The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT pairing. The benchmark data reveals a system that is decisively GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but which begins to show the CPU's limitations as the resolution drops and frame rates climb. With a combo rank of 1395 out of 3696 tested configurations, this pairing sits comfortably in the upper half of all systems, but its behavior across different settings and resolutions tells a nuanced story about where its strengths and bottlenecks truly lie.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking pattern in the measured data is how frame rates scale from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, this combo produces an average of 196 FPS, which is an exceptionally high number for a game of this era. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces that average to 128 FPS, a 35% decrease. Moving to 4K Low, the average falls to 70 FPS, representing another 45% drop. This steep decline from 1080p to 4K indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, which is the signature of a system that is primarily limited by the GPU rather than the CPU.

The pattern continues across all settings presets. At High settings, the frame rates go from 128 FPS at 1080p, to 84 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 46 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result of 46 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold that most gamers consider smooth, suggesting that for a consistently fluid experience at 4K, users would need to step down to Medium settings, which yields 54 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p High is 44 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K High is 38 FPS, showing that the performance penalty is roughly linear with resolution rather than exponential.

This linear scaling is a clear indicator that the RX 7700 XT is the dominant factor in determining performance. The i3-12100F has enough headroom at 4K to feed the GPU adequately, as the GPU is clearly the constraining component. However, the data also suggests that at 1080p, especially with Low settings, the frame rate of 196 FPS may be approaching the ceiling of what this CPU can deliver. The fact that 1080p Low achieves nearly double the frame rate of 1440p Low (196 vs 128 FPS) shows that the GPU is still scaling with resolution, but the absolute numbers at 1080p are so high that the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are likely starting to become a limiting factor in maximizing frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a chip codenamed "Wheat Nas" that contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1435 MHz and a boost clock of 2544 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2171 MHz. This clock configuration allows the card to deliver substantial raw compute performance, with an FP32 throughput of 35.17 TFLOPS.

Memory configuration plays a significant role in the card's ability to handle The Technomancer at high resolutions. The RX 7700 XT comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. For a game released in 2016, 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for any texture or geometry data the game can throw at it, even at 4K Ultra settings. The card also features 3456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, which help explain the consistent scaling across resolution changes.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position in the market. With a Passmark G3D score of 22547 and a percentile ranking of 67 among all GPUs, the RX 7700 XT sits in the upper tier of graphics cards. It is nearly identical in performance to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile, which scores 22729, placing the RX 7700 XT just 0.8% behind. It also edges out the RTX 5060 Mobile by 0.5%, scoring 22547 versus 22435. The card's average benchmark score of 22549 aligns closely with its nearest rivals, showing that while it is not a class leader, it is a very competitive performer in its segment.

The importance of the GPU in this specific game is underscored by the frame rate data. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 36, which is the lowest measured result. This represents a 75% reduction from the 1440p Low score of 128 FPS, highlighting how demanding the Ultra preset is on the GPU. The transition from High to Ultra at 4K costs 10 FPS (46 to 36), while the same transition at 1080p costs 28 FPS (128 to 100). This suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU is able to keep up with the GPU's demands, allowing the GPU to fully stretch its legs on higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT achieves a rank of 1395 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the 62nd percentile of all tested systems, which is a respectable position for a mid-range pairing. The rank indicates that this combo outperforms the majority of systems tested, but it is not at the top tier where high-end CPUs paired with flagship GPUs reside.

The CPU's contribution to this ranking is modest but not insignificant. The i3-12100F has a percentile ranking of 68 against all CPUs, which is actually higher than the combo's overall rank percentile. This suggests that the CPU is slightly stronger relative to other CPUs than the combo is relative to other combos, implying that the GPU is holding the combo back slightly more than the CPU is. The GPU's percentile ranking of 67 is nearly identical to the CPU's, so the pairing is well balanced in terms of their relative positions in their respective markets.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals provides context for its performance. The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494, which puts it a hair ahead of the Intel Core i5-9500, which scores 13452, a 0.3% difference. It essentially ties with the Intel Core 3 N355, which scores 13492, and it is 0.7% behind the Intel Core 5 120UL, which scores 13594. This tight grouping of scores shows that the i3-12100F performs at a level consistent with older mainstream i5 processors, despite having only 4 cores and 8 threads.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similarly tight competition. The RX 7700 XT's average score of 22549 places it 0.5% ahead of the RTX 5060 Mobile and 1.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700, which scores 22170. It is 0.8% behind the RTX 4060 Mobile (22729) and 1.5% behind the RTX 2080 (22895). This means that in terms of raw GPU compute, the RX 7700 XT is essentially on par with desktop RTX 2080 performance, which is a strong showing for a modern mid-range card.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in The Technomancer?

