The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, presents an interesting case study in how a modern mid-range CPU and upper-mid-range GPU handle an older title. The data for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT shows a combination that is heavily influenced by graphics settings and resolution, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher presets. The measured frame rates reveal a system capable of very high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that requires careful settings management to maintain smooth performance at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a clear and predictable pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At the "Low" settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (210.2 FPS) to 2560x1440 (135.8 FPS) represents a 35.4% decrease in performance. Moving further to 3840x2160 (73.5 FPS) results in another 45.9% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K suggests that even at low settings, the GPU's pixel throughput is being taxed heavily, as the total pixel count increases substantially at each step.

The scaling pattern changes character when looking at higher quality presets. With "High" settings, the drop from 1080p (136 FPS) to 1440p (91.3 FPS) is a 32.9% reduction, and the subsequent drop to 4K (47.8 FPS) is a 47.6% reduction from 1440p. The "Ultra" preset shows a similar trend: 1080p (109.3 FPS) to 1440p (71.5 FPS) is a 34.6% decline, and then 1440p to 4K (36.5 FPS) is a 49% decline. The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets indicates that the limiting component scales uniformly with resolution. The data strongly points to the GPU being the primary constraint, as the CPU's workload does not change dramatically with resolution, while the GPU's fill rate and shading load increase proportionally with pixel count.

The fact that the 4K "Ultra" result (36.5 FPS) is less than half of the 1080p "Ultra" result (109.3 FPS) further confirms that this is a GPU-bound scenario. Had the CPU been the limiting factor, we would expect the performance gap between resolutions to narrow at higher settings, as the CPU would be waiting for the GPU to finish rendering frames. Instead, the consistent scaling suggests that the RX 7800 XT is the bottleneck across the board, with the i5-12600KF providing sufficient headroom to feed it frames.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 2560x1440 with "High" settings?

A: The measured average frame rate for this combination at 2560x1440 with "High" settings is 91.3 FPS. This places it well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that this resolution and settings combination is very playable.

Q: How does the performance at 1920x1080 with "Ultra" settings compare to 3840x2160 with "Ultra" settings?

A: The frame rate at 1080p "Ultra" is 109.3 FPS, while at 4K "Ultra" it drops to 36.5 FPS. This represents a 66.6% reduction in performance when moving to 4K, which is a substantial hit that makes 4K "Ultra" less viable for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game for this combo?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting component. The consistent frame rate scaling across resolutions, where performance drops by similar percentages regardless of the quality preset, is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is not showing signs of bottlenecking, as it is able to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the best settings configuration for a 60 FPS target at 3840x2160?

A: At 4K, the "High" preset achieves 47.8 FPS and "Medium" achieves 54.9 FPS, both below 60 FPS. Only the "Low" preset, with 73.5 FPS, exceeds the 60 FPS target. Therefore, to achieve a stable 60 FPS at 4K, the "Low" settings preset is required based on the measured data.

Q: How does the card's performance in this game compare to its overall benchmark percentile?

A: The RX 7800 XT has a percentile rank of 76 against all GPUs in the database, indicating it is in the top quarter of graphics cards. In this specific game, the measured FPS at 1440p "High" (91.3 FPS) shows it is performing as a capable upper-mid-range card, although the 4K "Ultra" result (36.5 FPS) highlights the demands of this title at maximum settings.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the "Low" and "Ultra" presets at 1920x1080?

A: At 1080p, the "Low" preset delivers 210.2 FPS, while the "Ultra" preset delivers 109.3 FPS. The difference is 100.9 FPS, meaning the "Ultra" preset is roughly 48% slower than "Low" at this resolution, which is a significant performance cost for higher graphical fidelity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 23,444 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,309 points in single-core, placing it at the 84th percentile against all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 27,827 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K, which has a delta of 0%, and slightly lower than the Core i5-12600K, which is only 0.1% faster.

For a game like The Technomancer, released in 2016, the CPU requirements are far less demanding than modern titles. The data from the measured FPS shows that the i5-12600KF is more than capable of keeping up with the GPU. At 1080p with "Low" settings, the system achieves 210.2 FPS, a very high frame rate that suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor. If the CPU were struggling, we would see frame rates plateau or even decrease at lower resolutions, where the CPU has to prepare more frames per second. This is not the case here, as the performance scales smoothly from 1080p to 4K.

