The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with resolution. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, using the provided benchmark data. The combo ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combinations, placing it comfortably in the upper tier of systems. The data covers 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings, offering a complete picture of how this hardware handles the game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the system delivers an average of 195 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same High preset, the average drops to 128 FPS, a reduction of 67 FPS. At 4K High, the average falls further to 70 FPS. This trajectory shows that the RTX 4080 is the primary scaling factor, as the frame rate drops proportionally with the increase in pixel count.

The Low preset demonstrates the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 298 FPS average. At 1440p Low, it maintains 195 FPS. At 4K Low, the average drops to 107 FPS. The 1080p to 4K transition at Low settings represents a 191 FPS difference, or roughly a 64% reduction. This large drop indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is handling a substantial pixel throughput, and the CPU is not the bottleneck at these frame rates.

Medium settings show a similar but slightly less steep curve. The system runs 1080p Medium at 229 FPS average, 1440p Medium at 149 FPS, and 4K Medium at 82 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Medium is 80 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K Medium is 67 FPS. This suggests that the GPU workload scales almost linearly with resolution, and the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions.

Ultra settings provide the most revealing data. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 152 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 100 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 55 FPS. The 1080p to 1440p Ultra drop is 52 FPS, while the 1440p to 4K Ultra drop is 45 FPS. This near-linear scaling indicates that the RTX 4080 is the limiting component across all Ultra presets. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 10 threads, has sufficient performance to avoid becoming a constraint at these frame rates.

The data shows that the limiting component shifts based on resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, where the system hits 298 FPS, the CPU may begin to approach its ceiling, but the average still remains very high. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rate of 55 FPS reflects the heavy pixel load. The RTX 4080, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, handles the higher resolutions well, but the frame rates at 4K Ultra suggest that even this high-end GPU is taxed by the game's requirements.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution and whether the user prioritizes frame rate or visual fidelity. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is highly viable. The system averages 152 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. Moving down to High at 1080p increases the average to 195 FPS, a 43 FPS improvement, but the visual difference between High and Ultra may be noticeable. For users with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors, High settings at 1080p provide a better match to the display's refresh rate.

At 1440p, the Medium preset offers a balanced experience. The system averages 149 FPS at 1440p Medium, with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS. This frame rate range keeps gameplay fluid. The High preset at 1440p drops to 128 FPS average, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 100 FPS, which is acceptable for many users but may show occasional dips in heavy combat. The Low preset at 1440p, at 195 FPS average, is unnecessary unless the user seeks maximum frame rates for competitive play.

For 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. The system averages 82 FPS at 4K Medium, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS. This provides a playable experience with decent visual quality. The High preset at 4K drops to 70 FPS average, which is borderline for smooth gameplay on many displays. The Ultra preset at 4K averages 55 FPS, which may be tolerable for slower-paced exploration but could feel less responsive during action sequences. The Low preset at 4K, at 107 FPS average, offers the smoothest experience but sacrifices significant visual detail.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 229 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it achieves 149 FPS. At 4K Medium, it achieves 82 FPS. This preset provides a consistent experience that scales well, and the min and max values at each resolution show stable frame pacing. The High preset is also viable for users who prioritize visual quality, but the frame rate drops are more pronounced at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this combo. Its specifications include 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with a memory clock of 1400 MHz, translating to 22.4 Gbps effective. The chip, AD103, is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die.

The GPU's performance in The Technomancer is directly tied to its memory subsystem and shading units. With 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, the RTX 4080 has ample compute resources for this game. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s contribute to the high frame rates observed at lower resolutions. The FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS indicates strong raw compute capability, which is beneficial for the game's rendering workload.

