The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination. Benchmark data shows this pairing delivers a playable experience across all tested settings, but with a clear performance ceiling at 4K Ultra. The measured FPS results indicate that the RTX 4070 is the primary driver of frame rates at higher resolutions, while the Core Ultra 5 245 provides ample headroom at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, component roles, and overall ranking of this combo within the database.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals where the bottleneck lies in this system. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces an average of 153 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 100 FPS, a reduction of 53 FPS or roughly 35%. At 4K High, the average falls to 55 FPS, which is a further 45 FPS decline from 1440p. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

Examining the Low settings data clarifies this further. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 233 FPS, which jumps to 152 FPS at 1440p Low and 84 FPS at 4K Low. The relative drops between resolutions are significant—from 1080p to 1440p is a 81 FPS reduction, and from 1440p to 4K is a 68 FPS reduction. This consistent decline across all settings points directly to the GPU as the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The Ultra settings tell a more dramatic story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 119 FPS, which is still highly playable. However, 1440p Ultra drops to 78 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to just 43 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data shows that the RTX 4070’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and its bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with Ultra settings, the rendering load becomes too heavy for consistent high frame rates.

Comparing the resolution scaling to the combo’s rank in the database (614 out of 2825 combos tested for this game) provides context. This is a mid-to-upper tier position, suggesting that while not a top performer, it handles the game well at most settings. The percentile ranking for the GPU is 81, meaning it outperforms the majority of GPUs in the database, but the CPU’s percentile of 90 indicates even more headroom on the processor side. This disparity reinforces that the GPU is the constraint in this pairing for The Technomancer.

The measured data also includes minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the system shows a minimum of 152 FPS and a maximum of 206 FPS, with an average of 179 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 99 FPS and the maximum is 134 FPS, averaging 117 FPS. The 4K Medium result shows a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, with an average of 64 FPS. These ranges indicate frame time consistency is better at lower resolutions, with the spread between min and max widening as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 43 FPS. This is the lowest result across all tested configurations and falls below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1080p High compared to 1440p High?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the average FPS is 153, while at 2560x1440 High, it drops to 100 FPS. This represents a 53 FPS reduction when moving up one resolution step.

Q: What is the best settings configuration for 4K gameplay?

A: Based on the data, 4K Low settings yield an average of 84 FPS, and 4K Medium yields an average of 64 FPS. For a smoother experience, 4K Medium offers a better balance, though 4K High at 55 FPS is still above 30 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in The Technomancer?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 233 FPS, indicating the CPU can push very high frame rates, but the GPU cannot maintain that at 4K, where Low settings produce only 84 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested combos for this game?

A: The combo ranks 614 out of 2825 total combos tested for The Technomancer. This places it in the top quarter of all configurations in the database.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 99, and the maximum is 134, with an average of 117 FPS. This shows a 35 FPS spread between the lowest and highest frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination holds a rank of 614 out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the 78th percentile of all configurations in the database, meaning it outperforms roughly 78% of tested systems for this specific game. The rank is a composite measure that considers the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and it places this combo solidly in the upper-middle tier.

This ranking is notable given the individual components’ standings. The CPU has a percentile of 90 against all CPUs, indicating it is in the top 10% of processors tested. The GPU has a percentile of 81 against all GPUs, placing it in the top 19%. The combo’s rank of 614 out of 2825 (about 78th percentile) is slightly lower than both individual percentiles, which suggests that the GPU’s performance ceiling at 4K drags down the overall result. If the GPU were stronger, the combo would likely rank higher.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G with a deltaPct of -0.4, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with a deltaPct of -0.5, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H with a deltaPct of 0.6, and the Intel Core i5-14600K with a deltaPct of 0.8. These deltas are all within 1% of the Core Ultra 5 245’s average benchmark score of 48995, indicating that this CPU performs equivalently to several high-end processors from both AMD and Intel. For the GPU, the nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 with a deltaPct of 0.1, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 with a deltaPct of 0.4, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile with a deltaPct of -1.3, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 with a deltaPct of 1.3. The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37648, and these rivals are all within 1.3% of that score.

In practical terms for The Technomancer, this rank means the combo will handle the game smoothly at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, but will struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra. The data shows that 4K Ultra averages 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, though still playable for some users. The combo’s rank of 614 suggests that while not a top-tier performer for this game, it is far from the bottom, and the majority of tested combos perform worse.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings levels (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing a comprehensive view of performance. At 1080p, the combo delivers excellent frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 233 FPS, Medium produces 179 FPS, High produces 153 FPS, and Ultra produces 119 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium is 152, and the maximum is 206, indicating consistent frame delivery. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the CPU and GPU are well-balanced, with the GPU having enough headroom to maximize the CPU’s output.

