The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT lands at rank 1158 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. The data shows a system that is clearly capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p, solid 60+ FPS at 1440p, and only begins to struggle at 4K with the heaviest settings. The pairing of a 12-core Alder Lake CPU with a 16 GB RDNA 2 GPU creates a balanced platform where the bottleneck shifts predictably as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1158 out of 3696 means it outperforms roughly 68% of all tested configurations in this game. This is a strong showing, though not an elite one — The Technomancer is a 2016 title that responds well to high single-thread performance, and the i7-12700K delivers that in abundance. The percentile data for the individual components reinforces this: the CPU sits at the 84th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks at the 85th percentile among all graphics cards. Neither component is a weak link, which explains why the combo lands where it does.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-12700K is essentially locked in a statistical tie with the Intel Core i5-13600T (deltaPct -0.1), the Intel Core i7-12700KF (deltaPct -0.2), and the Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct -0.3). The fact that the i5-13600T — a lower-tier part — matches the i7-12700K within 0.1% suggests that The Technomancer's CPU demands are not extreme, and that single-thread performance matters more than raw core count in this title.

On the GPU side, the RX 6800 XT's nearest rivals reveal an interesting competitive landscape. It sits 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, but trails the Intel Arc A550M by 2.5%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 3%, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 by 3%. The RX 6800 XT is older than several of these competitors, yet it remains competitive — proof of its 16 GB of VRAM and high memory bandwidth being well-suited to this game's texture demands.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K brings 12 cores and 20 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This Alder Lake-S chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, features a 25 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5. For The Technomancer, a game released in 2016, the CPU's single-thread performance is the dominant factor — and the data confirms this is a strength.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i7-12700K scores 1043 in 3DMark single-thread and 2065 in 3DMark 2-thread tests. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5 and Geekbench single-core score of 2308 both indicate excellent per-thread performance. The game's engine, typical of that era, likely relies heavily on one or two main threads for game logic and physics, meaning the i7-12700K's boost clock of 5.00 GHz is arguably more important than its 12-core count.

The multithreaded scores tell a different story. With a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784 and a Passmark multithread score of 34404, the CPU is unquestionably powerful in heavily threaded workloads. However, the measured FPS data suggests that The Technomancer does not fully utilize this capability — otherwise, we would expect to see the CPU become the limiting factor at lower resolutions, which the data does not clearly support (more on this in the Resolution Scaling section). The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 versus the max-thread score of 9979 shows only modest scaling beyond 16 threads, indicating diminishing returns for this game's workload.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is built on the Navi 21 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process with 26,800 million transistors. It operates with a base clock of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost clock of 2250 MHz. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth — a figure that becomes critical at high resolutions and high settings, where texture streaming and memory pressure increase.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is clearly visible in the FPS scaling across settings. At 1080p Low, the system produces 216 FPS, but dropping to 1080p Ultra reduces that to 111 FPS — a 49% decrease. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario at high settings, where the 4608 shading units and 128 ROPs are pushed harder by increased geometric complexity and pixel shading. The GPU's 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 288.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are substantial, but the game's 2016-era engine may not be optimized to fully exploit RDNA 2's architectural advantages.

