The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that stresses both processor and graphics hardware. The data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 shows a system capable of smooth gameplay at lower resolutions, but one that becomes increasingly GPU-limited as resolution and visual fidelity increase. This analysis examines the measured performance data to understand the balance between the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in The Technomancer?

A: The combo is ranked 1721 out of 2825 tested combinations. This places it in the lower half of the tested configurations, indicating that while it can play the game, a significant number of other hardware pairings deliver higher frame rates.

Q: What is the best resolution/settings combination to achieve a 60 FPS average?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 64. This is the highest fidelity setting at that resolution that maintains an average above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, High settings produce an average of 98 FPS, and even Ultra settings average 77 FPS, both well above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938. Among its nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945, which is a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018, which is -0.2% relative to the Ultra 5 225, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093, a -0.4% delta. The Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112, which is -0.5% relative. This indicates the Ultra 5 225's overall performance is essentially on par with these competitors.

Q: Is the GPU more powerful than its closest competitors according to benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, has an average score of 20713, which is a 1.6% lower delta, meaning the RTX 5050 is slightly ahead. The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, AMD Radeon HD 8970M, and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile all have higher average scores (21153, 21237, and 21379 respectively), placing the RTX 5050 slightly behind them by -0.6%, -1%, and -1.6%.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at the High preset?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 98. At 2560x1440, it drops to 64 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 35 FPS. This represents a significant scaling cost, with the 4K resolution delivering roughly 36% of the performance seen at 1080p.

Q: What is the FPS drop from Low to Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 98 on Low settings, down to 75 on Medium, 64 on High, and 50 on Ultra. This shows a clear performance hierarchy, with the Ultra preset demanding nearly double the processing power of the Low preset, resulting in roughly half the frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the primary driver of frame rates in The Technomancer, especially as resolution and settings increase. The GPU's memory configuration is an 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The card's core operates at a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz. These specifications determine how quickly the GPU can process geometry, textures, and shaders.

The benchmark results show a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1920x1080, the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly. However, as the resolution increases to 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the number of pixels that need to be processed grows, placing a heavier load on the GPU's shading units, texture mapping units, and ROPs. The RTX 5050 has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The data suggests that at higher resolutions, these units are saturated, causing the average FPS to drop significantly.

For example, at the High preset, the GPU produces 98 FPS at 1080p but only 64 FPS at 1440p and 35 FPS at 4K. This is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The card's 8 GB of VRAM is also a relevant factor. While the data does not specify VRAM usage, the frame buffer size can become a constraint at higher resolutions and texture quality settings, potentially leading to performance dips if the game needs to swap textures from system memory.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience balances visual quality with a playable frame rate. For a target of 60 FPS, the highest settings that consistently achieve this at 2560x1440 is the High preset, which averages 64 FPS. This provides a good balance of visual fidelity and smooth performance.

At 1920x1080, the user has more headroom. The Ultra preset averages 77 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. This makes 1080p Ultra the best choice for users who prioritize maximum visual quality and have a 1080p display. The High and Medium presets also offer excellent performance, with averages of 98 FPS and 115 FPS respectively, but the visual gain from High to Ultra is substantial enough to warrant the performance cost.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a 60 FPS average. The Low preset is the only one that comes close to playable, with an average of 54 FPS. The Medium preset averages 41 FPS, and High drops to 35 FPS. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only viable option for a smoother experience, but it still falls short of the 60 FPS target. The performance data suggests that this combination is not well-suited for 4K gaming in The Technomancer, as even the lowest settings struggle to maintain a high frame rate. The best experience is clearly at 1080p or 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination holds a rank of 1721 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This percentile ranking places it in the lower half of all tested systems. This is a significant data point, as it suggests that while the system is functional and can play the game, it is outperformed by a majority of other hardware combinations.

The rank is a holistic measure of the system's performance across various settings and resolutions. Given that the GPU's average benchmark score places it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, and the CPU is in the 85th percentile, the game's specific demands must be heavily weighted toward the GPU. The combination's mid-pack ranking is a direct result of the RTX 5050's performance class. The data indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck in this pairing for this game, preventing the system from achieving a higher overall rank. The combo's position suggests that other tested configurations with more powerful GPUs, even if paired with slower CPUs, will deliver higher frame rates in The Technomancer.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a supporting role in The Technomancer, providing the processing power for game logic, physics, and AI. This CPU features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The processor has a 20 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark performance is strong, as evidenced by its 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs and a multi-core score of 25891 in Cinebench R23.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 150 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain a very high output. However, as settings are increased to Ultra at 1080p, the FPS drops to 77. This drop is more attributable to the GPU struggling with the increased graphical workload, rather than the CPU being overwhelmed.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when calculating the performance scaling. At 1080p Low, the system is likely less GPU-bound, and the CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads are sufficient to handle the game's demands at that level. As the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU has enough headroom to not further constrain performance. The single-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 score of 3655, is also strong and helps ensure that the game's main thread is not a bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the system's performance across all tested configurations.

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. With Low settings, the average FPS is 150. Moving up to Medium, the average is 115, with a minimum of 98 and a maximum of 132 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 98 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to an average of 77 FPS. All presets at this resolution maintain an average above 60 FPS, making it the most comfortable resolution for this hardware.

At 2560x1440, the performance begins to scale down. The Low preset averages 98 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Medium preset averages 75 FPS, with a min of 64 and max of 87. High settings average 64 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to an average of 50 FPS. This resolution presents a good balance; High settings just barely miss the 60 FPS average, while Medium and Low are well above it.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. The Low preset is the most playable, averaging 54 FPS. The Medium preset averages 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 48. High settings average 35 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to an average of 28 FPS. This resolution is not suitable for smooth gameplay with this hardware, as even the lowest settings fail to reach a 60 FPS average.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K highlights the system's GPU-bound nature. Looking at the High preset as a reference point, the system produces 98 FPS at 1080p. At 1440p, this drops to 64 FPS, a reduction of 34 FPS. Moving to 4K, the frame rate falls to 35 FPS, a further drop of 29 FPS. This is a steep decline, with the 4K performance being only about 36% of the 1080p performance.

This scaling pattern is typical for a system where the GPU is the main limiting factor. The RTX 5050's 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.17 TFLOPS of compute power are sufficient for 1080p, but the pixel count at 1440p and 4K overwhelms it. The data shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is significant, but the gap between 1440p and 4K is even more severe. This indicates that the GPU's rendering capabilities are exhausted as the resolution increases.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 115 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The linear nature of the drop suggests a consistent scaling cost. The Low preset scales slightly better, with 150 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest settings, the 4K resolution is still a challenge, reinforcing the conclusion that the RTX 5050 is not powerful enough to handle 4K in this game. The resolution scaling data confirms that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck, and the CPU's performance is sufficient to keep up with the GPU's demands at all resolutions tested.