The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for modern hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data, drawn from direct measurement of this specific combination, reveals how the CPU and GPU share the workload and where the bottlenecks appear as settings and pixel counts change.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination reaches an average of 179 FPS. This is the highest measured average frame rate for this pairing across all tested configurations.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 33 FPS. This is the lowest average recorded in the dataset, indicating that this preset is not suitable for smooth gameplay on this hardware.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average of 90 FPS, while High settings produce an average of 77 FPS. That is a 13 FPS difference, which is noticeable for maintaining a high refresh rate experience.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The minimum FPS for the 1920x1080 Medium preset is 117 FPS. This is the only setting where a minimum FPS value was recorded at that resolution.

Q: How does this combination rank against all other tested combos for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1275th out of 2825 tested combinations. This places it in the middle of the pack, indicating that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is also not near the bottom.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for high resolutions?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The measured frame rates suggest that this memory configuration is sufficient to handle the game’s demands, as performance scales predictably with resolution changes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the primary driver of frame rate in The Technomancer. Its specifications from the FACT PACK include a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. The GPU is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture and features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. It also has 40 ray tracing cores, though their specific impact on this title is not separately measured.

The GPU’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is a notable asset. At 4K resolution, the High preset yields 42 FPS average, while the Low preset yields 64 FPS. This 22 FPS gap between presets at the same resolution shows how much the GPU’s shading and texture work scales with quality settings. The memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s helps maintain consistent throughput when moving from 1080p to 1440p and up to 4K, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the pixel count increase.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, measured at 25.18 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, are sufficient for this 2016 title. However, the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 33, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. This suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at the highest settings and resolution. The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s are relevant figures, but the actual measured FPS is the definitive indicator of performance.

The GPU’s percentile ranking among all GPUs is 58, and its average benchmark score is 15852. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a deltaPct of -0.1, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a deltaPct of -1, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a deltaPct of -1.7. These comparisons show that the RX 7700 sits in a competitive position, though its performance in The Technomancer is specifically what matters here.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which settings offer the best experience for this hardware. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 117 FPS, which is excellent for most displays. The Medium preset achieves 137 FPS, and Low achieves 179 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 92 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant reduction from High.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset provides an average of 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This is the sweet spot for 1440p, as High drops to 77 FPS and Ultra drops to 60 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 117 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off may not be worth it for most users.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, hitting 64 FPS. The Medium preset averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS, which is borderline. High averages 42 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. For 4K, users should stick to Low settings for a playable experience, or consider lowering the resolution.

The best overall experience, balancing visual quality and frame rate, is the High preset at 1080p. It provides a 117 FPS average, which is high enough for smooth gameplay on most monitors. For users with 1440p displays, Medium is the recommended preset because it keeps the average above 90 FPS. The data does not support using Ultra at any resolution, as the frame rate penalty is substantial.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is presented in three resolution groups, each with four settings. At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 117 FPS. The Low preset averages 179 FPS, Medium averages 137 FPS with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS, and Ultra averages 92 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a clear step-down in performance, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (42 FPS) and between High and Ultra (25 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 77 FPS. The Low preset averages 117 FPS, Medium averages 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, and Ultra averages 60 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is substantial for each setting. For example, High goes from 117 FPS to 77 FPS, a 34% reduction. Low goes from 179 FPS to 117 FPS, a 35% reduction. Medium goes from 137 FPS to 90 FPS, a 34% reduction. Ultra goes from 92 FPS to 60 FPS, a 35% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 42 FPS. The Low preset averages 64 FPS, Medium averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K shows further drops. High goes from 77 FPS to 42 FPS, a 45% reduction. Low goes from 117 FPS to 64 FPS, a 45% reduction. Medium goes from 90 FPS to 49 FPS, a 46% reduction. Ultra goes from 60 FPS to 33 FPS, a 45% reduction.

These numbers tell a consistent story. The frame rate scales almost linearly with resolution, with each step up in pixel count reducing performance by roughly a third to a half. The Medium preset at each resolution provides the most balanced data, as it is the only one with min and max values recorded. The minimum FPS values, such as 42 FPS at 4K Medium, indicate that there are moments of heavier load that can cause noticeable stutter.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1275th out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the 45th percentile of all tested systems. The ranking suggests that while this hardware is capable of running the game, there are many other combinations that achieve higher frame rates.

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 46062, and it ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 with a deltaPct of 0.1, the Intel Core i9-13900HX with a deltaPct of -0.1, the AMD EPYC 4364P with a deltaPct of 0.2, and the AMD EPYC 7303 with a deltaPct of 0.2. This indicates that the CPU is a strong performer relative to other processors, but it is not the top-tier for this game.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 15852, and it ranks in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a deltaPct of -0.1, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a deltaPct of -1, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 with a deltaPct of 1.1, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a deltaPct of -1.7. The GPU is a mid-pack performer, which aligns with the overall combo ranking.

The combo’s rank of 1275 out of 2825 is a direct result of the GPU’s mid-range standing. The CPU is capable, but the GPU holds the combo back from reaching higher positions. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the frame rates at 4K Ultra are low enough to suggest that the GPU is the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU is built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process node from TSMC. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The CPU has 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In The Technomancer, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 179 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires a capable CPU to avoid bottlenecks. The CPU’s single-core performance, measured at 2085 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is strong enough to handle the game’s main thread.

The CPU’s multi-core performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769. This helps with background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems. The CPU’s percentile rank of 89 among all CPUs indicates that it is a high-performing processor. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which has a deltaPct of 0.1, and the Intel Core i9-13900HX, which has a deltaPct of -0.1.

The CPU’s TDP is 65 watts, which is modest for a desktop processor. It has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, which allows it to handle single-threaded workloads efficiently. The data shows that as resolution increases, the CPU’s influence diminishes. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 33 FPS, which is far below what the CPU could deliver. This confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck at high resolutions and settings.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is sufficient for this game, as the GPU has its own dedicated memory. The CPU’s cache configuration, with 192 KB of L1 per core and 3 MB of L2 per core, provides low-latency access to frequently used data. This helps maintain consistent frame times in CPU-bound scenarios, such as the 1080p Low preset where FPS is highest.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance scaling as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160. For the High preset, the average FPS goes from 117 at 1080p to 77 at 1440p and then to 42 at 4K. This represents a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K.

For the Low preset, the average FPS goes from 179 at 1080p to 117 at 1440p and then to 64 at 4K. This is a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. For the Medium preset, the average FPS goes from 137 at 1080p to 90 at 1440p and then to 49 at 4K. This is a 34% drop and a 46% drop, respectively. For the Ultra preset, the average FPS goes from 92 at 1080p to 60 at 1440p and then to 33 at 4K. This is a 35% drop and a 45% drop.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is notable. The frame rate drops by roughly a third when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and then by nearly half when moving from 1440p to 4K. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p, and by another 125% from 1440p to 4K. The frame rate drops are slightly less than the pixel count increases, which indicates that the GPU is not purely fill-rate limited but is still the dominant constraint.

If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would not drop as much at higher resolutions because the CPU’s workload would remain constant. The data shows that the frame rate drops significantly at 4K, which means the GPU is struggling to keep up with the increased pixel load. The CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates, as evidenced by the 179 FPS result at 1080p Low.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p. At 1080p, the CPU still has some influence, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s workload grows and the CPU becomes less relevant. This is a typical pattern for a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU. The 16 GB of VRAM on the RX 7700 helps avoid memory capacity issues, but the raw compute power is not sufficient for 4K Ultra in this game.