The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, shows clear performance behavior on the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but the CPU demonstrates ample headroom at 1080p across all settings. Measured results show that the RTX 3070 holds the system back at 4K, while the i7-13700K provides a strong foundation at lower resolutions. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data into a coherent picture of where each component excels and where the bottleneck lies.

Resolution Scaling

The measured average FPS data shows a steep, consistent drop as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of GPU-limited performance. At the High preset, moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces the average from 125 FPS to 82 FPS, a 34% decline. The step from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 is even more pronounced: average FPS falls from 82 to 45, a 45% drop. This escalating decline is the signature of a GPU that is running out of pixel-pushing capacity as the pixel count grows; the RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are increasingly taxed.

The scaling pattern is not uniform across all settings. At the Low preset, the FPS penalty for 4K is less severe in percentage terms: 191 FPS at 1080p drops to 69 FPS at 4K, a 64% reduction, but the absolute numbers remain high. At the Ultra preset, the drop is steeper: 98 FPS at 1080p falls to 35 FPS at 4K, a 64% reduction as well. The Medium preset shows the most linear behavior: 147 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. This suggests that at the Medium setting, both the GPU and the CPU are more balanced, and the scaling is driven by the resolution's pixel count.

The data shows that the 4K resolution is the most stressful for this combo. At 4K, even the Low preset only averages 69 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields just 35 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 3070 is not a 4K-class card for The Technomancer at high visual quality, as the GPU's shading units (5888) and texture rate (317.4 GTexel/s) are insufficient to maintain high frame rates. The 1080p and 1440p resolutions show much more headroom, with the Low preset at 1080p hitting 191 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can handle the game's logic far beyond what the GPU can render.

The measured data indicates a system where the CPU is not the primary limiter at any tested resolution. At 1080p Low, the system hits 191 FPS, a figure that would stress many CPUs, but the i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads are sufficient. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 35 FPS, which is purely a GPU constraint. The scaling behavior, therefore, is entirely consistent with a GPU that is scaling down as pixel count increases, rather than a CPU that is becoming saturated.

The data also shows a consistent trend: for each resolution, the Low preset is the fastest, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra (for the settings where all four are measured). At 1080p, the FPS difference between Low and Ultra is 93 FPS (191 vs 98). At 1440p, it is 61 FPS (125 vs 64). At 4K, it is 34 FPS (69 vs 35). The narrowing of this gap with resolution further confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the cost of the Ultra preset's extra effects becomes more prohibitive at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. In the context of The Technomancer, the benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting component at any measured setting. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 191 FPS, which is an extreme frame rate that requires a strong CPU to feed the GPU. The i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads are ample for this game, which is likely not heavily threaded. The game's single-thread performance is served by the CPU's 5.40 GHz boost clock, and the benchmark scores reflect this.

The i7-13700K's benchmark scores are indicative of its ability to handle high-FPS gaming. The 3DMark single-thread score is 1136, and the 3DMark 2-thread score is 2262. The Cinebench R20 single-core score is 2299. These scores show that the CPU has very strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for games like The Technomancer that may rely on a few primary threads. The CPU's percentile vs all CPUs is 89, meaning it is in the top 11% of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, with a deltaPct of -0.2 and -0.3 respectively, indicating these rivals are essentially equal in performance.

The CPU's multi-thread performance is also robust, as shown by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 and the Geekbench multi-core score of 19429. While The Technomancer may not use all 16 cores, the headroom ensures that the CPU is never a bottleneck at the 1080p and 1440p resolutions tested. At 1440p High, the system averages 82 FPS, which is far below the CPU's capability. Even at 1080p Low, the 191 FPS average suggests the CPU is still not fully saturated, as the system does not reach the CPU's absolute FPS ceiling.

The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 2 MB per core are also beneficial for game data access. The 125W TDP and the dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support are typical for a high-end desktop CPU. The 3Dmark max_threads score of 12412 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 show that the CPU is very capable, but in this game, the CPU's performance is not the differentiator at 1080p and 1440p; it is the GPU that governs the FPS.

Overall, the data shows that the CPU is a high-performance component that does not constrain the game in the tested scenarios. The benchmark results for the CPU, such as the Passmark multithread score of 45887 and the Passmark single-thread score of 4333, are far above the thresholds that would cause CPU-bound behavior in a 2016 game. At 4K Ultra, the system only hits 35 FPS, which is a GPU limitation, not a CPU one. The CPU is essentially a high-throughput platform that allows the GPU to be the sole performance regulator.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the decisive component in this combo, as the measured FPS data shows the GPU's limits are reached at 4K and high settings. The RTX 3070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is 1725 MHz, and it has 5888 shading units. The game's benchmark results show that the RTX 3070 is the bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 35, and at 4K High, it averages 45 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 53 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 69 FPS. These numbers indicate that the RTX 3070 is not capable of maintaining 60 FPS at 4K at any setting above Low.

