The Technomancer

The Technomancer is a 2016 Action RPG that favors raw graphics throughput over modern CPU features. When paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700, the benchmark data reveals a clear performance hierarchy driven almost entirely by resolution and quality presets. The Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache, provides ample headroom, while the Radeon RX 7700, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to show exactly where this combo excels and where it struggles.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average frame rate drops by roughly 34-35% across all settings. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS falls from 117 at 1920x1080 to 77 at 2560x1440. This steep decline indicates that the Radeon RX 7700 is already working hard at 1440p, but the frame rates remain highly playable. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 77 to 42, a 45% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 60 FPS at 1440p to 33 FPS at 2160p.

The data suggests that 1080p is firmly in the CPU-bound territory for this title. The jump from 117 FPS at High to 179 FPS at Low at 1920x1080 shows that reducing graphical load yields massive gains, which implies the CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The Core Ultra 7 265, which benchmarks in the 93rd percentile for all CPUs, is clearly feeding the GPU efficiently here. However, at 4K, the tables turn. The difference between Low and High settings at 3840x2160 is only 22 FPS (64 vs 42), a much smaller gap than the 62 FPS difference seen at 1080p. This compression of performance at 4K is the hallmark of a GPU bottleneck, where the RX 7700's 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is maxed out.

The Ultra preset at 4K is particularly telling. At 33 FPS average, the game becomes nearly unplayable for smooth action. The gap between Medium (49 FPS) and Ultra (33 FPS) at 4K is 16 FPS, showing that the highest quality settings demand a significant amount of the RX 7700's resources. The 1440p results are the sweet spot for this hardware. At 1440p High, the 77 FPS average suggests a balanced load where neither the CPU nor GPU is completely saturated. The 1440p Ultra result of 60 FPS is the baseline for a solid 60 Hz experience, though the 4K Ultra result of 33 FPS confirms this combo cannot handle the highest fidelity at the highest resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 117 FPS is an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate monitors. It provides a 25 FPS advantage over Ultra (92 FPS) while maintaining visual quality. The Medium preset at 137 FPS is also viable, but the jump from Medium to High is only 20 FPS, making High the better investment for visual fidelity. For players with 144 Hz or 165 Hz displays, the Low preset at 179 FPS is the only way to fully utilize the refresh rate, but the visual compromise is steep.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation is clear: High settings at 77 FPS. This is the highest preset that stays comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 90 FPS is a safer bet for those who prioritize frame consistency, as it has a recorded minimum of 76 FPS, whereas High has no min FPS data but averages 77. The Ultra preset at 60 FPS is borderline; it hits the target average but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes, making it risky. For 4K, the data suggests using Low settings at 64 FPS or Medium at 49 FPS. The Medium preset has measured minimum and maximum values of 42 and 57 FPS, respectively, indicating significant frame pacing variance. The Low preset is the only 4K option that maintains an average above 60 FPS.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p. At 1440p Ultra, the 60 FPS average is technically playable, but the lack of any min FPS data suggests potential drops below the average. At 4K, Ultra's 33 FPS average is simply too low for a game that involves combat timing. The data shows that High settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance across 1080p and 1440p, while Low is the pragmatic choice for 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only on lower presets. The measured data shows 64 FPS at 4K Low and 49 FPS at 4K Medium. The 4K High preset drops to 42 FPS, and 4K Ultra is at 33 FPS, which is not ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Radeon RX 7700?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings provides the best balance, delivering 77 FPS on average. This stays well above the 60 FPS target without the extreme performance cost seen at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The data shows the Core Ultra 7 265 is not a bottleneck at 1080p. The FPS scales dramatically with settings, from 179 FPS at Low to 92 FPS at Ultra, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor even at this resolution.

