The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a significant challenge for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX combined with the AMD Radeon 890M. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings indicate that this integrated graphics solution is heavily taxed by the game's engine. The data shows a system that is fundamentally limited by its graphics processor, with the CPU's considerable processing power doing little to alleviate the performance bottleneck. This analysis examines the measured results to understand the scaling behavior and provide actionable settings recommendations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a steep decline as resolution increases, a classic indicator of GPU-bound performance. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 70 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 46 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 25 FPS, which is a 64% decrease from the 1080p figure. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, demonstrating that the rendering resolution has a dominant impact on performance.

For the High preset, the scaling is equally pronounced. The 1080p High average of 46 FPS drops to 30 FPS at 1440p and further to 17 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows the most dramatic scaling: 36 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and a nearly unplayable 13 FPS at 4K. The fact that the frame rate nearly halves when going from 1080p to 4K on the Low preset (70 to 25 FPS) is a strong indicator that the AMD Radeon 890M's pixel throughput is the limiting factor, rather than any CPU-side constraint.

The behavior points to a system where the integrated GPU's shading units and ROPs are saturated. The Radeon 890M has 1024 shading units and 32 ROPs, and the data suggests that these resources are overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is not the bottleneck in this scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would remain relatively constant as resolution changes, but the consistent and substantial drops with each resolution step confirm that the GPU is the primary constraint. The 4K Medium result, with an average of 19 FPS and a minimum of 16 FPS, shows that even moderate settings at high resolution can cause the frame rate to dip into single-digit territory for demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K resolution?

A: While technically possible, the measured performance is not suitable for smooth gameplay. At 4K with Low settings, the average frame rate is 25 FPS, and at Medium it drops to 19 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 13 FPS, indicating that 4K is only feasible for static viewing or screenshots, not for a playable experience.

Q: What is the best resolution to use for a playable experience?

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where acceptable frame rates are achieved. At 1080p, the Low preset averages 70 FPS, Medium averages 54 FPS, and High averages 46 FPS. These are the only settings and resolution combinations that consistently provide frame rates above 40 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 36 FPS, which is 10 FPS lower than the High preset's 46 FPS. This 22% reduction in performance for the higher preset suggests that the visual fidelity gain may not be worth the significant frame rate cost on this hardware.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results strongly indicate that the AMD Radeon 890M is the limiting component. The frame rates scale dramatically with resolution, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX, with its high multi-threaded capabilities, does not appear to be the bottleneck.

Q: Are the frame rates stable, or do they fluctuate heavily?

A: The data for the Medium preset shows notable fluctuations. At 1080p, the average is 54 FPS, but the minimum is 46 FPS and the maximum is 62 FPS, representing a significant variance. At 1440p Medium, the average is 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS. This suggests inconsistent frame pacing, which can affect perceived smoothness.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: Out of 2825 tested combos for this game, this specific pairing ranks 2667th. This places it in the bottom 6% of all tested systems, confirming that it is a low-performance configuration for The Technomancer.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this hardware are clear. The primary goal is to maintain a frame rate that is consistently above 45 FPS for a responsive experience. At 1080p, the Low preset is the only one that clearly achieves this, with an average of 70 FPS. This preset provides the most headroom for demanding scenes and is the safest choice for smooth gameplay.

The Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 54 FPS, is a viable alternative if the user wants improved visual quality. The minimum recorded frame rate of 46 FPS suggests that it will remain mostly fluid, though it may dip in complex scenes. This preset offers a reasonable balance between visual fidelity and performance, but it does not have as much headroom as Low.

