The Technomancer

The Technomancer is a 2016 Action RPG that stresses hardware in ways that differ from modern titles. For the configuration of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, the measured data provides a clear picture of performance scaling across resolutions and settings. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results, focusing on the balance between the CPU and GPU components and what the frame rates mean for playability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings delivers an average of 63 FPS, making it the highest resolution where the combo consistently hits above 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average drops to 34 FPS on High, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much of a performance gain is there from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The data shows a 71 FPS difference between the two extremes. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 146 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces an average of 75 FPS, indicating a significant performance cost for the highest visual quality.

Q: Does the RTX 5060 handle 4K gaming in this title?

A: The data indicates that 4K gaming is not viable for smooth play. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves an average of 52 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to an average of 27 FPS, which is not a playable experience for most users.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: The performance gap is 10 FPS. The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 73 FPS, while the High preset averages 63 FPS, showing that High settings are still comfortably playable and offer better visual fidelity.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35670. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, has an average score of 35719, which is a delta of -0.1%, indicating the two processors are virtually identical in synthetic performance.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, indicating it performs better than the majority of the database's tested graphics cards.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its synthetic benchmark scores are substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17984.5 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1794. The data shows this CPU sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, placing it firmly in the high-performance tier for mobile processors.

In the context of The Technomancer at 1080p, the CPU's capabilities are sufficient to feed the GPU. The measured FPS at 1920x1080 on Low settings averages 146 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the game's logic and draw calls are being processed quickly, allowing the RTX 5060 to operate near its full potential. The CPU's strong single-core performance, evidenced by a Passmark single-thread score of 3697, is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in game engines that often rely on a few primary threads.

However, the role of the CPU becomes less dominant as resolution increases. The benchmark results show that while the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates at 1080p, its influence on the final FPS number wanes at 1440p and 4K. The data indicates a shift from a CPU-bound scenario to a GPU-bound one, where the graphics card's rendering capabilities become the limiting factor. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support contribute to its ability to keep data flowing, but the game's demands at higher resolutions are primarily placed on the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS rows, the best experience balances visual quality with a solid frame rate. The Ultra preset provides the highest quality but results in an average of 75 FPS at 1080p and 49 FPS at 1440p. While the 1080p Ultra score is playable, the 1440p score begins to dip below the smoothness threshold many prefer.

The High preset offers a significant improvement in performance with a marginal visual downgrade. At 2560x1440, High settings produce an average of 63 FPS, which is a smoother experience than the 49 FPS of Ultra. At 1920x1080, High settings yield an average of 96 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS standard and leaves headroom for demanding scenes.

For this configuration, the High settings preset is the recommended choice. It provides a playable frame rate at 1440p and a very fluid experience at 1080p. The Medium preset is a viable alternative if a higher frame rate is desired, as it delivers 112 FPS at 1080p and 73 FPS at 1440p, but it comes with a more noticeable reduction in graphical fidelity. The data suggests that Low settings are unnecessary for this hardware, as High settings already achieve high performance without compromising the visual experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 1863 out of 2825 tested combos for this game. This places the configuration in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths, but it is a direct result of the measured frame rates in The Technomancer.

The ranking reflects that while the hardware is capable, it does not deliver top-tier performance in this specific title compared to other combinations in the database. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 with a delta of -0.4%, have nearly identical synthetic scores, so the CPU is not a differentiator. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, has a delta of 1.2%, meaning the RTX 5060's average benchmark score is slightly lower. This performance alignment in synthetic tests likely translates to similar in-game frame rates, keeping the combo in the middle of the pack.

The ranking of 1863 out of 2825 indicates that many other combinations, likely with more powerful desktop GPUs or newer high-end parts, produce higher frame rates in this game. The data shows that this combo is not at the bottom, but it also does not challenge the top performers, making it a mid-range solution for The Technomancer.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. With a boost clock of 2497 MHz, it achieves a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s. The GPU's synthetic performance is solid, with a Passmark G3D score of 20891, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs.

In The Technomancer, the GPU is the primary performance driver at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows a clear trend: as resolution increases, the frame rate drops, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 5060's 8 GB of VRAM is a key factor. At 3840x2160, the game demands more memory for textures and frame buffers, and the data suggests the GPU is struggling to maintain high throughput, leading to an average of 34 FPS on High settings.

The GPU's performance scaling is evident when comparing the 1080p and 4K results. At 1080p High, the average is 96 FPS, but at 4K High, it falls to 34 FPS. This 62 FPS drop is a significant reduction and points to the GPU's fill-rate and memory bandwidth being saturated at the higher resolution. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is a notable asset, but it is not enough to sustain high frame rates at 4K. The GPU's role is to render the complex scenes of the game, and its capabilities are best utilized at 1080p and 1440p, where it can maintain high performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings.

1920x1080: The Low preset achieves an average of 146 FPS. The Medium preset averages 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. The High preset averages 96 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 75 FPS.

2560x1440: The Low preset produces an average of 95 FPS. The Medium preset averages 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. The High preset averages 63 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 49 FPS.

3840x2160: The Low preset yields an average of 52 FPS. The Medium preset averages 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. The High preset averages 34 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 27 FPS.

These numbers show a consistent and predictable scaling pattern. At 1080p, all presets are playable, with even the Ultra setting maintaining a high average. At 1440p, the High and Medium presets remain above 60 FPS, while Ultra falls below. At 4K, all presets fail to reach 60 FPS, and only the Low preset achieves a playable average of 52 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a dramatic impact on performance. For High settings, the average FPS drops from 96 to 34, a decrease of 62 FPS. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate, which highlights the immense rendering load increase at 4K. The scaling is consistent across all presets, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component.

The data shows that the performance drop is not linear. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the High preset falls from 96 to 63 FPS, a 33 FPS drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K, it falls from 63 to 34 FPS, a 29 FPS drop. While the absolute FPS drop is similar, the percentage decrease is more severe at higher resolutions. This is because the GPU is already working near its limits at 1440p, and the additional pixel count at 4K pushes it over the edge.

The pattern indicates that the CPU has ample headroom to process the game's logic, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with the GPU's rendering load. At 1080p, the CPU can push frames quickly, but as the resolution increases, the GPU takes longer to render each frame, and the CPU waits. The benchmark results clearly show that for this combo, the RTX 5060 is the bottleneck, and the optimal experience is found at 1440p where the balance between visual detail and performance is best.