The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, shows a clear performance hierarchy when paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and Intel Arc B580. Benchmark data indicates that this combination provides a fully playable experience at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K resolution pushes the hardware to its limits, requiring a significant reduction in graphical presets to maintain acceptable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal preset for each resolution, prioritizing a balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 1920x1080, every preset from Low to Ultra delivers an average frame rate above 70 FPS. The High preset is the standout choice at this resolution, delivering an average of 90 FPS. This is 38.4% more frames per second than the 65 FPS average of the Ultra preset, while still offering a substantial visual upgrade over the Medium setting's 106 FPS. The data suggests that High provides the best experience, as it reaches a frame rate high enough for even fast-paced action while leaving headroom for drops in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the High preset remains the optimal selection, with an average of 59 FPS. This result effectively threads the needle, providing the visual quality of a higher setting while staying above the 60 FPS threshold for the majority of the experience. The Medium preset averages 69 FPS, which is 16.9% higher than High, and may be preferable for users who prioritize a higher refresh rate over visual detail. The Ultra preset, with an average of 46 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS mark and is best avoided for a consistent experience. For a fixed 60 FPS target, High is the recommended setting at 1440p.

For 3840x2160, the data tells a different story. The average frame rates for all presets are below the 60 FPS target. The High preset produces an average of 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 25 FPS. To achieve the highest possible performance at this resolution, the data shows that the Low preset provides an average of 49 FPS. This is a 53% improvement over the High preset and is the only way to approach a smoother experience on the Arc B580 at 4K. While the Medium preset's average of 38 FPS is more consistent than the Low preset's, the Low preset is the only one to come close to the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended preset for 4K players prioritizing frame rate.

The data reveals that the High preset is the best default choice for 1080p and 1440p, while the Low preset is required for the best experience at 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 GPU dictates the performance ceiling in The Technomancer. The card is a 5 nm chip with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 2670 MHz and a boost clock of 2670 MHz. The benchmark data shows that this configuration is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings.

The results indicate that the GPU's performance scales predictably with the load. At the 1080p and 1440p resolutions, the frame rates are high, but the drop between the High and Ultra presets shows a significant demand on the GPU. At 1440p High, the average is 59 FPS, but at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 46 FPS. This is a 22.0% performance reduction for the Ultra preset. The same pattern is visible at 4K, where the Ultra preset averages 25 FPS, a 21.9% drop from the High preset's 32 FPS. This highlights the GPU's limitations with the most demanding settings.

The Arc B580's output is a substantial factor in the overall performance. Its average benchmark score of 23021 is a representation of its compute and rendering ability. In comparison to its nearest rivals, the scores are close. The Arc B580 is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, and 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. These figures show that the Arc B580 is a mid-range performer that can't be expected to handle the highest settings at high resolutions without a significant frame rate hit.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for a consistent 60 FPS experience?

A: The data shows that the 1920x1080 resolution with the High preset delivers an average frame rate of 90 FPS. This is the only resolution and preset combination that provides a frame rate well above the 60 FPS target. At 2560x1440, the highest average frame rate is 69 FPS at the Medium preset, which is just above 60 FPS. The 3840x2160 resolution fails to reach 60 FPS on any preset, with the highest average being 49 FPS at the Low preset.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU's average 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 3068. When compared to its nearest rivals, the Arc B580 is 0.2% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, 0.6% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, and 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. This indicates the Arc B580's performance is closely matched with those cards.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in The Technomancer?

A: The data indicates the CPU is not the primary limiter. The CPU has a high benchmark score, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35850 and a single-core score of 2020. The performance differences between the presets and resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound behavior, which is typical for a game with this level of visual detail.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 59 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 46 FPS. The data shows a 13 FPS difference, which translates to a 22% performance drop when the Ultra preset is used from High.

Q: Can the system run the game at 4K?

A: The system can run the game at 3840x2160, but not at a high frame rate. The Low preset provides an average of 49 FPS, the High preset provides 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset provides 25 FPS. None of these are above the 60 FPS target, and the Medium preset's minimum FPS is 32, which is the only one of the four with a minimum recorded.

Q: What is the difference in performance between 1080p and 4K at the High preset?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 delivers 90 FPS, while the same preset at 3840x2160 delivers 32 FPS. This is a 64.4% performance drop when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data indicates a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 138 FPS, which is the highest. The Medium preset averages 106 FPS with a min of 90 FPS and a max of 121 FPS. The High preset averages 90 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 70 FPS. The difference from Low to Ultra is a 49.3% drop in performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 90 FPS, Medium averages 69 FPS, High averages 59 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 79 FPS. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra is a 48.9% drop, which mirrors the pattern at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 49 FPS, Medium averages 38 FPS, High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. The Medium preset also records a min of 32 FPS and a max of 44 FPS. The performance drop from Low to Ultra is 49.0%, which shows a consistent scaling factor across all three resolutions. This indicates that the GPU's performance is the limiting factor in this game, as the relative performance between presets remains nearly identical.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial. For the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 90 FPS at 1920x1080 to 59 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 32 FPS at 3840x2160. This is a 64.4% reduction in frame rate from the 1080p result.

For the Low preset, the scaling is from 138 FPS at 1080p to 90 FPS at 1440p to 49 FPS at 4K, a 64.5% drop. The Ultra preset scales from 70 FPS at 1080p to 46 FPS at 1440p to 25 FPS at 4K, also a 64.3% drop. The consistency of these drops indicates that the game's performance is strongly tied to the number of pixels being rendered, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's role is not a factor in these results, as it is not the limiting component.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a high-end processor with a large core count. It has 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The data shows it has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35850 and a single-core score of 2020. It has a Passmark single-thread score of 4928 and a Passmark multithread score of 58594.

In this game, the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor. The benchmark data shows that the frame rates scale consistently with the GPU load, and the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. The game was released in 2016, and its engine is not likely to stress a modern, high-performance CPU like this one. The Arc B580 GPU is the component that limits the frame rate, especially at higher resolutions. The CPU's gaming performance is adequate, and its high-end specs ensure it does not cause stutters in the game's performance. The CPU's rank is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and it performs within 1.3% of its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which has an average score of 69996.