The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for modern hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, based strictly on benchmark data. The results reveal a configuration that is powerful yet exhibits a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings, pointing to a nuanced relationship between the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a significant and predictable drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 214 FPS, but this falls to 77 FPS at 4K with the same settings. This is a 64% reduction in performance, indicating that the rendering load on the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The scaling is not linear, however, and the pattern shifts depending on the preset.

At 1080p High, the average is 140 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 92 FPS, a 34% decrease, and then to 50 FPS at 4K High, a further 46% decrease from the 1440p result. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K suggests that the RTX 4080 Mobile is being pushed to its limits at 4K, where its memory bandwidth and compute resources become the limiting factor. The game's age is relevant here; it was released in 2016, and its engine may not be optimized for the high pixel counts of modern 4K displays, leading to this heavy performance toll.

The data implies that at lower resolutions like 1080p, the CPU plays a more significant role. The jump from 214 FPS at 1080p Low to 140 FPS at 1440p Low is a 35% drop, which is less severe than the 4K drop. This suggests that at 1080p, the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is able to keep the GPU well-fed, and the frame rate is not solely limited by the GPU's raw pixel-pushing power. The scaling between 1080p and 1440p shows a more moderate decline, whereas the 1440p to 4K jump is dramatic, highlighting where the GPU's architecture begins to struggle with the sheer number of pixels.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and RTX 4080 Mobile holds a rank of 1209 out of 3696 combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top third of all tested systems, indicating it is a high-performance configuration overall. The percentile data for the individual components supports this; the CPU is in the 85th percentile, and the GPU is in the 81st percentile compared to all other parts in the database. This suggests that while neither component is at the absolute top of its class, they are both well above average.

The combo rank of 1209 is interesting because it is lower than what the individual component percentiles might suggest. This could be due to how the game utilizes the hardware. For instance, the CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, which has an average score only 0.1% lower, and the Intel Core 7 250H, which is 0.2% lower. These are very close competitors, meaning the CPU's performance is not uniquely dominant. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, has an average score just 0.4% lower, indicating that the RTX 4080 Mobile's advantage over some other GPUs is marginal in synthetic benchmarks.

This ranking suggests that while the combo is undoubtedly fast, other combinations may offer better performance per component in this specific game. The game, being from 2016, might not be able to fully leverage the multi-core capabilities of the 16-core, 22-thread CPU or the advanced features of the Ada Lovelace GPU architecture. The rank implies that the system is in a strong position, but its position is not as high as the sum of its parts might suggest, hinting at potential inefficiencies in how this older title interacts with newer hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is a high-end mobile GPU with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1290 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. This memory configuration is a key factor in the 4K performance. The 12 GB capacity is likely sufficient for The Technomancer's textures, but the 432.0 GB/s bandwidth is a critical constraint. At 4K, the GPU must access this memory constantly to feed the large number of pixels, and the data shows a significant frame rate drop, from 77 FPS at Low to 50 FPS at High and just 39 FPS at Ultra. This indicates that the memory bandwidth becomes saturated as the graphical detail increases.

The GPU's raw compute power is substantial. It features 7424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, with a FP32 performance of 24.72 TFLOPS. The 58 RT cores and 232 Tensor cores are present, but for a 2016 game like The Technomancer, which does not use ray tracing, these are likely underutilized. The benchmark results show that the GPU is capable of very high frame rates at 1080p, hitting 214 FPS on Low settings. This suggests that the pure rasterization power is more than enough for the game at lower resolutions. The bottleneck at 4K is more about the memory subsystem and the sheer fill rate required, as evidenced by the pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s.

