The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that clearly separates CPU and GPU limits. For the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, the benchmark data reveals a configuration that is capable at 1080p, but becomes progressively GPU-bound as resolution climbs. The measured frame rates show a consistent pattern: the gap between low and ultra settings narrows significantly at 4K, indicating that the graphics card, not the processor, is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all quality presets, a clear sign that the RX 5700 XT is the limiting component at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 139.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 48.1 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 65%. This dramatic scaling is typical for a GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit bus, as the pixel throughput demand at 4K overwhelms the card's compute resources.

Moving from 1440p to 4K, the drop is even more pronounced relative to the 1080p to 1440p step. At High settings, the average goes from 94.4 FPS at 1080p to 58.9 FPS at 1440p, a 37% decrease. However, pushing from 1440p to 4K High yields only 35.1 FPS, a further 40% decline. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU's 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 304.8 GTexel/s texture rate are saturated well before 4K, leaving little headroom for higher resolutions.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the Core i5-11400F with its 6 cores and 12 threads is able to feed the GPU adequately, evidenced by the high 139.1 FPS at Low settings. However, the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (139.1 to 73.1 FPS) shows that the GPU still has a significant impact. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 27.5 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, confirming that the RX 5700 XT's 8 GB frame buffer and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth are insufficient for maximum detail at this resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, built on the 7 nm process with the Navi 10 chip, is the dominant factor in these results. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical resource for The Technomancer's texture-heavy environments. At 1080p, this bandwidth is sufficient, allowing the GPU to maintain high frame rates. The card's boost clock of 1905 MHz and game clock of 1755 MHz help sustain performance, but the data shows a clear ceiling at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are tasked with rendering the game's geometry and effects. At 1440p Medium, the average frame rate is 70 FPS, which is a playable level, but at 4K Medium, it drops to 40.1 FPS. This 43% reduction highlights how the card's pixel fill rate of 121.9 GPixel/s becomes a limiting factor. The benchmark results show that the RX 5700 XT is a solid 1080p and 1440p card for this game, but it lacks the headroom for 4K gaming at high detail.

The GPU's DirectX 12 support (12_1) is relevant, as The Technomancer can utilize this API. The passmark DirectX 12 score of 64 is notably lower than the DirectX 11 score of 116, which may explain why the game's performance is not higher at the Ultra preset. The card's FP32 performance of 9.754 TFLOPS is moderate by modern standards, and the data suggests that the game's shader complexity at Ultra settings is too much for the RDNA 1.0 architecture to handle efficiently at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 1262 out of 1656 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the lower third of all configurations, indicating that while it is not a weak system, it is far from top-tier for this particular game. The rank reflects the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions, as the CPU is relatively strong in general benchmarks, sitting in the 75th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with a deltaPct of 0, and the Intel Core i7-1260P with a deltaPct of -0.2. This suggests that the i5-11400F's processing power is competitive with these mobile parts, but the GPU's performance is what drags the combo down. The RX 5700 XT's nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile with a deltaPct of -0.1 and the Intel Arc A350M with a deltaPct of 0.3, showing that the card is in a mid-range performance tier.

The combination rank of 1262 out of 1656 is a meaningful indicator. It suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher average frame rates in this game, likely due to more powerful graphics cards. The data implies that users with this setup should prioritize GPU upgrades over CPU upgrades to improve performance in The Technomancer, as the processor is not the primary bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration shows strong performance across all presets. The Low setting yields an average of 139.1 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. Medium drops to 106.7 FPS, still very smooth. High delivers 94.4 FPS, and Ultra averages 73.1 FPS. This resolution is clearly the sweet spot for this combo, with all presets above the 60 FPS threshold for playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance is more varied. Low averages 92.7 FPS, which is still good. Medium drops to 70 FPS, which is acceptable for most users. High averages 58.9 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS target, and Ultra falls to 45.8 FPS. The data shows that 1440p is playable only at Low or Medium settings for a consistent experience.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is severely taxed. Low averages 48.1 FPS, Medium drops to 40.1 FPS, High averages 35.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27.5 FPS. None of these presets achieve a stable 60 FPS, making 4K gaming impractical for this configuration. The frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is only a 43% difference (48.1 to 27.5 FPS), compared to a 47% difference at 1080p (139.1 to 73.1 FPS), confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with the High preset. This setting delivers an average of 94.4 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target and provides a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 73.1 FPS, which is still playable, but the marginal visual gains may not justify the 23% performance drop from High.

For users with a 1440p monitor, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the best choice, offering an average of 70 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while sacrificing some visual fidelity. The High preset at 1440p drops to 58.9 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-paced action sequences. It is advisable to avoid Ultra at 1440p, as the 45.8 FPS average is below the playable threshold.

At 4K, no preset is recommended for a consistent experience. The Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 48.1 FPS, which is borderline, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. Users prioritizing resolution over frame rate may use this setting, but the data suggests that 1080p High is the best overall experience for this hardware combination. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 27.5 FPS, is not suitable for gameplay.