The Technomancer

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 sits at rank 2336 out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. That places this configuration in the bottom 20% of all tested combinations, a position driven almost entirely by the GPU's age and performance tier. The CPU is a top-tier part, but the GTX 1070 anchors the overall experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2336 out of 2825 is a clear signal that this pairing is GPU-bound in The Technomancer. The GTX 1070 is a Pascal-era card that launched in mid-2016, the same year as the game itself, and it shows its age in this title. The CPU, by contrast, is a modern 24-core part with strong synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS data indicates the graphics card is the limiting factor in every resolution and settings combination tested.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus benchmarks at the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785. Its nearest rival is the Intel Xeon 6520P with a deltaPct of 0, meaning they are effectively tied. The AMD EPYC 4564P trails by -1.5%, and the AMD EPYC 9175F trails by -1.9%. These are server-class processors, which contextualizes the Ultra 7's position as a high-end desktop part with compute power comparable to enterprise silicon.

The GTX 1070, however, benchmarks at the 47th percentile against all GPUs, with an average score of 9780. Its nearest rival is the AMD FirePro W5000 with a deltaPct of -0.2%, essentially a dead heat. The NVIDIA Quadro M2000M trails by -0.5%, while the NVIDIA Tesla M10 and Tesla C2070 lead by 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively. These are all older professional or workstation cards, which underscores that the GTX 1070 is now competing with legacy hardware in raw compute terms.

In practical terms, the data shows a massive imbalance: a CPU that ranks in the top 4% paired with a GPU that ranks below the median. The result is a combo that cannot push frame rates anywhere near what the CPU is capable of facilitating. For The Technomancer specifically, this means the CPU is essentially idle waiting for the GPU to render each frame, wasting the potential of the 24-core processor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the decisive component in this combo's performance. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. The memory runs at 2002 MHz, which translates to 8 Gbps effective. The GPU has a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's VRAM capacity and bandwidth are the primary constraints. At 3840x2160, the card delivers 27 FPS on High settings, 32 FPS on Medium, and 21 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Medium to Ultra costs 11 FPS, which is a 34% reduction, indicating that the higher preset pushes the card beyond its comfortable operating range. The VRAM is likely being saturated at these higher settings, causing the frame rate to collapse.

The GTX 1070's pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s are the raw throughput figures that determine how quickly it can fill frames. At 1920x1080, the card manages 117 FPS on Low settings, which suggests it can handle the geometry and draw calls of this 2016 title when the visual load is reduced. However, at 4K, even Low settings yield only 42 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on most displays.

The GPU's DirectX 12 support (12_1) is relevant because The Technomancer can use DirectX 12 rendering paths. The benchmark scores for the GPU show a Passmark DirectX 12 score of 48, which is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 100. This indicates that the Pascal architecture is not particularly efficient in DirectX 12 workloads, which could be a contributing factor to the lower performance at higher settings where the game may utilize DX12 features.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 1920x1080 smoothly?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 the combo achieves 77 FPS on High settings, 90 FPS on Medium, and 60 FPS on Ultra. Low settings push that to 117 FPS. All of these are above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, it hits 76 FPS on Low and 50 FPS on High, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. 3840x2160 is not viable for smooth play, with 42 FPS on Low being the best result.

Q: How does the GTX 1070's VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The 8 GB of GDDR5 VRAM is sufficient at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, but at 3840x2160 the card struggles. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 21 FPS, indicating that the higher texture and geometry demands exceed what the card can efficiently handle.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus bottlenecked by the GTX 1070 here?

A: Yes, clearly. The CPU benchmarks at the 96th percentile, while the GPU sits at the 47th percentile. The measured FPS data shows no sign of CPU limitation; the GPU is the sole constraint in all tested settings and resolutions.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 76 FPS, while Ultra drops to 39 FPS. That is a 37 FPS difference, nearly halving the frame rate. Medium settings land at 59 FPS, which is the closest to a balanced experience at this resolution.

