The Technomancer

Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B580 represent a pairing of a 95th-percentile CPU with a 68th-percentile GPU. For The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, this combination produces a clear hierarchy of playability across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 72 FPS at Ultra settings, while at 2560x1440, High settings hold at 60.3 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the best result being 47.9 FPS at Low settings. The data shows a system that is fully capable of smooth gameplay at standard monitor resolutions, but which falls short of 4K high-refresh expectations.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset for this PC in The Technomancer?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra settings produce an average of 72 FPS, which is both the highest visual quality and the only fully maxed-out preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, High settings achieve 60.3 FPS, which is the best playable combination at that resolution.

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

A: No. At 3840x2160, the fastest preset (Low) averages 47.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. High settings drop to 32.9 FPS, Medium to 39.6 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS. None of the measured 4K presets are playable.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, scores 23061 (0.2% higher). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895 (0.6% lower), while the RTX 3080 scores 23172 (0.7% higher). The differences are all within 1%, indicating near-identical overall compute performance.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 133.8 FPS, while Ultra averages 72 FPS. This represents a 46.2% reduction in frame rate when moving from Low to Ultra, showing that the Arc B580’s rendering load scales heavily with preset quality.

Q: Does the Core i9-14900K bottleneck the Arc B580 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a limiting factor. The i9-14900K ranks in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Core i9-14900KF, scores within 0.3%. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 133.8 FPS, suggesting sufficient headroom for the GPU to be the primary constraint at higher settings.

Q: How many tested combos does this pairing outperform in The Technomancer?

A: The combo ranks 2776 out of 3696 tested combinations. This places it in the 75th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 75% of combinations but is still behind the top 25% of high-end setups.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K plus Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2776 out of 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places the system in the upper-midrange of all tested hardware pairings, though not near the top tier. The rank is primarily constrained by the GPU’s 68th-percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 95th percentile. The substantial gap between CPU and GPU percentiles indicates that the Arc B580 is the performance ceiling for this pairing.

Benchmark results show that the combo’s rank is consistent with its measured FPS. At 1920x1080 Ultra, it achieves 72 FPS, which is exactly the playable threshold doubled. At 2560x1440 High, it hits 60.3 FPS, narrowly clearing the 60 FPS mark. These results suggest the combo is well-suited for 1080p maxed-out gaming and 1440p high-quality gaming, but it falls short of the top-ranked systems that would likely sustain 4K Ultra at 60 FPS.

The rank of 2776 out of 3696 means that 920 tested combinations performed better. This gap is likely due to GPUs with higher average benchmark scores, such as the RTX 3080, which scores 23172 (0.7% higher than the Arc B580). However, the practical FPS differences at playable settings are small, as shown by the 60.3 FPS at 1440p High. The system’s position in the rankings reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status rather than any CPU deficiency.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i9-14900K’s nearest rivals show that CPU performance is essentially interchangeable at this level. The Core i9-14900KF scores 79371, just 0.3% lower than the i9-14900K’s 79097 average. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574 (0.6% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041 (1.2% lower). The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740 (1.7% higher). All four alternatives would deliver virtually identical frame rates in The Technomancer, as the game is not CPU-bound at playable settings.

For the GPU side, the Arc B580’s nearest rivals are remarkably close in average score. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 23061 (0.2% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895 (0.6% lower), the RTX 3080 scores 23172 (0.7% higher), and the NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249 (1% higher). A system with any of these GPUs paired with the i9-14900K would produce nearly identical FPS numbers. For example, swapping the Arc B580 for an RTX 3080 would change the 1080p Ultra result from 72 FPS to roughly 72.5 FPS, given the 0.7% score difference.

The practical implication is that users seeking similar performance could choose any of these GPU alternatives without significantly altering the gaming experience in The Technomancer. The RTX 2080, despite being an older architecture, matches the Arc B580 within 0.6%, meaning it would deliver essentially the same 60.3 FPS at 1440p High. The RX 580 2048SP, a much older card, also lands within 0.2%, though its 8 GB VRAM (not listed in the pack) could affect other games.

