The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT. This combination of a six-core, twelve-thread Rocket Lake CPU and a 12 GB RDNA 3.0 graphics card delivers a wide range of performance depending on how you configure it. The measured data reveals a system that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions but requires careful settings management to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and clearly shows the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 125.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops by roughly 32% to 85.2 FPS. The jump to 4K High is the most punishing, resulting in 47.3 FPS—a 62% reduction from the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the RX 7700 XT is being pushed to its limits at 4K, while the i5-11400F has enough headroom to keep up with the GPU's demands at lower resolutions.

The scaling pattern across all settings confirms this analysis. At Low settings, the system achieves 191.4 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 124.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 68.5 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest quality preset, the 4K frame rate is less than 36% of the 1080p figure. This consistent pattern across presets indicates that the game's rendering load at 4K is exceptionally heavy, and the RX 7700 XT's 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 244.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are being saturated regardless of the visual complexity.

Interestingly, the relative drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p. For High settings, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 40.3 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 37.9 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is not just pixel-bound but also shader-bound at 4K, as the increased resolution demands more from the 3456 shading units. The data clearly shows that if you want to play at 4K, you are firmly in GPU-limited territory, and the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are not the limiting factor in this scenario.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the High preset at 1440p is the standout choice. It delivers 85.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while providing a substantial visual upgrade over Medium. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 95.4 FPS, but the 10 FPS gain over High comes at the cost of noticeable visual fidelity. At 1440p, High is the sweet spot for this combo, offering a 32% performance buffer over the 64.6 FPS achieved at Ultra, which is still playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes.

At 1080p, the situation is different. The High preset produces 125.5 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset still achieves 99.4 FPS, making it a viable option for those who prioritize image quality over raw frame rates. The data suggests that at 1080p, you can comfortably run Ultra and stay above 90 FPS, while Medium and Low are unnecessary unless you are targeting a 144 Hz or higher refresh rate, where the 148.6 FPS from Medium might be preferable.

For 4K gaming, the recommendation is more nuanced. The High preset only manages 47.3 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS target but still playable for a slower-paced Action RPG. The Medium preset at 52.8 FPS is a marginal improvement. However, the Low preset jumps to 68.5 FPS, which is a 45% improvement over High. If you have a 4K display and want smooth gameplay, dropping to Low settings is the only way to get consistently above 60 FPS with this combo. The Ultra preset at 35.1 FPS should be avoided unless you are comfortable with a cinematic, sub-40 FPS experience.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for The Technomancer. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, it provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for the high-resolution textures and effects in this game. The GPU's boost clock of 2544 MHz and game clock of 2171 MHz indicate it has substantial processing headroom, but the 4K results show that even this level of performance is not enough for maxed-out settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-to-high-tier positioning. Its PassMark G3D score of 22547 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3316 place it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (0% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 570 (-0.2% difference), which shows that the RX 7700 XT is competitive with the latest mainstream cards. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 132758 and OpenCL score of 127549 demonstrate strong compute capabilities that translate well to modern game engines.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is particularly relevant for The Technomancer. At 4K Ultra, the game is likely using a significant portion of this memory, and the fact that the frame rate drops to 35.1 FPS suggests that the GPU is hitting both memory bandwidth and compute limits. The 96 ROPs and 216 TMUs are adequate for 1440p but struggle with the pixel fill requirements at 4K. The data indicates that the RX 7700 XT is a capable 1440p card that can handle 1080p with ease, but 4K requires significant settings compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of all tested combinations, this pairing of the i5-11400F and RX 7700 XT ranks at 765 out of 1656 combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the upper-middle tier, which is a reasonable position given the hardware's specifications. The 46th percentile ranking (calculated from the rank and total combos) indicates that while there is faster hardware available, this combo outperforms a majority of systems tested for this game.

The CPU's contribution to this ranking is solid. The i5-11400F sits in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. Its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database are the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta), Intel Core i7-1260P (-0.2% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (-0.2% delta). This places the CPU in the same performance class as newer mobile and low-power processors, which speaks well for its desktop-oriented six-core design.

The GPU's ranking is similarly respectable. The RX 7700 XT is in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 30097. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 with a 0% delta, which is a notable comparison. This suggests that the combo's overall ranking is balanced, with neither component dragging the other down significantly. The 765th rank out of 1656 combos reflects a system that is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming but will not top any charts for 4K performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F plays a supporting role in The Technomancer, providing enough processing power to feed the RX 7700 XT without becoming a bottleneck at most settings. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it offers sufficient multi-threading for this Action RPG, which is not particularly CPU-intensive compared to modern titles. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029.

The CPU's benchmark results show it is well-matched to the GPU's capabilities. Its 3DMark max-threads score of 5652 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 indicate that it can handle the game's logic and AI tasks without issue. The PassMark multi-thread score of 16908 and physics score of 842 further confirm that the CPU is not a limiting factor. At 1080p High, the system achieves 125.5 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame output for this game, but at 4K the GPU takes over as the primary constraint.

The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this game's demands. The data shows that the CPU's performance scales well with thread count, from a 3DMark 2-thread score of 1691 to a max-threads score of 5652. This indicates that the CPU can handle both lightly-threaded tasks and more demanding multi-threaded workloads, making it a versatile partner for the GPU. In this game, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, which it does effectively up to the point where the GPU's rendering limits become the bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K, the High preset produces 47.3 FPS and Ultra drops to 35.1 FPS. To achieve smooth gameplay above 60 FPS at 4K, you must use the Low preset, which delivers 68.5 FPS.

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

A: The High preset at 1440p is recommended, providing 85.2 FPS. This offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, with a 20.6 FPS buffer over the Ultra preset's 64.6 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7700 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 30097, which is 0% different from the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and -0.2% different from the AMD Radeon RX 570. It sits in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs.

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

A: At 1080p, the system achieves 125.5 FPS on High and 191.4 FPS on Low. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029) ensures it is not the bottleneck, and the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates at this resolution.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High at 4K?

A: At 4K, the Medium preset delivers 52.8 FPS while High delivers 47.3 FPS. The difference is only 5.5 FPS, making Medium a marginal improvement if you need a slight performance boost.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 765 out of 1656 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the upper-middle tier, outperforming roughly 54% of all tested systems in this game.