Q: Does the combo have enough power for a 4K display in The Technomancer?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 42 on Low settings. Medium drops to 32 FPS, High to 27 FPS, and Ultra to 21 FPS. None of these are acceptable for consistent 4K gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that 1920x1080 with Medium settings is the sweet spot for this combo in The Technomancer. This configuration delivers 90 FPS average, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. The minimum frame rate staying above 60 FPS means there should be no significant stuttering or drops below the playable threshold.

For players with a 1440p monitor, dropping to Low settings is the only way to maintain high frame rates. At 2560x1440, Low produces 76 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 59 FPS and High falls to 50 FPS. The variance in the Medium preset at 1440p, with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS, suggests some scenes will be noticeably less smooth.

At 4K, the data shows that no preset provides a good experience. Low at 42 FPS is the best option, but even that is a compromise. The Ultra preset at 21 FPS is essentially unplayable. If a user must run at 3840x2160, Low is the only viable setting, and it will still feel sluggish in demanding scenes.

The recommendation is to prioritize 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This gives a 90 FPS average with a tight variance range, ensuring consistent performance. High settings at 1080p yield 77 FPS, which is also acceptable, but the 13 FPS gain from dropping to Medium is worth the visual trade-off for smoother motion. Ultra at 1080p hits exactly 60 FPS, but the lack of min/max data suggests it may dip below that in heavy scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings produce 117 FPS average, Medium produces 90 FPS with a range of 76 to 103 FPS, High produces 77 FPS, and Ultra produces exactly 60 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with each preset tier costing approximately 27 to 30 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 76 FPS is notable because it stays above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the safest choice for consistent gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings still deliver 76 FPS, which is respectable, but Medium falls to 59 FPS with a range of 50 to 67 FPS. High drops to 50 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is 17 FPS, which is a substantial jump. The Medium preset's minimum of 50 FPS indicates that some scenes will be noticeably less fluid, particularly during combat or when many characters are on screen.

At 3840x2160, the card is overwhelmed. Low settings produce 42 FPS, Medium produces 32 FPS with a range of 27 to 37 FPS, High produces 27 FPS, and Ultra produces 21 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is only 21 FPS, which shows that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling regardless of settings. Even the best case at 4K, Low at 42 FPS, is below the standard for smooth gameplay.

The data reveals a clear pattern: the GTX 1070 is a 1080p-class card for this game. At 1080p, it can exceed 60 FPS on all presets, with Ultra hitting exactly 60 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings reliably exceed 60 FPS. At 4K, it cannot reach 60 FPS on any preset, and even 30 FPS is only achievable on Low. The min/max data available for Medium presets at each resolution shows the worst-case scenarios, which are 76 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU features 36 MB of shared L3 cache, with 192 KB of L1 cache per core and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU is exceptional. It scores 44253 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2439 in single-core. It scores 24461 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 3453 in single-core. Passmark results show a multithread score of 68574 and a single-thread score of 5068. These numbers place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785.

However, in The Technomancer, the CPU's power is largely irrelevant. The measured FPS data is consistent across all resolutions, which indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were causing a bottleneck, we would see frame rates that do not improve significantly when lowering resolution or settings. Instead, the data shows a clear scaling pattern: as resolution decreases, FPS increases proportionally, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

The CPU's 24 cores and 24 threads are far beyond what a 2016 action RPG like The Technomancer can utilize. The game was released in June 2016, and most titles of that era were optimized for quad-core or hexa-core CPUs. The Ultra 7 270K Plus is overkill for this workload, but it does ensure there is no CPU-related stuttering or frame time inconsistencies. The boost clock of 5.50 GHz is useful for single-threaded game logic, but the measured performance shows that the GTX 1070 cannot keep up with the CPU's capability.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark performance are server-class chips like the Intel Xeon 6520P (deltaPct 0), AMD EPYC 4564P (deltaPct -1.5%), and AMD EPYC 9175F (deltaPct -1.9%). This comparison underscores that the Ultra 7 270K Plus is a compute powerhouse. Yet in this game, it is waiting for the GPU to finish each frame. The combo rank of 2336 out of 2825 is a direct consequence of this mismatch, and the CPU is not the component holding back performance.