The Technomancer

The Technomancer, an Action RPG from 2016, places moderate demands on modern hardware, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience. At 1080p, this setup handles the game with authority, but as resolution climbs to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The benchmark data indicates a system that is well-balanced for 1080p, yet struggles to maintain fluidity at higher resolutions, particularly with Ultra settings. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance across the three tested resolutions and four quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the system averages 56 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the average falls to 37 FPS, a substantial 34% reduction. The jump to 2160p (4K) is even more punishing, with the average dropping to 20 FPS, which is a further 46% decrease from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that the data is heavily influenced by pixel count and the graphics card's ability to fill frames.

The trend is consistent across all settings. With High settings, the 1080p average is 76 FPS. At 1440p, it falls to 47 FPS, a 38% drop. At 4K, it plummets to 26 FPS, which is a 45% reduction from 1440p. Even at the Low preset, where the GPU load is lightest, the scaling remains steep: 110 FPS at 1080p drops to 72 FPS at 1440p (a 35% decline) and then to 39 FPS at 4K (a 46% decline). The consistent pattern of a 35-45% drop for each step up in resolution shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER's ability to output frames is the limiting factor; the CPU is not holding the system back at these higher resolutions. The data suggests the 1080p resolution is where this hardware combination is most efficient, with the i5-13400F able to feed the GPU adequately.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the 12 nm process with a 6 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. The memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is the key spec for this game. With a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, the card delivers consistent performance. The GPU's 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs are the compute units responsible for rendering the game's visuals. The measured performance at 1080p High (72 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (62 FPS) indicates that the card is above the 60 FPS threshold at the most common resolution, but only at High settings.

The GPU's percentile rank of 53rd among all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack. Its average benchmark score of 12986 is close to its nearest rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 (0.4% behind). This parity explains the performance scaling; the GTX 1660 SUPER is a solid mid-range card, not a high-end model capable of handling 4K. The data shows that 4K is not a viable resolution for this card in this game, with the best average being 39 FPS at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS target. The 6 GB of VRAM is adequate for 1080p, but the benchmark results suggest that the card's compute power is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: At which resolution does the Intel Core i5-13400F and GTX 1660 SUPER achieve 60 FPS in The Technomancer?

A: The system achieves above 60 FPS only at 1080p with Medium, High, and Low settings. At 1080p Medium the average is 84 FPS, High is 72 FPS, and Low is 110 FPS. At 1440p, the best result is 72 FPS on Low, but the average for Medium is 55 FPS and High is 47 FPS. At 4K, no setting reaches 60 FPS; the highest average is 39 FPS on Low.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p High and 4K High?

A:** The average frame rate drops from 47 FPS at 2560x1440 High to 26 FPS at 3840x2160 High. This is a significant 45% reduction in performance, highlighting the GPU's struggle with the increased pixel count.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum frame rate at 1440p?

A:** The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows a minimum frame rate of 47 FPS, with a maximum of 63 FPS and an average of 55 FPS. This is the only preset at 1440p that offers a minimum above 40 FPS; High and Ultra do not report minimums in the data, but their averages are 47 and 34 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER's performance compare to its closest rivals in general benchmarks?

A:** The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 12986. It is 0.4% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and 0.4% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 580. It also trails the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 by 0.7%. This places it in the middle of its performance class.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-13400F a good match for the GTX 1660 SUPER in this game?

A:** Yes, at 1080p the data suggests a balanced pairing. The CPU has a high average benchmark score of 25292 and is in the 77th percentile. The CPU's performance does not bottleneck the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the High frame rate of 72 FPS. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting component, and the CPU's role is less critical.

Q: What is the 4K Ultra performance result?

A:**

The 4K Ultra preset yields an average of 20 FPS, which is the lowest measured average in the entire dataset. This is a 46% drop from the 1440p Ultra average of 34 FPS, indicating that 4K Ultra is not playable with this configuration.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the High preset at 1080p is the most effective setting for a smooth experience. The average of 72 FPS at 1080p High is well above the 60 FPS target, and the jump from 110 FPS at Low to 72 FPS at High shows that the GPU has headroom. The Ultra preset at 1080p still delivers 62 FPS, but the 14% performance cost over High (from 72 to 62 FPS) may not be worth the visual gain, especially considering the 4K results.

For users with high refresh rate 1080p monitors, the Low preset at 110 FPS is the only one that exceeds 100 FPS. However, the Medium preset at 84 FPS provides a good balance between visual quality and smoothness. At 1440p, the High preset at 47 FPS is the best for visual fidelity, but the Medium preset at 55 FPS is the only one above 50 FPS. The data shows that 4K is not a viable option for any setting, as the highest average is 39 FPS at Low. Therefore, the recommended approach is to stick to 1080p for the best experience, or 1440p with Medium settings for a compromise.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is as follows:

• Low: Average 110 FPS.
• Medium: Average 84 FPS, with a minimum of 72 and a maximum of 97 FPS.
• High: Average 72 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 62 FPS.

The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 44% reduction in average frame rate, with the gap between Medium and High being 12 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra being 10 FPS.

At 2560x1440:

• Low: Average 72 FPS.
• Medium: Average 55 FPS, with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 63 FPS.
• High: Average 47 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 34 FPS.

The drop from Low to Ultra is 53%. The Medium preset's minimum of 47 FPS is the same as the High preset's average, indicating that the Medium preset offers a more stable experience than High.

At 3840x2160:

• Low: Average 39 FPS.
• Medium: Average 30 FPS, with a minimum of 26 and a maximum of 35 FPS.
• High: Average 26 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 20 FPS.

The 4K results show a dramatic drop from the 1440p results, with the Ultra preset at 4K being 41% slower than the 1440p Ultra. The game is not playable at 4K with this setup, as even the Low preset fails to reach 40 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is not a bottleneck for this game. The CPU's base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with its 20 MB of L3 cache, provide strong foundation. Its average benchmark score of 25292 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and it performs similarly to its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS has a score of 25284 (0% difference), the Intel Core 5 120 has a score of 25362 (0.3% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D has a score of 25365 (0.3% ahead). The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H is 0.4% behind. This indicates the i5-13400F is well within the performance band of its competitors.

In this game, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU. At 1080p, the CPU's 16 threads and high clock speeds allow it to maintain frame rates that are not CPU-limited. The fact that the 1080p High and Low averages are 72 and 110 FPS respectively shows that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. At higher resolutions, the GPU's workload increases and the CPU's load decreases, as the frame rate drops. The 4K Low performance of 39 FPS is a clear example of the GPU being the limiting component, as the CPU could not be expected to be the cause of such a low frame. The CPU's performance in this game is sufficient, and the data shows that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate at 1440p and above.