The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is clearly capable at 1080p but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions, providing a clear picture of the GPU as the primary bottleneck under load.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K is steep and unambiguous. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 79.4 FPS, which is smooth for an action title. Dropping to Low settings at the same resolution pushes the average up to 114.1 FPS, while Medium yields 90.3 FPS and Ultra settles at 59.1 FPS. This indicates that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom to allow for significant graphical fidelity increases without sacrificing playability.

Moving up to 2560x1440, the frame rates take a notable hit. The High preset average falls to 52.3 FPS, a 34% reduction from the 1080p High result. Low settings at 1440p produce 77.7 FPS, Medium drops to 61.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.7 FPS. The scaling here is consistent, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of the increased pixel count, but the system remains usable for most presets.

The transition to 3840x2160 reveals a severe bottleneck. At 4K High, the average FPS plummets to 25.4, which is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay. Medium settings at 4K only manage 34.1 FPS, and Low settings reach 43.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is virtually unplayable at 18.6 FPS. The data shows a clear pattern: the frame rate penalty from 1440p to 4K is far more severe than from 1080p to 1440p. This non-linear drop-off indicates that the GTX 1070's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are being saturated, making the GPU the definitive limiting component at 4K. The CPU, by contrast, is not the constraining factor here, as the frame rate is almost entirely dictated by resolution and settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, its performance is solid, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518 and a single-core score of 2332. The processor also achieves a Geekbench multicore score of 9138.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. The benchmark data suggests that the i5-12400F is more than adequate for this task. The fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution—dropping from 79.4 FPS at 1080p High to 25.4 FPS at 4K High—while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant, proves that the processor is not the primary bottleneck. The data indicates a CPU-bound scenario only at the very highest frame rates, such as the 114.1 FPS average seen at 1080p Low.

The processor's benchmark percentile of 77 versus all CPUs places it in a strong position. Its nearest rivals in synthetic average score are the Intel Core i7-8700K (0.1% faster), the Intel Core i5-1335U (0.3% faster), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (0.7% slower). This shows that the i5-12400F is competitive with previous-generation high-end parts, but its performance is not what defines the gaming experience here. The 12 threads are sufficient for modern game engines, but the raw single-thread performance is not the limiting factor in The Technomancer, given the GPU's constraints at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the clear determinant of this combo's gaming performance. It is a Pascal architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 1506 MHz with a boost clock of 1683 MHz. The card has 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs. In synthetic tests, it scores 13498 in Passmark G3D and 47490 in Geekbench OpenCL, showing it is a mid-range performer, sitting in the 51st percentile of all GPUs.

The GTX 1070's limitations are starkly exposed by the resolution scaling data. The 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for the demands of 4K gaming in The Technomancer. The drop from 52.3 FPS at 1440p High to 25.4 FPS at 4K High is a 51% reduction, which is a classic sign of the GPU running out of fillrate and memory bandwidth. The 8 GB VRAM is not the issue here; rather, it is the sheer volume of pixels that the GPU must process.

Comparing its synthetic average score to its nearest rivals, the GTX 1070 is 0.7% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200, 1.3% slower than the GeForce GTX 880M, and 1.4% slower than the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER. This places it in a specific performance tier. In practice, for The Technomancer, the data shows that the GPU is the sole bottleneck at 4K and a significant one at 1440p. The card is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates across all presets, and it offers playable performance at 1440p with adjusted settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 114.1 on Low to 59.1 on Ultra, all of which are playable. At 1440p, only the Low preset (77.7 FPS) and Medium preset (61.8 FPS) are comfortably playable, while 4K is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The GTX 1070's average benchmark score is 12331. It is 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241), 1.3% lower than the GeForce GTX 880M (12490), and 1.4% lower than the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (12504). These are very small margins, indicating near-parity in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is definitively the main bottleneck at 4K. The frame rate drops from 52.3 FPS at 1440p High to 25.4 FPS at 4K High, a 51% reduction. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count, while the CPU has ample headroom to process the game's logic.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p High and 1440p High?

A: The average frame rate drops from 79.4 FPS at 1080p High to 52.3 FPS at 1440p High. This is a 34% reduction in performance, showing that the GTX 1070 struggles significantly with the increased pixel load at 1440p.

Q: Does the Core i5-12400F hold back the GTX 1070 in this game?

A: The data does not suggest the CPU is a limiting factor. The processor has a high synthetic score, and the frame rates scale heavily with resolution, which is a GPU-dependent trait. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 114.1 FPS, indicating the CPU can push high frame rates without being a constraint.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1388 out of 1656 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower half of all possible pairings, reflecting the GPU's mid-range standing and its inability to handle 4K in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination ranks 1388 out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This ranking places the system in the bottom 16% of all possible pairings, which is a direct reflection of the GPU's performance ceiling. While the CPU is a strong performer, sitting in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, the GPU's 51st percentile standing drags the overall gaming experience down.

The rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. A combo that ranks this low will not deliver a high-refresh-rate experience at 1440p or any playable experience at 4K. The data suggests that this pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve frame rates well above 60 FPS on High settings. The 0.1% difference in synthetic average score between the i5-12400F and the Intel Core i7-8700K shows that the CPU is comparable to older high-end parts, but the GPU is what limits the system's overall standing.

In practical terms, this rank means that the system is outclassed by a majority of the other tested hardware combinations for this specific title. The bottleneck is almost entirely the GTX 1070, which, while a capable 1080p card, lacks the raw throughput required for higher resolutions in a demanding game like The Technomancer. The ranking serves as a clear indicator that users with this combo should prioritize 1080p or lower presets at 1440p to achieve a satisfactory frame rate.