The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, places significant demands on modern hardware, and the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile delivers a highly capable, though not universally flawless, experience. The benchmark data reveals a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p gaming, providing excellent frame rates at high settings, but which begins to show its limits at the demanding 4K resolution. The performance scaling across resolutions and presets clearly illustrates a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU provides ample headroom for the game's logic.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is typical for a graphically intensive title. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 111 FPS, which is very smooth. Moving to 2560x1440, the average drops to 72 FPS, a substantial 35% reduction, indicating the GPU is working considerably harder. At 4K, the average FPS falls further to 40, a 44% drop from the 1440p figure and a 64% drop from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is a textbook example of pixel-count pressure on the graphics processor.

The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the 1440p to 4K transition is even more punishing. The 32 FPS difference between 1440p High (72 FPS) and 4K High (40 FPS) demonstrates that the RTX 4070 Mobile, while a strong mobile part, is not designed to deliver high-refresh-rate 4K gaming in this title at higher presets. The 4K Medium setting yields 47 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action, while 4K Ultra falls to an average of 31 FPS, a result that is on the edge of playability. The data suggests that for a consistently smooth experience, 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination in The Technomancer.

The scaling behavior also points to the limiting component. At 1080p, the CPU has more than enough power to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the high frame rates. The consistent frame rate drops with each resolution increase indicate a GPU-bound scenario. The 4K results, particularly the 31 FPS average at Ultra, confirm that the GPU's rendering throughput is the primary constraint. The CPU, with its high multi-threaded capabilities, is not the bottleneck here; the RTX 4070 Mobile's 8 GB of VRAM and its compute units are the deciding factors at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor from the Meteor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This configuration provides a robust foundation for gaming, ensuring the GPU is never starved of data. In The Technomancer, a game that relies on consistent frame pacing, this CPU's performance is more than sufficient. The benchmark results show that even at 1080p, where CPU load is typically highest, the system achieves 169 FPS on Low settings, indicating that the processor is not a limiting factor.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759. These scores place it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 34083 is nearly identical to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, which posts a deltaPct of -0.5. This parity indicates that the Core Ultra 7 165H has desktop-class multi-threaded performance, which is beneficial for modern games that can utilize multiple cores for physics, AI, and streaming. The data shows the CPU provides a stable platform, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of frame rate at higher resolutions.

The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support contribute to its ability to handle complex game environments. While The Technomancer is not known for being a CPU-intensive title, the headroom provided by this processor means that background tasks or future game patches are unlikely to cause significant performance dips. The 22 threads are a particular asset, as they can efficiently manage the various background processes of a modern operating system while still dedicating cores to the game. The performance data confirms the CPU is a strong partner for the RTX 4070 Mobile in this pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the clear workhorse in this combination, and its characteristics directly dictate the gaming experience in The Technomancer. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, it has a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. This is a crucial specification, as it determines how quickly textures and geometric data can be accessed. The 4K results suggest that this memory capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for High settings (40 FPS) but are pushed to their limits by Ultra settings (31 FPS), where texture detail and draw distances are maximized.

The GPU's core specifications, including a boost clock of 1695 MHz and 4608 shading units, provide substantial raw compute power. Its Passmark G3D score of 19587 places it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 27435 is statistically tied with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, which shows a deltaPct of 0. This performance level is what allows for the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. The data shows a clear progression from 130 FPS at 1080p Medium to 85 FPS at 1440p Medium, demonstrating the GPU's ability to handle the game's rendering load at these popular resolutions.

The RTX 4070 Mobile's 15.62 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 36 RT cores are modern features, but The Technomancer, released in 2016, does not utilize ray tracing. The performance is therefore entirely dependent on traditional rasterization. The 4K results are the most telling indicator of the GPU's limits. The jump from 61 FPS at 4K Low to 47 FPS at 4K Medium and then to 40 FPS at 4K High shows a steep performance cost for each visual upgrade. This indicates that while the GPU is powerful, it is not over-provisioned for 4K gaming in this title, and users should temper their expectations for that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance for this combo is found at the High preset for 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 111 FPS, which is an excellent experience for a game of this genre. The Ultra preset drops to 86 FPS, a significant 22% reduction for a marginal visual improvement, making High the more efficient choice. At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 72 FPS, which is still smooth, while Ultra drops to 56 FPS, which is on the cusp of becoming less fluid for fast-paced combat.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the only reasonable choice for a playable experience. The Medium preset yields 47 FPS, which is acceptable, while High drops to 40 FPS and Ultra falls to 31 FPS. The Low preset at 4K produces 61 FPS, but the visual quality reduction is likely too severe for a game that relies on atmosphere and detail. The 40 FPS minimum on the 4K Medium setting is a concern, but the average of 47 FPS is a more accurate representation of the experience. Therefore, the recommendation is to use High settings for 1080p and 1440p, and Medium settings for 4K.

The data shows that the step from Medium to High at 4K is a 13 FPS loss, while the step from High to Ultra is a further 9 FPS loss. These diminishing returns are typical. At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 85 FPS, which is a strong result, but High offers a better visual experience at 72 FPS. The performance cost of each preset is consistent across resolutions, but the starting point (the Low preset) is high enough that users have plenty of headroom to use higher settings. The sweet spot for this hardware is clearly the High preset, offering a high frame rate without the performance penalty of Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile holds a combo rank of 1984 out of 3696 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This places it in the 46th percentile of all tested combos, indicating a mid-to-upper tier standing. This rank is a holistic measure that accounts for the combined performance of both the CPU and GPU across all tested settings and resolutions. While the absolute frame rates are high, the rank suggests that many other hardware combinations, likely with more powerful GPUs, can achieve higher performance in this specific title.

The rank is a reflection of the GPU's performance class. The RTX 4070 Mobile is a strong mobile GPU, but it is not the flagship. Its average benchmark score of 27435 is comparable to the desktop RTX 3090, which has a deltaPct of -0.5, but the 4K results show that it cannot maintain the same high frame rates as more powerful desktop parts. The combo's rank is therefore a function of the GPU's performance ceiling, which is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The CPU's contribution is to ensure that the system does not fall behind, and its 84th percentile ranking among CPUs is a positive factor.

This rank is not a negative indictment of the hardware, but rather a contextualization of its performance. For a mobile setup, this combo ranks highly in absolute terms, delivering playable 4K performance and excellent 1080p/1440p performance. However, the database shows that there are 1712 other combinations that score higher, which likely include desktop GPUs with higher power limits and more VRAM. The 1984th rank is a realistic and informative data point, telling users that this is a capable mid-range-to-high-end mobile solution, but not the absolute top performer for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following breakdown provides the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset, along with the minimum and maximum FPS where recorded.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 169 FPS average.
• Medium: 130 FPS average, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 149 FPS.
• High: 111 FPS average.
• Ultra: 86 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 110 FPS average.
• Medium: 85 FPS average, with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS.
• High: 72 FPS average.
• Ultra: 56 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 61 FPS average.
• Medium: 47 FPS average, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS.
• High: 40 FPS average.
• Ultra: 31 FPS average.

These numbers paint a clear picture of the system's capabilities. The 1080p results show a system with immense headroom, capable of exceeding 100 FPS on High settings. The 1440p results show a system that is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate monitors, maintaining 72 FPS on High. The 4K results show a system that is playable, but only at Medium settings or below for a smooth experience. The minimum FPS data points for the Medium preset at each resolution (110 at 1080p, 72 at 1440p, 40 at 4K) are particularly useful, as they indicate the frame rate consistency and show that even at 4K, the frame time is stable enough to avoid major stutters.