The processor's high single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3,309-point Cinebench R23 score, is likely beneficial for this game's engine. Many games from that era rely heavily on single-threaded performance for game logic and physics. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz, combined with the strong IPC of the Alder Lake architecture, ensures that the CPU does not become a bottleneck even when frame rates exceed 200 FPS. The data suggests that the i5-12600KF provides ample compute headroom, allowing the RX 7800 XT to operate at its full potential in The Technomancer.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT ranks 643rd out of 1,656 tested combos for this specific game. This places it in the top 38.8% of all tested configurations, which is a solid but not exceptional ranking. Given that the CPU is in the 84th percentile and the GPU is in the 76th percentile, one might expect a higher overall ranking. However, the rank is specific to this game's performance, which can be influenced by engine quirks and how well it utilizes the hardware.

The ranking suggests that while each component is individually powerful, the pair does not synergize perfectly for The Technomancer. The game's age and likely engine limitations may prevent it from fully leveraging the multi-core capabilities of the i5-12600KF or the architectural advantages of the RX 7800 XT. The measured FPS shows the system is capable of high performance, but the rank indicates there are 642 other combinations that perform better in this particular title. This could be due to other CPUs having higher single-thread performance or other GPUs with better driver optimization for this game.

It is important to note that the combo rank is a relative measure. Being in the top 38.8% of 1,656 combos is still a strong result, and the absolute frame rates tell a more complete story. The system achieves over 100 FPS at 1440p "High" and over 200 FPS at 1080p "Low", which are excellent results. The rank simply reflects that in the broader database of all possible CPU/GPU pairings, there are a significant number of combinations that deliver higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs that are even better suited to this specific game's demands.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is a high-end graphics card built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, codenamed "Wheat Nas", using a 5 nm process. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The card has 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, with a boost clock of 2430 MHz. Its peak FP32 performance is 37.32 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. The GPU's benchmark results show it at the 76th percentile against all GPUs, with an average score of 32,619.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The frame rate data shows a steep drop as resolution increases, which is the classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The card's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K with "Ultra" settings, so memory capacity is not a bottleneck. The performance is instead dictated by the GPU's shading and rasterization throughput. The 96 ROPs and 583.2 GTexel/s texture rate are likely the key factors in determining fill-rate limited performance.

The difference between the "Low" and "Ultra" presets at 4K is substantial: 73.5 FPS versus 36.5 FPS. This 50.3% reduction in performance shows how much overhead the higher quality settings add. The data suggests that the RX 7800 XT is a capable card for 1440p gaming in this title, where it delivers between 71.5 FPS ("Ultra") and 135.8 FPS ("Low"). For 4K, however, the card is pushed to its limits, and only the "Low" preset can maintain a frame rate above 60 FPS. This is consistent with the GPU's position in the market, being a strong 1440p performer but not a top-tier 4K card for the most demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional frame rates across the board. The "Low" preset achieves an average of 210.2 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors. The "Medium" preset still delivers a very high 159.1 FPS, while "High" drops to 136 FPS. The most demanding "Ultra" preset still produces a smooth 109.3 FPS, indicating that the system is never CPU-bound at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the GPU beginning to work harder. The "Low" preset averages 135.8 FPS, which is still excellent for 1440p gaming. "Medium" settings deliver 103.5 FPS, maintaining a high level of smoothness. The "High" preset achieves 91.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for most displays. The "Ultra" preset, however, drops to 71.5 FPS, which is still playable but shows the performance cost of maximum settings. The gap between "Low" and "Ultra" at 1440p is 64.3 FPS, a significant range that gives users clear choices.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance becomes more constrained. The "Low" preset is the only one to break the 60 FPS barrier, achieving 73.5 FPS. The "Medium" preset drops to 54.9 FPS, and "High" falls to 47.8 FPS. The "Ultra" preset is the most demanding, yielding just 36.5 FPS. This resolution requires significant compromises to achieve smooth gameplay, with only the "Low" preset providing a satisfactory frame rate. The data shows that 4K is the point where the RX 7800 XT's limits are exposed, and users seeking 60 FPS at this resolution must sacrifice graphical quality.