The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The benchmark data for this combination reveals a system that is heavily skewed toward GPU-bound performance at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities become more apparent at 1080p. This analysis walks through the measured FPS across four settings presets and three resolutions, placing the data within the context of the component’s broader benchmark standings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates across the four settings presets and three resolutions indicate that the High preset offers the most balanced experience, though the optimal choice depends on the target display resolution. At 4K (3840x2160), the High preset delivers an average of 64 FPS, which is playable for most users. The Medium preset at 4K provides an average of 75 FPS, a 17% increase over High, but does so at a lower visual quality. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to an average of 50 FPS, which is likely below the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh displays. The Low preset at 4K reaches 98 FPS, but the visual trade-offs are substantial.

At 1440p (2560x1440), the High preset’s average of 117 FPS is excellent, providing a smooth experience on most monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 137 FPS, a 17% improvement, while the Ultra preset drops to 91 FPS, which is still quite playable. The Low preset at 1440p, with an average of 178 FPS, is far beyond the refresh rate of most displays.

At 1080p (1920x1080), all settings presets deliver high frame rates. The High preset gives 179 FPS, the Medium preset 210 FPS, the Ultra preset 140 FPS, and the Low preset 273 FPS. For competitive play on a 240Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 1080p provides a robust 210 FPS average, but the Low preset’s 273 FPS average is the only option that fully saturates a 240Hz display.

The data suggests that the High preset is the best overall choice for a quality experience, as it provides a consistent frame rate across all three resolutions, with 64 FPS at 4K, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 179 FPS at 1080p. The Medium preset is a strong alternative for those seeking higher frame rates, especially at 4K where it delivers a 60% improvement over High (75 FPS vs 64 FPS). The Ultra preset is best reserved for 1440p and 1080p, where it still delivers 91 FPS and 140 FPS respectively, though the visual gains are marginal compared to High.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The base clock is 2310 MHz, with a boost clock of 2610 MHz. The memory runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective. The GPU has 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation pipelines. It also features 60 RT cores and 240 Tensor cores.

In The Technomancer, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly significant as the resolution increases. At 4K, the frame rate drops from 108 FPS at Low to 64 FPS at High, a 41% decrease. The Ultra preset further drops to 50 FPS. This trend clearly shows that at 4K, the game is heavily GPU-bound. The RTX 4070 Ti’s 12 GB of VRAM and memory bandwidth are sufficient to handle the game’s demands, as evidenced by the performance scaling across settings.

The GPU’s memory, a 12 GB GDDR6X configuration, is not a bottleneck in this game. The highest memory usage occurs at 4K Ultra, yet the frame rate remains playable at 50 FPS. The boost clock of 2610 MHz, combined with the high memory bandwidth, allows the GPU to sustain consistent frame rates across the different settings. The data shows that at 1440p, the GPU is still a significant factor, but the CPU also plays a role, as evidenced by the 1440p numbers which are reasonable but not as low as 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer, this Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 444th. This places the combo in the top percentile of all tested combinations, right at the 88th percentile. The combo’s rank of 444 out of 3696 is impressive, though it is not the absolute top tier. The data indicates that many other tested combos achieve higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs.

The combo’s CPU, the Intel Core i5-12600KF, has a percentile Vs. all CPUs of 79, indicating that it performs better than 79% of all CPUs tested. The GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, has a percentile VsAllGpus of 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of all GPUs. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 27799, which is close to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, which has an average score of 27872, a delta of -0.3%.

The combo’s ranking in this game is strong, but it is not the top. The data suggests that the GPU is the more capable component in this pairing, as it has a higher percentile ranking than the CPU. This is reflected in the measured FPS, where the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

4K (3840x2160):

• High Preset: Average FPS 64
• Low Preset: Average FPS 98
• Medium Preset: Average FPS 75 (min 64, max 87)
• Ultra Preset: Average FPS 50

At 4K, the frame rates scale predictably with the settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 98 FPS, which is a solid 4K experience. The Medium preset improves to 75 FPS, but with a minimum of 64 FPS, indicating some frame pacing issues. The High preset averages 64 FPS, which is the most balanced for 4K, and the Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS, which is the most demanding.

