The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a fascinating test bed for the Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. This combination of a modern 12th Gen CPU and a high-end RDNA 2 GPU produces a clear performance profile that is heavily dictated by resolution. The measured data reveals a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that must make significant compromises to achieve playable frame rates at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the scaling between resolutions, and the specific roles the CPU and GPU play in shaping the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and clearly indicates a transition from a CPU-bound scenario to a GPU-bound one. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 216 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 141 FPS, a reduction of 75 FPS, and then to 78 FPS at 4K, a further reduction of 63 FPS. This pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases is classic evidence of the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck.

The scaling is even more telling when examining the High settings preset. At 1080p, the average is 142 FPS, which drops to 93 FPS at 1440p and then to 51 FPS at 4K. The frame rate nearly halves from 1080p to 4K, which is a significant cost for the increase in pixel count. This suggests that the RX 6800 XT is being pushed to its limits at 4K, while the i7-12700KF has ample headroom to feed it frames at lower resolutions.

The data implies that the limiting component changes based on the target resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates, especially the 216 FPS Low result, suggest that the CPU is the primary driver, as the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls. As resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload grows exponentially, and the system becomes firmly GPU-limited. The 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS is a stark illustration of this, as the GPU is struggling to maintain fluid motion under the combined load of maximum settings and high pixel count.

This scaling behavior is critical for users to understand. The system is exceptionally well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where it delivers a high refresh rate experience. At 1080p, the CPU holds the system back from achieving its absolute maximum potential, but the frame rates are so high that this is a non-issue for most displays. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, and users will need to adjust settings aggressively to achieve a smooth 60 FPS target.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS is 216, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain a 60 FPS average at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes, the data shows a 60 FPS average at 4K with Medium settings. The minimum FPS for that preset is 51, so it is close to the 60 FPS target but may dip below.

Q: How does the performance at 1440p High compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1440p High, the average FPS is 93, which is significantly lower than the 111 FPS average seen at 1080p Ultra. This shows the expected performance cost for the higher resolution.

Q: What is the most demanding preset tested for this system?

A: The most demanding preset is Ultra at 3840x2160, which yields an average FPS of 40.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 1440p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at 1440p. The frame rates are high, and the drop from 1080p is consistent with the increased GPU load, indicating the CPU is not a significant constraint at this resolution.

Q: What are the minimum FPS numbers for the Medium preset at various resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 141. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 92. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 51. This shows how the frame time consistency also degrades with resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For a 4K display, the measured data points to the Medium preset as the only viable option for a playable experience. The 4K Medium average of 60 FPS is the only 4K result that hits the 60 FPS target, though the 51 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips. The High preset at 51 FPS and Ultra at 40 FPS are too inconsistent for smooth gameplay. For 4K users, Medium is the clear recommendation to balance visual quality with performance.

For 1440p, the High preset offers the best experience. It delivers a 93 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience. While the Ultra preset at 72 FPS is also playable, the jump to High provides a substantial 21 FPS improvement with a likely minor visual trade-off. The Low preset at 141 FPS is for those seeking maximum competitive performance, but High provides the best combination of fidelity and speed.

At 1080p, the High preset at 142 FPS is the sweet spot. It provides an exceptionally smooth experience that is well within the range of high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 111 FPS is also excellent for maximum visual quality. The 216 FPS Low result shows the ceiling of the CPU and is only relevant for extreme esports scenarios where every frame counts. For most users, High is the recommended preset for 1080p gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: The average FPS is 216. This is the highest score recorded in the entire test suite.
• Medium: The average FPS is 166, with a minimum of 141 and a maximum of 191.
• High: The average FPS is 142.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 111.

2560x1440:

• Low: The average FPS is 141.
• Medium: The average FPS is 109, with a minimum of 92 and a maximum of 125.
• High: The average FPS is 93.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 72.

3840x2160:

• Low: The average FPS is 78.
• Medium: The average FPS is 60, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69.
• High: The average FPS is 51.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 40.

The data shows a consistent and predictable scaling pattern across all settings. The step from Low to Medium is the largest jump in visual quality and has a correspondingly significant impact on performance. The steps from Medium to High and High to Ultra are smaller, but they still reduce the frame rate noticeably. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is massive, with a roughly 35% reduction in FPS for the Low, Medium, and High presets. The difference between 1440p and 4K is even more severe, with another 40-45% reduction in FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database for The Technomancer, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is ranked 1158 out of 3696 total tested combos. This places the system comfortably in the top third of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a high-end pairing. The percentile ranking of the CPU and GPU individually is 85, putting them both in the top 15% of their respective categories.

The combo's rank is a holistic measure of its performance in this game. Given the GPU's 16GB of VRAM and the CPU's 12 cores, the hardware is more than capable for most titles. The rank of 1158 suggests that while this is a powerful setup, there are many other combinations that either have more powerful parts or are better optimized for this specific game's engine. The game's 2016 release date likely means its engine does not fully utilize the resources of newer hardware, which could explain why the combo isn't ranked even higher.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, based on average benchmark scores, are the Intel Core i7-13700T, Intel Core i5-13600T, Intel Core 5 213PE, and Intel Core i7-12700K. The performance deltas are minimal, with the i7-12700KF being 0.1% slower than the i7-13700T and 0.2% faster than the i5-13600T and i7-12700K. This shows that within the same performance tier, the specific model makes little difference. The GPU's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, Intel Arc A550M, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, with the RX 6800 XT showing a 1.5% advantage over the RTX A1000 Mobile and a 3% deficit against the RTX 5070 Ti.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This Alder Lake architecture chip provides substantial multi-threaded performance, as seen in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and a Passmark multithread score of 34092. Its single-thread performance is also strong, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2255.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p. The massive 216 FPS average on Low settings suggests that the game's engine is capable of running at very high speeds, and the CPU is able to feed the GPU with enough data to achieve this. The drop from 216 FPS at 1080p to 141 FPS at 1440p on Low settings is a 35% reduction, which is a direct result of the GPU taking on more rendering work. This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU is not being fully utilized.

The CPU's 3DMark scores further illustrate its capabilities. A 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and a max-thread score of 9983 suggest it can handle heavy workloads. However, the game's core scaling is unclear. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2065 and 4-thread score of 4011 show that performance scales well up to a point. For a game from 2016, it is unlikely to use all 20 threads effectively, so the high boost clock of 5.00 GHz is probably more critical for gaming than the sheer number of cores. The data suggests the CPU is more than sufficient for this title, rarely being the bottleneck outside of the lowest resolution and settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture and features 16GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2250 MHz, and it has 4608 shading units. The GPU's raw compute power is evident in its FP32 performance of 20.74 TFLOPS and a Passmark G3D score of 24980.

The GPU's role in The Technomancer is to handle the increasing pixel workload as resolution scales. The data clearly shows this. At 4K, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The difference between the 4K Low average of 78 FPS and the 4K Ultra average of 40 FPS is a 38 FPS drop, highlighting the cost of the more demanding settings. The 16GB VRAM is likely not a limiting factor at 4K, as even the most demanding settings would struggle to exceed that capacity in a game from 2016.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s is substantial and helps maintain performance at high resolutions. The 4K Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 51 shows that while the GPU is powerful, it is not invincible. The performance delta between the GPU and its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti which is 3% faster, shows that the RX 6800 XT is still a competitive high-end card. The strong performance at 1440p, where it delivers a 93 FPS average on High settings, demonstrates that it is an excellent match for a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor. However, for 4K, users must be prepared to dial back settings to maintain a playable frame rate.