The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination. This pairing delivers a wide spectrum of performance, from extremely high frame rates at 1080p to more demanding, sub-60 FPS territory at 4K Ultra, revealing a clear shift in system bottlenecks as resolution and settings scale. The measured data offers a detailed look into how this modern hardware handles an older title, with results that are far from uniform across the board.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this hardware combination?

A: The highest average frame rate is 274.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to the 1080p Low performance?

A: The 4K Ultra average of 50.5 FPS is significantly lower than the 1080p Low average of 274.7 FPS, representing a substantial drop in performance as resolution and graphical load increase.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 179.7 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 89.3 FPS. This indicates the Ultra preset is roughly half the speed of the Low preset at this resolution.

Q: Is the system more likely to be CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, which suggests the CPU is playing a more significant role in defining the performance ceiling, as the GPU is not being fully taxed at these lower resolutions.

Q: What is the combined performance rank of this CPU and GPU for this specific game?

A: The combination ranks 181st out of 1656 tested hardware combinations in The Technomancer.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Medium preset compared to the 4K Medium preset?

A: The 1080p Medium preset averages 213.3 FPS, which is substantially higher than the 4K Medium average of 72.5 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a substantial piece of hardware, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2610 MHz, with a base clock of 2340 MHz. These specifications, including its 8448 shading units, position it as a high-end card, indicated by its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings increase. The data shows a clear progression: at 1080p with Low settings, the GPU is likely not the limiting factor, as the frame rate of 274.7 FPS exceeds what most displays can show. However, as the resolution moves to 4K and the settings are raised to Ultra, the GPU's workload multiplies. The average frame rate at 4K Ultra (50.5 FPS) is less than one-fifth of the 1080p Low result, demonstrating how the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is pushed to its limits by the game's rendering demands at higher resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is more than sufficient for this title, but the raw computational power required at 4K Ultra is where the GPU's performance ceiling is most evident.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions is not linear, which is a key insight into the system's behavior. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the performance drop is significant, and moving to 4K results in an even larger penalty. For example, at High settings, the average frame rate falls from 181.6 FPS at 1080p to 116.4 FPS at 1440p, and then to 64.8 FPS at 4K. This pattern holds across all settings presets.

This scaling behavior indicates a transition from a CPU-bound scenario at 1080p to a GPU-bound one at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the Intel Core i7-13700K is likely the component determining the maximum output. The GPU has enough headroom to render frames as fast as the CPU can feed it data. As resolution increases, the GPU's fillrate and shading workload become the primary bottleneck. The data suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, while powerful, faces a substantial challenge at 4K Ultra in this title, evidenced by the sub-60 FPS average of 50.5 FPS. This is a classic example of how resolution scaling can shift the performance bottleneck from the processor to the graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For players with a 1080p display, the Ultra preset still delivers a very high average of 141.2 FPS, making it the best choice for visual fidelity without compromising smoothness. Even the High preset at 181.6 FPS is an excellent option.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset's average of 89.3 FPS is still highly playable and offers the best visual experience. The High preset at 116.4 FPS provides a smoother experience with a modest reduction in graphical quality. Both are viable, but Ultra is recommended for those prioritizing image quality on a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The Ultra preset averages 50.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered ideal for smooth gameplay. The High preset, with an average of 64.8 FPS, provides a better balance, crossing the 60 FPS line while still offering high visual quality. The Medium preset at 72.5 FPS is another strong alternative for players who want a higher frame rate cushion at 4K. Therefore, the High preset is the recommended starting point for 4K, as it provides the best experience per the measured rows, balancing playability with visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 181st out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 11% of all tested systems, indicating a very high-performing setup for this game. This strong ranking is consistent with the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p, where the combination excels.

The GPU's individual standing is strong, with an 86th percentile rank among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 48704 is close to its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA CMP 50HX and RTX A2000. Similarly, the CPU's average benchmark score of 47282 places it well, with a 93rd percentile rank. The combination of two top-tier components results in a system that performs exceptionally well in this title, though the 4K Ultra results show that even this hardware has limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern across all settings, with performance decreasing as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are exceptionally high, ranging from 274.7 FPS on Low to 141.2 FPS on Ultra. The High preset averages 181.6 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 213.3 FPS. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the system has more than enough power for even the most demanding settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops but remains very strong. The Low preset averages 179.7 FPS, followed by Medium at 136.7 FPS and High at 116.4 FPS. The Ultra preset still manages a solid 89.3 FPS, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the workload becomes much more intense. The Low preset averages 98.1 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset averages 72.5 FPS, and the High preset averages 64.8 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 50.5 FPS, which is the only configuration measured that falls below the 60 FPS mark, highlighting the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This high boost clock, combined with the large 30 MB of shared L3 cache, provides excellent single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its strong scores in benchmarks like 3dmark_single_thread (1136) and cinebench_r23_singlecore (5505).

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. The extremely high frame rates at 1080p, such as the 274.7 FPS on Low settings, suggest that the CPU is the primary driver of performance, capable of feeding the GPU more frames than it can render at those settings. The processor's multi-threaded capabilities, shown by a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 39000, also ensure that the game's various background processes and physics calculations are handled efficiently. While the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K Ultra, the i7-13700K's strong single-core performance ensures that it never becomes a limiting factor, even at the highest settings. The data implies that this CPU provides a stable and powerful foundation for the entire range of gaming scenarios.