The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for The Technomancer at any resolution. Even at 4K Ultra, the game does not appear to be VRAM-limited, as the frame rates are consistent with GPU compute limits rather than memory capacity issues. The 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and memory access do not become bottlenecks, even at high resolutions where pixel data throughput is substantial.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6567. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 214739, and the Vulkan score is 263779. The Passmark G3D score is 34457, with a GPU compute score of 20671. These scores place the RTX 4080 in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, a delta of 0.1%. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, a delta of -1.1%, indicating the RTX 4080 is slightly behind that card in average benchmarks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system delivers consistently high frame rates. The Low preset averages 298 FPS. The Medium preset averages 229 FPS, with a minimum of 194 FPS and a maximum of 263 FPS. The High preset averages 195 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 152 FPS. These numbers show that the RTX 4080 is not fully utilized at 1080p, as even the Ultra preset leaves headroom for higher frame rates. The CPU, with its boost clock of 4.90 GHz, is capable of feeding the GPU at these frame rates, though the 298 FPS at Low may approach CPU limits.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high. The Low preset averages 195 FPS. The Medium preset averages 149 FPS, with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS. The High preset averages 128 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 100 FPS. The 1440p data shows a more balanced workload between CPU and GPU, with the GPU becoming more significant. The Medium preset's min and max values indicate stable performance, with only a 45 FPS difference between the lowest and highest frames.

At 4K, the frame rates drop to more moderate levels. The Low preset averages 107 FPS. The Medium preset averages 82 FPS, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS. The High preset averages 70 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 55 FPS. The 4K data clearly shows the GPU as the limiting factor, as the frame rate scales with the pixel count. The Medium preset at 4K offers the best balance, with an average that stays above 60 FPS and a minimum that does not fall below 70 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern across all settings: the frame rate decreases as resolution increases, but the relative differences between settings remain similar. At 1080p, Ultra is 78% of High's frame rate. At 1440p, Ultra is 78% of High's frame rate. At 4K, Ultra is 79% of High's frame rate. This consistency indicates that the game's performance scaling is uniform across resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: The system delivers an average of 70 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings. This is the second-highest preset at 4K, with Medium averaging 82 FPS and Ultra averaging 55 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest frame rate at 1080p?

A: The Low preset provides the highest frame rate at 1920x1080, with an average of 298 FPS. The Medium preset averages 229 FPS, High averages 195 FPS, and Ultra averages 152 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209, representing a delta of 0.1%. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, a delta of -1.1%.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 127 FPS. The average is 149 FPS, and the maximum is 172 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in The Technomancer?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combo ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combinations. This places it in the top 6% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 152. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 55. This represents a drop of 97 FPS, or approximately 64%, when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU has a 20 MB shared L3 cache, with 192 KB of L1 cache per core and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 25891 in multicore and 3655 in singlecore. In Cinebench R20, it scores 6317 in multicore and 891 in singlecore. The Passmark multithread score is 30459, and the single-thread score is 4412. These scores place the CPU in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938.

In The Technomancer, the CPU role is less prominent than the GPU due to the game's high frame rates. At 1080p Low, where the system reaches 298 FPS average, the CPU may be nearing its limit. However, at all other settings and resolutions, the frame rates are likely limited by the GPU. The CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient for this game, as it does not appear to be heavily multi-threaded. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz helps maintain high single-threaded performance, which is important for game logic and physics.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has an average score of 36945, a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018, a delta of -0.2%. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093, a delta of -0.4%. The Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112, a delta of -0.5%. These small deltas indicate that the Core Ultra 5 225 performs on par with these competitors, with differences of less than 1%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places the system in the top 5.8% of all tested combinations. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, where the RTX 4080 provides the majority of the gaming performance, and the Core Ultra 5 225 does not bottleneck it at most settings.

The combo's rank is influenced by the GPU's high benchmark scores and the CPU's competitive performance. The RTX 4080's percentile of 86 and the CPU's percentile of 85 both contribute to a strong overall ranking. However, the rank also depends on the specific game's requirements. The Technomancer appears to be GPU-bound at higher resolutions, so the RTX 4080's capabilities directly drive the system's performance.

Compared to other combos, this pairing is well-balanced. The CPU's average benchmark score of 36938 is close to its nearest rivals, with deltas of less than 1%. The GPU's average benchmark score of 54247 is similarly close to the RTX 4080 SUPER, with a delta of 0.1%. This means that the combo's rank is not due to any single component being exceptionally strong, but rather both components performing at a high level without one holding the other back.

The rank of 213 out of 3696 indicates that there are 212 combos that perform better in The Technomancer. These likely include systems with higher-end CPUs, such as those with more cores or higher clock speeds, or GPUs like the RTX 4090. However, the data shows that this combo delivers excellent frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions, making it a strong choice for playing The Technomancer at high frame rates with good visual quality.