The Technomancer

The Technomancer pairs the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile, a combination that lands at rank 2040 out of 3696 tested combos for this title. The data shows a system positioned in the lower-middle tier of the database, yet the measured frame rates reveal a more nuanced story depending on resolution and settings. This analysis examines how each component contributes to the observed performance, using only the benchmark results and specifications provided.

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

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it carries a 24 MB shared L3 cache alongside 2 MB L2 per core and 112 KB L1 per core. The CPU's 28 W TDP classifies it as a power-efficient mobile part, which is typical for thin-and-light gaming laptops. The processor sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs in the database, indicating it outperforms a majority of tested processors in general benchmark workloads.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 166 FPS average, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 85 FPS. This 81 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower settings; instead, the GPU's workload increases with higher graphical fidelity. However, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are substantial — its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 14551, and its single-core score is 1759. These numbers indicate strong headroom for game logic and physics calculations, which The Technomancer's Action RPG genre likely leverages for AI routines and world simulation.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 7 165H's average benchmark score of 34083 is nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H at 33989 (0.3% higher), and it trails the AMD EPYC 4244P by 0.4% (34220 vs 34083) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 by 0.4% (34222 vs 34083). The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X also sits close at 34260, a 0.5% delta. This clustering suggests that the 165H's raw processing power is competitive with mid-range desktop and mobile chips from the same era, though none of these rivals are specifically tuned for gaming laptops. The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 25933 and single-thread score of 3509 further reinforce its balanced profile, with data compression (291161) and integer math (89415) showing particularly strong results for general productivity.

For The Technomancer specifically, the CPU's 22 threads may help maintain consistent frame pacing in crowded scenes, but the measured FPS data does not show any scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1440p Low, the combo hits 109 FPS, and at 4K Low it reaches exactly 60 FPS — these are GPU-bound scenarios where the CPU's clock speed and cache size provide sufficient support. The 5.00 GHz boost clock is notable for a mobile chip, and it likely helps ensure that single-threaded game logic does not lag behind the GPU's output. The processor's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth, paired with dual-channel DDR5 support, offers adequate data throughput for a 2016-era game like The Technomancer, which was designed before modern high-bandwidth demands.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is the clear performance driver in this combo, featuring 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, packs 4608 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, along with 36 RT cores and 144 tensor cores. The GPU's base clock is 907 MHz with a boost of 1425 MHz, and memory runs at 1500 MHz with 24 Gbps effective speed. The 50 W TDP classifies this as a low-power mobile variant, which explains its relatively modest clock speeds compared to desktop counterparts.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it at the 75th percentile among all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 20355 and an average benchmark score of 29928. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti at 29945 (0.1% higher), the RTX 2080 Ti at 29783 (0.5% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6800 at 30095 (0.6% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 at 30433 (1.7% lower). These deltas indicate that the RTX 5070 Mobile performs on par with previous-generation high-end desktop GPUs, which is impressive for a mobile part with a 50 W TDP. However, the 8 GB VRAM capacity may become a constraint at higher resolutions and settings, particularly in a game like The Technomancer that was released in 2016 and may have memory-hungry texture packs.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is most visible in the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 109 FPS, but at 4K High it falls to 39 FPS — a 64% drop. This dramatic decline indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance remains constant regardless of resolution. The 8 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gameplay, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU's pixel rate of 68.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.2 GTexel/s may be overwhelmed by the rendering workload. The Geekbench scores — 122238 in OpenCL and 116960 in Vulkan — suggest strong compute capabilities, but these do not translate directly to rasterization performance in this older title.

The GPU's 13.13 TFLOPS FP32 performance is respectable, but the low 50 W TDP means it may throttle under sustained load. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Medium, the combo achieves 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS, while at 4K Low it hits exactly 60 FPS. This pattern suggests that the GPU can handle 4K only at lower settings, and even then, it barely maintains playable frame rates. The RTX 5070 Mobile's memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s is adequate for most scenarios, but the 128-bit bus width limits its ability to feed the 4608 shading units efficiently at 4K, which may explain the steep performance drop between 1440p and 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in The Technomancer?

A: The combo ranks 2040 out of 3696 tested combinations, placing it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34083, which is 0.3% higher than the Core Ultra 5 338H (33989), but 0.4% lower than the AMD EPYC 4244P (34220) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34222), and 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (34260).

Q: What is the GPU's nearest competitor in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile scores 29928, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 3070 Ti (29945), 0.5% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti (29783), 0.6% lower than the RX 6800 (30095), and 1.7% lower than the RX 6700 (30433).

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it averages exactly 60 FPS. At Medium settings, it drops to 46 FPS, and at High it falls to 39 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the combo averages 109 FPS, while at 4K High it averages 39 FPS, representing a 64% reduction in frame rate.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and what type?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2040 out of 3696 tested combinations places it in the middle of the database, but this position is somewhat misleading given the specific demands of The Technomancer. The rank percentile (approximately 55th) suggests that most tested combos outperform this system, yet the measured FPS data shows that the pairing is capable of delivering smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p across most settings. The rank likely reflects the CPU's mid-tier position (84th percentile) and the GPU's lower-tier placement (75th percentile) relative to all tested hardware, rather than any fundamental incompatibility with the game.