The data shows a clear relationship between settings and FPS. At 4K, the jump from Low (77 FPS) to Medium (59 FPS) is a 23% drop, while the jump from High (50 FPS) to Ultra (39 FPS) is a 22% drop. This consistent performance penalty for each step up in quality highlights the GPU's workload scaling. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, has a benchmark score that is 1.3% higher, placing the 4080 Mobile in a tightly contested performance bracket. This competitive positioning suggests that the 4080 Mobile's performance in this game is solid but not decisively ahead of its immediate competitors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system excels. With Low settings, it achieves a remarkable 214 FPS average. This drops to 164 FPS on Medium, 140 FPS on High, and 109 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min FPS of 139 and a max of 189, indicating a stable frame pacing with a 50 FPS spread. This resolution is clearly CPU-bound or at least not heavily GPU-limited, as the frame rates are high enough to suggest the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset delivers 140 FPS, which is a 35% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium yields 107 FPS, High yields 92 FPS, and Ultra yields 72 FPS. The Medium preset here shows a min of 91 FPS and a max of 123 FPS, a 32 FPS spread, which is tighter than at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU is starting to become more of a limiting factor, but the system still maintains high, playable frame rates. The data shows that 1440p is a sweet spot for this combo, offering a balance between visual fidelity and performance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting component. The Low preset manages 77 FPS, but this is the only setting that remains above 60 FPS. Medium drops to 59 FPS, with a min of 50 and max of 68, showing more variance and dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. High falls to 50 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. This steep decline illustrates the massive computational cost of 4K rendering. The 1080p to 4K scaling is dramatic, with the system losing 64% of its performance at Low settings and 64% at High settings. The data confirms that 4K gaming on this combination is possible but requires significant compromises in graphical settings to maintain a smooth experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes a 24 MB shared L3 cache. This is a powerful mobile CPU, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17984.5 and single-core score of 1810.5. Its 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its high standing. The CPU's role in The Technomancer becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck.

At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with the Low setting hitting 214 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to sustain these high frame rates. However, the game was released in 2016, and its engine may not be optimized to use the full 16 cores and 22 threads. The multi-threaded performance is strong, but the game's single-threaded performance is likely more critical. The CPU's single-core scores are solid, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1794 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3697, which are good but not outstanding.

The data from the nearest rivals is telling. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 has a benchmark score only 0.1% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is just 0.7% lower. This indicates that the Core Ultra 9 185H's performance is very close to its competitors, and in this game, the CPU's overall power is not a distinguishing factor. The system's combo rank of 1209 out of 3696, despite having a top-tier CPU and GPU, suggests that the game's engine is the limiting factor, not the CPU. The high frame rates at 1080p show the CPU is not a bottleneck, but its advanced capabilities are likely underutilized by this older title.

FAQ

Q: How does the system perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, the system averages 77 FPS on Low settings, 59 FPS on Medium, 50 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 50, indicating some frame drops below the average.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K, where performance drops significantly. At 1080p, the system achieves very high frame rates (up to 214 FPS on Low), indicating the CPU is sufficient to avoid being the limiting factor at that resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a high frame rate?

A: 1920x1080 offers the highest frame rates, with an average of 140 FPS on High settings and 109 FPS on Ultra. 2560x1440 also provides good performance, with 92 FPS on High and 72 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 1209th out of 3696 tested combinations for The Technomancer. This places it in the upper third of all systems, with the CPU in the 85th percentile and the GPU in the 81st percentile.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 214 at 1080p to 77 at 4K, a 64% reduction. At High settings, it drops from 140 to 50, also a 64% reduction.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 140 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 72 FPS. This is a 49% reduction in average frame rate when moving from Low to Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation. With an average of 109 FPS, it remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, providing the highest visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset offers 140 FPS for those with high refresh rate monitors, but the Ultra preset's performance is still excellent.

For 2560x1440, the High preset is the optimal choice. It delivers an average of 92 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. The Ultra preset drops to 72 FPS, which is still playable but may not be ideal for fast-paced action. The High preset offers a better balance between visual quality and performance, ensuring a consistent experience. The Medium preset at 107 FPS is also viable, but High provides a significant visual upgrade for a modest performance cost.

For 3840x2160, compromises are necessary. The Low preset at 77 FPS is the only option that remains comfortably above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 59 FPS is close to the mark, but its minimum FPS of 50 indicates potential stutters. Therefore, for a consistent experience at 4K, the Low preset is recommended. If visual quality is prioritized over absolute smoothness, the Medium preset with its average of 59 FPS may be acceptable, but the data shows a risk of frame drops. Overall, the data indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates with high settings.