The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical presets. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060, using measured frame rate data. The data reveals a configuration that is highly capable at 1080p, but which requires careful settings management to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions. The following sections break down the optimal settings, comparative ranking, and the specific roles of the GPU and CPU in this game's performance profile.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 157 FPS, which is exceptionally high and far exceeds the requirements of any standard display. The Medium preset still achieves a very smooth 120 FPS, while High drops to 103 FPS, and Ultra falls to 80 FPS. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors at this resolution, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering a 120 FPS average that is 17 FPS higher than High and 40 FPS higher than Ultra, while still being a significant visual upgrade over Low.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve becomes more compressed. The Low preset produces an average of 102 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium maintains a solid 79 FPS, and High drops to 67 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, falls to 52 FPS, which may introduce noticeable stutter on some displays. At this resolution, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, providing a 67 FPS average that is playable and visually rich. The data shows a 27 FPS difference between Medium and Ultra, suggesting that the visual fidelity gains from the highest preset come at a steep performance cost.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Even the Low preset only manages an average of 56 FPS. Medium drops to 43 FPS, High to 37 FPS, and Ultra to a barely playable 29 FPS. For a consistent experience at 4K, the Low preset is the only option that stays above 60 FPS, though it's close at 56 FPS. The Medium preset, with its average of 43 FPS, is the highest quality setting that remains within a generally accepted playable range for slower-paced action RPGs. The jump from Low to Medium costs 13 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs only 6 FPS, indicating a non-linear scaling of performance cost with preset level.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination is ranked 1632 out of 2825 tested combos. This places the configuration in the 42nd percentile of all tested systems, which is a mid-pack ranking. This relative position is interesting given the strong individual scores of the components, but it is a direct result of the game's demanding nature, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become limiting factors.

The combo's rank suggests that while this system is far from the top-tier performers in this specific game, it is also not a low-end setup. The ranking is heavily influenced by the 4K results, where the average FPS drops below 60 on all settings. If only 1080p results were considered, the ranking would likely be much higher, given the excellent frame rates observed. The data indicates that this configuration is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can compete with more powerful setups, but it falls behind at 4K, which is the resolution that most heavily weights the overall ranking.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. Its benchmark scores are solid, with a Passmark G3D score of 17631, placing it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. This performance is closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129, a delta of -0.7%, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, which scores 15852, a delta of 1%.

The GPU's role in The Technomancer is critical, as the frame rates scale significantly with resolution. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the card produces 80 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 29 FPS. This 51 FPS drop highlights that the card is not designed for 4K gaming in this title. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a likely bottleneck at 4K, as the higher resolution textures and effects can easily exceed this amount, leading to performance degradation. The memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s is also a limiting factor at higher resolutions, where more data needs to be transferred per frame. The card's performance at 1440p is much more respectable, with a High preset averaging 67 FPS, indicating that this is the realistic ceiling for this GPU in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. The Low preset averages 157 FPS, Medium averages 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, High averages 103 FPS, and Ultra averages 80 FPS. These numbers indicate that the CPU and GPU combo is more than capable of handling the game at this resolution, with even the most demanding preset providing a frame rate well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but the scaling is more pronounced. The Low preset averages 102 FPS, Medium averages 79 FPS (min 67, max 90), High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra averages 52 FPS. The 50 FPS difference between Low and Ultra shows the significant impact of the higher preset. The Medium preset's minimum of 67 FPS suggests that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains smooth.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. The Low preset is the only one that approaches playability, with an average of 56 FPS. Medium averages 43 FPS (min 37, max 50), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The data shows a clear trend: each step up in resolution at the same settings results in a roughly 35-45% drop in frame rate, while each step up in preset at the same resolution results in a roughly 20-25% drop. This indicates that both resolution and settings have a substantial impact on the GPU load.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 60 FPS experience at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 67 FPS, which is the only preset above 60 FPS other than Low and Medium. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS, providing a larger margin for demanding scenes.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that 4K gaming is not viable with this configuration. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 56 on the Low preset, with all other presets falling below 45 FPS. The Ultra preset averages only 29 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to the RTX 3060 Ti in this game?

A: The nearest rival data shows the RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129, which is 0.7% lower than the RX 9060's score. This suggests they would perform very similarly in The Technomancer, with the RX 9060 having a slight edge.

Q: Is there a large performance difference between the High and Ultra presets?

A: The difference is significant. At 1080p, Ultra is 23 FPS slower than High (80 vs 103). At 1440p, the difference is 15 FPS (52 vs 67). At 4K, the difference is 8 FPS (29 vs 37). The relative cost of Ultra increases as resolution decreases.

Q: What is the likely limiting factor for performance at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the frame rates are very high across all presets, ranging from 80 to 157 FPS. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is likely sufficient. The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the frame rate scales almost linearly with the graphical preset's load.

Q: What is the average FPS on the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. This is a very smooth experience for most displays.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 25 MB of L3 cache. The processor's synthetic benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and a single-core score of 4071. It holds an 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, indicating it is a high-performance part.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, especially at higher resolutions. The evidence for this is the scaling of frame rates with resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 157 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that would require a capable CPU to maintain. However, the fact that the frame rate drops to 56 FPS at 4K Low, while the CPU is not under additional load, strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU is likely not the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K. At 1080p, it is possible that the CPU could become a co-bottleneck at the highest settings, but the data shows that even at 1080p Ultra, the system maintains 80 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to indicate the CPU is keeping up.

The processor's high thread count and clock speeds ensure it can handle the game's background tasks and physics calculations without issue. The data shows that the i7-12700KF is a strong match for the RX 9060, providing enough headroom to prevent CPU-related frame drops in most scenarios. The only potential concern would be in scenes with massive numbers of on-screen entities, but the existing data does not show any min FPS values that would indicate a CPU stall at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The impact of resolution on performance is the most defining characteristic of this configuration in The Technomancer. The data shows a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution increases, frame rates drop substantially, regardless of the preset. Comparing the Low preset, the average FPS goes from 157 at 1080p, to 102 at 1440p, and finally to 56 at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45% drop from 1440p to 4K.

This scaling pattern is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution, but the GPU's workload increases dramatically as it must render more pixels. The RX 9060, with its 8 GB of VRAM and 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is simply overwhelmed by the 4K resolution in this game. The 4K results, where even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS, clearly show that this card is not intended for 4K gaming in titles like The Technomancer.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more moderate, with the system still able to achieve playable frame rates on most presets. The jump from 1440p to 4K is the most punishing, resulting in a near-halving of performance. This data suggests that for the best experience, users should target 1080p or 1440p. At 1440p, the High preset offers a good balance of visual quality and performance (67 FPS), while at 1080p, the Ultra preset is still very playable at 80 FPS. The 4K resolution should be avoided unless the user is comfortable with the Low preset and its 56 FPS average.