The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that clearly separates CPU and GPU responsibilities. With an Intel Core i7-12700K paired with an AMD Radeon RX 9060, the measured FPS data reveals a story of scaling, bottlenecks, and the importance of settings. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, interpreting what the numbers mean for gameplay across resolutions and presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a significant performance drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which is classic behavior for a system where the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 103 FPS, but this falls to 67 FPS at 1440p and further plunges to 37 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 44% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating a heavy toll on the rendering pipeline.

The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system is less GPU-bound, allowing the CPU to play a more significant role in pushing frame rates higher. The jump from 103 FPS at 1080p to 157 FPS at Low settings at the same resolution shows headroom when the GPU load is reduced. However, at 4K, even Low settings only yield 56 FPS, demonstrating that the Radeon RX 9060’s compute capacity is stretched thin by the sheer number of pixels, regardless of the quality preset.

Looking at the Medium preset, the FPS drops from 120 at 1080p to 79 at 1440p and 43 at 4K. The incremental cost of each resolution step is not linear; the 4K jump is particularly punishing. This indicates that the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus of the GPU are likely saturated at 4K, causing a more pronounced performance cliff than what would be seen from pixel count alone. The data strongly suggests that for smooth 4K gameplay, users would need to consider lower settings or accept sub-60 FPS averages, as the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance versus visual fidelity. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 80 FPS, which is playable, but the High preset at 103 FPS offers a 29% performance increase. Given that High is often visually indistinguishable from Ultra in many titles, the data suggests that High is the optimal preset for 1080p to maintain a high refresh rate experience. Low at 1080p hits 157 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, but sacrifices too much visual quality for a single-player Action RPG.

At 1440p, the High preset averages 67 FPS, which is on the cusp of smoothness for many users. Medium averages 79 FPS, providing a better balance. The Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS, which may feel stuttery for some. The data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p, as it offers a 18% improvement over High while still looking substantially better than Low, which hits 102 FPS but with significant visual degradation.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Ultra preset averages 29 FPS, which is not a viable experience. High averages 37 FPS, still below the 60 FPS target. Medium averages 43 FPS, which is the best playable option according to the data, but even this requires a compromise. Low at 56 FPS is the only preset that approaches playability, but the visual hit is considerable. The recommendation is to stick to Medium at 4K if the resolution is a priority, but the data strongly suggests that 1440p with High or Medium settings provides the best overall experience for this hardware combo.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784 and a single-core score of 1850.5, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. However, in The Technomancer, the CPU’s role appears secondary at higher resolutions, as the frame rate drops are primarily driven by the GPU.

The data reveals that at 1080p Low, the system hits 157 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to stress the CPU’s single-thread performance. The i7-12700K’s single-core score of 1043 in 3DMark and 2308 in Geekbench suggests it has ample headroom to handle the game’s logic at these frame rates. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 and max-thread score of 9979 indicate that multi-threaded workloads are well-served, but The Technomancer likely doesn’t utilize all 12 cores efficiently.

The performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 77 FPS (157 vs 80), which is a massive gap. This gap narrows at higher resolutions, where the GPU becomes the bottleneck. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 27 FPS (56 vs 29). This pattern confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 4K, but it does have a measurable impact at 1080p. The data implies that the i7-12700K is more than sufficient for this game, and its capabilities are not fully taxed until the GPU is fed with lower-resolution frames.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 103 FPS. This is a smooth experience for most displays, suggesting the combo is well-suited for 1080p gaming.

Q: Is the Radeon RX 9060 capable of 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that at 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS is 43, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. At Ultra, it drops to 29 FPS. While it can run at 4K, the frame rates are not ideal, and users would need to accept Low settings (56 FPS) for a more playable experience.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p compared to 1080p?

A: At 1440p with High settings, the average FPS is 67, which is a 35% drop from the 103 FPS seen at 1080p. The drop is more pronounced at 4K, indicating that 1440p is a more balanced resolution for this hardware.

Q: What is the best preset to use for a 60 FPS target?

A: For a 60 FPS target, the data suggests using High settings at 1440p (67 FPS) or Medium settings at 1440p (79 FPS). At 1080p, High (103 FPS) or even Ultra (80 FPS) can comfortably exceed 60 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, as frame rates are heavily limited by the GPU. However, at 1080p Low, the system reaches 157 FPS, which may begin to tax the CPU, but its strong single-thread performance keeps it from being a limiting factor.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the difference is substantial, with Low achieving 157 FPS and Ultra achieving 80 FPS, a 77 FPS gap. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 50 FPS (102 vs 52), and at 4K, it narrows to 27 FPS (56 vs 29), showing that the GPU’s load dominates at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the primary driver of frame rates in The Technomancer, as evidenced by the significant scaling across resolutions. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, its 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is a key factor in its performance. The GPU’s boost clock of 2990 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz contribute to its compute power, which is rated at 21.43 TFLOPS. Its benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3322 and a Passmark G3D score of 17631, place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs.

The data shows that the GPU’s performance is heavily taxed at 4K. The 29 FPS average at Ultra and 37 FPS at High indicate that the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are insufficient for the high-resolution textures and fill rate demands. The 44 FPS at Medium suggests that lowering settings can alleviate some pressure, but the memory bandwidth remains a limiting factor. In contrast, at 1080p, the GPU has more headroom, with 157 FPS at Low and 103 FPS at High, showing that the card is well-suited for 1080p gaming.

The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, has an average benchmark score of 16129, which is 0.7% higher than the RX 9060’s 16014. This indicates that the RX 9060 is competitive with the RTX 3060 Ti in raw compute, but its memory configuration may hold it back in texture-heavy scenarios. The data implies that the RX 9060 is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but for 4K, users must be willing to make significant compromises in settings to achieve playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 157 at Low to 80 at Ultra. The Medium preset averages 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138, showing a stable experience. High averages 103 FPS, which is a solid 30% improvement over Ultra, making it a recommended choice for 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably. Low averages 102 FPS, while Medium averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 and a maximum of 90. High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS. The data shows that Medium is the most balanced preset at this resolution, offering a 18% boost over High while maintaining a playable frame rate. The gap between Low and Ultra is 50 FPS, which is significant.

At 3840x2160, the performance is the most constrained. Low averages 56 FPS, Medium averages 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 and a maximum of 50, High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming requires the user to choose between Low settings for near-playable frame rates or Medium for a more visually pleasing but still sub-60 FPS experience. The minimum FPS at Medium (37) suggests there are moments of stutter, making 4K a challenging prospect for this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combo ranks 1632 out of 2825 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This places it in the 42nd percentile of all combos, indicating that it performs better than a majority of systems but is not at the top tier. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the CPU is high-end, but the overall system is limited by the graphics card’s performance, especially at higher resolutions.

The CPU’s individual percentile of 84 vs all CPUs is much higher than the GPU’s 59 vs all GPUs, which suggests the combo’s rank is dragged down by the GPU. The data implies that pairing the i7-12700K with a more powerful GPU would yield a significantly better rank in this game. However, the current combo still provides a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p, as shown by the FPS measurements. The rank of 1632 is a reflection of the system’s balance, with the CPU having more headroom than the GPU, leading to a GPU-bound scenario in most settings and resolutions.