The Technomancer

The Technomancer is a 2016 Action RPG that, on paper, should be trivial for a modern flagship combination like the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D. However, the measured frame rates reveal a complex scaling pattern that defies simple expectations. The data shows a system that is incredibly fast, yet the performance gaps between settings and resolutions indicate that the game’s engine presents unique bottlenecks that are not entirely eliminated even by this top-tier hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is the first clear indicator of where the bottleneck lies in this pairing. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 236 FPS at 1920x1080 to 154 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 85 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial hit that points towards the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The system produces 286 FPS at 1080p, 235 FPS at 1440p, and 129 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K here is particularly steep, at 45%, suggesting that even with the graphics load minimized, the sheer pixel count of 4K begins to overwhelm the rendering pipeline. The fact that Low settings at 1080p yields 286 FPS while High settings at 1080p yields 236 FPS indicates that the CPU and memory subsystem are capable of feeding the GPU well beyond the 200 FPS mark. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p with lower settings, the Core i7-12700KF is doing the heavy lifting to keep the frame rate high, but the RTX 5090 D takes over as the definitive constraint as resolution climbs.

The Ultra settings results reinforce this. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate collapses to 66 FPS, compared to 120 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 184 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is a 35% drop, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 45%. This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a game that is heavily dependent on fill-rate and memory bandwidth at high resolutions, both of which are taxed severely by the RTX 5090 D’s 512-bit memory interface and 32 GB of GDDR7.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications explain why it handles The Technomancer with relative ease at lower resolutions. Built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and the GB202 chip, this GPU features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines. The sheer number of compute units allows it to brute-force through the game’s DirectX 12 Ultimate rendering path with high efficiency.

The memory subsystem is where the RTX 5090 D truly flexes. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the card delivers a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This is critical for a game like The Technomancer, which appears to be sensitive to texture and geometry data throughput. The data shows that at 4K Medium settings, the card maintains an average of 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. The fact that the minimum frame rate is only 15 FPS below the average indicates that the GPU is delivering consistent frame pacing, likely due to the ample memory bandwidth preventing stutter from texture streaming.

The GPU’s clock speeds also play a role. The base clock is 2017 MHz, boosting to 2407 MHz. This boost clock is relatively modest compared to the massive shader count, which suggests that the card is not clock-limited but rather throughput-limited in this older title. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are astronomical figures that would normally obliterate any 2016 game, yet we still see 66 FPS at 4K Ultra. This indicates that the game’s engine is not efficiently utilizing the GPU’s parallel architecture, leaving performance on the table even with this powerhouse. The GPU’s percentile rank of 92% against all GPUs shows it is near the top of the stack, but the measured results in this specific title suggest that raw power alone cannot overcome engine limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, running on the LGA 1700 socket. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide excellent single-threaded performance, which is crucial for a game that may not be fully optimized for multi-threading. The CPU’s benchmark scores support this: a single-thread score of 1,043 in 3DMark and 4,071 in Cinebench R23 single-core, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, but it does influence the maximum achievable frame rates at lower settings. For instance, at 1080p Low settings, the system hits 286 FPS. This is a high number, but it is not as high as the GPU could theoretically push if the CPU were completely unrestricted. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are adequate for feeding the GPU, but the game’s reliance on single-thread performance means that the CPU’s boost clock is frequently engaged.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35,365. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35,403, which is only 0.1% higher, while the Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35,305, which is 0.2% lower. This places the i7-12700KF in a tight cluster of similar-performing CPUs, indicating that any of these would yield nearly identical results in The Technomancer. The 12 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the fact that moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings only drops the frame rate by 35%, which is primarily a GPU workload increase rather than a CPU limitation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional frame rates across the board. Low settings produce an average of 286 FPS, Medium settings produce 260 FPS with a minimum of 221 FPS and a maximum of 299 FPS, High settings produce 236 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 184 FPS. This is a linear scaling pattern where each step up in settings costs roughly 20-25% performance, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but the gaps widen. Low settings average 235 FPS, Medium settings average 180 FPS with a minimum of 153 FPS and a maximum of 207 FPS, High settings average 154 FPS, and Ultra settings average 120 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 23%, which is steeper than the 9% drop seen at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the pressure of the higher pixel count. The transition from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 22% performance, which is consistent with the overall trend.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to show its limits. Low settings average 129 FPS, Medium settings average 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, High settings average 85 FPS, and Ultra settings average 66 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 23% drop, but the jump from Medium to High is a 14% drop, and from High to Ultra is a 22% drop. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS is the only figure that dips below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS of 84 at 4K Medium settings is notable, as it shows that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains a playable frame rate without severe dips.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 24th out of 2,825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 1% of all systems tested, which is an exceptional result for a game that is nearly a decade old. The high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 5090 D’s immense compute power and the i7-12700KF’s solid single-threaded performance.

It is important to note that the ranking is not #1, which indicates that there are 23 other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates in this specific title. Given that the RTX 5090 D is one of the most powerful GPUs available, the systems ranked above it likely feature even newer or higher-clocked CPUs, or they may be running configurations that are less constrained by the game’s engine quirks. The data does not specify the exact CPUs in those higher-ranked combos, but based on the CPU’s nearest rivals, it is clear that the i7-12700KF is not the limiting factor in this ranking. The 0.2% delta between the i7-12700KF and the i7-12700K shows that overclocking potential is negligible here, and the 0.1% difference to the i7-13700T indicates that a newer CPU would not meaningfully improve the ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Technomancer with this combo?

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 with High settings provides an ideal balance, delivering an average of 154 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining high visual fidelity. 4K is playable at Medium settings with 99 FPS average and a minimum of 84 FPS, but Ultra settings at 4K drop to 66 FPS, which may be too low for competitive play.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct competitors?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35,365, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13700T at 35,403 (0.1% difference) and the Intel Core i5-13600T at 35,305 (0.2% difference). The i7-12700K scores 35,287, which is 0.2% lower. This means any of these CPUs would perform virtually identically in The Technomancer.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D overkill for this game?

A: The data shows that even with this flagship GPU, the game cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings (66 FPS average). This indicates that the game’s engine is the limiting factor, not the GPU. The RTX 5090 D’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient, but the game’s rendering pipeline bottlenecks at higher settings.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 286 FPS while Ultra settings average 184 FPS. This represents a 36% performance reduction when moving from the lowest to the highest settings. The gap widens at higher resolutions, with a 49% difference at 1440p (235 FPS vs 120 FPS) and a 49% difference at 4K (129 FPS vs 66 FPS).

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

A: The data suggests that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 286 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum output. The GPU could theoretically render more frames, but the CPU’s single-threaded performance limits the frame rate. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the 66 FPS result at Ultra settings.

Q: How does this combo rank against all other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 24th out of 2,825 tested combos for The Technomancer, placing it in the top 0.85% of all systems. The GPU has a percentile rank of 92% against all GPUs, while the CPU has an 85th percentile rank, indicating that the GPU is the stronger component relative to its peers.