The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core i7-14700F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

The pairing of Intel's 20-core Core i7-14700F with NVIDIA's 2016-era GTX 1050 Ti creates a stark imbalance in The Technomancer. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all processors tested, while the GPU ranks in the 30th percentile, and benchmark results confirm that the graphics card is the dominant constraint at every resolution and settings level. The measured frame rates, ranging from 7.5 FPS at 4K Ultra to 57.9 FPS at 1080p Low, reveal a system where the GPU's 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory are the hard limits, regardless of the CPU's 5.40 GHz boost capability.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is severe and unambiguous. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 34.8 at 1920x1080 to 25.8 at 2560x1440, then plummets to 11.6 at 3840x2160. This represents a 66.7% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K, a scaling pattern typical of a GPU-bound scenario where pixel throughput is the limiting factor. The GTX 1050 Ti's 44.54 GPixel/s pixel rate and 112.1 GB/s memory bandwidth are simply insufficient to feed the 8.3 million pixels of 4K at playable rates.

The scaling behavior becomes even more telling when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 57.9 FPS, which drops to 33.8 FPS at 1440p (a 41.6% decline) and further to 19.1 FPS at 4K (a 67.0% decline from 1080p). This near-linear relationship between resolution and frame rate indicates that even at the lowest graphical settings, the GPU's rasterization and memory subsystems are saturated. The CPU's 28 threads and 33 MB of L3 cache are never the bottleneck; the data shows that reducing resolution alone cannot rescue playability at higher resolutions.

The Ultra settings preset paints the bleakest picture for resolution scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 29.4 FPS, which drops to 20.8 FPS at 1440p and collapses to 7.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 74.5% lower than the 1080p Ultra result, and the gap between Medium and Ultra at 4K (16.5 vs 7.5 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are overwhelmed by the combined load of high pixel count and advanced effects. This is a clear case where the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU, as the i7-14700F's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 would be more than adequate for this 2016 title.

GPU Role

The GTX 1050 Ti's specifications directly explain the measured performance. With 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, the GPU operates at a 1291 MHz base clock and 1392 MHz boost clock, producing a peak FP32 throughput of 2.138 TFLOPS. The 4 GB GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the critical constraint at higher resolutions. The 7 Gbps effective memory speed and 1752 MHz memory clock are fixed, and the data shows that the memory subsystem becomes the primary limiter as resolution increases.

The GPU's DirectX 12 (12_1) support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are present, but the benchmark scores tell the real story. The Passmark G3D score of 6340 places the GPU in the 30th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (deltaPct 0%) and NVIDIA GeForce 940M (deltaPct 0.4%). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305 and Passmark DirectX 12 score of 26 confirm that modern API workloads are not this GPU's strength. In The Technomancer, a game from 2016, the GPU's legacy DirectX 11 performance (Passmark score of 45) is more relevant, but still insufficient for smooth gameplay at high settings.

The VRAM capacity of 4 GB is a critical factor in The Technomancer's texture-heavy environments. At Ultra settings, the game's memory demands likely exceed the available VRAM, causing the dramatic FPS drop to 7.5 at 4K Ultra. The data shows that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s is the same regardless of settings, but the increased texture sizes and shadow maps at Ultra presets create additional pressure on the 4 GB pool. This is why the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 57.9 vs 29.4 FPS — a 49.2% reduction — while at 4K the same settings comparison yields 19.1 vs 7.5 FPS, a 60.7% reduction. The GPU is simply not equipped to handle the combination of high resolution and high settings.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so drastically between 1080p and 4K?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti's 112.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 44.54 GPixel/s pixel rate are overwhelmed by the 4K pixel count. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 34.8 at 1080p to 11.6 at 4K, a 66.7% reduction, indicating the GPU is the sole limiting component.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F holding back the GTX 1050 Ti in this game?

A: No. The i7-14700F ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443, while the GPU ranks in the 30th percentile with a Passmark G3D score of 6340. The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions and settings.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 39.8. This is the highest settings preset that stays above 30 FPS at 1080p, though it remains below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combination?

A: No. At 4K, the highest average FPS achieved is 19.1 at Low settings. Ultra settings at 4K yield only 7.5 FPS, which is unplayable. The GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 112.1 GB/s bandwidth cannot handle 3840x2160 resolution in this title.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 5316 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (5317, deltaPct 0%) and within 0.8% of the AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5361, deltaPct -0.8%). This places it at the very bottom of the discrete GPU performance range.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1080p?

A: Low settings at 1080p produce the highest average FPS of 57.9, which is the only measured configuration that approaches playable frame rates. Medium settings at 1080p achieve 39.8 FPS, while High and Ultra yield 34.8 and 29.4 FPS respectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are 57.9 at Low settings, 39.8 at Medium, 34.8 at High, and 29.4 at Ultra. The spread of 28.5 FPS between Low and Ultra demonstrates that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are the limiting factor, not the CPU. The i7-14700F's 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample headroom, as evidenced by the Passmark multithread score of 41765 and Geekbench multi-core score of 16571.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 33.8 at Low settings, 26.5 at Medium, 25.8 at High, and 20.8 at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 13.0 FPS, indicating that at 1440p the GPU's memory bandwidth begins to dominate the performance equation. The 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer is increasingly stressed as resolution increases, causing the settings presets to converge toward the memory-limited ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the results are 19.1 FPS at Low, 16.5 at Medium, 11.6 at High, and 7.5 at Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra is only 11.6 FPS, and even the fastest measured configuration (4K Low at 19.1 FPS) falls far below the 30 FPS playability threshold. The 4K results show that the GPU's 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 112.1 GB/s bandwidth are fundamentally inadequate for this resolution, regardless of settings optimization. The pixel rate of 44.54 GPixel/s translates to a theoretical maximum of 10.7 FPS at 4K with zero overdraw, which aligns with the measured 7.5-19.1 FPS range depending on settings complexity.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1645 out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the bottom 0.7% of all configurations. This rank is driven entirely by the GPU's 30th percentile standing; the CPU's 94th percentile ranking is effectively wasted in this pairing. The measured data confirms that the system is GPU-bound in every scenario, and the rank reflects the severe performance ceiling imposed by the GTX 1050 Ti.

The combo's position near the bottom of the database is consistent with the GPU's nearest rival comparisons. The GTX 1050 Ti's average benchmark score of 5316 is statistically indistinguishable from the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (5317, deltaPct 0%) and NVIDIA GeForce 940M (5297, deltaPct 0.4%), both of which are entry-level mobile or low-end desktop parts. The AMD Radeon R7 240 (5280, deltaPct 0.7%) and Radeon R7 M445 (5361, deltaPct -0.8%) are equally matched, placing this GPU in a performance tier that predates the game's 2016 release by several years.

In practical terms, the rank means that this combo outperforms only 11 other tested configurations in The Technomancer. The CPU's Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 3572 and Geekbench single-core score of 2711 are irrelevant to the outcome because the GPU's Passmark DirectX 11 score of 45 and DirectX 12 score of 26 represent the actual performance ceiling. The data indicates that to improve this combo's rank, the GPU must be upgraded; the CPU is not the constraint, as evidenced by its position in the 94th percentile versus the GPU's 30th percentile. The 1645th rank out of 1656 combos is a direct consequence of pairing a top-tier 2024 CPU with a 2016 entry-level GPU, resulting in a system where the GPU's 75 W TDP and 4 GB memory are the definitive limiting factors.