In contrast, at 1440p, the RTX 3070 is more balanced. At 1440p High, it averages 82 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra, it averages 64 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it averages 96 FPS, and at 1440p Low, it averages 125 FPS. This shows that the GPU can handle 1440p well, and the 1440p Ultra setting may be a good choice for those with 1440p monitors. At 1080p, the RTX 3070 is clearly a high-FPS card, with the Low preset achieving 191 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieving 98 FPS. The GPU's performance at 1080p is likely limited by the CPU at the Low preset, but the Ultra preset is clearly GPU-bound.

The GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are likely factors at 4K. The 8 GB of VRAM is may be sufficient for The Technomancer at 4K, and the GPU's 448 GB/s bandwidth is adequate, but the GPU's 96 ROPs and 165.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the limiting factors. The RTX 3070's 61st percentile vs all GPUs means it is not a high-end GPU in the current market, but it is a capable mid-range card. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (deltaPct 0.7), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (deltaPct 1), indicating it is on par with these GPUs in general benchmarks.

The GPU's performance in this game is exactly what the measured FPS data shows: it is a solid 1080p and 1440p card, but it cannot reach 60 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 8 GB of VRAM may be a concern at 4K, but the measured data does not show a VRAM bottleneck, as the FPS drops are consistent with a shading-limited scenario. The RTX 3070's 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 317.4 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for The Technomancer at 1440p and below. The GPU's 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are not likely to be heavily used in this game, but they are present.

In summary, the GPU is the decisive factor in the game's performance, particularly at 4K. The RTX 3070 is a capable 1440p card, and an excellent 1080p card, but it is not a 4K performer. The data indicates that for this game, the RTX 3070 should be paired with a 1440p monitor or lower, and the Ultra preset is not viable at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 35 FPS, which is the lowest of all measured configurations. This indicates that the RTX 3070 cannot handle the Ultra preset at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 191 FPS. The fact that this is the highest FPS in the dataset suggests the CPU is not limiting; the GPU is still likely the primary, as the CPU has enough headroom to go even higher.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The 1440p resolution offers a good balance, with the High preset averaging 82 FPS and the Ultra preset averaging 64 FPS. This is a playable frame rate at high detail.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score is 17208, which is 0.7% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (deltaPct 0.7), and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (deltaPct 1). The Tesla K40c is 1.5% higher, and the HD 7970M is 1.1% lower.

Q: What is the FPS at 1440p Ultra?

A: The average FPS at 1440p Ultra is 64.0. The Ultra preset is not as taxing as at 4K, but the FPS is still lower than the High and Medium presets.

Q: Does the CPU's 16 cores matter for this game?

A: The game is likely not heavily threaded, but the i7-13700K's strong single-thread performance (boost clock 5.40 GHz) ensures that CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. The 16 cores provide headroom, but the game's performance is more dependent on the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with the Intel Core i7-13700K and RTX 3070, the data clearly points to the High preset at 1440p as the optimal balance of quality and performance. At 1440p High, the system averages 82 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual quality is high. The 1440p Medium preset averages 96 FPS, but the High preset provides a better visual experience at only a slightly lower FPS. At 1080p, the High preset is also excellent, averaging 125 FPS, but 1440p High is a better use of the GPU's capabilities.

For players who prioritize frame rate, the 1080p Low preset delivers 191 FPS, which is a high-FPS eSports-like experience. However, this comes with a significant visual compromise. The 1440p Medium preset is a strong middle ground, with 96 FPS average and better visual fidelity than Low. At 4K, the Ultra preset is not recommended, as it only achieves 35 FPS, which is unplayable for most. The 4K Low preset (69 FPS) is the only 4K setting that reaches a playable frame rate, but the quality is low.

The 4K Medium preset is borderline, with an average of 53 FPS and a min FPS of 45. The 4K High preset averages 45 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1440p High is the best choice. The 1080p Ultra preset averages 98 FPS, but the jump from High to Ultra may not be worth the FPS loss. In summary, 1440p High is the recommended setting for this combo, as it offers 82 FPS average and a high visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows:

• Low: 191 FPS
• Medium: 147 FPS
• High: 125 FPS
• Ultra: 98 FPS

The Medium preset has a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS. At this resolution, even the Ultra preset is above 60 FPS, making the game very playable. The Low preset reaches 191 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited, but still a high frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are:

• Low: 125 FPS
• Medium: 96 FPS (min 82, max 110)
• High: 82 FPS
• Ultra: 64 FPS

The 1440p resolution shows a larger drop from Low to Ultra, from 125 to 64 FPS. The Medium preset is a good balance, with a 96 FPS average and a minimum of 82 FPS. The High preset is also solid at 82 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are:

• Low: 69 FPS
• Medium: 53 FPS (min 45, max 61)
• High: 45 FPS
• Ultra: 35 FPS

The 4K resolution is the most demanding, with the Ultra preset dropping to 35 FPS. The Low preset is the only setting that stays above 60 FPS, with 69 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 45 FPS, which can be stuttery on some displays.

The data shows that the RTX 3070 is a GPU that handles 1080p and 1440p well, but is not a 4K performer. The i7-13700K is strong enough to not limit the GPU at any tested resolution. The CPU's high boost clock and many cores ensure it does not become the bottleneck, even at the highest FPS. The game is a GPU-heavy title at 4K, but the CPU is a solid partner for this GPU setup.