The Technomancer

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an overwhelmingly capable combination for running The Technomancer, delivering playable frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold across nearly every resolution and preset tested. The only exception is 4K Ultra, which dips to 59.5 FPS average—a marginal miss that still leaves the system in a strong position. Benchmark data confirms this pairing ranks 123rd out of 3,696 tested combinations for this game, placing it in the top percentile of systems. The measured FPS figures show a clear pattern: this hardware is overkill for 1080p, excellent for 1440p, and only slightly constrained at 4K with maximum settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4090 produces staggering frame rates that far exceed display refresh rates. Low settings average 265.7 FPS, Medium jumps to 240.5 FPS, and High reaches 219.7 FPS. Even the most demanding Ultra preset holds an average of 170.6 FPS. These numbers indicate the GPU is never the limiting factor at this resolution; the game is effectively CPU-bound or engine-bound, as even the weakest preset only improves performance by roughly 55% over Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is relatively narrow in absolute terms—265.7 to 170.6 FPS—suggesting that graphical settings have diminishing returns when the hardware is this powerful.

Moving to 2560x1440, frame rates remain exceptionally high but begin to show more differentiation between presets. Low settings produce 216.1 FPS, Medium delivers 168.9 FPS, High drops to 142.1 FPS, and Ultra still manages 111.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra here is more pronounced than at 1080p, with Ultra costing roughly 48% of the Low preset's performance. Every setting clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin, and even Ultra maintains a 51.7 FPS cushion above the playable threshold. This resolution appears to be the sweet spot where the RTX 4090's raw power is fully utilized without hitting any architectural bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the system finally encounters meaningful pressure. Low settings average 115.7 FPS, Medium drops to 93.8 FPS, and High settles at 76.1 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 59.5 FPS—just 0.5 FPS below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The performance scaling between presets is now steep: Ultra delivers only 51% of the Low preset's frame rate. This indicates that 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits, while 4K High remains comfortably playable. The data shows no min or max FPS values for any resolution, so all analysis relies on average frame rates, which are consistently high enough to avoid stutter concerns in most scenarios.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. The RTX 4090, with its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 24 GB GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, is clearly engineered for 4K gaming. The Intel Core i5-14400F, with 10 cores and 16 threads, provides ample headroom for CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. At 1080p Low, the 265.7 FPS figure likely approaches the engine's frame limit rather than reflecting a GPU constraint.

Evidence for the GPU's dominance comes from the resolution scaling. At 1440p, Ultra produces 111.7 FPS—roughly 65% of the 170.6 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra. This 35% drop from a 78% increase in pixel count (2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels) suggests a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4090's compute and memory bandwidth are the primary determinants. At 4K, the pixel count jumps to 8.29 million, and Ultra performance falls to 59.5 FPS—a 47% reduction from 1440p Ultra. This steep decline confirms that the GPU is saturated at 4K Ultra, while the CPU remains secondary.

The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3055 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3701, is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any tested resolution. The fact that 1080p Low (265.7 FPS) and 1080p Medium (240.5 FPS) differ by only 25 FPS—while 4K Low (115.7 FPS) and 4K Medium (93.8 FPS) differ by 22 FPS—shows consistent scaling that points to GPU-bound rendering. The CPU's 20 MB shared L3 cache and 65 W TDP are adequate for this game's demands, which likely do not stress multi-threaded workloads beyond 10 cores.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-14400F, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233 avg score, 0.1% slower), Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, 0.2% slower), AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, 0.2% faster), and Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, 0.5% slower). These CPUs would deliver virtually identical performance in this game at 1080p, where the i5-14400F's Passmark multithread score of 25470 and Geekbench multicore score of 11268 place it in the same performance band. The deltaPct values are all within 0.5%, meaning any of these processors would produce frame rates within a few FPS of the measured results.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326 avg score, 0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60140, 0.3% slower), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61896, 2.5% faster), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58657, 2.9% slower). These GPUs would behave similarly in The Technomancer, though the pro-focused nature of these alternatives means they may lack the gaming optimizations of the RTX 4090. The benchmark scores indicate that the Radeon Pro W6600M is the closest performance match, while the other three are within 3% of the RTX 4090's average score. It is important to note that these rivals are workstation-oriented cards, so their real-world gaming performance could differ from synthetic benchmarks.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Technomancer at 60 FPS or higher across all tested resolutions and presets, with one negligible exception. At 1920x1080, every preset—Low (265.7 FPS), Medium (240.5 FPS), High (219.7 FPS), and Ultra (170.6 FPS)—clears the 60 FPS threshold by massive margins. At 2560x1440, the same holds true: Low (216.1 FPS), Medium (168.9 FPS), High (142.1 FPS), and Ultra (111.7 FPS) are all playable. At 3840x2160, the system delivers playable frame rates on Low (115.7 FPS), Medium (93.8 FPS), and High (76.1 FPS), but the Ultra preset falls to 59.5 FPS, missing the 60 FPS target by just 0.5 FPS. This is a marginal shortfall that could be resolved by minor settings tweaks or driver updates, but strictly speaking, 4K Ultra is not playable at the defined threshold.

The verdict data confirms this interpretation: the playable settings list for 4K includes High, Low, and Medium, with High as the best settings at 76.1 FPS. For 1440p and 1080p, all four presets are playable, with Ultra being the best settings at 111.7 FPS and 170.6 FPS respectively. For a 2016 Action RPG, this hardware is far beyond the typical requirements, and the measured data shows no signs of CPU limitation or memory bandwidth issues. The system is a top-tier performer for this title.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 170.6 FPS. This is the obvious choice for maximum visual quality, as it provides a 110.6 FPS cushion above the playable threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra also remains the best settings, averaging 111.7 FPS—a 51.7 FPS margin over the 60 FPS target. Players can enable every graphical feature without concern for performance degradation. At 3840x2160, the best settings are High, averaging 76.1 FPS. Ultra falls short at 59.5 FPS, so High is the recommended preset for 4K gaming, offering a 16.1 FPS buffer over the threshold. The data shows that Medium (93.8 FPS) and Low (115.7 FPS) are also viable at 4K if higher frame rates are preferred, but High provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Technomancer at 60 FPS on Ultra settings in 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 59.5 FPS, which falls 0.5 FPS below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset at 4K averages 76.1 FPS and is the best playable option.

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 2560x1440?

A: Ultra is playable at 1440p, with an average frame rate of 111.7 FPS. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) exceed 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60347. The Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60326 (0% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60140 (0.3% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896 (2.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58657 (2.9% slower).

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 265.7 FPS, and at Ultra it hits 170.6 FPS. The CPU's single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3055) is sufficient to feed the GPU, as frame rates scale consistently across presets.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low averages 115.7 FPS while Ultra averages 59.5 FPS. The difference is 56.2 FPS, representing a 48% performance reduction when switching from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Where does this system rank among all tested hardware combinations for this game?

A: This combination of Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 123rd out of 3,696 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3.3% of all systems benchmarked for The Technomancer.