The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test case for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700. The measured frame rates across different resolutions and settings reveal a configuration that scales predictably with graphical load, though the performance ceiling varies significantly depending on the chosen preset. This analysis breaks down the measured data to understand where this combo excels and where it hits its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and expected trend: as resolution increases, average frame rates decrease across all settings. However, the rate of decline is not uniform, which provides insight into the system's bottlenecks. At the High preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 results in a drop from 117 FPS to 77 FPS, a reduction of 34%. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 further reduces performance to 42 FPS, a 45% drop from the 1440p figure. This steepening decline as resolution climbs indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

The scaling pattern at the Low preset is slightly different. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 179 FPS, which is a very high number. At 2560x1440, it drops to 117 FPS, and at 4K, it reaches 64 FPS. The percentage drops are 35% from 1080p to 1440p, and then 45% from 1440p to 4K. The fact that the system can push 179 FPS at 1080p suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at that resolution, but the GPU still scales down significantly when pixel count increases. The 4K Low result of 64 FPS is a strong indicator of the GPU's raw compute limit in this title, as even the lowest graphical settings cannot prevent the frame rate from halving compared to 1440p.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern, with 137 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 92 FPS at 1080p, falling to 60 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 33 FPS at 4K. The measured data points to a system where the GPU is the dominant constraint at 4K, regardless of settings. At 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to allow for high frame rates, but the GPU still limits the Ultra preset to below 100 FPS. The benchmark results indicate that 4K gaming is only viable on the Low preset, and even then, it just barely maintains a playable 64 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired smoothness. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 117 FPS, which is an excellent experience for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset, at 92 FPS, is also highly playable and offers a marginal visual improvement. The Medium preset at 137 FPS is the best choice for users prioritizing maximum fluidity over visual fidelity, as it provides a significant frame rate boost over High. Low at 179 FPS is unnecessary for most displays and likely introduces visual compromises that are not worth the performance gain.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 77 FPS is a solid target, providing a good balance between visual quality and smoothness. The Medium preset at 90 FPS is arguably the sweet spot, offering a 17% performance increase over High with only a modest reduction in graphical detail. The Ultra preset drops to exactly 60 FPS, which is acceptable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes, making Medium or High the safer recommendations. Low at 117 FPS is playable but sacrifices too much visual quality for the frame rate gain.

At 3840x2160, the options are more constrained. The Low preset at 64 FPS is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience. The Medium preset at 49 FPS is playable but will be susceptible to noticeable frame rate dips, as evidenced by the measured minimum of 42 FPS. High at 42 FPS and Ultra at 33 FPS are below the threshold for a comfortable action game experience and should be avoided. The data suggests that for this combo, 4K gaming is only practical with significant graphical compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination holds a rank of 1275 out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of configurations. This mid-pack ranking is a direct result of the balanced nature of the components; neither is a top-tier part, but they work together to provide a competent gaming experience.

In comparison to other potential pairings, this combo's performance is competitive. The GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 7700, has an average benchmark score of 15852 and sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in terms of overall benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (score 15862, a 0.1% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (score 16014, a 1% difference). This indicates that the RX 7700 is a solidly mid-range performer. The CPU, the Intel Core i3-12100F, is in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rivals being the Intel Core i5-9500 and the Intel Core 3 N355. The combo's overall rank of 1275 suggests that its in-game performance is slightly lower than its component benchmark percentiles might imply, likely due to the specific demands of The Technomancer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low preset yields 179 FPS, Medium yields 137 FPS (with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS), High yields 117 FPS, and Ultra yields 92 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 87 FPS, showing a wide performance range based on settings.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 117 FPS, Medium at 90 FPS (with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS), High at 77 FPS, and Ultra at 60 FPS. The performance hit from 1080p is substantial, with the High preset dropping by 40 FPS and the Ultra preset dropping by 32 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 64 FPS, Medium at 49 FPS (with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS), High at 42 FPS, and Ultra at 33 FPS. The data shows that the Medium preset at 4K has a 15 FPS variance between its minimum and maximum, indicating potential for noticeable stuttering. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are the only scenarios where the average frame rate falls below 60 FPS, confirming that this resolution is not the strong suit of this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture and features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This large memory capacity and high bandwidth are crucial for handling high-resolution textures and complex scenes, particularly at 4K. The GPU's boost clock is 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz. Its compute power is rated at 25.18 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is clearly dominant at higher resolutions. The steep frame rate drops observed when moving from 1440p to 4K are a direct result of the GPU's pixel fill rate limitations. Even at the Low preset, the 4K average of 64 FPS is less than half of the 1080p Low result of 179 FPS, showing that the GPU is being saturated by the sheer number of pixels. The 16 GB of VRAM is unlikely to be a limiting factor in this 2016 title, as its memory requirements are far lower than what the card offers, but the GPU's core compute is what ultimately caps performance at 4K. The card's average benchmark score of 15852 places it in the 58th percentile, and its performance is closely matched by the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which has a score of 16014.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. With 12 MB of shared L3 cache, it provides solid single-threaded performance, as indicated by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 893 and its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with data. At 1080p, the CPU is able to keep up with the GPU's demands, as evidenced by the high frame rates at the Low and Medium presets (179 FPS and 137 FPS, respectively). However, the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration may become a bottleneck in scenes with heavy physics or AI calculations, even if the average frame rates do not show it. The data shows that at 1080p, the Ultra preset (92 FPS) is still well above 60 FPS, suggesting the CPU has enough headroom to avoid being the primary limiting factor at this resolution. The CPU's overall performance is strong, ranking in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 13494 is nearly identical to that of the Intel Core i5-9500, which scores 13452. The i3-12100F's high boost clock is likely a key reason it can maintain playable frame rates in this title.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K with smooth frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at the Low preset, where it achieves an average of 64 FPS. At the Medium preset, the average drops to 49 FPS, and at High and Ultra, it falls to 42 FPS and 33 FPS, respectively.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 90 FPS. The High preset is also good at 77 FPS, while the Ultra preset is exactly 60 FPS.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: The average frame rate drops from 117 FPS at 1920x1080 to 77 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to have sufficient headroom, as the system can reach up to 179 FPS on the Low preset. The GPU becomes the limiting factor when moving to higher resolutions, with frame rates dropping significantly.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 117 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 60 FPS. This is a 57 FPS difference, indicating that the Ultra preset places a significantly higher load on the GPU.

Q: How does this combo rank in comparison to all other tested systems for this game?

A: It ranks 1275 out of 2825 total tested combos, placing it in the upper half of all configurations.