The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + Intel Arc B370

This combination of Intel's 20-core Core Ultra 7 265 desktop processor and the integrated-graphics-class Arc B370 produces severely constrained frame rates in The Technomancer, landing at rank 2603 out of 2825 tested combos. The data shows a system where the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck at every resolution, with the CPU's substantial compute resources largely idle while the Arc B370 struggles to maintain playable performance. The measured results reveal a configuration that is fundamentally mismatched for this Action RPG, offering only the low preset at 1080p as a viable path to acceptable smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is decisive evidence that the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting component in this pairing. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 71 at 1920x1080 to 47 at 2560x1440 — a 33.8% reduction — and then to 26 at 3840x2160, representing a 63.4% total decline from the 1080p baseline. This steep, near-linear scaling with pixel count is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario, where the renderer's fill-rate and shading throughput are exhausted long before the CPU's capabilities come into question.

The High preset tells a similar story but with a compressed range. At 1080p High, the combo averages 47 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 31 FPS; and at 4K High, it collapses to 17 FPS. The proportional losses between steps are consistent — roughly 34% from 1080p to 1440p and another 45% from 1440p to 4K — which indicates that the Arc B370's fixed hardware resources are being consumed predictably as resolution increases, with no evidence of CPU-side frame pacing or driver-level anomalies that would flatten the curve.

The Medium preset provides the clearest view of scaling behavior because it is the only setting tier with recorded minimum and maximum frame times. At 1080p Medium, the average is 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 63; at 1440p Medium, the average falls to 36 FPS with a range of 30 to 41; and at 4K Medium, the average drops to 20 FPS with a 17 to 23 range. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases — from 16 frames at 1080p to 11 at 1440p and just 6 at 4K — which suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is operating so close to its saturation point that frame-to-frame variation compresses, a phenomenon consistent with a fully utilized render pipeline.

Ultra settings amplify the resolution penalty further. The 1080p Ultra average of 37 FPS falls to 24 at 1440p and then to 13 at 4K, a decline of 64.9% from the lowest tested resolution to the highest. The fact that Ultra at 4K produces single-digit-to-low-teen frame rates confirms that this integrated GPU simply cannot handle the game's maximum visual fidelity at any resolution above 720p-class workloads, and even at 1080p, the Ultra preset barely approaches the threshold of playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 brings formidable processing resources to this pairing, though the measured game performance suggests these are largely untapped. With 20 cores and 20 threads, a base clock of 2.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, this Arrow Lake-S architecture processor from the Core Ultra Series 2 family is built for heavily threaded workloads. Its synthetic benchmark results reinforce that positioning: the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 and single-core score of 5960 place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 64640.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic testing are all server-class parts, which contextualizes its compute headroom. The AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64823 on average, a 0.3% advantage over the Ultra 7 265; the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F trails by 0.3% at 64438; the AMD EPYC 7343 sits 0.7% behind at 64202; and the AMD EPYC 9124 leads by 0.7% at 65104. These minuscule deltas — all within one percentage point — demonstrate that the Ultra 7 265 is in an elite performance tier for general compute, yet The Technomancer's frame rates do not reflect this strength.

The PassMark suite shows a processor that excels at both integer and floating-point work, with respective scores of 134773 and 172776, plus a multithread score of 49682. The physics score of 2923 and single-thread score of 4689 indicate strong per-core performance that should be more than adequate for a 2016-era Action RPG's game logic and AI systems. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache, 3 MB per-core L2, and 192 KB per-core L1 provide substantial on-die storage for game assets, and the DDR5 dual-channel memory interface with 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth offers ample data throughput for modern titles.

However, the measured FPS data tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 71 FPS average, which is the highest result across all tested configurations, but this is still far below what the CPU alone could theoretically support. The fact that dropping from Ultra to Low at 1080p produces a 91.9% improvement in frame rate (37 to 71 FPS) while the CPU workload remains essentially unchanged indicates that the processor is never the binding constraint in this system. The Ultra 7 265's compute headroom is effectively wasted because the Arc B370 cannot feed frames fast enough to engage the CPU's full capability.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process as part of the Panther Lake generation. With 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, plus 10 ray tracing cores, it offers a baseline of modern GPU features including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 API support. The boost clock of 2400 MHz on a 300 MHz base provides a theoretical FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS, with pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places this GPU in the 5th percentile of all tested graphics cards, which is a stark indicator of its position in the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing are all legacy or low-end parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (0.2% ahead), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% ahead), and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4% behind). This clustering around the 1184-1192 range underscores that the Arc B370 is operating at the very bottom of the discrete-GPU spectrum, and its integrated nature — with system-shared memory and system-dependent bandwidth — compounds the limitation.

