The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

This combination of Intel's Core Ultra 5 225 processor and AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers remarkably high frame rates in The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG that proves surprisingly demanding at higher settings. The measured data shows this pairing lands at rank 326 out of 2825 tested combos, placing it in the top 11.5% of all configurations. The RX 7900 XTX, despite being an end-of-life product, pushes this game to triple-digit averages at 1440p and even maintains playable 4K performance, though the scaling patterns reveal interesting bottlenecks that deserve closer examination.

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

The frame rate scaling across resolutions tells a clear story about where this system's limits reside. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 271 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 177 FPS, a 34.7% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 97 FPS, which is another 45.2% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern—where each resolution step costs roughly a third to nearly half of the remaining performance—suggests the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The High preset shows a similar but slightly different trajectory. At 1080p High, the system produces 178 FPS. At 1440p High, that falls to 116 FPS, a 34.8% decline. Pushing to 4K High results in 64 FPS, a 44.8% drop from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High presets indicates that resolution scaling is governed predominantly by the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than by CPU limitations or settings-specific effects.

What's particularly revealing is the Ultra preset behavior. At 1080p Ultra, the system hits 139 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 91 FPS—a 34.5% reduction that mirrors the other presets. But at 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 50 FPS, which is 45.1% below the 1440p Ultra number. This near-identical scaling pattern across all four presets strongly implies that The Technomancer's rendering pipeline scales linearly with resolution and that the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of GDDR6 memory is not the limiting factor—otherwise we would expect to see steeper drops at 4K Ultra when memory pressure increases.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU may be holding back the GPU. The Core Ultra 5 225's boost clock reaches 4.90 GHz, and its 10 cores and 10 threads provide solid single-thread performance—its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 3655. However, the fact that 1080p Low yields 271 FPS while 1080p Ultra yields 139 FPS, a 48.7% performance penalty from settings alone, suggests that at lower resolutions, the frame rate is increasingly constrained by draw call processing and CPU-bound game logic. The GPU's 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability is more than sufficient for this load; the question is whether the CPU can feed it fast enough.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

With a combo rank of 326 out of 2825 tested configurations, this pairing sits comfortably in the upper echelon of systems tested in The Technomancer. The 87.9th percentile placement means that roughly 88% of all tested combos deliver lower performance than what this Intel-AMD pairing achieves. This is particularly notable given that the RX 7900 XTX has a percentileVsAllGpus score of 64, meaning it sits in the 64th percentile relative to all GPUs in the database—yet in this specific game, the combo outperforms the vast majority of alternatives.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus score of 85 indicates the Core Ultra 5 225 is well above average among all processors. Its average benchmark score of 36938 places it nearly exactly even with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945 with a deltaPct of 0. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D is only 0.2% behind at 37018, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 trails by 0.4% at 37093. The Intel Core i9-12900T rounds out the nearest rivals at 37112 with a 0.5% deficit. This clustering of rival scores within half a percent of each other tells us the Core Ultra 5 225 is remarkably balanced against its direct competitors—no single rival holds a meaningful advantage in general compute.

For the GPU, the picture is more complex. The RX 7900 XTX's average benchmark score of 19410 puts it in the 64th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB at 19334 (0.4% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 19602 (1% ahead), the AMD FirePro D300 at 19637 (1.2% ahead), and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp at 19177 (1.2% behind). These deltas are remarkably small, suggesting that in general-purpose GPU benchmarks, the 7900 XTX is closely matched with hardware from very different eras and market segments. However, the measured FPS data in The Technomancer shows this card performing at levels far beyond what those benchmark scores might suggest, indicating the game favors the 7900 XTX's specific architectural strengths.

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

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX brings substantial hardware to bear on The Technomancer. Its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for this game's demands—the measured FPS data shows no evidence of memory capacity or bandwidth throttling even at 4K Ultra settings. The card's boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz (base 1929 MHz) allow it to sustain high throughput, and its 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs provide the raw processing power needed for the pixel-heavy work at high resolutions.

The GPU's 96 ray tracing cores and RDNA 3.0 architecture with 12 Ultimate (12_2) DirectX support mean it's fully capable of handling The Technomancer's modern rendering features. The measured data shows the card scaling from 271 FPS at 1080p Low to 50 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 81.5% reduction from the best-case to worst-case scenario. This range indicates the game is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, with the card's 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 performance being the primary driver of these results.

Interestingly, the GPU's passmark_g3d score of 31238 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6841 suggest strong DirectX 12 performance, which aligns well with The Technomancer's engine. The card's texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s are critical for maintaining smooth frame rates at 4K, where the game's texture-heavy environments require constant texture fetching and blending. The fact that 4K Medium achieves 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 86 FPS shows the card has headroom even at this demanding resolution.

