The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination. The benchmark data reveals a system capable of high frame rates across all tested resolutions, but the distribution of those results—from a 247 FPS average at 1080p Low to 48 FPS at 4K Ultra—tells a story about where the bottleneck lies and which settings best leverage the hardware. The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture for gamers looking to optimize their experience in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates across the four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—at all three resolutions reveal a consistent pattern that points to a clear recommendation for most players. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra is stark: the Low preset delivers an average of 247 FPS, while Ultra drops to 133 FPS. This massive gap suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER is never truly stressed at this resolution, and the CPU begins to play a more significant role in determining the final frame count.

Given the ultra-high refresh rate monitors available, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a compelling middle ground. The data shows an average of 199 FPS, which is a substantial drop from the 247 FPS of Low but still a significant jump over the 170 FPS High setting. The Medium preset also shows a minimum of 169 FPS, ensuring that even the most demanding scenes stay above the 144Hz refresh rate threshold that many gamers consider the sweet spot. This suggests that Medium is the best experience for high-refresh 1080p displays, balancing visual quality and frame rate without pushing the GPU to its limits.

For 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. Here, the High preset produces an average of 111 FPS, which is perfectly suited for 120Hz or 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 130 FPS, but the marginal visual uplift from High is worth the 19 FPS difference for most players. The Ultra preset falls to 87 FPS, which is still playable but does not offer the smoothness of High. The data indicates that High at 1440p is the optimal balance, as it keeps the frame rate comfortably above the 100 FPS mark while providing the enhanced visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The High preset reaches an average of 61 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS console standard. The Medium preset is slightly higher at 71 FPS, but the visual difference between Medium and High is significant in a game like this. The Ultra preset at 48 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, making it a less desirable option for those with 4K 60Hz displays. The Low preset at 93 FPS is interesting, but it would likely compromise too much visual quality. The recommendation here is to use High at 4K, as it provides the best frame rate experience without dipping below the 60 FPS line, despite the fact that the average of 61 FPS means there will be moments of slight stutter. For users with variable refresh rate monitors, Medium at 71 FPS average might provide a smoother experience, but the High preset remains the more visually complete option.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 192-bit memory bus, delivers a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This specification is crucial in The Technomancer, a game that can be demanding on memory at higher resolutions. The 12 GB allocation ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU is unlikely to run out of memory, as the data shows it is the compute and pixel fill rate that become limiting factors, not the memory capacity. The 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are present, but this game is from 2016, so the ray tracing architecture is likely not a major factor in these results.

The 22 GB of memory bandwidth is a key metric. At 1920x1080, the GPU is clearly not the bottleneck; the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra is more than twofold, from 247 to 133. This indicates that the CPU cannot feed the GPU enough work at the lower settings, making the GPU wait for data. However, at 4K, the frame rates drop to 93 FPS at Low and 48 FPS at Ultra, showing that the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and the 80 ROPs are the components that are being pushed hard at 4K. The results show a linear scaling with settings at 4K, where each step from Low to Ultra results in a significant frame drop, confirming that the GPU is the primary constraint here.

The core clock speeds of 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost are moderate for the Ada Lovelace architecture. The data shows that the GPU is capable of producing 247 FPS at 1080p Low, which reflects its raw power. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and a Passmark G3D score of 29995 are in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. This ranking is corroborated by the 4K performance, where the GPU sits at the edge of playability. The memory clock of 1313 MHz is effective, and the GDDR6X type helps sustain the bandwidth under load.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160 shows a clear trend across all settings presets. At Low, the 1080p average is 247 FPS, which drops to 169 FPS at 1440p, and then to 93 FPS at 4K. This is a 62% drop from 1080p to 4K in the Low preset, indicating that the GPU is able to handle the load but with diminishing returns. The Medium preset shows 199 FPS at 1080p, 130 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K, a 64% decrease from 1080p to 4K. The High preset is the most consistent, with 170 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. This is a 64% drop, similar to the others. Ultra shows 133 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K, a 64% drop.

The fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical across all settings—around the 60%+ mark—reveals that the limiting component scales consistently. At 1080p, the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The i3-12100F is a 4-core/8-thread processor, and its 3DMark scores (4051 for 16 threads and 893 for single-thread) show a decent performance but not a powerful one. The game is likely able to saturate the CPU at 1080p, so increasing the resolution does not impact the CPU as much. As the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The fact that the scaling is consistent suggests that the game is well-optimized to use the GPU efficiently as the resolution climbs.

The 4K figures are particularly telling. With the High preset at 61 FPS and the Medium at 71 FPS, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The 4K Low preset at 93 FPS is surprisingly high, indicating that the game engine can be very light on the GPU when necessary. This suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER is overkill for 1080p but a good match for 1440p and High, while 4K Ultra is reserved for those who prioritize visuals over frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and RTX 4070 SUPER combination is ranked 633 out of 3696 total combos in the database for The Technomancer. This puts it in the 83rd percentile of all tested combos. The rank is a strong indicator that this combination is well above average for this game. The ranking is the total of the CPU and GPU performance, but the data shows that the CPU is a weaker link in the pairing.

