The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is decisively GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate a pairing where the modern CPU provides ample headroom, but the legacy graphics card becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component in this configuration. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 77 FPS, but this falls to 50 FPS at 1440p and plummets to 27 FPS at 4K. This represents a 65% drop in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a stark illustration of how the GTX 1070 struggles to maintain throughput as the rendering load expands exponentially.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Ultra preset. The system manages 60 FPS at 1080p Ultra, but this drops to 39 FPS at 1440p and a nearly unplayable 21 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Ultra is 35%, while the jump from 1440p to 4K Ultra incurs an additional 46% performance penalty. This progressive degradation suggests that the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit memory bus are being saturated, with the 256.3 GB/s bandwidth unable to feed the shader units efficiently at higher resolutions.

The Low settings preset provides the clearest picture of the CPU's capability ceiling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 117 FPS, which is a 52% improvement over High settings. This substantial gain indicates that at lower graphical loads, the CPU can push the GPU harder, but the frame rate still scales down to 76 FPS at 1440p and 42 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest settings, the 4K resolution proves too demanding for the Pascal architecture, confirming that no amount of graphical reduction can fully compensate for the raw pixel throughput required at 3840x2160.

The data suggests that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combination, where the CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads can feed the GPU adequately across all settings. The 1440p results are borderline, with High settings yielding 50 FPS, which is acceptable for less demanding genres, but the 39 FPS at Ultra falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with even the best-case Low setting average of 42 FPS failing to provide a consistently fluid experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations for The Technomancer, this pairing sits near the bottom of the pack. The combo ranks 2336 out of 2825 tested configurations, placing it in the bottom 17% of all tested combinations. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU's age and performance class, as the GTX 1070's percentile ranking of 47 places it squarely in the middle of all GPUs, a position that is insufficient for a game with demanding visual effects.

The CPU's performance is notably stronger, with the Core Ultra 5 245 achieving a 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs. This contrast between CPU and GPU capability explains the system's overall ranking: the processor is performing well above average, but the graphics card drags the combined score down. The average benchmark score for the GPU is 9780, while the CPU's average is 48995, highlighting the massive disparity in synthetic compute capability between the two components.

The nearest rivals for the GPU illustrate its mid-pack positioning, with the AMD FirePro W5000 scoring 9803, a mere 0.2% higher, and the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M at 9832, 0.5% higher. These professional-grade cards, while not gaming-focused, demonstrate that the GTX 1070's raw compute is competitive with contemporary workstation offerings. However, in a gaming context, the 2016-era architecture lacks modern optimizations, which the measured FPS data confirms.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Technomancer with this hardware?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combination consistently achieves playable frame rates. At High settings, the average FPS is 77, and even Ultra settings maintain 60 FPS, making 1080p the recommended resolution for this pairing.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: Benchmark results indicate 4K is not viable. The best 4K result is 42 FPS at Low settings, while High drops to 27 FPS and Ultra falls to 21 FPS. These averages are below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset cost compared to High?

A: At 1080p, Ultra yields 60 FPS versus 77 FPS for High, a 22% reduction. At 1440p, the difference is 39 FPS versus 50 FPS, a 22% drop. At 4K, Ultra produces 21 FPS versus 27 FPS for High, a 22% reduction across all resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The resolution scaling data shows the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The 65% frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings indicates the GTX 1070 cannot sustain performance as pixel count increases, while the CPU's 90th percentile ranking suggests it has ample headroom.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded?

A: The lowest recorded minimum is 27 FPS at 4K Medium settings, while the highest maximum is 103 FPS at 1080p Medium. The largest spread between minimum and maximum is 27 FPS, observed at both 1080p Medium and 1440p Medium.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 9780, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD FirePro W5000's 9803 and 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M's 9832. It outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla M10 by 0.6% and the Tesla C2070 by 0.7%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 117 FPS, providing an exceptionally smooth experience. Medium settings produce 90 FPS on average, with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 103 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings yield 77 FPS average, while Ultra drops to exactly 60 FPS, which is the minimum threshold for many displays. The 1080p results show a total spread of 57 FPS between the lowest and highest presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 76 FPS, which is still playable, but High drops to 50 FPS. Medium settings produce 59 FPS on average, with recorded minimum of 50 and maximum of 67. The Ultra preset falls to 39 FPS, which begins to feel stuttery in fast-paced combat. The 1440p spread between Low and Ultra is 37 FPS, showing that graphical settings have a significant but diminished impact compared to 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1070 is clearly overwhelmed. Low settings produce 42 FPS average, which is the only preset that approaches playability. Medium settings drop to 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 and maximum of 37. High settings reduce the average to 27 FPS, while Ultra falls to 21 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate a narrow 21 FPS spread between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU is so heavily bottlenecked that graphical settings have limited impact on overall performance.

The data reveals an interesting pattern in the Medium settings across resolutions. At 1080p, Medium produces 90 FPS with a 27 FPS variance between minimum and maximum. At 1440p, the average drops to 59 FPS with the same 27 FPS variance. At 4K, the average falls to 32 FPS with a 10 FPS variance. This narrowing variance at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU approaches its limits, but at the cost of significantly lower average performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, built on the Pascal architecture with a GP104 chip, is the primary driver of The Technomancer's performance characteristics. The GPU features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, with a base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1683 MHz. These specifications, combined with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 256.3 GB/s bandwidth, define the card's capabilities in this title.

The synthetic benchmark scores provide context for the gaming performance. The GPU achieves a Passmark G3D score of 13498 and a Passmark DirectX 11 score of 100, indicating reasonable DirectX 11 performance, which is relevant for a 2016 game. The DirectX 12 score of 48 and DirectX 10 score of 82 suggest that the card's performance varies significantly across API generations, which may explain inconsistent results in different game scenarios.

The GPU's 47th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it below average, and its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are professional workstation cards. The AMD FirePro W5000 scores 9803, just 0.2% higher, while the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M scores 9832, 0.5% higher. These comparisons show that the GTX 1070's raw compute is competitive with mid-range workstation offerings, but its gaming-specific optimizations are dated.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the textures used in The Technomancer at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest memory bandwidth limitations. The 256.3 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions, where the GPU must access more texture data per frame. The measured FPS data supports this analysis, showing that 4K performance degrades disproportionately compared to the pixel count increase from 1440p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 provides substantial computational headroom for this gaming workload, but its influence on The Technomancer's frame rates is minimal due to the GPU bottleneck. The processor features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Built on a 3 nm process from TSMC, the Arrow Lake architecture includes 24 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark results demonstrate its strength in multi-threaded workloads. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 show balanced performance across both categories. The Passmark multithread score of 38706 and single-thread score of 4394 further confirm the processor's capability. These scores place the CPU in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995.

The nearest CPU rivals in synthetic testing show how tightly grouped the mid-to-high-end processor market is. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196, just 0.4% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49228, 0.5% higher. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698, 0.6% lower, and the Core i5-14600K scores 48618, 0.8% lower. This clustering indicates that the Core Ultra 5 245 is competitively positioned, though none of these comparisons directly translate to gaming performance.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic calculations. The 1080p Low result of 117 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can drive the GPU to its maximum output, but the GPU's limits are reached long before the CPU becomes a constraint. Even at 4K Low, where the GPU is severely stressed, the CPU maintains sufficient performance to avoid becoming the bottleneck. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield significant performance improvements, while the CPU has ample headroom for future graphics card upgrades.