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

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 271 FPS, Medium achieves 209 FPS with a minimum of 177 and maximum of 240, High reaches 178 FPS, and Ultra drops to 139 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 132 FPS, representing a 48.7% performance penalty for enabling maximum visual quality. This suggests that even at Ultra settings, the system maintains frame rates well above the refresh rates of most monitors, making 1080p an excellent resolution for competitive or high-refresh-rate play.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected resolution penalty. Low settings average 177 FPS, Medium averages 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 157, High reaches 116 FPS, and Ultra drops to 91 FPS. The minimum frame rate of 116 FPS at Medium settings indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system stays above the 100 FPS threshold, providing smooth gameplay for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The Ultra preset at 91 FPS is still highly playable, though it falls just short of the 100 FPS mark that many gamers consider ideal.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance becomes more variable. Low settings average 97 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 and maximum of 86, High reaches 64 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50 FPS. The 4K Medium results show a 22 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating that The Technomancer has scenes that are significantly more demanding than others. The 50 FPS at Ultra settings is playable but represents the edge of what this combination can deliver at maximum quality in 4K—anything below this would be noticeable as stutter or lag.

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

For 1080p users, the Ultra preset at 139 FPS is the clear choice. This frame rate is well above the 120 Hz threshold that many monitors support, and the visual quality improvement from High's 178 FPS to Ultra's 139 FPS costs only 39 FPS—a 21.9% reduction for what is likely a meaningful visual upgrade. Even Medium at 209 FPS seems unnecessary given the high frame rates already available; the diminishing returns from 209 to 271 FPS at Low are minimal for most users.

At 1440p, the High preset at 116 FPS offers the best balance. Ultra at 91 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize visuals over frame rate, but the 25 FPS difference between High and Ultra makes High the safer recommendation for maintaining consistently smooth gameplay. Medium at 136 FPS provides additional headroom for particularly demanding scenes, as evidenced by its 116 FPS minimum, but the visual compromise may not be worth the extra 20 FPS over High. Low at 177 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is paramount.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 75 FPS is the recommended starting point. Its minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 86 FPS show that the system can maintain playable frame rates throughout, and the jump from Medium to High (64 FPS) represents a 14.7% performance loss that may push some scenes below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra at 50 FPS is only suitable for users who prioritize absolute visual fidelity over smoothness, as the 25 FPS difference from Medium to Ultra (from 75 to 50 FPS) is significant. Low at 97 FPS is the choice for those who want high-refresh-rate 4K, though the visual quality trade-off is substantial.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want over 100 FPS average?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 177 FPS, Medium delivers 136 FPS, and High delivers 116 FPS—all above 100 FPS. At 4K, only Low (97 FPS) comes close, but it falls just short. For 1080p, all presets exceed 100 FPS, with Ultra at 139 FPS and Medium at 209 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The measured FPS data shows no evidence of VRAM capacity limiting performance. The card's 24 GB of GDDR6 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for The Technomancer at all tested resolutions and settings, as evidenced by the linear resolution scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 5 225 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests potential CPU limitation at low resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 271 FPS, but increasing settings to Ultra drops performance to 139 FPS—a 48.7% reduction that is likely due to CPU-bound draw call processing rather than GPU limitations, given the card's high compute capability.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows 50 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra. This is the lowest frame rate across all tested configurations but remains playable. For better 4K performance, dropping to Medium raises the average to 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 326 out of 2825 tested combos, placing it in the top 11.5% of all configurations tested in The Technomancer. This is notably higher than the GPU's overall percentile rank of 64, indicating the game favors this specific hardware combination.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 177 FPS while Ultra averages 91 FPS—a difference of 86 FPS, representing a 48.6% performance penalty for enabling maximum settings. Medium sits between at 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS.

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

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its specifications help explain the measured frame rates. With 10 cores and 10 threads, this Arrow Lake-S architecture CPU (part of the Core Ultra Series 2) offers a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core provide ample fast storage for game data, while the 192 KB L1 cache per core ensures quick access to frequently used instructions. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 36938, confirms it is a strong performer for gaming workloads.

The Cinebench R23 results are particularly relevant to The Technomancer's CPU demands. The multi-core score of 25891 demonstrates strong threaded performance, while the single-core score of 3655 indicates excellent per-thread capability. This combination is important because many games, including action RPGs like The Technomancer, rely heavily on a single primary thread for game logic while using additional threads for physics, AI, and streaming. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4412 and multithread score of 30459 reinforce this profile—strong single-thread performance with solid multi-thread headroom.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node (manufactured by TSMC) mean it runs efficiently under load, which is beneficial for sustained gaming sessions. Its DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth provides adequate data throughput for the game's assets, though the RX 7900 XTX's 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is clearly the dominant memory subsystem in this pairing. The CPU's PCIe Gen 5 support with 20 lanes ensures the GPU can communicate at full bandwidth, though the RX 7900 XTX uses PCIe 4.0 x16, which is backward compatible and unlikely to bottleneck.

The measured FPS data suggests the CPU becomes a limiting factor primarily at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 271 FPS, which is likely near the maximum frame rate the CPU can feed to the GPU given the game's draw call overhead. The fact that 1080p Ultra (139 FPS) is still far below what the GPU could theoretically render suggests that higher settings introduce more CPU work—likely from additional object rendering, particle effects, and AI calculations. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the steeper performance drops between settings at higher resolutions. This balanced behavior—CPU-limited at low resolutions, GPU-limited at high resolutions—is typical of well-optimized game engines and explains why this combo performs so well across the entire resolution spectrum.