The rank becomes more meaningful when compared to the individual component percentiles. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking is higher than the GPU's 75th percentile, which suggests that the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card within this combo. This imbalance may contribute to the GPU-bound behavior observed at higher resolutions, where the CPU has spare capacity but the GPU cannot keep up. The 3696 tested combos include a wide range of hardware, from budget integrated graphics to high-end desktop setups, so the 2040 rank indicates that this mobile combo falls in the lower half of the distribution for this specific game.

The data shows that the combo's performance is competitive with previous-generation high-end desktop GPUs, as evidenced by the RTX 5070 Mobile's near-identical average benchmark score to the RTX 3070 Ti. However, in The Technomancer, the game's age (released in 2016) means that modern GPUs may not be fully utilized due to software limitations or driver optimization. The rank of 2040 suggests that many older or more powerful desktop combos outperform this mobile pairing, which is expected given the thermal and power constraints of mobile hardware. The 50 W GPU TDP and 28 W CPU TDP limit sustained performance, but the measured FPS values indicate that the combo still delivers playable frame rates at most settings below 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At High settings, the combo averages 109 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 45% drop from 1440p to 4K, for a total 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, which indicates that the GPU's rendering pipeline becomes increasingly strained as pixel count rises, but the CPU maintains consistent performance across all resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is different: 166 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 60 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 34%, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 45%, mirroring the High settings pattern. This consistency suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, rather than any specific setting. The 4K Low result of exactly 60 FPS is notable because it suggests the frame rate is being capped by vsync or a frame limiter, or that the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling at this resolution.

The Medium settings data provides additional insight into the scaling. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 128 FPS with a minimum of 108 and maximum of 147. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 83 FPS (71 min, 96 max), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 46 FPS (39 min, 53 max). The minimum FPS values at 4K (39 FPS) are particularly telling, as they indicate that the GPU cannot maintain a consistent frame rate at this resolution, likely due to memory bandwidth constraints. The 8 GB VRAM may be sufficient, but the 384.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck when rendering at 4K with medium-quality textures and effects.

The resolution scaling data strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's performance is resolution-independent, so the consistent percentage drops across settings point to the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as the primary constraints. For players seeking higher frame rates, reducing resolution offers the most significant gains, with 1080p providing more than double the FPS of 4K at every setting level.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 166 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 128 FPS average, with a minimum of 108 and maximum of 147 FPS. High settings drop to 109 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 85 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the GPU's comfort zone, even at Ultra settings, where the frame rate remains above 60 FPS. The 81 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution suggests that the game's graphical options have a significant impact on GPU load, but the hardware handles it without difficulty.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales downward but remains playable. Low settings average 109 FPS, which is identical to the 1080p High result. Medium settings average 83 FPS (71 min, 96 max), High settings average 71 FPS, and Ultra settings average 56 FPS. The 1440p results show that the GPU begins to feel the strain at Ultra settings, where the frame rate drops below 60 FPS. The minimum FPS of 71 at Medium settings indicates that even in demanding scenes, the combo maintains playable performance. The 1440p Low result of 109 FPS matches the 1080p High result, which is a useful cross-reference for understanding the GPU's scaling efficiency.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average exactly 60 FPS, which is the minimum threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings average 46 FPS (39 min, 53 max), High settings average 39 FPS, and Ultra settings average 31 FPS. The 4K results reveal that the GPU is significantly underpowered for this resolution, with even Low settings barely achieving playable frame rates. The 39 FPS minimum at Medium settings is concerning, as it indicates that frame drops can occur in demanding scenes. Ultra settings at 31 FPS average are not recommended for a smooth experience, as the frame rate falls below 30 FPS in some scenarios.

The FPS breakdown across all resolutions and settings shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, 1440p is acceptable with some compromises, and 4K is only viable at Low settings. The data also reveals that Medium settings offer the best balance of quality and performance at each resolution, with only a modest FPS penalty compared to Low settings while providing significantly better visuals.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1080p, Ultra settings at 85 FPS average provide a high-quality experience with smooth gameplay, making this the recommended choice for players with 1080p displays. The 85 FPS average is above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual fidelity gains from Ultra settings are worth the 24 FPS cost compared to High settings (109 FPS). For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, High settings at 109 FPS offer a nearly 30% improvement over Ultra.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts to High settings, which average 71 FPS. This provides a good balance between visual quality and performance, with frame rates comfortably above 60 FPS. Medium settings at 83 FPS are also viable, but the 12 FPS gain over High may not justify the visual downgrade. Ultra settings at 56 FPS are borderline, and players may experience occasional frame drops below 60 FPS, making High the safer choice for consistent performance.

At 4K, the options are limited. Low settings at exactly 60 FPS are the only way to achieve smooth gameplay, but the visual quality will be significantly reduced. Medium settings at 46 FPS average may be acceptable for players who prioritize visuals over frame rate, but the 39 FPS minimum suggests that demanding scenes will cause noticeable stuttering. High and Ultra settings at 39 and 31 FPS respectively are not recommended for any gameplay scenario, as they fall below the playable threshold.

The data indicates that Medium settings provide the most consistent experience across all resolutions, with frame rates that are competitive with High settings while offering better performance than Ultra. At 1080p Medium, the 128 FPS average is only 19 FPS lower than Low settings but provides substantially better visuals. At 1440p Medium, the 83 FPS average is 26 FPS lower than Low but still smooth. At 4K Medium, the 46 FPS average is 14 FPS lower than Low, but the visual improvement is significant. For players who want a uniform experience across multiple resolutions, Medium settings are the recommended choice, as they offer the best balance of performance and quality based on the measured data.