The Technomancer

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for The Technomancer with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 spans three resolutions and four quality presets. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 64.1 FPS on Ultra to 119 FPS on Low, with Medium at 95.6 FPS and High at 82.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration in the entire dataset that dips near the 60 FPS threshold, while the other 4K presets maintain comfortable margins above it.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rate envelope shifts upward considerably. Low delivers 151.1 FPS, Medium reaches 139 FPS, High hits 132.4 FPS, and Ultra still manages 111.6 FPS. The spread between the lowest and highest presets at 1440p is 39.5 FPS, which is narrower than the 54.9 FPS spread observed at 4K. This compression suggests that the GPU has more headroom at lower resolutions, and the CPU begins to play a larger role in limiting maximum frame rates.

At 1920x1080, the results show even tighter clustering. Low runs at 172.3 FPS, Medium at 158.6 FPS, High at 147.5 FPS, and Ultra at 134.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 37.7 FPS, which is similar in magnitude to the 1440p spread but at a higher absolute level. Notably, the jump from 1440p to 1080p yields only modest gains: Ultra goes from 111.6 FPS to 134.6 FPS, and Low goes from 151.1 FPS to 172.3 FPS. This pattern indicates diminishing returns as resolution drops, a hallmark of a system where the CPU becomes the primary constraint at lower pixel counts.

No minimum or maximum frame rate data was recorded for any preset or resolution, so the analysis relies entirely on average FPS. The database shows that all twelve measured configurations exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the lowest recorded average being 64.1 FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling behavior across resolutions reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at 4K but progressively more CPU-bound as resolution decreases. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low and Ultra is 54.9 FPS, which reflects the raw pixel-pushing demands placed on the RTX 5090. The GPU has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, and at 4K the rendering workload scales directly with preset complexity. The data shows that Ultra at 4K drops to 64.1 FPS, a 36.7% reduction compared to Medium at 95.6 FPS, which is consistent with the increased shading and texture work.

At 2560x1440, the GPU still dominates the performance profile, but the CPU starts to assert itself. The difference between Low and Ultra narrows to 39.5 FPS, and the absolute frame rates climb above 110 FPS across all presets. The Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, provides enough single-thread throughput to keep the GPU fed at these pixel counts. However, the 14 nm Coffee Lake architecture and DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth place a ceiling on how far the frame rate can climb.

At 1920x1080, the CPU constraint becomes unmistakable. Low preset delivers 172.3 FPS, but Ultra still achieves 134.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 37.7 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 1440p spread. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, the 1080p frame rates would scale much more aggressively relative to 1440p. Instead, the modest gains from 1440p to 1080p (roughly 19 to 21 FPS depending on preset) indicate that the i5-9400's six threads are nearing their practical limit for this game's engine. The RTX 5090, with its 21,760 shading units and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, is clearly capable of far higher output than the CPU can request at 1080p.

The verdict from the recorded data is that this pairing is balanced at 4K, where the GPU is the limiting factor, but becomes increasingly CPU-limited at 1440p and especially at 1080p. The game's release in 2016 likely means its engine was not designed to extract maximum performance from a 2025 GPU such as the RTX 5090, and the CPU's role in frame pacing becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 64.1 FPS. This is the only resolution where Ultra barely clears the threshold, and it does so by a margin of only 4.1 FPS. High at 82.9 FPS, Medium at 95.6 FPS, and Low at 119 FPS all provide more comfortable headroom, but Ultra is technically playable and represents the highest visual quality available.

At 2560x1440, Ultra also qualifies as the best settings choice, with an average of 111.6 FPS. This leaves a substantial 51.6 FPS buffer above the 60 FPS threshold, so users can enable every visual option without concern. Medium at 139 FPS and High at 132.4 FPS are viable alternatives if frame rate consistency is prioritized over maximum fidelity, but the data shows that Ultra at 1440p is far from risky.