1440p (2560x1440):

• High Preset: Average FPS 117
• Low Preset: Average FPS 178
• Medium Preset: Average FPS 137, min 116, max 158
• Ultra Preset: Average FPS 91

At 1440p, the system shows strong performance. The Low preset averages 178 FPS, which is a high frame rate for 1440p. The Medium preset averages 137 FPS, with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 158. The High preset averages 117 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Ultra preset averages 91 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS.

1080p (1920x1080):

• High Preset: Average FPS 179
• Low Preset: Average FPS 273
• Medium Preset: Average FPS 210, min 178, max 241
• Ultra Preset: Average FPS 140

At 1080p, the system is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings. The Low preset averages 273 FPS, which is an exceptionally high frame rate. The Medium preset averages 210 FPS, with a minimum of 178 and a maximum of 241. The High preset averages 179 FPS, which is still above 144Hz. The Ultra preset averages 140 FPS, which is a high frame rate for ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial, revealing the scaling behavior of the combination. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 179 at 1080p to 117 at 1440p, a 35% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 117 to 64, a 45% decrease. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is from 179 to 64, a 64% reduction.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar: 273 FPS at 1080p, 178 at 1440p, and 98 at 4K. This is a -35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a -45% drop from 1440p to 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 210 FPS at 1080p, 137 at 1440p, and 75 at 4K.

The Ultra preset has the most significant scaling: 140 FPS at 1080p, 91 at 1440p, and 50 at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is a 64% drop, identical to the High preset.

The consistent scaling across settings suggests that the bottleneck shifts from the CPU to the GPU as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames, resulting in high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The scaling is linear, indicating a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for 4K on this combo?

A: The High preset at 4K provides an average of 64 FPS, which is the most balanced. The Medium preset offers 75 FPS but with a lower quality. The Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS, which is above 60 but may not be worth the visual tradeoff.

Q: How does the combination perform at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the High preset averages 117 FPS, Medium averages 137 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. All are above 60 FPS, with the High preset being the best for a smooth experience.

Q: Is the game more CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the frame rates are very high, with the Low preset reaching 273 FPS. This indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor, and the GPU is the primary component, but the CPU’s performance is sufficient to avoid a bottleneck.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 273 at 1080p with Low settings. The next highest is 210 FPS at Medium settings.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM cause any issues at 4K?

A: The 12 GB VRAM appears sufficient, as the game runs at 4K with an average of 50 FPS at Ultra settings. There is no data indicating VRAM capacity issues.

Q: How does this combo compare to other combos in the database?

A: This combo ranks 444th out of 3696 tested combos, placing it in the top 12% of all tested combinations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S generation. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU has a TDP of 125 W and uses the Intel Socket 1700. Its cache includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores well. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 23391, and its single-core score is 3302. The Geekbench multi-core score is 12137, and the single-core score is 2157. The CPU’s passmark multi-thread score is 27575, and its single-thread score is 3925.

In this game, the CPU’s role is significant at 1080p, where the frame rates are extremely high. The 1080p Low preset reaches 273 FPS, which reflects the CPU’s single-thread performance. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The CPU’s ability to feed the GPU is demonstrated by the high frame rates at 1080p, especially at Low and Medium settings.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark score, are the Intel Core i9-10900K with a score of 27895, AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE with 27712, AMD Ryzen 7 6800U with 27887, and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with 27896. The i5-12600KF’s average score is 27799, which is within 0.3% of these rivals. This indicates that the CPU is well-positioned in the performance hierarchy.

The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are well-suited for modern games, including The Technomancer. The high boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is critical for the CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p. The L3 cache of 20 MB is shared across all cores, providing efficient data access.

In summary, the CPU is a capable component for this game, with strong single-core and multi-core performance. Its role becomes more important at lower resolutions, where the GPU is not the limiting factor. The data shows that the combination delivers a smooth experience across the board, with the GPU dominating at higher resolutions and the CPU showing its strength at 1080p.