Q: Is the Radeon RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes, the 16 GB VRAM is more than adequate for The Technomancer. The game's performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU compute bottleneck rather than a memory capacity issue, as the RX 7700 has a 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset averages 90 FPS, while High averages 77 FPS. This 13 FPS difference is significant, but the High preset's visual improvements may be worth the performance trade-off for some users.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a smooth experience at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 92 FPS, which is smooth on standard 60 Hz monitors and even some 100 Hz displays. However, it is 25 FPS slower than the High preset, so competitive players may prefer High for higher frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1275th out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the 45th percentile of all tested systems, which is surprisingly mid-pack for such a modern CPU. The ranking reflects that this game is heavily GPU-bound, and the RX 7700's performance profile is average for its class. The GPU's benchmark percentile is 58th among all GPUs, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, with average benchmark scores of 16014 and 16129, respectively. The RX 7700's average benchmark score is 15852, which is only 1% lower than the RX 9060 and 1.7% lower than the RTX 3060 Ti.

The CPU's ranking is much stronger. The Core Ultra 7 265 sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. Its nearest rivals are AMD EPYC server processors, which shows its compute potential. However, this CPU strength is largely irrelevant in The Technomancer's measured FPS. The combo's rank of 1275 suggests that many older or weaker GPUs paired with weaker CPUs could achieve similar or better frame rates, provided they have enough raw graphics power. The data indicates that the bottleneck is almost entirely the RX 7700, so the CPU's high ranking does not translate into a high combo ranking for this specific title.

The deltaPct values for the GPU's rivals are telling. The RX 7700 is 0.1% faster than the AMD Radeon R9 370X and 1.1% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. These are older workstation cards, yet they perform within 1% of the RX 7700 in general benchmarks. This suggests that the RX 7700's architecture, while modern, does not provide a massive generational leap in raw compute for this game's engine. The combo rank of 1275 out of 2825 indicates that roughly 55% of tested combinations deliver better performance in The Technomancer, which is a sobering statistic for a system with a flagship-tier CPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 plays the decisive role in this game's performance. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This is ample for The Technomancer's textures and assets, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 1440p. The GPU clocks are set at a base of 1900 MHz and a boost of 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz. These clocks, combined with 2560 shading units and 96 ROPs, determine the card's fill rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s.

The GPU's FP32 performance is 25.18 TFLOPS, which is the primary driver for the resolution scaling observed. At 1080p, the card's compute is sufficient to push 179 FPS on Low settings. However, as resolution increases, the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the GPU's compute must work proportionally harder. The 4K Ultra result of 33 FPS indicates that the card is fully saturated at that load. The GPU's 40 ray tracing cores are present in the hardware, but The Technomancer is a 2016 title that does not use ray tracing, so these cores remain idle.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is a notable feature, but it does not appear to be a limiting factor. If VRAM were insufficient, the frame rates would show severe stuttering or texture pop-in, which is not reflected in the average FPS data. Instead, the performance drops are smooth and consistent with compute limitations. The GPU's power consumption is rated at 200 W TDP, and it requires a 550 W PSU, but these are operational constraints, not performance indicators. The data shows that the RX 7700 is a capable 1080p and 1440p card for this game, but it falls short at 4K, particularly on the highest presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings deliver 179 FPS, Medium delivers 137 FPS with a minimum of 117 and maximum of 158, High delivers 117 FPS, and Ultra delivers 92 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear linear progression, with each preset tier costing roughly 20-40 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 117 FPS is identical to the High average, indicating that even the most demanding scenes at Medium stay above the High preset's average.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values drop significantly: Low settings deliver 117 FPS, Medium delivers 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 and maximum of 103, High delivers 77 FPS, and Ultra delivers 60 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset's minimum of 76 FPS is still playable, but the High preset's 77 FPS average suggests that occasional drops below 60 FPS are possible. The Ultra preset's 60 FPS average is exactly at the threshold, but without min FPS data, it is uncertain how stable that 60 FPS is.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low settings deliver 64 FPS, Medium delivers 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 and maximum of 57, High delivers 42 FPS, and Ultra delivers 33 FPS. The 4K results show a severe degradation, with even the Low preset struggling to maintain 60 FPS. The Medium preset's maximum of 57 FPS is still below the 60 FPS target, confirming that 4K gaming is only viable on the Low preset. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 31 FPS, which is the largest spread of any resolution, further confirming the GPU's dominance as the limiting factor.