The Technomancer

The data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 in The Technomancer shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and preset, offering a clear picture of where its capabilities begin and end. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the board indicate a setup that is overwhelmingly capable at standard high-refresh monitors, but which faces a firm boundary at 4K with the most demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides exact average FPS figures for three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the combo produces a low preset average of 233 FPS, a medium average of 179 FPS, a high average of 153 FPS, and an ultra average of 119 FPS. The medium preset at this resolution includes a minimum of 152 FPS and a maximum of 206 FPS, the only preset in the entire dataset to record min/max values alongside the average. This indicates that even at the most common gaming resolution, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with the ultra preset still nearly doubling the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain robust. The low preset delivers 152 FPS, medium delivers 117 FPS, and high delivers 100 FPS. The ultra preset at this resolution drops to an average of 78 FPS, which is still comfortably above the playable threshold. The medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 99 FPS and a maximum of 134 FPS, suggesting that frame pacing remains consistent even as the resolution increases. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30% of the average FPS across all presets, a typical scaling pattern for a GPU-bound scenario.

The 3840x2160 results tell a different story. At 4K, the low preset averages 84 FPS, medium averages 64 FPS, and high drops to 55 FPS. The ultra preset falls to 43 FPS. The medium preset at 4K is the only one in the dataset with min/max values at this resolution, showing 55 FPS minimum and 74 FPS maximum. This is the critical data point: the average of 64 FPS sits just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the recorded minimum of 55 FPS means that the experience will dip below playable levels during demanding scenes. The high preset at 4K, with an average of 55 FPS, is already below the playable threshold, and ultra is decisively lower.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the primary performance driver in this pairing. The FPS deltas between the low and ultra presets at each resolution are substantial. At 1080p, the gap between low (233 FPS) and ultra (119 FPS) is 114 FPS, a 49% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is 74 FPS (152 to 78), a 49% reduction. At 4K, the gap is 41 FPS (84 to 43), a 49% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions strongly indicates that the GPU's shading and rasterization workload is the bottleneck when settings are increased, as the CPU overhead for the same scene changes is minimal.

The resolution scaling further confirms the GPU's dominance. When moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS at low settings drops from 233 to 152, a 35% decrease. When moving from 1440p to 4K, the low preset drops from 152 to 84, a 45% decrease. This accelerating loss of performance as pixel count rises is the signature of a GPU that is fully saturated. The Intel Core i5-14600K, with its high single-thread and multi-thread scores in synthetic benchmarks, is not limiting these frame rates; if it were, the FPS would not scale so cleanly with resolution.

The role of the CPU is more apparent at the lowest resolution and lowest preset. At 1080p low, the 233 FPS average is so high that it approaches the ceiling of what the CPU can feed to the GPU. In this specific scenario, the CPU's performance is the limiting factor, but the result is still far beyond any practical display refresh rate. For all other configurations, the data shows the RTX 4070 doing the heavy lifting, with the CPU providing ample headroom to keep the GPU fed.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with the high preset?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with high settings is 55, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The medium preset is the highest setting that averages above 60 FPS at this resolution, with an average of 64 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 2560x1440?

A: The ultra preset at 2560x1440 achieves an average of 78 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. This makes it the most demanding preset that remains playable at this resolution, according to the data.

Q: How much faster is the low preset compared to ultra at 1920x1080?

A: The low preset averages 233 FPS, while the ultra preset averages 119 FPS. This represents a 114 FPS difference, meaning the low preset is roughly 96% faster than the ultra preset at 1080p.

Q: Does the game ever drop below 60 FPS at the medium preset in 1440p?

A: The recorded minimum FPS for the medium preset at 2560x1440 is 99, and the maximum is 134. The data shows no dips below 60 FPS for this configuration.

Q: What are the playable settings at 4K?

A: According to the verdict data, the playable settings at 3840x2160 are Low and Medium. The high and ultra presets both average below 60 FPS, making them unplayable by the stated threshold.

Q: Is the frame rate at 1080p high enough for a 144Hz monitor?

A: Yes, for most presets. The high preset averages 153 FPS and the medium preset averages 179 FPS, both exceeding 144 FPS. The ultra preset averages 119 FPS, which is below 144 FPS but still above 60 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-14600K sits in a tight performance cluster based on its average benchmark score of 48618. The nearest rival is the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, which scores 48698, a negligible 0.2% difference. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48470, which is 0.3% lower. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48287, a 0.7% deficit, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995, a 0.8% advantage. In practical terms, any of these CPUs would deliver near-identical frame rates in The Technomancer, as the game's performance is dominated by the GPU. The choice between them would come down to platform features rather than gaming performance.

For the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, placing it near several other cards. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 scores 37628, a 0.1% difference, making it statistically equivalent in raw compute. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507, a 0.4% difference. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, which is 1.3% higher, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157, which is 1.3% lower. For The Technomancer specifically, these rivals would produce very similar FPS results, though the exact 4K medium preset performance might vary by a few frames. The RTX 4080 Mobile would likely edge out the RTX 4070 slightly, potentially pushing the 4K high preset from 55 FPS to just above 60 FPS, but the data does not confirm this.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 847th out of 3696 tested combinations for this game. This places it in the top 23% of all systems tested. The rank reflects the overall capability of the pairing, balancing the CPU's strong single-thread performance with the GPU's substantial rasterization power. Given that the combo achieves playable frame rates at all tested presets in 1080p and 1440p, and at low and medium settings in 4K, the rank is consistent with a high-performing, but not top-tier, configuration. The presence of 3696 total combos indicates a wide range of hardware, and this pairing sits well above the median, offering a strong experience for most gaming scenarios.

The Verdict

The data shows that this PC can run The Technomancer effectively, but the playable range depends heavily on the chosen resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets—low, medium, high, and ultra—average above 60 FPS, with the lowest average being 119 FPS at ultra. This means the system is fully playable at 1080p with every setting maxed out. At 2560x1440, the same holds true: all presets from low to ultra average above 60 FPS, with ultra hitting 78 FPS. The system is fully playable at 1440p with maximum settings.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The low preset averages 84 FPS and the medium preset averages 64 FPS, both above the threshold. However, the high preset averages 55 FPS and the ultra preset averages 43 FPS, both below playable. Furthermore, the medium preset at 4K has a recorded minimum of 55 FPS, meaning even the "playable" setting can dip below 60 FPS during intense moments. The verdict data confirms this, listing only Low and Medium as playable settings at 4K, with Medium being the best settings and an average FPS of 64.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 119 FPS. This is the recommended configuration for maximum visual quality without sacrificing playability.

For 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is also Ultra, with an average of 78 FPS. This provides a high-quality image with a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

For 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 64 FPS. However, the minimum FPS of 55 at this setting means that users seeking a locked 60 FPS experience should consider the low preset, which averages 84 FPS. The medium setting is the highest that meets the average threshold, but it is not perfectly smooth.