The Technomancer

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

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake-S architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC. Its base clock is 2.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it carries 30 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 3 MB of L2 cache per core. The processor posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216 and a single-core score of 5,960, which places it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 64,640 sits nearly even with the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823, -0.3%) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438, +0.3%), showing that this chip delivers top-tier throughput for a desktop part.

For The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, the CPU’s role is less about raw thread count and more about sustaining high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 309 FPS average, a figure that points to the CPU handling game logic and draw calls without becoming a bottleneck. The 20 cores are far more than this game needs, but the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks—often the limiting factor in older titles—are dispatched quickly. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,689 reinforces this, as does the Cinebench R15 single-core result of 600. In contrast, the multi-core Cinebench R20 score of 6,268 shows the processor’s ability to chew through parallel workloads, though The Technomancer’s engine is unlikely to leverage all 20 threads.

Benchmark data indicates that the CPU’s performance headroom is substantial. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 309 is nearly double the 158 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra, suggesting that even at the lowest settings the CPU is not the primary constraint—otherwise the frame rate would plateau regardless of graphics preset. The processor’s 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with its nearest rivals being server-class EPYC parts, underscores that this is a high-end desktop chip. For a game released in 2016, the Core Ultra 7 265 provides far more compute than required, meaning the measured FPS deltas across resolutions and settings are almost entirely dictated by the GPU.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 49,682 and the data compression score of 522,983 further illustrate the chip’s brute strength, but these metrics have little bearing on The Technomancer’s frame rates. Instead, the relevant takeaway is that the CPU’s 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock create a platform where the GPU can operate at its full potential. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (102.4 GB/s bandwidth) round out a package that is both power-efficient and memory-capable, though the game’s performance is not memory-bandwidth limited based on the measured results.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. Its base clock is 2,295 MHz with a boost clock of 2,617 MHz, and it is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU posts a PassMark G3D score of 36,565 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,637, placing it in the 87th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 56,083 is closely matched by the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757, +0.6%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, +0.7%), while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE sits slightly ahead at 57,367 (-2.2% delta).

For The Technomancer, the RTX 5080’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 158 FPS, which drops to 103 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 57 FPS at 4K Ultra. This pattern—a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 45% reduction from 1440p to 4K—is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for a 2016 title, even at 4K Ultra, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor. Instead, the raw shading power and memory bandwidth determine the outcome.

The GPU’s 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate are massive overkill for this game’s age, yet the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (57 FPS) shows that even a top-tier card struggles to maintain 60 FPS at the highest preset on a 4K panel. This is likely due to the game’s rendering path, which may not be optimized for modern GPU architectures. The RTX 5080’s boost clock of 2,617 MHz helps at lower resolutions, where the 1080p Low result of 309 FPS indicates the GPU is still the limiting factor—if the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would cap well below 300 FPS.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5080’s average score is nearly identical to the Radeon 8060S and RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which suggests that in synthetic benchmarks the card is not dramatically ahead of mid-range options. However, in real-world gaming, the 16 GB GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth provide a substantial advantage at high resolutions. The 4K High result of 73 FPS versus the 4K Medium result of 85 FPS shows a 12 FPS cost for moving from Medium to High, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 16 FPS (73 to 57). These increments reveal that the GPU’s performance curve is steep at 4K, making settings choices critical for maintaining smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data for The Technomancer with this CPU-GPU combo points to Medium settings as the optimal balance across all tested resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 237 FPS with a minimum of 201 FPS and a maximum of 273 FPS. This is a 79 FPS improvement over High (202 FPS) while still delivering well above any display’s refresh rate. At 1440p Medium, the average is 155 FPS with a minimum of 132 FPS and a maximum of 178 FPS, which is 23 FPS faster than High (132 FPS) and comfortably above 120 FPS for high-refresh monitors. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 85 FPS with a minimum of 72 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS, which keeps gameplay smooth on 60 Hz displays and mostly smooth on 120 Hz panels.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p, where the 158 FPS average is still playable, but the cost is steep: 79 FPS less than Medium at the same resolution. At 1440p Ultra, the 103 FPS average is borderline for high-refresh gaming, and at 4K Ultra, the 57 FPS average dips below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for most players. High settings offer a middle ground—202 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K—but the medium preset provides the best experience per the measured rows because it maintains high frame rates while reducing the risk of frame-time spikes.

The data shows that Low settings are unnecessary for this hardware. At 1080p Low, the system hits 309 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all monitors, while at 4K Low, the 111 FPS average is still excellent. However, Low settings likely degrade visual quality significantly, and the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p (309 to 237 FPS) costs only 72 FPS, which is acceptable given the visual improvement. For a game from 2016, Medium settings are the sweet spot: they provide stable minimums (201 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, 72 FPS at 4K) that are well above the threshold for perceptible stutter.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium provides the best balance, with an average of 155 FPS and a minimum of 132 FPS. This is high enough for 120 Hz displays while maintaining visual fidelity. At 4K Medium, the 85 FPS average is also strong, but the 72 FPS minimum is closer to the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5080’s average benchmark score of 56,083 is 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757) and 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698), but 2.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (57,367).

