The Technomancer

The Technomancer is an Action RPG from 2016, and this page analyzes the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. The data shows a combination that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but reveals significant CPU headroom at 1080p. This pairing ranks in the 83rd percentile of all tested combos for this game, indicating strong overall capability, though the specific frame pacing and settings choices matter more than the raw hardware potential.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of how settings impact performance at each resolution. At 3840x2160, the difference between the preset tiers is substantial: Low delivers 90 FPS average, Medium drops to 69 FPS, High falls to 59 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 46 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 23% performance hit, which is manageable, but moving to High costs another 15% and drops the average below the 60 FPS threshold. For 4K, the data strongly suggests Medium as the optimal preset. It is the only tier above Low that maintains a playable average (69 FPS) while offering a visual upgrade. The min FPS of 59 at this setting confirms that the worst-case dips stay just at the edge of smoothness, making it a safer bet than High, which has no recorded min FPS but an average that already signals potential stutter in busy scenes.

At 2560x1440, the scenario changes. High settings average 108 FPS, which is excellent for a 144Hz monitor. Medium is also strong at 126 FPS, but the gap between High and Medium (18 FPS) suggests High is the better choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing fluidity. Ultra at 1440p averages 84 FPS, which is still smooth for many players but represents a 22% reduction from High. The recommendation here is High, as it provides a balanced 108 FPS average that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS and leaves headroom for demanding areas. Low at 164 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing maximum refresh rates on a 165Hz+ display.

At 1920x1080, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, and all settings are playable. Low averages 251 FPS, Medium 193 FPS, High 164 FPS, and Ultra 128 FPS. The data shows a linear degradation, but even Ultra at 128 FPS is far above the 60 FPS standard. The recommendation is High for most users, as it delivers 164 FPS average and still benefits from the visual improvements over Medium. For competitive play or high-refresh monitors, Low provides a massive 87 FPS advantage over High, but the visual compromise is severe. The measured min FPS of 164 at Medium indicates that the worst frame dips at 1080p are still higher than the average at 4K High, making any setting below High a matter of preference rather than necessity.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for The Technomancer's textures and geometry at 4K. The GPU's base clock is 1387 MHz with a boost clock of 2394 MHz, and the game clock is rated at 2025 MHz. These clock speeds, combined with 5376 shading units, allow the card to push the measured frame rates. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 46, which is a 49% reduction from 4K Low (90 FPS). This is a clear indicator that the GPU's compute and memory subsystem are being saturated by the Ultra preset's increased draw calls and shader complexity.

The GPU's memory capacity is not the bottleneck here; rather, it is the raw throughput and shader execution. The 20 GB pool is more than sufficient for a 2016 title, even at 4K, so the frame rate differences are purely from the rendering load. The 7900 XT's 84 ray accelerators and RDNA 3.0 architecture do not provide a measurable advantage in this older game, as The Technomancer likely does not utilize ray tracing. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support is irrelevant for this title, which was released before that API became common. Instead, the GPU's strength is its raw rasterization power, which shows in the 1080p Low result of 251 FPS. The data implies that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU is capable of far higher frame rates than the processor can feed it.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 485th out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 17.2% of all systems tested, which is a strong result for a modern mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The combo rank indicates that the pairing is well-balanced for this game, but it is not at the absolute top tier. The 89th percentile ranking of the CPU and 55th percentile of the GPU suggest that the CPU is performing above the GPU's relative standing, which aligns with the measured results showing CPU limits at 1080p.

