The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress profile for modern hardware. The measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 reveals a system that is capable of high refresh rates at standard resolutions but begins to show its limitations as pixel count and graphical load increase. The benchmark results indicate a clear narrative of scaling, where the CPU provides a robust foundation for high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. With a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, it offers substantial single-thread performance, which is often critical for game logic and frame pacing. The data shows the processor sits at the 90th percentile when compared to all CPUs, indicating it is a high-end part. Its average benchmark score of 48995 places it in a tight competitive group, with its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, scoring 49196, a negligible delta of -0.4%. It is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which has a delta of -0.5%, and it edges out the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8%.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's influence is most apparent at the 1080p resolution. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 157 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this level, as it has enough headroom to feed the GPU efficiently. The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support provide the necessary bandwidth for game assets. As the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the frame rates drop, but this is more likely a transition to a GPU-bound scenario rather than a sign of CPU inadequacy. The CPU’s performance relative to its rivals, being within 1% of the top comparable chips, suggests that it is not a limiting factor in this specific game's benchmark runs. The data implies a processor with ample compute resources that can easily handle the title's demands, allowing the GPU to take the lead in determining final performance.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is a RDNA 4.0 architecture GPU featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. It operates with a game clock of 2400 MHz and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. The GPU's memory bandwidth is listed at 288.0 GB/s. The benchmark results for this GPU show it at the 59th percentile compared to all GPUs, with an average score of 16014. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129, a delta of -0.7%, meaning the RX 9060 is just slightly behind. It is 1% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 370X and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, and 2.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

The GPU's role becomes the dominant factor in The Technomancer at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear performance cliff when moving from 1440p to 4K. At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the system averages 52 FPS, but at 3840x2160 with the same settings, the average drops to 29 FPS. This significant reduction is likely due to the 8 GB VRAM capacity and the 128-bit memory bus, which may struggle to handle the increased texture data and memory bandwidth requirements of 4K rendering. The GPU's raw compute, rated at 21.43 TFLOPS, is sufficient for lower resolutions, but the memory subsystem appears to be the limiting factor. The fact that the GPU is only 0.7% slower than an RTX 3060 Ti in synthetic benchmarks suggests it has competitive compute power, yet the measured FPS in this game at 4K point to a bottleneck that is more pronounced than the synthetic scores would imply. This indicates that the combination of VRAM size and bus width is a critical constraint for high-resolution gaming in this title.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how the system scales across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system averages 157 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average drops to 102 FPS, a decrease of 35%. At 4K (3840x2160) with Low settings, the average falls to 56 FPS, which is a further 45% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern indicates a shift in the bottleneck. At 1080p, the CPU and GPU are likely well-balanced, allowing for very high frame rates. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows exponentially, and the frame rate begins to fall in a way that suggests the GPU is becoming the primary limiting component.

This is further confirmed by looking at the High settings. At 1080p High, the system averages 103 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 67 FPS, and at 4K High, it reaches only 37 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings results in a 64% reduction in average FPS. The data suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s and its 8 GB VRAM are insufficient to maintain high performance at 4K, as the frame rate nearly halves at each resolution step. The fact that the CPU's performance is within 1% of its rivals implies that it is not the cause of this scaling. Instead, the benchmarks point to the GPU as the decisive factor, with its performance falling off sharply as the rendering load increases. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the compute and memory capabilities of the graphics card are exhausted.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Analyzing the measured FPS across all settings presets reveals a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, the Ultra preset yields an average of 80 FPS, which is playable, but the High preset offers a significantly higher 103 FPS. The Medium preset provides 120 FPS, and Low reaches 157 FPS. For a smooth experience at 1080p, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, offering a 29% performance increase over Ultra while likely maintaining a high level of visual quality. The data shows that the jump from Ultra to High provides the most significant FPS gain without resorting to the lowest settings.

At 1440p, the High preset is the most balanced option, with an average of 67 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS, which may feel less fluid. The Medium preset at 79 FPS is also a strong contender, but High offers a better visual experience for a modest FPS cost. At 4K, the system struggles across the board. The Low preset averages 56 FPS, which is the only playable option, while Medium drops to 43 FPS and High to 37 FPS. The Ultra preset at 29 FPS is not recommended for a playable experience. Based on the measured rows, the High preset at 1080p and 1440p provides the best balance of frame rate and expected visual quality. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option to maintain a frame rate above 50 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a high-performance processor compared to others?

A: Yes, the data shows it is at the 90th percentile compared to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, have a score of 49196, which is only a -0.4% difference.

Q: How much VRAM does the AMD Radeon RX 9060 have, and what is its memory bus width?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the highest average FPS the combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 157 FPS, which is achieved with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the GPU perform at 4K resolution in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 29 FPS on Ultra to 56 FPS on Low. The High preset averages 37 FPS, and Medium averages 43 FPS.

Q: What is the system's ranking among all tested combos for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1632 out of 2825 tested combos.

Q: Is the GPU more powerful than an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti?

A: In terms of average benchmark score, the RX 9060 scores 16014, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129. This represents a delta of -0.7%, meaning the RX 9060 is slightly less powerful.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following is the complete set of measured average FPS data for The Technomancer with this hardware configuration:

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Ultra: 80 FPS
• High: 103 FPS
• Medium: 120 FPS (min 102, max 138)
• Low: 157 FPS

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Ultra: 52 FPS
• High: 67 FPS
• Medium: 79 FPS (min 67, max 90)
• Low: 102 FPS

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Ultra: 29 FPS
• High: 37 FPS
• Medium: 43 FPS (min 37, max 50)
• Low: 56 FPS

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the Medium preset at each resolution provides a frame rate that is between the High and Low presets, but it is the only preset that includes min and max FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS is 102, and at 1440p Medium, it is 67. At 4K Medium, the min FPS is 37. This suggests that the Medium preset has more variable frame times, while the other presets have more stable, though lower, performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 is ranked 1632 out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance spectrum. Given that the CPU is a high-end part (90th percentile) and the GPU is a mid-range part (59th percentile), the ranking makes sense. The system's overall position is likely dragged down by the GPU's performance at higher resolutions, particularly 4K, where the frame rates are below the 60 FPS threshold. The ranking suggests that while the system is very capable at 1080p and 1440p, it does not compete with top-tier combos that feature more powerful GPUs. The data implies that this combo is a solid 1080p and 1440p gaming solution, but it falls behind in 4K scenarios, which is consistent with the GPU's memory and bandwidth constraints. The CPU's strength ensures that the system is not held back by processing power, but the GPU's limitations define its overall standing in this specific game.