The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for modern hardware, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, using only the provided benchmark data to interpret how this combination handles the game across various settings and resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 99 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops the average to 64 FPS, a reduction of 35 FPS, and then to 4K High, the average falls to 35 FPS, a further drop of 29 FPS. This scaling indicates that the RTX 4060 is being pushed progressively harder as the pixel count rises, with the frame rate nearly halving from 1080p to 4K.

The pattern holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 150 at 1080p, to 98 at 1440p, and down to 54 at 4K. This steep decline from 1080p to 1440p (a 52 FPS drop) suggests that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data shows that the CPU, with its 14 cores and 18 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU's rendering workload dominates the performance curve as resolution increases.

The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 75 at 1440p to 41 at 4K, a 34 FPS decrease. This substantial reduction highlights the immense pixel throughput required at 4K, which the RTX 4060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus, struggles to maintain. The game becomes increasingly GPU-bound, and the performance headroom of the Core Ultra 5 125H becomes less relevant to the final frame rate.

This scaling behavior is typical for a mid-range GPU like the RTX 4060. The card is clearly not designed for maximum settings at 4K, but it shows competent performance at 1080p and playable results at 1440p. The data indicates that users will need to adjust settings carefully to achieve a smooth experience at higher resolutions, as the Ultra preset becomes particularly demanding, with average FPS dropping to 28 at 4K and 50 at 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds a combo rank of 1709 out of 2825 tested combos. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance spectrum, indicating that while it can run the game, there are many other hardware configurations that deliver higher frame rates.

The ranking data suggests that this combo is not optimized for The Technomancer, which is a game that can be demanding on system resources. The RTX 4060 GPU performs at the 61st percentile compared to all GPUs, and its benchmark scores are closely matched by rivals like the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which has a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Radeon 780M, which is only 0.3% behind. This indicates that the GPU's raw compute power is average, and for a game like The Technomancer, which may not be well-optimized for newer architectures, this can translate to a lower overall ranking.

The CPU, Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, performs at the 79th percentile compared to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27507. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and Intel Core i5-12600K, which have a deltaPct of -0.1% and -0.3% respectively. This shows the CPU is competitive with those desktop parts, but its mobile design and thermal constraints may limit sustained performance in gaming scenarios. The combo's rank of 1709 out of 2825 suggests that while the individual components are capable, their combined performance in this specific game leaves room for improvement, likely due to the GPU being a bottleneck at the settings where the CPU can perform well.

The data shows that this combo is not a top-tier performer for The Technomancer. It will run the game, but users should expect frame rates that are playable at 1080p and 1440p with adjustments to settings, rather than a high-refresh-rate experience at maximum quality. The ranking reflects a balance of CPU and GPU capabilities that is adequate but not exceptional for this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this hardware combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the data points to 1440p with Medium settings as the sweet spot, where the average FPS is 75. This provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is well above the playable threshold.

At 1080p, all settings presets are playable, but the High preset at 99 FPS offers a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 77 FPS, which is still smooth, but the performance cost of Ultra over High may not justify the marginal visual gains, especially given the large drop in performance. The Low preset at 150 FPS is only recommended for competitive play or if the user has a high-refresh-rate monitor, as it leaves significant performance on the table.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests that the Ultra preset is not viable, with an average of just 28 FPS. The High preset at 35 FPS is also below the ideal threshold for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 41 FPS is the best option at 4K, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. The Low preset at 54 FPS is the only setting that approaches playability, but it requires significant visual compromises. Users targeting 4K will need to accept lower settings and frame rates, making 1440p the recommended resolution for this combo to achieve a good balance of quality and performance.

The data shows a clear trend: the Medium preset offers the best performance-per-visual-cost across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average is 115 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 75 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 41 FPS. This preset provides a stable experience without the heavy performance penalty of the Ultra settings, making it the most practical choice for users who want to enjoy the game without excessive tweaking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 150 FPS on Low, 115 FPS on Medium, 99 FPS on High, and 77 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset also recorded a minimum FPS of 98 and a maximum of 133, indicating some frame time variance but overall solid performance. The gap between Low and Ultra is 73 FPS, showing the significant cost of high-end settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates drop to 98 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium, 64 FPS on High, and 50 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again shows variance with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS, which suggests occasional dips but sustained playability. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 48 FPS, a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p, but the relative cost of Ultra is higher as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 54 FPS on Low, 41 FPS on Medium, 35 FPS on High, and 28 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, at 35 and 48 FPS respectively. This data shows that 4K gaming is only viable on Low settings, and even then, the average FPS is below 60. The Ultra preset at 28 FPS is nearly unplayable, and the High preset at 35 FPS is only marginally better.

The data shows a consistent performance scaling pattern across all resolutions. The difference between Low and Medium is substantial, with an average increase of 35 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 13 FPS at 4K. The difference between Medium and High is smaller, and the jump from High to Ultra is the most demanding, costing an average of 22 FPS at 1080p, 14 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the Ultra preset is the most inefficient in terms of performance cost.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the primary driver of the performance ceiling for this combo in The Technomancer. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its memory capacity and bandwidth become limiting factors at 4K. The game's demanding textures and effects at higher resolutions likely exceed the available VRAM, contributing to the significant FPS drops observed at 4K.

The GPU's clock speeds are a base of 1830 MHz and a boost of 2460 MHz, which are respectable for the Ada Lovelace architecture. The RTX 4060 has 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output pipelines, which are moderate numbers for a card in its class. Its FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS is adequate for this 2016 title, but the game's engine may not be fully optimized for the newer architecture, potentially leaving some performance on the table.

The GPU's benchmark scores are modest, with a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2302. The GPU's percentile ranking of 61 indicates it is an average performer, and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon 780M, are within a 0.3% deltaPct, showing that the RTX 4060 is not a significant outlier in raw performance. In The Technomancer, this translates to a GPU that can handle the game at medium-to-high settings at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles with the highest settings and resolutions.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a key factor. The data shows that at 4K, even the Low preset only achieves 54 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is not only compute-bound but also potentially memory-bound. The 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are restrictive for high-resolution textures, and this likely contributes to the poor scaling at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H plays a supporting role in this combo, providing enough processing power to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions. With 14 cores and 18 threads, based on the Meteor Lake architecture, this mobile CPU has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for feeding the GPU in most gaming scenarios.

The CPU's performance is competitive with desktop parts, as its average benchmark score of 27507 places it near the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, which is only 0.1% faster. Its Cinebench R23 scores of 12804.5 multi-core and 1647.5 single-core indicate solid multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities, which are relevant for a game like The Technomancer that may use multiple cores for physics and AI.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU does not appear to be a primary limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 150 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. The fact that the FPS drops consistently across all resolutions and settings points to the GPU being the bottleneck, rather than the CPU. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see more consistent FPS across different settings at the same resolution.

The CPU's 28W TDP indicates a power-efficient design, which is common for mobile parts. This means it may not sustain its boost clock for extended periods under heavy load, potentially affecting performance in long gaming sessions. However, the benchmark data shows that the combo can achieve high frame rates at 1080p, suggesting that the CPU's performance is adequate for this game. The data shows that the CPU is a capable partner for the RTX 4060, allowing the GPU to reach its performance limits without being held back by processing power.