The Technomancer

# The Technomancer: Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales predictably across resolution and quality presets. The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER demonstrates a balanced pairing, where the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom at lower settings. The measured data shows a system capable of delivering smooth gameplay at 1440p and 4K, with frame rates that fall within playable ranges across most configurations tested.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, a hallmark of GPU-bound rendering. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the system produces an average of 140.6 FPS. This drops to 91.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 35%, and further declines to 48.5 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 65% decrease from the 1080p baseline. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 47% loss in frame rate, which is consistent with the pixel count increase of roughly 2.25 times.

The pattern shifts noticeably when examining Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 274.1 FPS, which falls to 182 FPS at 1440p and 96.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom when graphical fidelity is reduced. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution decreases: at 4K, the difference is 48.1 FPS (96.6 vs 48.5), while at 1080p it expands to 133.5 FPS (274.1 vs 140.6). This suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU begins to play a more significant role, while at 4K the GPU workload dominates.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts based on resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-limited, as the frame rate of 274.1 FPS approaches the practical ceiling for many game engines. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with the 48.5 FPS result reflecting the intense pixel and shading demands. The medium preset at 4K produces 73.2 FPS, which is a 51% improvement over Ultra, highlighting how settings adjustments can mitigate resolution penalties.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The processor's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 1995 in the 2-thread test to 7956 in the 16-thread test, indicating good thread utilization.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role becomes evident in the lower resolution and lower quality settings. At 1080p Low, the 274.1 FPS result suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with sufficient draw calls and game logic updates. The processor's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallel processing power, which is beneficial for the AI and physics systems typical of an Action RPG. The PassMark multi-thread score of 27575 and single-thread score of 3925 indicate balanced performance across varied workloads.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K with an average score of 27829 (0% delta), the Intel Core i5-12600K at 27851 (-0.1% delta), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H at 27872 (-0.2% delta). This places the i5-12600KF in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it outperforms the majority of processors in general benchmarks. The small delta percentages against these rivals suggest that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this game, as its performance is comparable to or better than many high-end options.

The boost clock of 4.90 GHz is particularly relevant for single-threaded game logic, which often cannot utilize all cores. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 333 and R20 single-core score of 1389 demonstrate strong per-core performance, which helps maintain high frame rates in scenarios with light CPU loads. The data suggests that the i5-12600KF is well-suited for this game, providing enough headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck at any tested resolution or settings combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. It comes equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 2340 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and the memory operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The shading units number 8448, with 264 texture mapping units and 96 raster output units.

The GPU's benchmark results show strong performance in compute and graphics workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569 and PassMark G3D score of 31811 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 50HX with an average score of 49071 (-0.7% delta), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 at 47915 (1.6% delta), and the Intel Arc A550M at 49737 (-2.1% delta). The GPU's average benchmark score of 48704 is competitive with these alternatives.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is critical at higher resolutions. The 4K results show a significant drop from Low to Ultra settings, with the 48.5 FPS Ultra result indicating that the GPU is fully saturated. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for the game's textures and effects at Ultra settings, as the game was released in 2016 and would not require more than that allocation. The memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s supports high-resolution rendering without becoming a limiting factor.

The GPU's pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s provide the throughput necessary for the frame rates observed. The FP32 performance of 44.10 TFLOPS indicates strong compute capability, which can assist with any GPU-based physics or post-processing effects. The data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates at 4K, as the CPU has sufficient headroom to avoid constraining performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 178th out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the top 10.7% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing, where neither component dramatically underperforms relative to the other. The high percentile placement suggests that this combo is well-suited for the game's demands, despite the game's age.

The ranking is influenced by both the CPU and GPU's individual performance characteristics. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and the GPU's 86th percentile ranking indicate that both components are above average, and their combination produces a synergistic effect. The 178th rank out of 1656 combos means that approximately 1478 other combinations performed worse, while only 177 performed better, putting this system in the upper echelon of tested hardware.

The data indicates that the combo's performance is more dependent on the GPU than the CPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns. At 4K, the system's frame rates are competitive with other high-end combos, while at 1080p the CPU ensures that the GPU is fully utilized. The rank of 178 suggests that this pairing is well-balanced, with neither component creating a significant bottleneck that would drag down overall performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 274.1 FPS on Low, 212 FPS on Medium, 183.5 FPS on High, and 140.6 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 48.7% reduction in frame rate, with the largest single drop occurring between Medium and High at 28.5 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 182 FPS on Low, 138.4 FPS on Medium, 118 FPS on High, and 91.4 FPS on Ultra. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with an average decrease of approximately 34%. The Ultra preset at 1440p still maintains a playable 91.4 FPS, indicating that the system handles this resolution well even at maximum quality.

At 3840x2160, the results are 96.6 FPS on Low, 73.2 FPS on Medium, 61.8 FPS on High, and 48.5 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, suggesting that this setting combination is the most demanding. The 4K High result of 61.8 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium and Low provide comfortable margins at 73.2 and 96.6 FPS respectively.

The data shows that the system is versatile across all tested scenarios. For gamers targeting 60 FPS, the system can achieve this at 4K with High settings or below, at 1440p with any settings including Ultra, and at 1080p with all settings. For high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p, the system can exceed 140 FPS on Ultra and reach 274.1 FPS on Low, making it suitable for 144Hz or even 240Hz monitors. The consistency of the results across the resolution spectrum confirms that this combo provides a robust gaming experience in The Technomancer.