The Technomancer

The Technomancer presents a demanding workload for this pairing, and the measured data clearly shows that the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions, while the Intel Core i5-12400 provides ample headroom to keep frame pacing consistent. The combination ranks in the 1411th position out of 1656 tested combos, placing it in the lower tier of the database, which is expected given the GPU's age and the game's release date. The results indicate that this system is viable for 1080p gaming with high settings, but it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, making resolution scaling the critical factor in the user experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows the most balanced experience is at 1920x1080 with High settings, producing an average of 77 FPS. This provides a smooth frame rate while maintaining visual fidelity, whereas Ultra settings at the same resolution drop to 62.5 FPS, and 2560x1440 High dips to 52.9 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its closest rivals in the database?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331, which puts it just 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 and 1.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER. This indicates that the GPU sits in a tight performance cluster with these cards, all within a 2% margin of each other.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 a bottleneck for the GTX 1070 in this game?

A: No, benchmark results suggest the CPU is not the limiting factor. The i5-12400 scores 15935 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2249 in single-core, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its performance is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700, with a delta of just 0.1%, providing more than enough processing power for the GTX 1070.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 4K with the lowest settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 41.5 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, but it still falls short of the 60 FPS target that most users prefer for smooth gameplay.

Q: How significant is the performance drop from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The drop is substantial. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 77 FPS at 1920x1080 to 52.9 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of over 31%. This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s becomes a limiting factor as pixel count increases.

Q: Does the system support modern graphics APIs for this game?

A: Yes, the GTX 1070 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, which are relevant for The Technomancer. However, the GPU's PassMark DirectX 12 score is only 48, suggesting that its performance in this API is relatively weak compared to its DirectX 11 score of 100.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the central component in this analysis, and its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p textures but becomes strained at 4K, where the pixel fill rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s are pushed to their limits. The boost clock of 1683 MHz helps maintain performance, but the 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is the ceiling for this Pascal architecture chip.

The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the GTX 1070's performance degrades non-linearly. At 1080p High, the card delivers 77 FPS, but at 1440p High it drops to 52.9 FPS, and at 4K High it falls to 25.5 FPS. This scaling suggests that the GPU's ROP count of 64 and its memory subsystem are the primary constraints, rather than the shading units. The 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that this is a mid-range card by modern standards, but its DirectX 11 score of 100 in Passmark indicates it is still competitive for older titles like The Technomancer.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS at High settings drops from 77 to 52.9, a 31% decrease. The transition from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing, with the High preset falling from 52.9 to 25.5 FPS, a 52% reduction. This indicates that the GTX 1070's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are insufficient for 4K rendering, regardless of settings.

At 1080p, the system shows strong performance across all presets, with Low hitting 114 FPS and Ultra still managing 62.5 FPS. This suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU and GPU can work in balance, with the i5-12400's 12 threads providing enough instruction throughput to feed the GPU. However, at 4K, even the Low preset only achieves 41.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. This scaling pattern confirms that the limiting component at higher resolutions is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU's performance metrics remain constant regardless of pixel count.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data indicates that 1920x1080 with High settings is the optimal configuration, delivering an average of 77 FPS. This preset provides a solid balance between visual quality and frame rate, outperforming the Ultra preset by 14.5 FPS while offering most of the graphical benefits. The Medium preset at 87.5 FPS is also viable for users who prefer higher frame rates, but the jump from Medium to High only costs 10.5 FPS, making High the better value in terms of visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 52.9 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action, while the Medium preset at 56.5 FPS offers a slight improvement. The Ultra preset at 39.7 FPS should be avoided due to its significant performance hit. For 4K, the Low preset at 41.5 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but users should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a smoother experience. The Ultra preset at 4K, with only 21.1 FPS, is effectively unplayable and should not be used.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 1411th out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the bottom 15% of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's age, as the GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 12331 places it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs. The CPU, however, is a bright spot, with the i5-12400 ranking in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, showing that the processor is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

Compared to other combos, this system's performance is consistent with its component tier. The GTX 1070's nearest rivals include the GTX 1650 SUPER, which is 1.4% faster on average, and the Quadro K4200, which is 0.7% slower. This suggests that the combo's ranking would improve significantly if paired with a more powerful GPU, as the CPU's headroom is substantial. The 1656 total combos in the database include many modern systems with much newer GPUs, which explains the low percentile ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its best performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves 114 FPS, Medium reaches 87.5 FPS, High delivers 77 FPS, and Ultra drops to 62.5 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression, with each step up in settings costing approximately 10-15 FPS. The 1080p results are all above the 60 FPS threshold, making this resolution the only one where all presets are fully playable.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings produce 74.9 FPS, Medium hits 56.5 FPS, High manages 52.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.7 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is only 3.6 FPS, suggesting that the High preset is the better choice at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable: Low achieves 41.5 FPS, Medium drops to 29.4 FPS, High falls to 25.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.1 FPS. This data clearly shows that 4K is beyond the capabilities of this GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 plays a supporting role in this combination, and its specifications indicate it is more than capable of handling The Technomancer's requirements. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the CPU provides robust multi-threaded performance, scoring 15935 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6692 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. The single-core performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 score of 2249, which is critical for games that rely on a few heavily-threaded processes.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, while its boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures responsive gameplay. Benchmark results show that the i5-12400 is nearly identical in performance to the Intel Core i7-9700, with a delta of just 0.1%, and slightly faster than the Core i5-11600K by 0.4%. This places the CPU in the 77th percentile of all processors, meaning it is well above average. In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, and the data suggests that it does so without bottlenecking, as the FPS scaling pattern is entirely consistent with GPU limitations.