The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting scaling pattern for this Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 pairing. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, yet shows surprising headroom at lower settings, suggesting the CPU is more than capable of feeding this GPU even at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in The Technomancer follows a predictable pattern for this combination, but the magnitude of the performance drop between 1080p and 4K varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 150 FPS at 1920x1080 to 98 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 52 FPS, and then further to 54 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64% performance loss from 1080p to 4K, which indicates the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The Low preset tells a different story regarding the limiting component. At 1920x1080 Low, the system delivers 229 FPS, which drops to 150 FPS at 2560x1440 and 82 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop of 79 FPS is substantial, but the 1440p to 4K drop of 68 FPS is slightly smaller in absolute terms. This pattern, combined with the fact that 1080p Low still produces 229 FPS, suggests that at lower resolutions the CPU is beginning to exert some influence, though the GPU still dominates the scaling curve.

Medium settings show a more moderate scaling profile. The average FPS at 1080p Medium is 176, falling to 115 at 1440p and 63 at 4K. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings are particularly telling: 150 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. These minimums mirror the High preset averages at corresponding resolutions, indicating that the Medium preset's minimum performance is roughly equal to what High achieves on average.

Ultra settings produce the steepest resolution scaling of all presets. The 1080p Ultra average of 117 FPS drops to 77 FPS at 1440p and 42 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 42 FPS is notably below the 60 FPS threshold many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, while the 1440p Ultra result of 77 FPS remains playable. This scaling behavior strongly indicates that at Ultra quality, the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck at every resolution tested.

The data reveals that the RTX 5080's performance headroom at 1080p is considerable, with the Low preset nearly doubling the 4K Ultra result. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at each preset (64, 68, 52, and 35 FPS drops for Low, Medium, High, and Ultra respectively) shows that higher quality settings compress the resolution scaling range, as the GPU becomes more saturated at lower resolutions and has less room to scale upward.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB203 chip, brings substantial resources to The Technomancer. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, the memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s provides ample throughput for this game's textures and geometry at any resolution tested. The GPU's 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs process the game's visual effects efficiently, while the boost clock of 2617 MHz (base 2295 MHz) drives the high frame rates observed in the benchmark data.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for The Technomancer across all tested settings. The game, released in 2016, does not appear to stress memory capacity even at 4K Ultra, as the benchmark results show consistent performance without indications of texture thrashing or memory-related stutters. The minimum FPS values recorded at Medium settings (54 FPS at 4K, 98 FPS at 1440p, 150 FPS at 1080p) suggest the GPU is processing frames consistently rather than encountering memory bottlenecks.

The GPU's overall benchmark performance places it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rivals in the broader GPU benchmark database include the AMD Radeon 8060S, which scores 55757 (0.6% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55698 (0.7% slower). The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is slightly faster at 57367, representing a 2.2% advantage over the RTX 5080. These close margins in synthetic benchmarks contrast with the game-specific results, where the RTX 5080 demonstrates strong performance in The Technomancer.

The GPU's pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed to maintain the frame rates observed in the measured data. The FP32 performance of 56.28 TFLOPS supports the compute demands of the game's rendering pipeline, while the 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, though not directly relevant to this 2016 title, indicate the GPU's modern feature set. The 360 W TDP and 750 W suggested PSU rating reflect the power requirements necessary to sustain these performance levels.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average of 176 FPS with a minimum of 150 FPS provides a comfortable margin above any display refresh rate likely in use. The 2560x1440 Medium result of 115 FPS average with 98 FPS minimum remains smooth, while the 3840x2160 Medium average of 63 FPS with 54 FPS minimum approaches the edge of playability for users targeting 60 FPS.

The High preset presents a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual quality over the extra headroom provided by Medium. At 1080p High, the 150 FPS average matches the 1440p Medium minimum, indicating that users can choose between higher resolution at Medium settings or lower resolution at High settings with similar performance. The 1440p High average of 98 FPS is solidly playable, but the 4K High result of 54 FPS falls short of 60 FPS, making it a less desirable choice for 4K users.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (229 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p, 82 FPS at 4K), sacrifices too much visual fidelity for the performance gains. The Ultra preset, conversely, provides the best image quality but produces the only sub-60 FPS results in the dataset at 4K (42 FPS average). The 1440p Ultra result of 77 FPS is acceptable, and 1080p Ultra at 117 FPS is excellent, but the 4K Ultra performance makes this preset impractical at the highest resolution.