Q: Does the Core Ultra 7 265 bottleneck the RTX 5080 in this game?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 309 FPS, which is far above typical monitor refresh rates. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would plateau regardless of settings. The fact that FPS scales from 158 (1080p Ultra) to 309 (1080p Low) indicates the GPU is the primary constraint.

Q: Is 16 GB of VRAM enough for The Technomancer?

A: Yes. The game was released in 2016, and the measured results show no indication of VRAM limitations. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 57 FPS, which is a compute-bound result rather than a memory-capacity issue. The 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is more than sufficient.

Q: What is the FPS cost of moving from Ultra to Medium at 4K?

A: At 4K, Ultra averages 57 FPS while Medium averages 85 FPS. This is a 28 FPS improvement (49% higher) by dropping from Ultra to Medium. The minimum FPS also improves from an unreported value on Ultra to 72 FPS on Medium.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 130th out of 2,825 tested combinations, placing it in the top 5% of all systems. This ranking reflects the high performance of both the CPU (93rd percentile) and GPU (87th percentile).

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound profile. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 237 at 1080p to 155 at 1440p and then to 85 at 4K. The percentage reductions are 35% (1080p to 1440p) and 45% (1440p to 4K). This steep decline is expected when the GPU’s shading and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors, as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K (2,073,600 to 8,294,400 pixels). The fact that the frame rate does not halve at each step indicates that the RTX 5080’s 960.0 GB/s bandwidth and 56.28 TFLOPS compute are being utilized efficiently, but the game’s engine still cannot maintain high FPS at 4K Ultra.

At High settings, the pattern is similar: 202 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 35%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 45%, matching the Medium settings percentages. This consistency suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline scales predictably with resolution, and the GPU is the sole bottleneck. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 309 at 1080p to 202 at 1440p (35% reduction) and then to 111 at 4K (45% reduction). Even at the lowest settings, the CPU does not become the limiting factor—otherwise, the 1080p result would not be dramatically higher than the 1440p result.

The 4K Ultra result of 57 FPS is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, and it is notably lower than the 4K High result of 73 FPS. This 16 FPS gap between High and Ultra at 4K suggests that Ultra settings include effects that are disproportionately expensive on the GPU. The minimum FPS data is only provided for Medium settings (72 FPS at 4K, 132 FPS at 1440p, 201 FPS at 1080p), but these minimums are all within 17 FPS of the averages, indicating stable frame pacing. The resolution scaling data makes it clear that this system is GPU-limited across all tested settings, and the CPU’s 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom for the RTX 5080 to operate at full capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data for The Technomancer with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is presented below, organized by resolution and settings preset.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: 57 FPS average
• High: 73 FPS average
• Medium: 85 FPS average, 72 FPS minimum, 98 FPS maximum
• Low: 111 FPS average

At 4K, the progression from Low to Ultra shows a clear cost curve: 111 FPS at Low, 85 FPS at Medium (26 FPS reduction), 73 FPS at High (12 FPS reduction), and 57 FPS at Ultra (16 FPS reduction). The Medium preset is the only one with reported minimum and maximum values, showing a 72-98 FPS range. Ultra falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it the least desirable option for 4K gaming.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: 103 FPS average
• High: 132 FPS average
• Medium: 155 FPS average, 132 FPS minimum, 178 FPS maximum
• Low: 202 FPS average

At 1440p, all presets exceed 100 FPS. The gap between Low (202 FPS) and Medium (155 FPS) is 47 FPS, while Medium to High costs 23 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 29 FPS. The Ultra preset’s 103 FPS average is still above 100 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh displays, though Medium offers the best minimum FPS (132) relative to its average (155).

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: 158 FPS average
• High: 202 FPS average
• Medium: 237 FPS average, 201 FPS minimum, 273 FPS maximum
• Low: 309 FPS average

At 1080p, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low hits 309 FPS, Medium averages 237 FPS with a 201 FPS minimum, High averages 202 FPS, and Ultra averages 158 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 201 FPS is higher than the High preset’s average of 202 FPS, indicating that Medium provides both better average performance and a higher floor. The Ultra preset, while still playable, is 79 FPS slower than Medium, making it the least efficient choice despite its visual benefits.

The data confirms that this hardware combination is GPU-limited in The Technomancer, with the RTX 5080’s performance scaling predictably across resolutions. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking and high boost clock ensure it never becomes the bottleneck, even at 1080p Low where the system reaches 309 FPS. For players seeking the best experience, Medium settings at 1440p provide the optimal mix of frame rate and visual quality, while 4K Medium remains viable for 60 Hz displays.