The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, presents a mixed bag of performance demands when paired with the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and the AMD Radeon 8060S. The dataset reveals a system that is fundamentally capable but whose experience is heavily dictated by the chosen resolution and graphics preset. The data is measured, providing a direct look at how this particular CPU and GPU combination handles the game's engine.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking pattern in the benchmark results is the severe frame rate cost of moving up in resolution. Jumping from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings yields a 35% reduction in average FPS, from 103 down to 67. This is a substantial hit. The scaling continues to 3840x2160, where the average FPS at High settings falls to 37, a 45% reduction from the 1440p figure and roughly a 64% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This is a classic sign that the GPU is being pushed to its limits at higher pixel counts.

The data strongly suggests the AMD Radeon 8060S is the limiting component as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 157 FPS, indicating the CPU has ample headroom. But at 4K with Ultra settings, the average FPS plummets to 29, which is below the playable threshold for most users. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is a massive 27 FPS. The game's engine appears to be extremely sensitive to both resolution and settings, with the Ultra preset at 4K being particularly punishing. The GPU, while rated in the 87th percentile for all GPUs, clearly struggles with the demands of high-resolution rendering in this title.

Looking at the 1440p results, the scaling is more linear. A 1080p to 1440p transition at Low settings drops the average from 157 to 102 FPS, a 35% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 120 to 79 FPS, a 34% reduction. This consistency suggests the bottleneck is almost purely the GPU's fill rate and pixel processing power at these settings. The 4K results are more erratic, with a 37 FPS average at High, but also a 29 FPS average at Ultra. The 4K Medium results show a 37 FPS minimum, which could indicate occasional heavy frame hitches. The game requires a significant performance margin at high resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is an integrated GPU with a system-shared memory architecture. This is the defining feature of its performance profile. The GPU is an RDNA 3.5 architecture chip with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock is listed at 2900 MHz, and it has a pixel rate of 185.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 464.0 GTexel/s. In a game like The Technomancer, which appears to be heavily fill-rate bound, these raw throughput numbers are the most important indicators of performance.

The GPU has a TDP of 55 W, which is quite low for a component that sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. The fact that it is an IGP with no dedicated power connectors and a portable device dependent display output is a key limitation. The memory bandwidth is "System Dependent", meaning the performance can vary significantly based on the system's RAM configuration. In this case, the high frame rates at 1080p Low (157 FPS) show the GPU has raw power, but the steep 4K penalties show a lack of memory bandwidth or capacity is likely the bottleneck.

The GPU's benchmarks are also telling: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2162 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 80483. The 3DMark score of 2162 places it in a high tier, but it is not a top-tier part. The GPU's average benchmark score is 55757, with its nearest rivals being the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (with a deltaPct of 0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (with a deltaPct of -0.6). This data shows the 8060S is positioned right around the middle of the pack, but the game's data shows the memory allocation is a clear bottleneck.

The 4K results are a direct indictment of the memory system. The 4K High average FPS of 37 is a 64% drop from the 1080p High. The 4K Ultra average of 29 is a 64% drop from the 1080p Ultra. This is a clear sign that the GPU's memory bandwidth is the limiting factor. The system's shared memory architecture, which is system dependent, is a major weakness at high resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in The Technomancer is 2171 out of 3696 tested combinations. This is a mid-range, but specifically a rank that puts it in the bottom half of all tested combos, though not the bottom. The rank of 2171 out of 3696 means that 1525 combos are worse than this, but 2171 are better. The data suggests this is not a top-tier setup for this specific game, but it is not a weak one either.

The CPU's nearest rivals show the 125H is positioned as a solid mid-range processor. It has a 79th percentile ranking against all CPUs. The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H's average benchmark score is 27507. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 with a score of 27535, a deltaPct of -0.1%. The Intel Core i5-12600K is also a rival with a score of 27578, a deltaPct of -0.3%. This shows the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. The GPU's percentile is 87, but the game's rank is 2171, which is lower than what the GPU's percentile would suggest. This indicates that the game's performance is heavily bottlenecked by the GPU's memory bandwidth, not the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data reveals a clear performance hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 157 FPS. This is more than enough for a high refresh rate display. The Medium preset drops to 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138. The High preset drops further to 103 FPS. The Ultra preset has an average of 80 FPS. These numbers show the game is very playable at 1080p, even at the highest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 102 FPS. The Medium preset falls to 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS. The High preset drops to 67 FPS. The Ultra preset is 52 FPS. This is a playable experience for most, but 52 FPS at Ultra is a common target for 60 FPS, and it falls short. The 1440p Medium is the best balance, with a minimum of 67 FPS.

