The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for modern hardware. The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile yields a wide range of performance depending on how the game is configured. The measured data reveals a system capable of high refresh-rate play at 1080p but one that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with maximum settings, placing it in the 55th percentile of all tested combos. This analysis breaks down the specific roles of the CPU and GPU, the impact of settings and resolution, and provides a detailed look at the exact frame rates measured.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and can boost up to 4.60 GHz, which provides a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The processor features 18 MB of shared L3 cache and an integrated Arc Xe-LPG 96EU GPU, though in this configuration it is paired with a discrete graphics card. The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong; it scores 11,875.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,700 in single-core, placing it at the 81st percentile compared to all CPUs.

In the context of The Technomancer, a game from 2016, the CPU's capabilities are more than sufficient. The title is not known for being heavily threaded, so the 18 threads are unlikely to be fully utilized. The single-core performance, however, is crucial. The measured data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 166 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at these settings, as it is able to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain such a high output. The Core Ultra 5 135H's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, from which it trails by only 0.1%, and the Intel Core i5-13500HX, which is 0.6% faster. This places the Ultra 5 135H in a competitive position, ensuring that it won't hold back the RTX 5070 Mobile in most gaming scenarios.

However, the CPU's influence becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. The jump from 85 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 166 FPS at 1080p Low shows a 95% performance increase, which is a direct result of reducing the graphical load on the GPU. The CPU must handle the increased frame rate, and the data suggests it does so without issue. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 3,521 further supports this, indicating a capable single-core performer. For a game like The Technomancer, the Core Ultra 5 135H provides more than enough headroom, ensuring that the GPU is the primary factor in determining final frame rates, especially as resolution and settings are increased.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides a clear picture of how different settings presets affect performance. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 166 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 128 FPS. The High preset comes in at 109 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding 85 FPS. All of these are playable, but the choice of preset depends on the user's preference for visual fidelity versus raw frame rate. For a competitive or high-refresh-rate display, the Low preset is the obvious choice, as it maximizes the frame rate. However, the jump from Low to Medium is significant, with a 38 FPS difference, but it also brings a substantial improvement in visual quality.

The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for a balanced experience at 1080p. It maintains an average of 128 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, while offering a better visual experience than Low. The High preset is also viable, with 109 FPS, but the diminishing returns in visual quality compared to Medium may not justify the 19 FPS loss. At 1440p, the Medium preset again proves to be a strong choice. It achieves 83 FPS, which is still very playable, while the High preset drops to 71 FPS and the Ultra preset falls to 56 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p is not recommended, as it offers the same visual quality issues as at 1080p but with a lower frame rate of 109 FPS.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a playable frame rate, with an average of 46 FPS and a minimum of 39 FPS. The High preset averages 39 FPS, which is borderline, and the Ultra preset is not playable at 31 FPS. The data strongly suggests that 4K gaming with this combo is only viable with the Medium preset or lower. The Low preset at 4K achieves 60 FPS, which is acceptable, but it requires a significant visual compromise. For the best experience across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most balanced performance, providing high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p while remaining playable at 4K.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The performance scaling across resolutions is a key indicator of where the bottleneck lies in this system. From 1080p to 1440p, the frame rate drops by a consistent percentage across all settings. For example, at High settings, the frame rate falls from 109 FPS at 1080p to 71 FPS at 1440p, a 34.9% reduction. This is a typical scaling pattern for a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count places more load on the graphics card. The RTX 5070 Mobile, with its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, is the primary driver of these numbers.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even more pronounced. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 71 FPS to 39 FPS, a 45.1% reduction. This steep decline is a clear sign that the GPU is struggling to keep up with the demands of 4K rendering. The pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the performance does not scale linearly, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated. The RTX 5070 Mobile's 384.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is likely a limiting factor, as The Technomancer's textures and effects require significant data throughput at high resolutions.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting component in this game. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see less of a performance drop when increasing resolution, as the CPU would be the constraint at all resolutions. Instead, the consistent and predictable frame rate drops across all settings and resolutions point to the GPU as the primary limiting factor. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is able to keep up with the RTX 5070 Mobile even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate is highest. This suggests that for The Technomancer, the GPU is the component that will determine the playable resolution and settings, not the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile ranks 2040 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the middle of the pack, at roughly the 55th percentile. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual performance of the components. The RTX 5070 Mobile is a high-end mobile GPU, and the Core Ultra 5 135H is a capable processor. However, the ranking suggests that many other combinations of hardware can achieve better performance in this specific title.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The RTX 5070 Mobile's average benchmark score is 29,928, which is only 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. It is also 0.5% faster than the RTX 2080 Ti and 0.6% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 6800. This indicates that the RTX 5070 Mobile offers performance in line with previous-generation high-end desktop cards. However, in The Technomancer, the combo's ranking suggests that the game may be more sensitive to other factors, such as driver optimization or specific architectural features.