The Verdict

The data shows that this PC is fully capable of running The Technomancer at 60 FPS or above at both 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, but not at 3840x2160. At 1920x1080, all four presets — Low (133.8 FPS), Medium (104.3 FPS), High (93.1 FPS), and Ultra (72 FPS) — clear the 60 FPS playable threshold. This means the game can be maxed out at 1080p with a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, three presets are playable: Low (90.4 FPS), Medium (72 FPS), and High (60.3 FPS). The Ultra preset at 47.3 FPS falls short. The best playable setting at 1440p is High, which just barely clears 60 FPS. For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, Medium offers a more comfortable 72 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The highest average is 47.9 FPS at Low settings, which is below the playable threshold. Medium produces 39.6 FPS, High 32.9 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS. This resolution is not viable for this combo in The Technomancer, even at the lowest quality settings.

The verdict is clear: this is a 1080p Ultra and 1440p High machine for this game. It cannot handle 4K at playable frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Core i9-14900K and Arc B580 in The Technomancer is strongly resolution-dependent. At 1920x1080, the GPU is almost certainly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the FPS scaling from Low (133.8 FPS) to Ultra (72 FPS). This 46.2% drop indicates the GPU’s rendering pipeline is saturated at higher presets. The CPU’s 95th-percentile standing provides ample headroom, as shown by the 133.8 FPS at Low settings, which would require strong single-thread performance.

At 2560x1440, the GPU’s load increases further. The drop from 1080p Low (133.8 FPS) to 1440p Low (90.4 FPS) represents a 32.4% decrease in frame rate, consistent with a 1.78x increase in pixel count. The CPU’s role remains secondary, as the i9-14900K’s multi-core score of 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can feed frames well above the GPU’s output. The 1440p High result of 60.3 FPS shows the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU would not struggle with this workload.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is entirely dominant. The pixel count quadruples from 1080p, and the FPS drops accordingly: Ultra falls from 72 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 4K, a 62.5% reduction. The CPU’s performance is irrelevant at this point, as the Arc B580’s 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute are insufficient for 4K Ultra. The data shows that the CPU’s 95th-percentile ranking does not translate into higher FPS at 4K, confirming the GPU’s role as the absolute constraint.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 72 FPS. This provides the highest visual quality while maintaining a 12 FPS buffer above the playable threshold. Lower presets offer more headroom — Medium at 104.3 FPS and High at 93.1 FPS — but Ultra is the best choice for image quality without sacrificing playability.

For 2560x1440, the best playable setting is High, with an average of 60.3 FPS. This is the only preset that combines high visual fidelity with a 60 FPS average. Medium is also playable at 72 FPS, but High offers better graphics. The Ultra preset at 47.3 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the threshold. Low at 90.4 FPS is playable but sacrifices too much visual quality for the resolution.

For 3840x2160, there is no recommended setting, as none of the presets reach 60 FPS. The highest average is Low at 47.9 FPS, which is 12.1 FPS short of playable. Medium at 39.6 FPS, High at 32.9 FPS, and Ultra at 27 FPS are all progressively worse. Users at this resolution should consider lowering the resolution or accepting sub-60 FPS performance.

The data indicates that the best overall experience is at 1920x1080 Ultra, where the game looks its best and still runs at 72 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured average FPS across presets shows a consistent decline with increasing quality. Low settings average 47.9 FPS, Medium 39.6 FPS, High 32.9 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS. No min or max FPS values were recorded, so the averages represent the full picture. The gap between Low and Ultra is 20.9 FPS, indicating that the Arc B580’s pixel fill rate (213.6 GPixel/s) is heavily taxed at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the results are more playable. Low averages 90.4 FPS, Medium 72 FPS, High 60.3 FPS, and Ultra 47.3 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 47.7% reduction in frame rate. The High preset at 60.3 FPS is the critical data point, as it sits just above the playable threshold. Medium at 72 FPS offers a 19.4% buffer over High, making it a safer choice for frame-time consistency.

At 1920x1080, the full range of playable results is observed. Low averages 133.8 FPS, Medium 104.3 FPS, High 93.1 FPS, and Ultra 72 FPS. This resolution is the only one where Ultra clears 60 FPS, with a 20% margin. The spread from Low to Ultra is 61.8 FPS, the largest absolute difference across all resolutions. This confirms that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, allowing the GPU to flex its full muscle while the CPU remains idle.