At 1440p, the performance remains strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings average 152 FPS, Medium averages 117 FPS, High averages 100 FPS, and Ultra averages 78 FPS. The 1440p Medium configuration has a minimum of 99 FPS and a maximum of 134 FPS, which shows a tighter range than the 1080p Medium result. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is more pronounced at lower settings—a 81 FPS reduction for Low and a 62 FPS reduction for Medium—than at higher settings, where High drops by 53 FPS and Ultra drops by 41 FPS. This pattern suggests that the GPU’s rendering workload increases more proportionally at lower settings because the CPU is not as heavily utilized.

At 4K, the performance drops significantly, and the GPU becomes the clear limiter. Low settings average 84 FPS, Medium averages 64 FPS, High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The 4K Medium configuration has a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, which is the widest relative spread seen in the data. This indicates that at 4K, frame times become less stable, particularly under load. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 41 FPS, which is nearly half of the Low setting’s average. This shows that the Ultra settings at 4K are demanding enough to cut the frame rate by nearly half compared to Low.

The data also shows that the combo scales well with settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 114 FPS, at 1440p it is 74 FPS, and at 4K it is 41 FPS. This decreasing scaling range indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more saturated, and the impact of settings changes on FPS diminishes. For users targeting 60 FPS, the combo achieves that at 4K only with Low or Medium settings, at 1440p with all settings, and at 1080p with all settings, with Ultra at 1080p nearly doubling the 60 FPS target.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this combo for The Technomancer, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game’s textures at 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s base clock is 1920 MHz and its boost clock is 2475 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These clocks allow the GPU to deliver high pixel rates, with a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s architecture is Ada Lovelace, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, along with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores. The FP32 performance is 29.15 TFLOPS, which is substantial for a mid-range card. In the database, the RTX 4070 has a percentile of 81 against all GPUs, meaning it outperforms 81% of tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 37648, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (deltaPct 0.1), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (deltaPct 0.4), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct -1.3), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (deltaPct 1.3). These rivals are all within a narrow performance band, indicating the RTX 4070 sits in a competitive performance tier.

For The Technomancer specifically, the GPU’s role is evident in the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 233 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s workload grows. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is a direct consequence of the GPU’s shading and memory bandwidth being saturated. The 12 GB VRAM is not exhausted by this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the game’s memory footprint is likely under 12 GB, but the GPU’s compute resources are insufficient to maintain higher frame rates. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the significant FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings.

The GPU’s power draw is rated at 200 W, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. This is not directly tested in the FPS data, but it informs the context of the GPU’s performance. The GPU’s production status is end-of-life, and its release date is April 2023. The launch MSRP is 599 USD, but this does not factor into the performance analysis. The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures compatibility with The Technomancer’s rendering requirements, though the game’s age (2016) means it does not utilize newer features like ray tracing extensively.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 plays a supporting role in this combo for The Technomancer, providing more than enough processing power to feed the RTX 4070 at all resolutions. The CPU has 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its architecture is Arrow Lake-S, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration allows for strong single-threaded performance, which is important for games like The Technomancer that may rely on a few primary threads.

The CPU’s benchmark scores are impressive for its class. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32924 in multi-core and 4648 in single-core. In PassMark, its single-thread score is 4394, and its multithread score is 38706. The CPU has a percentile of 90 against all CPUs, placing it in the top 10% of processors tested. Its average benchmark score is 48995, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (deltaPct -0.4), AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (deltaPct -0.5), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (deltaPct 0.6), and Intel Core i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.8). These deltas are all under 1%, demonstrating that the Core Ultra 5 245 performs equivalently to several high-end CPUs from both AMD and Intel.

In The Technomancer, the CPU’s role is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 233 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU’s maximum frame output for this game. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R15 single-core score of 468 and R20 single-core score of 1952, ensures that the game’s main logic and draw call processing are handled efficiently. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz provides the frequency needed for fast frame generation at high FPS.

The CPU’s memory support is DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for the game’s data transfer requirements, and it does not appear to be a limiting factor based on the measured FPS. The CPU also includes integrated graphics (Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU), but these are not used in this configuration. The CPU’s TDP is 65 W, which is relatively low, but this does not affect the measured performance in the game.

The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at any resolution in this game. At 4K Ultra, where the GPU averages 43 FPS, the CPU is likely idle waiting for the GPU to render frames. At 1080p Low, the CPU pushes 233 FPS, but this is still below the CPU’s maximum capability, as evidenced by its high benchmark scores. The CPU’s percentile of 90 versus the GPU’s percentile of 81 suggests that the CPU has more relative headroom, meaning that if a stronger GPU were paired with this CPU, frame rates could improve further, particularly at 4K. For this combo, the CPU is not the constraint, and its performance in The Technomancer is more than adequate.