The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that quickly exposes the limits of older hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 across standard resolutions and presets. The data, which is measured rather than estimated, provides a clear picture of where this combination excels and where it falls short, offering practical guidance for anyone running this specific setup.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 50 FPS at 1920x1080 to 33 FPS at 2560x1440, a 34% reduction. Moving to 3840x2160, the average plummets to 18 FPS, which is a 64% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This severe scaling is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering, where the Polaris 20 chip’s compute and memory bandwidth are saturated.

The pattern repeats across other presets. With Low settings, the 1080p average of 76 FPS drops to 50 FPS at 1440p and then to 27 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 58 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. Even the least demanding preset cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K, underscoring the GPU’s inability to handle the pixel count. The data indicates that the gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, suggesting that the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and the 32 ROPs are particularly stressed when the resolution increases.

The frame time consistency, visible in the Medium preset data with min and max FPS values, also degrades with resolution. At 1080p Medium, the frame rate ranges from 50 to 67 FPS, a fairly tight window. At 1440p Medium, the range widens to 32 to 44 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it narrows to 18 to 24 FPS. The lower average at 4K is accompanied by a proportionally lower minimum, indicating that the GPU is not just slower but also less able to maintain a steady output. For this combo, 1080p is the only resolution where the GPU can consistently deliver a smooth experience; 1440p is borderline, and 4K is effectively unplayable for action-oriented gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings adjustments, with the primary goal being to maintain a playable frame rate without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 76 FPS, which is the highest measured for this combination. This is the only preset that pushes the frame rate well above 60 FPS, making it the choice for competitive or fast-paced play where fluidity is paramount. The High preset at 1080p yields 50 FPS, a more balanced option that is still playable, while the Medium preset sits between at 58 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 39 FPS, which is noticeably less smooth but still within a range some players might tolerate for single-player titles.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more restrictive. The Low preset achieves 50 FPS, which is acceptable, but the High preset falls to 33 FPS, and Medium to 38 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is a poor choice, with an average of only 25 FPS. The data suggests that for 1440p gaming, the Low preset is the only reliable option for maintaining a frame rate that feels responsive. The jump from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 12 FPS, a significant hit that does not seem justified given the GPU’s architecture is already struggling.

For 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. The best-case scenario is the Low preset at 27 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. All other presets at 4K produce averages in the teens or low twenties: Medium at 21 FPS, High at 18 FPS, and Ultra at 14 FPS. The recommendation here is straightforward: avoid 4K entirely with this combination. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are insufficient for the workload, and no settings adjustment can salvage the experience. The practical advice is to stick to 1080p, where the Low preset offers the best performance, or the High preset for a better visual experience if you can tolerate a 50 FPS average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a modern 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085. In the broader context, the processor ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062, placing it in the same performance tier as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and the Intel Core i9-13900HX, both of which are within a 0.1% delta of its score.

However, the game’s performance data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in The Technomancer. The consistent frame rate drops with increasing resolution point directly at the GPU as the limiting factor. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar frame rates across resolutions, as the CPU’s workload does not scale with pixel count. Instead, the frame rate falls by more than half from 1080p to 4K at every settings preset, which is the signature of a GPU-limited scenario.

The CPU’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by its Passmark single-thread score of 4516, is more than sufficient for a game from 2016. The Technomancer’s engine is unlikely to utilize all 14 threads effectively, but the strong per-core performance ensures that the CPU can feed the GPU without stalling. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with data locality. In this pairing, the Core Ultra 5 235 is effectively waiting on the Radeon RX 580, meaning that any future GPU upgrade would be the path to higher frame rates, not a CPU change. The data clearly shows that the processor is not the limiting component in this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 2583 out of 2825 tested combinations for The Technomancer. This places it in the bottom 8.5% of all configurations in the database, a low position that is directly attributable to the GPU’s age and performance class. The CPU is a high-end modern part, but the GPU is an end-of-life product from 2017, and the pairing reflects the GPU’s limitations.

This low rank is not a surprise given the measured frame rates. The combo’s best performance is 76 FPS at 1080p Low, which is a solid result for that resolution, but the scores at higher resolutions drag the overall ranking down. The majority of modern combos in the database will have a GPU that is significantly faster than the RX 580, allowing them to achieve playable frame rates at 1440p or 4K. This combo cannot do that, and the rank of 2583 out of 2825 accurately reflects that deficit.

When looking at the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 580’s average benchmark score of 12928 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940, -0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12986, -0.4% delta). This means the RX 580 is performing at the level of a GTX 1660 SUPER, which is a capable 1080p card. The rank of 2583 suggests that this combo is only viable for 1080p gaming, and even then, only with lower settings for a consistently smooth experience. The data indicates that this is a legacy setup, best suited for older titles or esports games at lower resolutions, rather than demanding modern Action RPGs at high settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the decisive component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the performance ceiling. It features a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The GPU has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, and it delivers a peak FP32 performance of 6.175 TFLOPS. These are the specifications of a mid-range card from 2017, and they are simply not enough for high-resolution gaming in a modern title.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this assessment. Its Passmark G3D score is 8813, and it ranks in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, which is exactly average. In terms of its nearest rivals, its average benchmark score of 12928 is within a fraction of a percent of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and the GTX 1660 SUPER. This positions the RX 580 as a solid 1080p performer, but the data from The Technomancer shows that it struggles as the resolution increases.

The 32 ROPs are particularly relevant for The Technomancer, as this game appears to have significant fill-rate demands. The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s is modest by modern standards. At 4K, the GPU is forced to process over 8 million pixels per frame, and the fill-rate limitations become apparent, resulting in the low average frame rates of 14-27 FPS. The 8 GB of VRAM is adequate for the game’s textures, but the bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is likely a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear correlation between the GPU’s processing power and the frame rate, making it the sole determinant of performance in this combo. For any meaningful improvement in The Technomancer, replacing this GPU would be the only effective upgrade.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Technomancer with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo can achieve consistently playable frame rates. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 39 on Ultra to 76 on Low. At 1440p, the best average is 50 FPS on Low, and at 4K, the best average is 27 FPS on Low, which is generally not smooth enough for an action game.

Q: How much of a performance drop should I expect when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The drop is significant. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 50 FPS at 1080p to 33 FPS at 1440p, a 34% decrease. On the Low preset, it falls from 76 FPS to 50 FPS. This indicates the GPU is heavily taxed by the increased pixel count.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 or the AMD Radeon RX 580 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The benchmark results clearly indicate the GPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate drops dramatically as resolution increases, which is a classic symptom of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU’s high single-thread performance and 14 cores are more than sufficient for this game, so the RX 580’s processing power and memory bandwidth are what cap the performance.

Q: How does this specific combo rank compared to others tested for The Technomancer?

A: This combination ranks 2583 out of 2825 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 8.5% of all configurations, reflecting the GPU’s age and its inability to handle higher resolutions effectively.

Q: What settings preset gives the highest average FPS at 1080p?

A: The Low preset provides the highest average frame rate at 1080p, with a measured average of 76 FPS. The High preset offers 50 FPS, Medium offers 58 FPS, and Ultra offers 39 FPS. For maximum fluidity, Low is the best choice.

Q: Is it worth playing The Technomancer at 4K with this hardware?

A: No. The measured data shows that even the Low preset at 3840x2160 only achieves an average of 27 FPS. All other presets at 4K are in the 14-21 FPS range, which is not a playable experience for an Action RPG. The GPU does not have the fill rate or bandwidth to handle 4K rendering.