The 4K results are much more constrained. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 56 FPS. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS, with a minimum of 37 and a maximum of 50. The High preset averages 37 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 29 FPS. The 4K Low setting is the only playable option at 4K, and it is just barely. The other settings are not suitable for a smooth gaming experience.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Radeon 8060S a dedicated GPU?

A: No. The AMD Radeon 8060S is an integrated GPU (IGP) on the chip, with a system shared memory configuration.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the best resolution. All settings at 1080p yield an average FPS above 80, with Low averaging 157 FPS. The 2560x1440 resolution is playable, with 52 to 102 FPS depending on settings, but the 3840x2160 resolution is only truly playable at Low settings, which averages 56 FPS.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 103. The minimum and maximum were not recorded for this setting.

Q: Does the game rely on the CPU or GPU more?

A: The data suggests it is heavily GPU-bound. The CPU is only 79% percentile, but the game's rank of 2171 out of 3696 suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. The GPU is rated at 87th percentile, but the steep FPS drop from 1080p to 4K indicates the GPU architecture is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS is 67, with an average of 79 FPS and a maximum of 90.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 56 FPS, which is acceptable for some, but the Medium, High, and Ultra presets all average below 43 FPS, so 4K is not a viable experience at higher quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience is at 1920x1080. For high refresh rate monitors, the Low preset delivers 157 FPS, which is ideal. The Medium preset at 1080p is also very good, with a 120 FPS average and a 102 FPS minimum. This is a strong option for a better visual quality without sacrificing a high frame rate. The High preset at 1080p gives a 103 average, which is still smooth.

For those wanting higher visual fidelity, the 2560x1440 Medium is the optimal choice. It provides a 79 FPS average and a 67 FPS minimum, which is a good balance for a 60Hz monitor. The 2560x1440 High preset is also playable, but the 67 FPS average is lower. The 2560x1440 Low is a great option, with a 102 FPS average, but the visual quality is reduced. The 4K resolution is not recommended, as the Low preset at 56 FPS is the only setting that stays near 60 FPS. Even at Low, it is not ideal. The 3840x2160 Medium is not recommended, as it averages 43 FPS and has a 37 FPS minimum.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a 14-core and 18-thread processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. It has a 79th percentile ranking against all CPUs, but its performance is not the limiting factor in this game. The benchmark results show that the CPU has a strong single-thread performance, with 241 in Cinebench R15, and a multi-core score of 2021.5. The CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU. The game's performance is not CPU-bound. The CPU's data shows a high passmark multi-thread score of 21100, which is good, but not a top-tier score.

The CPU's 18 threads are not a bottleneck for a game like The Technomancer, which is likely not well optimized for multicore. The CPU's boost clock of 4.50 GHz is high, and the 14 cores are more than enough. The CPU's role in this combo is to provide a stable platform for the GPU to deliver its maximum performance. The game's 1080p Low setting at 157 FPS shows the CPU and GPU are well matched, but the 4K FPS drops are almost entirely due to the GPU's memory system. The CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck in any measured result, as the 1080p results are very high, and the 4K results are low due to the GPU.

The CPU's integrated graphics, the Arc Xe-LPG 96EU, is not used in this test since the dedicated AMD Radeon 8060S is the GPU. The 8060S has its own graphics architecture, but the CPU's memory controller is shared. The data shows that the CPU's single-thread performance is high enough to avoid being a bottleneck, but the shared memory system is a limiting factor when the resolution increases. The CPU's boost clock of 4.5 GHz is high, and its multi-core performance is solid, but the game is not CPU-heavy. The 2021.5 Cinebench R15 multi-core score is a strong result for a mobile chip, but the game's workload is not CPU-heavy. The game is a 2016 title, so it may not fully utilize all 14 cores, but the CPU's high single-core performance is enough to keep the frame rate high at lower resolutions.