The High preset at 1080p, averaging 46 FPS, is at the edge of playability. It is playable but leaves very little margin for error. The 1440p resolution is not recommended for any preset, as even Low settings average only 46 FPS, and the Medium preset dips to 30 FPS minimum. For a consistent and enjoyable experience, the recommendation is to play at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. If visual quality is a priority, the Medium preset is the maximum acceptable choice, as it maintains an average above 50 FPS. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as its 36 FPS average at 1080p is too low for a smooth experience in an action RPG.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2667 out of 2825 tested combos places it in the 94th percentile in terms of poor performance—meaning it outperforms only about 6% of all tested systems for this specific game. This is a very low ranking, indicating that the hardware combination is not well-suited for the demands of The Technomancer. The game appears to be particularly demanding on the GPU, and the integrated AMD Radeon 890M is unable to provide competitive performance levels.

This ranking is consistent with the GPU's overall standing. The Radeon 890M sits at the 45th percentile among all GPUs in the database, and its average benchmark score is 9210. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Vega 8, which has an average score of 9221, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, with an average score of 9273. These are all older or lower-tier discrete and integrated solutions, and the 890M performs within 1% of them. This context reinforces that the GPU is the limiting factor and explains the low ranking in this game.

The CPU, on the other hand, is a high performer. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX sits at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 63173. This score is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-13790F and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G, with deltas of 0.1% and -0.2% respectively. This massive discrepancy between the CPU's high overall performance and the combo's low in-game ranking highlights the severity of the GPU bottleneck.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is the decisive component in this configuration's performance. Its specifications, while modest for a dedicated GPU, are the defining factor in the measured frame rates. The GPU is based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture and is built on a 4 nm process. It features 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. The boost clock is rated at 2900 MHz, and the total FP32 performance is 5.939 TFLOPS.

In the context of The Technomancer, these specifications are insufficient for high-resolution or high-detail rendering. The benchmark results show a clear ceiling on performance. The GPU's 45th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 590 corroborate its mid-to-low tier status. Its performance is closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, which has an average score of 9273, and the AMD Radeon Vega 8, with a score of 9221, with the 890M scoring 9210. This puts it in a performance class that struggles with modern, demanding titles.

The GPU's memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory. The bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," and the GPU memory clock is "System Shared." This setup is typical for integrated graphics, but it often results in lower effective bandwidth compared to dedicated VRAM. This shared memory architecture likely contributes to the performance drops seen at higher resolutions, where the demand for memory bandwidth increases. The pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s and texture rate of 185.6 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits, but the measured performance shows that these limits are rarely approached in real-world gaming scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured frame rates for each resolution and settings combination.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | Low | 25 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 19 | 16 | 22 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 17 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 13 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 46 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 35 | 30 | 41 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 30 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 23 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 70 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 54 | 46 | 62 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 46 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 36 | - | - |

The data reveals a consistent hierarchy. At any given resolution, the Low preset provides the highest frame rate, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. For instance, at 1440p, the frame rates are 46, 35, 30, and 23 FPS for Low, Medium, High, and Ultra respectively. The performance cost of each settings increase is substantial, with the jump from Low to Ultra almost halving the frame rate at all resolutions. The minimum and maximum frame rates for the Medium preset show that there is a noticeable variance in frame times, which may be perceptible as stuttering.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a powerful mobile processor, but its role in this game's performance is largely secondary due to the GPU bottleneck. The CPU features 20 cores and 20 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40642 and a single-core score of 5737. It ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs.

However, these capabilities are not the limiting factor in The Technomancer. The game's engine, released in 2016, is unlikely to utilize all 20 cores effectively, and the CPU's high single-thread performance is more than sufficient for the game's logic. The evidence for this is the frame rate scaling with resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect similar frame rates at 1080p and 4K, as the CPU's workload would remain constant. Instead, we see a massive drop, confirming that the GPU is waiting for rendering tasks while the CPU is idle.

The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-13790F, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, with a delta of 0.1%. This indicates that the CPU is performing as expected for its class. The problem is that its performance is irrelevant when the GPU cannot keep up. The measured data shows that this CPU, despite its high Passmark multithread score of 47985 and data encryption score of 39472, is effectively starved by the GPU. In this specific game and resolution, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, and it does so without becoming a bottleneck. The performance ceiling is entirely defined by the AMD Radeon 890M.