A: At 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS is 54, which falls short of the 60 FPS target. To reach 60 FPS at 4K, you would need to use Low settings, where the average is 70 FPS. High and Ultra settings at 4K produce 46 and 36 FPS respectively, so a 60 FPS 4K experience requires compromising on visual quality.

Q: How does the i3-12100F compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i3-12100F scores 13494 on average, which is effectively tied with the Intel Core 3 N355 at 13492. It beats the Intel Core i5-9500 by 0.3% (13494 vs 13452) and trails the Intel Core 5 120UL by 0.7% (13494 vs 13594). The Intel Core i7-1250U is 1.1% behind at 13351.

Q: Is the RX 7700 XT a better performer than the RTX 2080?

A: Based on average benchmark scores, the RX 7700 XT scores 22549 while the RTX 2080 scores 22895, making the RTX 2080 1.5% faster. However, the difference is small enough that real-world gaming performance would be nearly identical in most scenarios.

Q: What is the best settings preset to use at 1440p with this combo?

A: At 1440p, High settings deliver an average of 84 FPS, while Medium settings yield 98 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 66 FPS. For the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, Medium settings at 1440p provide the highest frame rate above 90 FPS, while High settings remain above 80 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests that at 1080p with Low settings, the frame rate of 196 FPS is high enough that the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads may begin to limit performance. At higher resolutions and settings, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as shown by the consistent scaling of frame rates with resolution changes.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1395 out of 3696 tested combinations, placing it in the upper 38% of all systems. This is a solid mid-to-upper tier ranking, indicating that the pairing is well suited for smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 196. Medium settings reduce this to 150 FPS, with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS. High settings produce 128 FPS on average, and Ultra settings drop to 100 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 96 FPS, showing that the settings preset has a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected decrease. Low settings average 128 FPS, Medium settings average 98 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS, High settings average 84 FPS, and Ultra settings average 66 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 62 FPS, which is a narrower spread than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings provide an average of 70 FPS, Medium settings provide 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, High settings provide 46 FPS, and Ultra settings provide only 36 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 34 FPS, which is the smallest spread across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution.

The Medium settings presets are the only ones that include minimum and maximum FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 128 to 173 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 84 to 113 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 46 to 62 FPS. These ranges show that the frame pacing is relatively stable, with the minimum FPS staying within 85% of the average in most cases, which indicates a smooth gameplay experience without major stutters.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a thermal design power of 58 W. The CPU features a cache hierarchy of 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration is modest by modern standards, but for a game like The Technomancer, which was designed for the hardware available in 2016, it is more than sufficient.

The CPU's benchmark results show a clear strength in single-threaded performance relative to its multi-threaded capabilities. In Cinebench R23, the single-core score is 1674, while the multi-core score is 11860. The ratio of multi-core to single-core is 7.1, which is close to the theoretical maximum of 8 for a processor with 8 threads, indicating that the CPU scales well with additional threads. In 3DMark, the 4-thread score is 2859, which is significantly higher than the 2-thread score of 1659, showing that the CPU benefits from having 4 physical cores.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. At 4K resolutions, the GPU is so heavily loaded that the CPU has plenty of idle time, which is why the frame rates scale almost perfectly with resolution changes. However, at 1080p with Low settings, the frame rate of 196 FPS suggests that the CPU is being pushed closer to its limits. The Passmark single-thread score of 3444 and the 3DMark single-thread score of 893 indicate that the CPU's individual cores are strong, but with only 4 cores, there may be situations where the game engine cannot fully utilize the available threads.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show that it performs at a level comparable to older 6-core processors like the i5-9500. This means that for gaming, the i3-12100F is a capable performer that can handle modern titles at high frame rates, but it lacks the multi-core headroom of more expensive processors. In The Technomancer, this is not a significant issue, as the game's engine appears to be well-optimized for the CPU's architecture, allowing the combo to achieve its rank of 1395 out of 3696 systems.