The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study in how a modern high-end CPU and GPU combo handles an older title. The data shows the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers frame rates ranging from 55 FPS at 4K Ultra to 298 FPS at 1080p Low, placing this combination at rank 213 out of 3696 tested combos. This wide spread of performance across resolutions and settings reveals a system that is largely GPU-bound at higher graphical loads, while demonstrating surprising CPU headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and clearly indicates where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 195 FPS at 1920x1080 to 128 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 70 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline points directly at the GPU as the limiting component; the RTX 4080 is being increasingly saturated as pixel count rises, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling when examining the Low settings row. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 298 FPS, dropping to 195 FPS at 1440p and 107 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is roughly 64%, which is even steeper than the 64% drop seen at High settings. This consistency across settings suggests a pure GPU workload scaling with resolution, rather than any CPU-induced plateau. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect the FPS gap between resolutions to compress at higher settings, but the data shows the opposite: the RTX 4080's rendering load dominates the performance curve.

At Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS values also follow this trend. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 70 FPS, while at 1440p Medium it rises to 127 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 194 FPS. These minimums track closely with the average FPS, suggesting stable frame delivery without major stutters, even when the GPU is heavily loaded. The maximum FPS values at Medium settings (94 at 4K, 172 at 1440p, 263 at 1080p) reinforce that the RTX 4080's performance scales predictably with resolution.

The implication is clear: for this game, the RTX 4080 is the performance arbiter. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is never the bottleneck at any resolution tested. The data suggests that players wanting higher frame rates should look to reduce the GPU's workload via resolution scaling or settings adjustments, as the CPU is unlikely to limit any configuration in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a combo rank of 213 out of 3696 tested combinations in The Technomancer. That places it in the top 5.8% of all tested combos, which is a strong showing for a game from 2016. The percentileVsAllCpus for the CPU is 93, and the percentileVsAllGpus for the GPU is 86, indicating both components are above-average performers in their respective categories.

The rank of 213 suggests that while this is a high-performing combo, there are 212 other combinations that deliver higher average FPS in this specific game. This is notable because the RTX 4080 is an end-of-life product, having been succeeded by the GeForce 50 series. The data implies that newer or higher-tier GPUs can push The Technomancer to even higher frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU's high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960) and the GPU's raw rendering power can combine to exceed the 298 FPS ceiling seen at 1080p Low.

When comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 sits within 0.7% of the AMD EPYC 7343 and AMD EPYC 9124 in average benchmark score, and within 0.3% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F. This tight clustering suggests that the CPU's contribution to the combo rank is consistent with similar processors, and the differentiator in this game is likely the GPU. The RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average score just 0.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% lower. This near-parity among top GPUs means the combo rank is sensitive to even small performance deltas, explaining why 212 other combos edge out this one.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary driver of frame rates in this title, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for The Technomancer's 2016-era texture loads, even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 9728 shading units and 112 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s, which explains the strong performance at 4K where pixel throughput becomes critical.

The RTX 4080's boost clock of 2505 MHz and base clock of 2205 MHz are relatively high, and the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency is evident in the benchmark scores. The PassMark G3D score of 34457 places the GPU in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 reflects strong modern API performance. However, The Technomancer likely relies on older DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 paths, and the PassMark DirectX 11 score of 314 and DirectX 12 score of 132 suggest that the GPU's raw compute power (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) is being translated into FPS effectively.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is never likely to be a constraint in this game, given its release date. The data shows no signs of texture pop-in or frame drops that would indicate memory bandwidth limitations. Instead, the GPU's compute throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as seen in the 55 FPS result at 4K Ultra. The RTX 4080's memory clock of 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective) and 304 TMUs provide a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s, which aligns with the game's need for texture-heavy rendering in its sci-fi environments.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of settings for different target frame rates. For players with a 4K display seeking a smooth experience, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers 82 FPS average with a minimum of 70 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and playability at that resolution. The High preset at 4K drops to 70 FPS, while Ultra falls to 55 FPS, which may be too low for fast-paced combat sequences. Low at 4K offers 107 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 128 FPS, making it the sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 100 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but the 28 FPS gain from dropping to High is substantial. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 149 FPS, and Low reaches 195 FPS, but these come with diminishing visual returns. For 1440p users, High is recommended as it maintains image quality while keeping frame rates well above typical display refresh rates.