The memory configuration is particularly telling: the Arc B370 uses System Shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM pool and no fixed memory bus width. In a game like The Technomancer, which can be sensitive to memory bandwidth and latency, this shared-memory arrangement likely contributes to the severe frame rate penalties observed at higher resolutions. The 25 W TDP and IGP slot width confirm this is not designed for sustained gaming workloads, and the absence of a launch MSRP and dedicated power connectors further position it as an integrated solution rather than a performance part.

The measured game performance aligns with the synthetic scores. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 13 FPS average; at 1080p Ultra, it reaches 37 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows the GPU's limitations: at 1080p, the 71 FPS Low result drops to 37 FPS Ultra (a 47.9% penalty); at 1440p, 47 FPS Low falls to 24 FPS Ultra (48.9% penalty); and at 4K, 26 FPS Low declines to 13 FPS Ultra (50% penalty). This consistent halving of performance from Low to Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the Arc B370's shading and texturing resources are the primary constraint, with the CPU's 20 cores and high clock speeds offering no mitigation.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports a clear hierarchy of playable configurations for this combo. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 71 FPS average, which is the only tested setting that provides both smooth motion and a comfortable margin above the minimum thresholds for action gameplay. This should be considered the baseline recommended preset for any user pairing the Core Ultra 7 265 with the Arc B370.

The 1080p Medium preset delivers 55 FPS average with a minimum of 47 FPS and maximum of 63 FPS, which remains playable and offers improved visual quality over Low. The 16-frame spread between minimum and maximum at this setting indicates acceptable frame pacing, though the 47 FPS minimum is close to the edge of what most players would consider smooth for an Action RPG. Users prioritizing visual fidelity over absolute frame rate can use Medium as a secondary option.

The 1080p High preset at 47 FPS average is borderline, and the 1440p Low preset at 47 FPS average is similarly marginal. Neither configuration provides the headroom needed for consistent performance during combat-heavy scenes, and the data suggests these should be avoided unless the user accepts occasional dips below 40 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset at 36 FPS average, with a 30 FPS minimum, falls below the playability threshold for most action-oriented gameplay.

All Ultra presets and all 4K configurations produce sub-30 FPS averages, with 4K Ultra at 13 FPS and 4K High at 17 FPS being effectively unplayable. The data shows no scenario where 4K resolution is viable with this GPU, regardless of settings. The recommended path is straightforward: 1080p Low for optimal performance, 1080p Medium for balanced quality, and no higher resolution or preset tier under any circumstances.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2603 out of 2825 tested combinations places it in the bottom 7.9% of all tested systems for The Technomancer. This position reflects the fundamental mismatch between the high-end CPU and the entry-level integrated GPU, where the processor's 93rd percentile standing among all CPUs cannot compensate for the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all graphics cards.

The gap between the CPU and GPU performance percentiles — 88 percentage points — is among the largest possible in a single system, and the game results demonstrate the consequences. The Ultra 7 265's synthetic superiority over rivals like the EPYC 4464P and EPYC 9124 is irrelevant in this context because the Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 places it in the company of GPUs from over a decade ago. The 0.3% to 0.7% deltas between the CPU and its nearest rivals in synthetic tests stand in stark contrast to the combo's bottom-decile ranking in actual game performance.

For context, the combo rank of 2603 means that 222 other tested configurations performed worse in The Technomancer, while 2602 performed better. Given that the GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic testing are all below the 1200 score mark, the systems that rank below this combo likely pair similarly weak integrated or low-end GPUs with even less capable CPUs. The data indicates that this combo's ranking is determined almost entirely by the GPU's limitations, as the CPU has demonstrated compute capabilities far exceeding what The Technomancer requires.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its best results across all settings. The Low preset averages 71 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium averages 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 and maximum of 63, providing a playable middle ground. High averages 47 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent degradation of 16-18 FPS per preset step, with the Ultra preset delivering roughly half the frame rate of Low.

At 2560x1440, performance drops significantly across all settings. Low averages 47 FPS, matching the 1080p High result — an indication that the resolution increase at Low settings costs the same performance as a full preset tier upgrade at 1080p. Medium averages 36 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 41, which is borderline playable for undemanding scenes but risky for combat. High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24 FPS. The 1440p results show a 33.8% to 35.1% reduction from the corresponding 1080p settings, with the penalty being slightly more severe at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the combo reaches its lowest performance floor. Low averages 26 FPS, which is below the playability threshold. Medium averages 20 FPS with a minimum of 17 and maximum of 23, representing a narrow band of consistently poor performance. High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly unplayable, with even the lowest settings failing to reach 30 FPS. The minimum FPS values recorded only for the Medium preset across all resolutions — 47 at 1080p, 30 at 1440p, and 17 at 4K — show that frame drops scale proportionally with resolution, further confirming the GPU as the sole limiting factor.