ranks 915 out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the middle of the pack, which is a reasonable outcome given the CPU’s budget-oriented positioning. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 13516 places it in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, and it is incredibly close to its nearest rivals; the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX is only 0.1% faster on average. This suggests that the i3-12100F is not a limiting factor in most games, but the mid-pack ranking in this specific title indicates that the game may be more sensitive to CPU performance than the average benchmark suite.

The GPU’s ranking is slightly higher, sitting in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A5000, is 1.3% faster on average, while the AMD Radeon RX 480 is 1% slower. This tight grouping around the RX 6700 XT shows that the GPU is well-matched to its performance class. The combo’s overall rank of 915 out of 1656 suggests that while this is not a top-tier setup, it is far from the bottom, and for a game from 2016, it provides a thoroughly modern and capable experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all twelve tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are uniformly high. The Low preset leads with 172.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 133.4 FPS, High at 114.2 FPS, and Ultra at 90 FPS. This is a smooth progression, with the drop from Low to Ultra representing a 47.8% reduction in frame rate. The 1080p results are high enough that the game will feel fluid on any high-refresh-rate monitor, and even the Ultra preset’s 90 FPS is well above the 60 FPS standard.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS figures remain strong but show the GPU beginning to work harder. Low settings produce 110.7 FPS, Medium achieves 84.7 FPS, High reaches 73.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 56 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with a roughly 35% reduction in performance across all settings. This indicates a balanced load on the GPU. At 3840x2160, the limitations of this combo become clear. Low settings are still playable at 63.1 FPS, but Medium drops to 48.1 FPS, High to 38.2 FPS, and Ultra to a demanding 32.2 FPS. The 4K results show that this configuration is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring a reduction in settings to maintain a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals the GPU-centric nature of this workload. At the High preset, the FPS falls from 114.2 at 1080p to 73.2 at 1440p, a 35.9% decrease, and then to 38.2 at 4K, another 47.8% decrease from the 1440p figure. This pattern is similar across all settings, with the Low preset dropping from 172.5 to 110.7 and then to 63.1 FPS. The consistent percentage drops indicate that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the limiting factor, as the workload scales linearly with the number of pixels.

The data implies that the CPU is not heavily stressed by this game. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance difference between 1080p and 4K, as the CPU’s workload would remain constant while the GPU’s increased. The fact that the FPS drops by roughly half when moving from 1080p to 4K at every setting confirms that the RX 6700 XT is doing the heavy lifting. The Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, is likely keeping up without issue, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low, where the GPU is less taxed.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60 FPS?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with the High preset achieves 73.2 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target. At 4K, only the Low preset, with 63.1 FPS, stays above 60 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 172.5 FPS, which is 82.5 FPS higher than the Ultra preset’s 90 FPS, representing a 91.7% performance advantage.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the 172.5 FPS result is high enough that the CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads are likely sufficient, though the mid-pack combo rank of 915 out of 1656 suggests the CPU is not the top performer.

Q: What is the GPU’s rank compared to other tested GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 33721 is 0.7% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 56. This is below the 60 FPS threshold, so it may not be a smooth experience for all users, though it is still playable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible budget option. In The Technomancer, the CPU’s role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The benchmark results show that the game is heavily dependent on the graphics card, as evidenced by the linear FPS scaling with resolution.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11912 and a single-core score of 1681. These results, combined with its 72nd percentile ranking, suggest it has enough processing power for most gaming scenarios. However, the combo’s rank of 915 out of 1656 in this specific game indicates that the CPU is not a standout performer when paired with this GPU. The data implies that while the i3-12100F is not holding back the RX 6700 XT in most settings, it may be a limiting factor in high-FPS, low-resolution scenarios, where the CPU’s 4 cores could struggle to keep up with the GPU’s output.