For 1920x1080, the data shows that even Ultra settings produce 152 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any monitor. The High preset at 1080p delivers 195 FPS, Medium 229 FPS, and Low 298 FPS. Given that Ultra at 1080p is already above 144 FPS, there is little reason to sacrifice visual fidelity for higher frame rates unless using a 240Hz or 360Hz display. The Medium preset's minimum of 194 FPS at 1080p indicates stable frame delivery, but High's 195 FPS average with no recorded minimum suggests it is equally stable. The recommendation is to use High settings at 1080p for the best visual-to-performance ratio, reserving Ultra for those who prioritize image quality over absolute frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in The Technomancer?

A: The highest average FPS is 298, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 4K Ultra smoothly?

A: No, the 4K Ultra preset produces an average FPS of 55, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth. For 4K, the Medium preset at 82 FPS is the recommended choice.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54247, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's score of 54209, and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's score of 54828.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 a bottleneck in this game?

A: No, the data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. The Core Ultra 7 265 has 20 cores and 20 threads with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and its performance is within 0.7% of its nearest rivals, suggesting it provides ample headroom for this title.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combos, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations tested in this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 70, with an average of 82 and a maximum of 94.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 plays a supporting role in this game, as the benchmark data indicates the GPU is the primary performance limiter. This processor features 20 cores and 20 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide a solid foundation for feeding the RTX 4080 with draw calls and game logic.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra 7 265 achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960, which places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The PassMark multithread score of 49682 and single-thread score of 4689 further confirm its strong performance. However, in The Technomancer, the CPU's influence is most visible at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is not saturated. The jump from 107 FPS at 4K Low to 298 FPS at 1080p Low (a 179% increase) cannot be attributed to the CPU alone; it is the GPU that scales with resolution. The CPU's role is to maintain frame pacing, and the minimum FPS values at Medium settings (70 at 4K, 127 at 1440p, 194 at 1080p) show consistent delivery without CPU-induced stutters.

The nearest rivals in CPU benchmark scores include the AMD EPYC 4464P (0.3% lower score), Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (0.3% higher), and AMD EPYC 7343 (0.7% higher). This clustering indicates that the Core Ultra 7 265 is well-matched to similar processors, and any performance differences in The Technomancer would be negligible. The CPU's 65W TDP and 3nm process node from TSMC (with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die) make it an efficient choice, but in this game, the 20 cores are largely underutilized, as The Technomancer likely relies on fewer threads. The data suggests that a player upgrading from a mid-range CPU to this Core Ultra 7 265 would see minimal FPS gains in this title, as the RTX 4080 is the limiting factor in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 298 FPS for Low, 229 FPS for Medium, 195 FPS for High, and 152 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 194 FPS and a maximum of 263 FPS, indicating a tight range. At this resolution, even Ultra settings exceed 150 FPS, making the game highly playable on any monitor.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 195 FPS for Low, 149 FPS for Medium, 128 FPS for High, and 100 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum is 127 FPS with a maximum of 172 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35% for Low, 35% for Medium, 34% for High, and 34% for Ultra, showing a consistent scaling factor across all settings. This uniformity confirms that resolution is the dominant variable, with settings providing a secondary adjustment.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 107 FPS for Low, 82 FPS for Medium, 70 FPS for High, and 55 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K results in a 45% reduction in FPS for Low, 45% for Medium, 45% for High, and 45% for Ultra. This identical percentage drop across all settings is a strong indicator that the RTX 4080's pixel throughput is the sole bottleneck, as the relative performance penalty of increasing resolution is constant regardless of graphical complexity.

The full data set shows that the RTX 4080's performance degrades gracefully as resolution increases, with no sudden cliffs or anomalies. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings scale from 194 to 127 to 70 as resolution increases, maintaining a consistent ratio with the averages. This suggests a well-optimized game engine that scales predictably with GPU load. For players seeking specific frame rate targets, the data provides clear guidance: 4K users should stick to Medium, 1440p users can use High, and 1080p users can push to Ultra without concern. The combo's rank of 213 out of 3696 confirms that while this is a top-tier setup, there is still headroom for higher-performance parts to achieve even greater frame rates in this title.