The rank of 2040 out of 3696 means that 1656 other combos perform better, while 2040 perform worse. This is a solid, mid-tier result. It indicates that the combo is capable of running the game well, but it is not at the top of the charts. The measured frame rates support this, as the combo achieves playable performance at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles at 4K with high settings. The ranking is a useful metric for potential buyers, as it shows that this particular CPU and GPU pairing is adequate for The Technomancer, but not exceptional. It is a combination that will provide a good gaming experience, but users seeking the absolute highest frame rates may need to consider other options.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is the driving force behind the frame rates in this test. It is based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 907 MHz and a boost clock of 1425 MHz, with a memory clock of 1500 MHz (24 Gbps effective). These specs are modest for a high-end mobile GPU, but the data shows they are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming in The Technomancer.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score is 20,355, which places it at the 75th percentile compared to all GPUs. This is a strong score, but its nearest rivals show that it is not a performance outlier. The RTX 5070 Mobile is 0.1% slower than the RTX 3070 Ti and 0.5% faster than the RTX 2080 Ti. This puts it in a well-established performance tier. In The Technomancer, the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM is likely sufficient for all tested settings, as the game is from 2016 and does not have demanding texture requirements. The memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s, however, appears to be a bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rates drop significantly at that resolution.

The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 13.13 TFLOPS for FP32, are more than enough for this game. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU can output 166 FPS, which is near the limits of what is typically needed. The performance drop at higher settings is due to the increased shading, texture filtering, and post-processing effects. The RTX 5070 Mobile's 4608 shading units and 144 texture mapping units are able to handle these tasks well at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution overwhelms the GPU's pixel processing capabilities. The pixel rate of 68.40 GPixel/s is a limiting factor, as 4K UHD requires 8.3 million pixels per frame, and the GPU's fill rate is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at that resolution with high settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 166 FPS
• Medium: 128 FPS (min 108, max 147)
• High: 109 FPS
• Ultra: 85 FPS

At 1080p, the combo is highly capable. The Low preset delivers a very high frame rate, ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset is the most balanced, providing a smooth experience with a substantial improvement in visual quality over Low. The High preset is still excellent, offering 109 FPS. The Ultra preset, while the most demanding, still achieves 85 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target for most displays.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 109 FPS
• Medium: 83 FPS (min 71, max 96)
• High: 71 FPS
• Ultra: 56 FPS

At 1440p, the performance is still very good. The Low preset delivers a high frame rate, but the Medium preset is the recommended choice for a balance of quality and speed. The High preset is playable, but the Ultra preset begins to show the GPU's limitations, as the frame rate drops to 56 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 60 FPS
• Medium: 46 FPS (min 39, max 53)
• High: 39 FPS
• Ultra: 31 FPS

At 4K, the combo struggles. The Low preset is the only one that achieves a consistent 60 FPS. The Medium preset is playable but requires a compromise on visual quality. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for a good experience, as they fall below 40 FPS. The data clearly indicates that 4K gaming with this setup is best left to the lower settings presets.