The Technomancer

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 presents an interesting study in bottleneck dynamics when running The Technomancer. The recorded data shows a configuration where the GPU, which ranks in the 92nd percentile among all tested graphics cards, is frequently held back by a CPU that sits in the 68th percentile. Across three resolutions and four quality presets, the measured average frame rates reveal that this pairing delivers a wide range of experiences, from comfortably playable to exceptionally fast, with the most demanding settings at 4K barely maintaining the playability threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High. The recorded average frame rate for this configuration is 83.1 FPS, which provides a solid margin above the playable threshold. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to an average of 59.9 FPS, falling just short of the 60 FPS benchmark, so High is the ceiling for smooth gameplay.

For 2560x1440, the best settings are Ultra, which achieves an average of 113.1 FPS. This is a significant jump from the 4K result, and all four presets at this resolution clear the 60 FPS line comfortably. The Ultra preset here offers the highest visual fidelity while still delivering frame rates well above what is needed for smooth motion.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 145.5 FPS. This is the highest frame rate recorded for any Ultra preset across the three resolutions, and it shows that at 1080p, the system has substantial headroom even with all settings maximized. The performance delta between 1440p Ultra and 1080p Ultra is 32.4 FPS, indicating that the resolution scaling is significant but not linear.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Technomancer at 4K with maximum settings?

A: No. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 59.9 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset at 4K, which averages 83.1 FPS, is the highest quality setting that maintains playable performance.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at if I want to use Ultra settings?

A: Both 2560x1440 and 1920x1080 support Ultra settings with average frame rates of 113.1 FPS and 145.5 FPS respectively. The 1440p Ultra configuration offers a balance of higher resolution and strong performance, while 1080p Ultra provides the highest frame rate.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K?

A: At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 113.1 FPS at 2560x1440 to 59.9 FPS at 3840x2160, a decrease of 53.2 FPS. At High settings, the drop is from 137.9 FPS to 83.1 FPS, a decrease of 54.8 FPS.

Q: Is the Low preset ever the best choice for this system?

A: No. At every resolution, at least one higher preset achieves a playable average frame rate. The Low preset only becomes relevant if a user prioritizes maximum frame rates, as it reaches 180 FPS at 1080p, but it is never required for playability.

Q: Does the game run better at 1080p Medium than at 4K High?

A: Yes. The 1920x1080 Medium preset averages 168.9 FPS, while the 3840x2160 High preset averages 83.1 FPS. The difference of 85.8 FPS shows that the lower resolution setting provides more than double the frame rate.

Q: Are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded for this game?

A: No. The database records only average frame rates for The Technomancer. The minFps and maxFps fields are null for all tested configurations, so the analysis relies solely on average performance metrics.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded average frame rates show a clear progression across presets. The Low preset averages 120.8 FPS, Medium averages 97.2 FPS, High averages 83.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 59.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 60.9 FPS reduction, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High at 14.1 FPS, and the largest percentage drop between High and Ultra at 23.2 FPS. This resolution is the only one where the Ultra preset falls below the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are consistently higher. Low averages 159.9 FPS, Medium averages 145.8 FPS, High averages 137.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 113.1 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 46.8 FPS, which is narrower than at 4K. Notably, the step from High to Ultra at this resolution is a 24.8 FPS drop, which is the largest single-preset decline in this resolution category.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. Low averages 180 FPS, Medium averages 168.9 FPS, High averages 160.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 145.5 FPS. The total range from Low to Ultra is 34.5 FPS, the smallest of any resolution. The difference between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 20.1 FPS, while the difference between 1080p Ultra and 1440p Ultra is 32.4 FPS, showing that the resolution penalty grows as settings increase.

The Verdict

The recorded data shows that this computer can run The Technomancer at all three tested resolutions, but with an important caveat at 4K. The verdictByResolution data indicates that at 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best at 83.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution is not playable because its average of 59.9 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold. This is a narrow miss, but it still means that maximum quality at 4K is off the table.

At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, including Ultra at 113.1 FPS. This makes 1440p the resolution where the system can deliver its full visual potential without compromising on frame rate. The margin above the 60 FPS threshold is substantial, with even the most demanding preset providing 53.1 FPS of headroom.