The CPU, the i3-12100F, is in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core 3 N355 (score 13492, deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core i5-9500 (score 13452, deltaPct 0.3). This means the CPU is a mid-range performer, not a top-tier one. The GPU, on the other hand, is in the 83rd percentile, with an average score of 43823. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (score 43262, deltaPct -0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (score 43268, deltaPct -0.1). The GPU is a strong performer, but the CPU is dragging down the overall ranking.

The combo rank of 633 out of 3696 is better than the average, but it could be higher if the CPU were more powerful. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the bottleneck, which is why the frame rates are so high but not as high as they could be with a better processor. The ranking reflects that this is a balanced system for gaming, but the CPU prevents it from being a top-tier combo. The 68th percentile of the CPU is a clear indicator that the CPU is the weaker link, and for The Technomancer, the game is not heavily threaded, so the 4-core/8-thread design is adequate, but not exceptional.

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. This is a modern CPU, but its core count is low compared to the many 16-core processors that exist today. The game The Technomancer is from 2016, a time when 4-core CPUs were common, so this CPU should be able to provide adequate performance. However, the 3DMark scores show a single-thread score of 893 and a multi-thread score of 4051 for 16 threads. The single-thread score is decent, but the multi-thread is not as impressive. The Cinebench R23 scores are 11860 for multi-core and 1674 for single-core, indicating a strong single-thread performance that is typical for a modern CPU.

The game’s performance at 1080p is a clear indicator of CPU limitation. At Low, the 1080p average is 247 FPS. The high frame rate indicates that the CPU is being fed a high load, but the GPU is not the limiting factor. The fact that the Low settings at 1080p is 247 FPS and the Ultra is 133 FPS shows that the game can be GPU-bound at higher settings, but at Low, the CPU is holding back the frame rate. The CPU’s 4.3 GHz boost clock is a key factor in its single-thread performance, which is crucial for a game that does not use many cores. The 12 MB of L3 cache is also important, as it helps with data access for the 4 cores.

The CPU’s benchmarks show a multi-thread score of 11860 in Cinebench R23, which is a good score for a 4-core/8-thread CPU. The Geekbench multi-core score of 7252 shows that the CPU is capable of handling multi-threaded workloads. However, the game is likely optimized for fewer cores, so the CPU’s single-thread performance is the primary factor. The 3DMark 4-thread score of 2859 is a key metric. The game will use 4 cores, and the score is adequate. The data indicates the CPU is not a huge bottleneck at 1440p, but at 1080p the high frame rates show the CPU is the limiting factor, not the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4070 SUPER and i3-12100F produce the following results. The Low preset averages 247 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Medium preset averages 199 FPS, with a minimum of 169 FPS and a maximum of 229 FPS. The High preset averages 170 FPS, with no min or max. The Ultra preset averages 133 FPS, also with no min or max. This shows a clear scaling from Low to Ultra, with the most significant drop occurring between Medium and High (a 31 FPS difference) and between High and Ultra (a 37 FPS difference). The Medium’s 169 minimum ensures that even the low-end of the frame rate is above 144 FPS, making it a solid choice for high-refresh monitors.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still high. Low averages 169 FPS, Medium averages 199 FPS, High averages 111 FPS, and Ultra averages 87 FPS. The Medium has a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 30% drop for Low (247 to 169), a 30% drop for Medium (199 to 130), a 35% drop for High (170 to 111), and a 34% drop for Ultra (133 to 87). This is a consistent drop, indicating the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows. The Low preset averages 93 FPS, Medium averages 71 FPS (with a minimum of 61 and a maximum of 82), High averages 61 FPS, and Ultra averages 48 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steep: High goes from 111 to 61 FPS (a 45% drop), Medium from 130 to 71 (a 45% drop), and Low from 169 to 93 (a 45% drop). This consistency suggests the GPU is the sole bottleneck at 4K, with the CPU having minimal impact. The 4K Ultra at 48 FPS is below the 60 FPS standard, but the High preset at 61 FPS is right on the edge. The data makes it clear that 4K is GPU-bound, and the CPU is no longer a factor.

FAQ

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

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 111 FPS, which is ideal for most 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset offers 130 FPS, but the visual fidelity loss from High is not worth the 19 FPS increase. The Ultra preset at 87 FPS is also playable, but High is the best balance.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 SUPER at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1080p, the Low preset produces 247 FPS, and the High preset yields 170 FPS. These high numbers indicate the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU is not being fully utilized. The CPU’s single-thread performance is strong, but its 4-core limit prevents even higher frame rates.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows a consistent drop of around 45% to 64% depending on the preset. For example, the High preset drops from 170 FPS at 1080p to 61 FPS at 4K, a 64% reduction. This indicates the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K.

Q: Can the RTX 4070 SUPER handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, but only at certain settings. The High preset averages 61 FPS, which is playable on a 60Hz display. The Medium preset gives 71 FPS, and the Low preset 93 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard.

Q: Was the combo tested with the game's launch settings?

A: The data is measured and shows three settings presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. The measurements are for the standard presets available in the game. The game is from 2016, and the data shows how well the game scales with modern hardware.

Q: How does the i3-12100F compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494, with a deltaPct of 0.3% compared to the Intel Core i5-9500 (score 13452) and a 0% deltaPct compared to the Intel Core 3 N355 (score 13482). This indicates it is a mid-range CPU, not a high-end one.