The Technomancer

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a decisive performance outcome in The Technomancer: this combination exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold at every resolution and every preset tested, including the most demanding Ultra settings at 4K. The data shows a system with substantial headroom, where the GPU’s raw power is the dominant factor, leaving the CPU largely unburdened even at lower resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, achieving an average of 61.6 FPS. This is a tight but clear pass, leaving only 1.6 FPS of margin above the playable threshold. For users prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity, High settings provide a much more comfortable buffer at 78.5 FPS, while Medium reaches 91.8 FPS and Low hits 118.1 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again is the best choice that remains above 60 FPS, and it does so with substantial authority at 107.8 FPS. The scaling from 4K to 1440p shows a dramatic improvement: High settings jump to 141.6 FPS, Medium to 165 FPS, and Low to 217.3 FPS. At this resolution, the Ultra setting is not merely playable but delivers a high-refresh-rate experience.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is the recommended preset, producing an average of 167.2 FPS. This is more than double the 60 FPS threshold and indicates that the combination is heavily GPU-bound even at maximum settings. The lower presets are almost academic at this resolution: High runs at 213.1 FPS, Medium at 228.6 FPS, and Low at 251.8 FPS, all of which far exceed the needs of standard 60 Hz or even 144 Hz displays.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance data reveals a clear division of labor between the Intel Core i5-12400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in The Technomancer. The GPU is overwhelmingly the limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions. This is evident from the FPS scaling: when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 167.2 FPS to 61.6 FPS, a reduction of roughly 63%. This steep decline directly correlates with the increased pixel shading workload, which falls almost entirely on the RTX 4090.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and lower presets, where the GPU has less work per frame. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS reaches 251.8, a figure that approaches the practical limits of the i5-12400’s single-thread performance in game logic and draw call processing. However, the Core i5-12400’s 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep the RTX 4090 well-fed, as evidenced by the fact that even the most demanding 1080p preset (Ultra) still produces 167.2 FPS. The benchmark results indicate that the i5-12400 is not a bottleneck at any tested configuration; the GPU is always the primary determinant of frame rate, with its influence growing as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all three resolutions and four settings. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are as follows: Low yields 118.1 FPS, Medium drops to 91.8 FPS, High falls to 78.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 61.6 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent performance cost of roughly 20-25% per tier, with the Ultra preset demanding nearly half the frame rate of Low.

At 2560x1440, the averages are significantly higher: Low produces 217.3 FPS, Medium reaches 165 FPS, High achieves 141.6 FPS, and Ultra settles at 107.8 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is smaller here (approximately 14%), suggesting that the High preset introduces effects that are less taxing on the GPU at this resolution. The Ultra preset at 1440p still maintains a high average, demonstrating that the RTX 4090 has ample headroom for high refresh rate monitors at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the averages are the highest in the dataset: Low runs at 251.8 FPS, Medium at 228.6 FPS, High at 213.1 FPS, and Ultra at 167.2 FPS. The differences between Low, Medium, and High are relatively modest, with only a 15% spread between the lowest and highest of those three. Ultra, however, imposes a significant penalty, dropping 46.6 FPS below High, which indicates that the Ultra preset likely enables expensive post-processing or shadow effects that are resolution-independent. Notably, the dataset includes no minimum or maximum FPS values, meaning the analysis relies solely on these averages, but they are consistent and indicate stable performance across the board.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core i5-12400’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, offer nearly identical performance headroom. The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697, a delta of -0.1% compared to the i5-12400’s 18683 average, making it a statistical tie. The Intel Core i7-1355U is similarly matched at 18730 (-0.3%), as is the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 at 18811 (-0.7%). The Intel Core i3-14100F, with a score of 18519, is 0.9% slower. In the context of The Technomancer, any of these CPUs would yield virtually indistinguishable frame rates when paired with the RTX 4090, as the GPU is the dominant bottleneck in this configuration.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090’s nearest rivals are all professional or workstation-class cards, which is an unusual comparison group. The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches the RTX 4090’s average score of 60347 almost exactly, with a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is 0.3% ahead at 60140, while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% ahead at 61896. The AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% behind at 58657. These deltas are all within a narrow band, suggesting that in synthetic benchmarks, these GPUs would perform similarly. However, in actual gaming workloads like The Technomancer, the RTX 4090’s driver optimization and feature set for DirectX 12 (it supports 12 Ultimate) likely provide a practical advantage that these professional cards may not fully replicate, though the data does not measure that directly.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 153rd out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 4.1% of all configurations in the database, which is a strong showing. The high rank is primarily attributable to the RTX 4090’s exceptional performance, as the CPU is comparatively modest in the broader landscape of tested processors. The combo’s percentile rank of 88 for the GPU versus 72 for the CPU confirms this imbalance: the GPU is performing near the top of its class, while the CPU is above average but not elite. In practical terms, this means the combo is overqualified for the game’s demands at 1080p and 1440p, and only at 4K Ultra does it approach its limits, resulting in the 153rd rank reflecting a system that can handle any modern title with ease, not just The Technomancer.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Technomancer exceptionally well. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: at 3840x2160, all four settings (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra) are playable, with Ultra achieving an average of 61.6 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra reaches 107.8 FPS, and at 1920x1080, Ultra hits 167.2 FPS. The data confirms that the most demanding preset at every resolution clears the playable bar, meaning users can enable maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

The only caveat is the 4K Ultra result, which at 61.6 FPS leaves minimal headroom for scene complexity spikes that could theoretically drop the frame rate below 60 FPS, though the dataset does not include minimum FPS values to confirm this risk. For a guaranteed high-refresh experience, dropping to High at 4K (78.5 FPS) or using Ultra at 1440p (107.8 FPS) is the safer choice. Overall, the evidence shows a system that is not merely capable of running the game, but one that does so with significant reserve capacity at all but the most extreme settings.