The RX 6800 XT's benchmark results reflect its general capability: a Passmark G3D score of 24980 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 171304. Its 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it ahead of the majority of graphics cards, which is consistent with the combo's overall rank. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures compatibility with modern APIs, though The Technomancer likely uses DirectX 11 or earlier given its release date, which could explain why the GPU's raw compute advantages don't translate into even higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide spread across settings. Low produces 216 FPS average, Medium 166 FPS (with a minimum of 141 and maximum of 191), High 142 FPS, and Ultra 111 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 105 FPS — a 49% reduction. Even at Ultra, the system maintains over 100 FPS, making 1080p a non-issue for this combo at any setting.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop but remain highly playable. Low yields 141 FPS, Medium 109 FPS (minimum 92, maximum 125), High 93 FPS, and Ultra 72 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is from 111 FPS to 72 FPS — a 35% drop. The minimum FPS of 92 at Medium settings indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system stays comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. High produces 51 FPS, Medium 60 FPS (minimum 51, maximum 69), Low 78 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS. The Medium settings at 4K are the only row with a full min/max range, showing a minimum of 51 FPS — right at the edge of what most players would consider acceptable. Ultra at 4K is the only configuration that falls below playable thresholds, averaging just 40 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and telling. At High settings, the system goes from 142 FPS at 1080p to 93 FPS at 1440p (34.5% decrease) to 51 FPS at 4K (64% decrease from 1080p). At Low settings, the progression is 216 → 141 → 78 FPS, with the 4K figure representing a 64% drop from 1080p as well. This consistent ~64% reduction from 1080p to 4K across different settings strongly suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The math supports this interpretation. The GPU's 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 288.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are taxed more heavily as resolution increases, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant. At 1080p, the CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance can feed the GPU enough frames to reach 216 FPS at Low settings. But at 4K, the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth become the limiting factors — hence the more uniform percentage drops across settings.

Interestingly, the drop from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings (109 → 60 FPS, a 45% decrease) is steeper than the drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings (166 → 109 FPS, a 34% decrease). This nonlinear scaling indicates that 4K pushes the RX 6800 XT into a region where memory bandwidth and ROP throughput become critical, and the 256-bit bus — while providing 512.0 GB/s — can't fully compensate for the 2.25x increase in pixel count from 1440p to 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance depends heavily on the target resolution.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 111 FPS average is the clear recommendation. The game remains well above 100 FPS, and the visual uplift from High (142 FPS) to Ultra (111 FPS) is worth the 22% performance cost. Even players with 144 Hz displays will find Ultra acceptable, as the 111 FPS average leaves minimal headroom but no stutter-inducing dips.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 93 FPS is the sweet spot. Ultra drops to 72 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices the fluidity that high-refresh monitors demand. Medium at 109 FPS is an option for competitive play, but High offers the best compromise — it maintains nearly 100 FPS while providing substantially better visual fidelity. The minimum FPS at Medium (92) suggests that High likely dips into the 70s during intense scenes, but the average of 93 indicates this is rare.

At 3840x2160, the recommendation narrows to Medium settings at 60 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that achieves a 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS. High drops to 51 FPS average, which risks noticeable stutter in busy scenes, and Ultra's 40 FPS is simply too low for smooth gameplay. Low at 78 FPS is an option, but the visual downgrade from Medium to Low is typically severe in this genre, making Medium the best trade-off.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination better suited for 1080p, 1440p, or 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows excellent performance at 1080p (111 FPS at Ultra) and 1440p (93 FPS at High), but 4K is only playable at Medium settings (60 FPS average, 51 FPS minimum). The combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where it delivers high frame rates with high visual settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700K scores 35287 in average benchmark scores, placing it within 0.4% of all four nearest rivals. It trails the Intel Core i5-13600T by 0.1%, the i7-12700KF by 0.2%, the i7-13700T by 0.3%, and the Intel Core 5 213PE by 0.4%.

Q: What is the GPU's competitive position relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 48477, which is 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile but 2.5% lower than the Intel Arc A550M and 3% lower than both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64.

Q: What is the largest FPS drop between consecutive settings at any resolution?

A: At 4K, dropping from High (51 FPS) to Ultra (40 FPS) represents a 21.6% decrease, while at 1080p, the drop from Low (216 FPS) to Medium (166 FPS) is a 23.1% decrease. The most significant relative drop is at 1440p from Medium (109 FPS) to High (93 FPS), which is a 14.7% decrease.

Q: Does the system maintain 60+ FPS at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes. At 4K Low, the average is 78 FPS, and at 4K Medium, the average is 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS. High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS averages (51 and 40 FPS respectively).

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multithread performance in this context?

A: The i7-12700K scores 1043 in 3DMark single-thread and 9979 in 3DMark max-thread tests — a 9.6x ratio. In Cinebench R23, the ratio is 10.7x (1850.5 single vs 19784 multi). The game's performance scaling with resolution (not core count) suggests single-thread performance is more relevant for The Technomancer.