At 1920x1080, Ultra again leads with 134.6 FPS, which is 74.6 FPS above the playable threshold. Every preset at 1080p exceeds 130 FPS, including Low at 172.3 FPS, Medium at 158.6 FPS, and High at 147.5 FPS. The database indicates that Ultra at 1080p is the recommended configuration, as it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate that is well into high-refresh territory.

Across all three resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Ultra is always the best settings choice, and it always clears 60 FPS. The margin varies from 4.1 FPS at 4K to 74.6 FPS at 1080p, which gives users a clear picture of how much performance headroom exists at each pixel count.

The Verdict

The recorded data answers the question directly: yes, this PC can run The Technomancer, and it does so at every resolution and preset combination tested. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four presets at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080 are playable, meaning they all maintain an average frame rate at or above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the playable settings include High, Low, Medium, and Ultra, with the best settings being Ultra at 64.1 FPS. This is a narrow victory for Ultra, but it is a victory nonetheless. The other presets at 4K provide increasingly larger margins, with Low reaching 119 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, and Ultra tops out at 111.6 FPS. At 1920x1080, the same four presets are playable, and Ultra reaches 134.6 FPS.

The practical implication is that users can run the game at maximum visual quality at any resolution, though 4K Ultra leaves little room for frame rate dips. For those who prioritize smoothness over fidelity, dropping to Medium at 4K yields 95.6 FPS, which nearly doubles the Ultra margin. At 1440p and 1080p, the system has ample headroom, so the CPU's six threads and the GPU's massive compute resources combine to deliver a thoroughly playable experience across the board.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rival to the Intel Core i5-9400 in the database is the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average benchmark score of 2259 compared to the i5-9400's average of 2254, a delta of negative 0.2%. In practical terms, these two CPUs should behave nearly identically in The Technomancer, meaning the i5-9400's performance profile is representative of what the i7-1068NG7 would deliver in the same GPU pairing.

The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, which is 0.3% lower than the i5-9400, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a 0.4% deficit. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, which is 0.4% higher than the i5-9400. All four rivals fall within a narrow band of roughly 0.4% of the i5-9400's average score, so any of these CPUs would produce frame rates very close to the measured results when paired with the RTX 5090. The differences are small enough that they would likely manifest as 1 to 2 FPS variations at most in The Technomancer.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB is the closest match to the RTX 5090, with an average score of 79605 against the RTX 5090's 79842, a delta of 0.3%. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396, a 0.6% difference, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940, a 1.1% difference. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959, which is 1.4% higher than the RTX 5090. These GPUs would all deliver frame rates within a few percent of the measured values, so users with any of these alternatives can expect broadly similar performance in this game, subject to the same CPU limitations at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 640th out of 3,696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places the pairing in the top 17.3% of all configurations in the database for this specific game. The rank reflects the fact that the RTX 5090 is a very high-end GPU, but the i5-9400 is a mid-range CPU from 2018, and the game's engine does not appear to scale perfectly with such an asymmetric pairing.

The percentile ranking for the CPU alone is 47, meaning it sits near the middle of all CPUs in the database. The GPU, by contrast, is in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The combination of a mid-pack CPU with a top-tier GPU yields a combo rank of 640, which is better than the CPU's individual standing but not as high as the GPU's percentile would suggest. This gap reinforces the conclusion that the i5-9400 is the limiting factor in this pairing, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU's six threads cannot fully unlock the RTX 5090's capabilities.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, the recorded data shows an average of 64.1 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a margin of 4.1 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p for this combo?

A: Ultra is the best settings choice at 2560x1440, with an average frame rate of 111.6 FPS. All presets at this resolution exceed 110 FPS, so there is no risk in enabling maximum quality.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck for this game?

A: At 4K, the GPU is the primary constraint, as shown by the 54.9 FPS difference between Low and Ultra presets. At 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, since the frame rate does not scale as much as expected when resolution drops from 1440p to 1080p.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The i5-9400 scores 2254, while the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 (0.4% higher).

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The recorded average is 172.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 have a close GPU alternative with similar performance in this game?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB has an average benchmark score of 79605, which is 0.3% lower than the RTX 5090's 79842, making it the closest match. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% lower, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% higher.