The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting challenge for modern hardware. The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a pairing of a capable mid-range CPU with a high-end flagship GPU. The measured data reveals a complex performance profile that shifts depending on resolution and settings, often highlighting a significant bottleneck at lower resolutions where the CPU struggles to keep pace with the GPU's raw power. This analysis will break down the measured FPS results, explore the individual roles of the processor and graphics card, and provide recommendations for the best gaming experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for the highest average frame rate?

A: The highest average frame rate is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the system produces 251 FPS. This is closely followed by 1920x1080 with Medium settings at 228 FPS and 2560x1440 with Low settings at 195 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080's performance compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The data shows the RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, which is a delta of 0.1%. This indicates the two cards are virtually identical in raw synthetic performance.

Q: What is the combined rank of this CPU and GPU setup for this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combo ranks 298th out of 3696 tested combinations for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 8% of all tested systems, indicating strong overall performance.

Q: Does the CPU outperform its direct rivals in average benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, scores 19047, which is a delta of 0%. This shows they perform statistically identically in these tests. It is also 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U and AMD EPYC 7773X.

Q: Is there a significant performance drop when moving from High to Ultra settings at 4K?

A: Yes, the drop is substantial. At 3840x2160, the High preset yields an average of 70 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 55 FPS. This represents a performance cost of 15 FPS for the higher visual fidelity.

Q: At what resolution does the system fail to maintain a 60 FPS average on the highest settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system's average frame rate falls to 55 FPS. This is the only tested configuration where the average dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how the game scales with different presets. For players targeting the highest possible frame rates, the 1920x1080 Low preset is the only configuration to break the 250 FPS barrier, hitting an average of 251 FPS. However, this comes at a significant visual cost. A more balanced approach is the 1920x1080 Medium preset, which still delivers an exceptional average of 228 FPS, with a minimum of 194 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience even in demanding scenes. This suggests that the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and raw performance, as the jump to High reduces the average to 195 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the High preset stands out as a strong contender. It delivers an average of 128 FPS, which is well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. While the Medium preset offers a higher average of 149 FPS, the High preset's visual improvements are substantial. The Ultra preset at this resolution, with an average of 100 FPS, is also highly playable and provides the best image quality. For 4K gaming, the High preset is the recommended starting point, as it is the only 4K setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, specifically at 70 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 55 FPS, which may not be ideal for all players, while the Low preset at 4K, at 107 FPS, sacrifices too much visual quality for the performance gain.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing. Its specifications include 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, resulting in a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The card's base clock is 2205 MHz and it boosts to 2505 MHz. These specifications are the primary drivers of performance at higher resolutions, where the demand for pixel throughput and memory bandwidth increases dramatically.

The data confirms this. When moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 195 FPS to 70 FPS. This 64% reduction in performance is a direct consequence of the GPU having to render four times as many pixels. The RTX 4080's raw compute power, measured at 48.74 TFLOPS FP32, is what allows the system to achieve playable frame rates at 4K. Its percentile ranking of 86th among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 54247 place it firmly in the high-end tier, and its performance is virtually identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER, which has a delta of 0.1%. The GPU's role is clear: it is the primary engine for visual output, and its capabilities are most fully utilized at 4K, where the CPU bottleneck is less pronounced.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i5-12400F and the RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 298 out of 3696 tested combinations for The Technomancer. This places the system in the top 8.1% of all setups. This high ranking reflects the RTX 4080's immense power, which can overcome the limitations of the more modest CPU in most scenarios.

The ranking also implies that while this is a very fast system, there are 297 other combinations that perform better. These are likely to include newer, higher-end CPUs that can feed the RTX 4080 more effectively, particularly at lower resolutions. The data suggests that the system is held back by the CPU in certain situations, preventing it from achieving an even higher rank. The fact that it still ranks this highly shows that for a game like The Technomancer, the GPU is the most critical factor for overall performance, and the RTX 4080 ensures the system is a top performer despite its mid-range processor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial. These specifications make it a solid performer for gaming, and its average benchmark score of 19039 places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs.

However, the CPU's role in The Technomancer becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The evidence for this is clear in the frame rate data. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 251 FPS. When the resolution is increased to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the frame rate drops to 195 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 107 FPS. The CPU's job is to prepare frames for the GPU. At 1080p, the GPU can render frames so quickly that the CPU cannot keep up, creating a bottleneck. The fact that the 1080p Low and Medium settings (251 FPS and 228 FPS) are relatively close suggests the CPU is hitting its limit. This is further supported by the CPU's performance in synthetic tests like Cinebench R23, where it scores 12380 multicore and 1680 single-core. The single-core score is crucial for gaming, and while it is good, it is not enough to fully saturate an RTX 4080 at low resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at performance across three resolutions and four quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. The Low preset achieves an average of 251 FPS. The Medium preset is also very high at 228 FPS, with a minimum of 194 FPS and a maximum of 262 FPS. The High preset averages 195 FPS, and even the Ultra preset manages a very high 152 FPS. This resolution is entirely GPU-bound, but the frame rates are so high that the CPU bottleneck is the only thing preventing even higher numbers.

At 2560x1440, performance remains excellent. The Low preset averages 195 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 149 FPS (with min/max of 127/172 FPS). The High preset delivers a very smooth 128 FPS, and the Ultra preset provides a highly playable 100 FPS. This resolution offers a great balance, as the GPU workload is high enough to reduce the CPU bottleneck, allowing for a more proportional scaling between settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully stressed. The Low preset averages 107 FPS, the Medium preset averages 82 FPS (with min/max of 70/94 FPS), and the High preset averages 70 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 55 FPS, which is the only configuration that dips below the 60 FPS target. This resolution clearly shows the RTX 4080's power, but also its limits at the highest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system's fundamental bottleneck. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 251 FPS at 1080p to 195 FPS at 1440p, a decrease of 22%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, it drops from 195 FPS to 107 FPS, a further 45% decrease. This pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming more and more of a limiting factor as resolution increases.

The scaling is more dramatic at higher settings. At Ultra, the frame rate drops from 152 FPS at 1080p to 100 FPS at 1440p, a 34% decrease, and then to 55 FPS at 4K, a further 45% decrease. The fact that the percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is consistent across settings (45% for Low and Ultra) suggests that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution. Conversely, the smaller percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (22%) compared to Ultra settings (34%) indicates that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the limiting factor. As resolution and settings increase, the workload shifts to the GPU, and the system scales as expected. This analysis confirms that for a game like The Technomancer, the RTX 4080 is the star of the show, but its full potential is only unlocked at higher resolutions where the CPU can keep up.