The data shows that the CPU's benchmark scores are nearly identical to its nearest rivals. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, which is only 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030) and 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098). This means the 235 is effectively on par with those processors in synthetic tests, but in this game, the combo rank reflects the total system performance. The GPU's percentile of 55 is lower than its peers, with the AMD Radeon 660M scoring 0.5% higher and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scoring 0.5% higher, despite being vastly different hardware tiers. This suggests the 7900 XT's benchmark score is skewed by its compute performance, which does not translate directly to gaming FPS in this title. The combo rank of 485 is the definitive metric, showing that this system outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations, but there is room for improvement with a faster CPU to push higher frame rates at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 251 at Low to 128 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min FPS of 164 and a max of 222, with an average of 193. This indicates that the frame pacing is consistent, with only a 58 FPS spread between the lowest and highest frames. High averages 164 FPS, and Ultra averages 128 FPS, with no min or max recorded for those presets. The 1080p results show that even the most demanding settings remain well above the 60 FPS threshold, making this resolution the most flexible for the combo.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 164 FPS at Low, 126 at Medium, 108 at High, and 84 at Ultra. The Medium preset records a min FPS of 107 and a max of 145, showing a tighter 38 FPS spread than at 1080p, which suggests the GPU is taking more control. The step from High to Ultra is a 24 FPS drop, which is a 22% reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects are taxing the GPU significantly. The 1440p results are all playable, but the 84 FPS average at Ultra may be too low for players with high-refresh monitors who prefer consistent 100+ FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops sharply. Low averages 90 FPS, Medium 69 FPS, High 59 FPS, and Ultra 46 FPS. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 59 and a max of 80, showing that the GPU is struggling to maintain a stable frame rate at this resolution. The difference between Low and Ultra is 44 FPS, a 49% reduction, which is significantly steeper than at 1440p (49% from 164 to 84) and 1080p (49% from 251 to 128). This consistent percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the sole limiting factor at 4K, and the CPU's performance is irrelevant at this resolution. The 59 FPS average at High is borderline unplayable for smooth motion, and the 46 FPS at Ultra is a slideshow for fast-paced action.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this combo. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 164 at 1080p to 108 at 1440p, a 34% reduction, and then to 59 at 4K, a further 45% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 64%, which is a clear sign that the GPU is the primary constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the drop from 1080p to 1440p would be much smaller, as the GPU would have more headroom. Instead, the linear decline indicates that the 7900 XT is being pushed harder at each resolution.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 193 FPS at 1080p, 126 at 1440p (a 35% drop), and 69 at 4K (a 45% drop from 1440p). The total drop is 64%, identical to High settings. This consistency across settings further confirms that the GPU is the limiting component, as the percentage loss is nearly constant regardless of the visual load. At Low settings, the drop is steeper: 251 FPS at 1080p, 164 at 1440p (a 35% drop), and 90 at 4K (a 45% drop from 1440p). The total drop is 64% as well, which is remarkable.

The fact that the percentage drop is almost exactly the same across all settings (64-65%) is a strong indicator that the CPU is not a factor at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p Low, the CPU is likely limiting the frame rate to 251 FPS, but as the resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales linearly with pixel count, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario. This means that players who want to improve 4K performance should look at a more powerful GPU, not a faster CPU. The CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads are more than sufficient for this game, and the 1080p results show that it can handle the frame rate demands of a 2016 title without breaking a sweat.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, but only on the Low and Medium presets. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 is 90 for Low and 69 for Medium. The High preset averages 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target, and Ultra averages 46 FPS, which is not playable at 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The High preset is the best choice, as it averages 108 FPS, which is close to the 144Hz refresh rate. Medium averages 126 FPS, but the visual quality is lower. Ultra averages 84 FPS, which is below the 144Hz threshold and may result in screen tearing without V-Sync.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1920x1080. The 1080p Low preset averages 251 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capacity. Upgrading the GPU would not significantly improve 1080p performance, as the CPU is already at its limit.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT compare to other GPUs in this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 13745, which is 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon 660M and 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile. This is a surprising result, but it reflects the GPU's overall compute performance, not its gaming FPS in this specific title. The measured FPS in this combo is far higher than what those lower-tier GPUs could achieve.

Q: What is the frame pacing like at 1440p Medium?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 has a min FPS of 107 and a max of 145, with an average of 126. This shows a 38 FPS spread, which indicates reasonably consistent frame pacing. The min FPS of 107 ensures that there are no severe stutters, making this a smooth experience.

Q: Is the 20 GB VRAM necessary for this game?

A: No, The Technomancer is a 2016 title that does not require 20 GB of VRAM. The 20 GB pool is more than sufficient, and the data shows that the frame rate differences between settings are due to GPU compute and bandwidth, not VRAM capacity. The 800.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the relevant factor, not the capacity.