At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra at 145.5 FPS representing the best combination of quality and performance. The lowest recorded frame rate at this resolution is 145.5 FPS, meaning the system never drops below 2.4 times the playable threshold. For users prioritizing frame rate, the Low preset at 1080p reaches 180 FPS, which is exactly three times the playable threshold.

The overall verdict is that this system is highly capable for The Technomancer, with the only limitation being 4K Ultra settings. The CPU appears to be the limiting factor at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes more relevant at higher resolutions, but the combination still delivers playable performance in the vast majority of configurations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-10400F, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Xeon 6756E with a score of 14163 and a delta of 0.2 percent, meaning the Xeon is essentially tied with the i5. The Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14232, which is 0.3 percent higher than the i5, while the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115, which is 0.5 percent lower. The AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277, putting it 0.6 percent above the i5. These four processors would likely produce very similar frame rates in The Technomancer, with the performance differences being within a single percentage point in synthetic benchmarks.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with an average score of 79605 and a delta of 0.3 percent, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 with a delta of 0.6 percent, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 with a delta of 1.1 percent. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959, which is 1.4 percent higher than the RTX 5090. These GPUs are all within a narrow performance band, so swapping the RTX 5090 for any of these would likely result in frame rates that are close to the recorded values, though the exact game-specific performance would depend on driver optimizations and architecture differences.

When considering a similar system, a configuration with the RTX 5090 and any of the listed CPUs would likely produce nearly identical results, since the CPU deltas are all under one percent. Similarly, pairing the i5-10400F with one of the listed GPUs would shift performance by a small margin, but the overall playability conclusions would remain the same.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 555th out of 3696 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This places the system in the top 15 percent of all recorded configurations, which is a strong result for a pairing that includes a mid-range CPU from 2020 and a flagship GPU from 2025. The rank reflects the overall performance across all tested scenarios, and the high position is driven primarily by the GPU's exceptional rasterization capabilities.

The gap between this combo and the top-ranked systems is likely due to the CPU, which ranks in the 68th percentile among all processors. In a game like The Technomancer, which is an Action RPG from 2016, the CPU demands are moderate, but the i5-10400F's six cores and twelve threads may still limit performance in scenes with heavy physics or AI calculations. The recorded frame rates show that at 1080p, the system achieves 180 FPS on Low settings, which suggests the game is not heavily CPU-bound at lower settings, but the scaling between resolutions indicates that the GPU is doing more work as resolution increases.

The rank of 555 out of 3696 means that 3141 other combinations performed worse, while 554 performed better. This is a solid outcome, and the data suggests that the system outperforms many combinations that include newer CPUs paired with less powerful GPUs, highlighting the importance of the RTX 5090 in this pairing.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals distinct roles for the CPU and GPU in The Technomancer, with the balance shifting across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are very high across all presets, ranging from 145.5 FPS at Ultra to 180 FPS at Low. The small spread of 34.5 FPS between presets suggests that the GPU is not the primary constraint at this resolution, as even the lowest settings do not produce dramatically higher frame rates. This indicates that the CPU, with its 68th percentile ranking, is likely the limiting factor at 1080p, as the game cannot push much beyond the 180 FPS ceiling.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop by 20.1 FPS at Low, 22.9 FPS at Medium, 22.3 FPS at High, and 32.4 FPS at Ultra when compared to 1080p. The larger drop at Ultra settings suggests that the GPU begins to take on more responsibility as the resolution increases, but the CPU still plays a significant role, as the frame rates remain high across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The Low preset averages 120.8 FPS, which is a 39.1 FPS drop from 1080p Low, while the Ultra preset drops to 59.9 FPS, a 85.6 FPS reduction from 1080p Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 60.9 FPS, which is much larger than the 34.5 FPS spread at 1080p. This shows that at 4K, the GPU's performance is the primary determinant of frame rates, and the CPU's influence diminishes as the rendering load increases.

The recorded data also shows that the RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, is capable of handling the game's demands at 4K, but the Ultra preset pushes it just past its limits, resulting in the 59.9 FPS average. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides enough processing power for the game's logic, but its single-thread performance, as indicated by the 3dmark_single_thread score of 688, may cap the maximum frame rates at lower resolutions. Overall, the system behaves as a GPU-bound configuration at 4K and a CPU-bound configuration at 1080p, with 1440p representing a balanced middle ground.