For 4K users, the Medium preset at 63 FPS average is the safest recommendation, as it stays above 60 FPS on average while the minimum of 54 FPS only dips below during demanding scenes. For 1440p users, both High (98 FPS) and Ultra (77 FPS) provide good experiences, with the choice depending on visual preferences. For 1080p users, all presets except Ultra exceed 150 FPS, making High (150 FPS) the recommended balance of quality and performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 717th out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the top 25% of all tested configurations. This percentile ranking reflects the strong performance of both components, though it also indicates that many other combinations achieve higher frame rates in this specific title.

The ranking context suggests that while the RTX 5080 is a high-end GPU, its 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs does not translate directly to an equivalent ranking when paired with this CPU in The Technomancer. The Core Ultra 9 275HX's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates the processor is capable of supporting high frame rates, but the game's rendering characteristics appear to limit the overall combo ranking.

The combo's position at 717 of 2825 means that roughly 25% of tested combinations outperform it in this game. This could be attributed to the game's age (2016 release) potentially favoring different hardware configurations, or to the specific demands The Technomancer places on the GPU at the tested settings. The ranking does not diminish the absolute performance numbers, which show strong frame rates at most settings and resolutions, but it does provide context for how this pairing compares to other possibilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, with 24 cores and 24 threads, provides substantial processing power for The Technomancer. The base clock of 2.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz deliver strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2204 and Geekbench single-core score of 2458. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core help maintain smooth frame delivery by reducing memory latency.

The CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 67469, places it in the upper echelon of processors. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (67673, 0.3% faster), AMD EPYC 4484PX (67822, 0.5% faster), and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX (67868, 0.6% faster), while the Intel Xeon 6515P trails at 67006 (0.7% slower). These margins are minimal, indicating the Core Ultra 9 275HX performs at the level of workstation-class processors.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU has spare capacity. The 229 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can sustain very high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor. However, the frame rate differences between presets at 1080p (229 Low, 176 Medium, 150 High, 117 Ultra) indicate that the GPU still dominates the performance equation even at this resolution.

The 3 nm process node from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, provides the efficiency necessary for mobile operation at 55 W TDP. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth supplies the memory throughput needed for the CPU's 24 cores. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU is present but not relevant to gaming performance when the discrete RTX 5080 is installed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values span from 117 at Ultra to 229 at Low. The Medium preset averages 176 FPS with a minimum of 150 FPS and maximum of 202 FPS. The High preset averages 150 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 117 FPS. The Low preset averages 229 FPS. These results show that the RTX 5080 provides ample performance at 1080p across all settings, with even the most demanding Ultra preset exceeding 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionately. The Low preset averages 150 FPS, matching the 1080p High result exactly. The Medium preset averages 115 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS and maximum of 132 FPS. The High preset averages 98 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 77 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate that this combination remains highly playable at all settings, with the lowest average still exceeding 75 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops more significantly. The Low preset averages 82 FPS, which remains comfortably above 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS. The High preset averages 54 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 42 FPS. The 4K results indicate that only Low and Medium presets maintain average frame rates at or above 60 FPS, with High and Ultra falling below this threshold.

The complete FPS dataset shows a consistent pattern across all presets: each step up in resolution reduces the average FPS by a proportionally similar amount, though the absolute reduction varies. The Medium preset is the only configuration where minimum and maximum FPS values were recorded at all three resolutions, providing the most complete picture of frame time consistency. The 1080p Medium range of 150-202 FPS, 1440p Medium range of 98-132 FPS, and 4K Medium range of 54-73 FPS all show consistent scaling without anomalous spikes or drops.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for 60+ FPS at Ultra settings?

A: At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average FPS is 77, which exceeds 60 FPS. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average drops to 42 FPS, so 1440p is the highest resolution where Ultra settings maintain 60+ FPS on average.

Q: How does the Medium preset at 4K compare to High at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 averages 63 FPS, while High at 2560x1440 averages 98 FPS. The 1440p High configuration provides 35 FPS more on average, suggesting users should prioritize resolution over quality settings in this game.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The highest average FPS is 229, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 200 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at 1080p?

A: The 1080p Low average of 229 FPS indicates the CPU can support very high frame rates. However, the GPU still appears to be the primary limiter, as frame rates drop consistently when settings increase, suggesting the RTX 5080's workload scales more with quality settings than the CPU's.

Q: Is 4K playable at any setting?

A: Yes, 4K is playable at Low and Medium presets. Low averages 82 FPS, Medium averages 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS. High averages 54 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS, making these less suitable for 60 FPS targets.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combination of Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 717th out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the top 25% of all configurations tested.