The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, places distinct demands on the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a pairing that is consistently capable but increasingly GPU-bound at higher settings, with the data showing a clear hierarchy of performance that favors 1080p and 1440p gaming. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and how this specific combo ranks against other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, clearly identifying the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 as the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 98 FPS average. Moving to 1440p at the same High preset drops the average to 64 FPS, a 34.7% reduction. The jump to 4K at High settings yields only 35 FPS average, a 64.3% decline from the 1080p figure. This pattern strongly indicates that the GPU is the scaling bottleneck; the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are saturated as pixel count increases.

Examining the Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p Medium, the average is 115 FPS with a min of 98 and max of 132. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 75 FPS with a min of 64 and max of 87. The 4K Medium preset further illustrates the trend, with an average of 41 FPS, a min of 35, and a max of 48. The scaling between 1080p and 1440p is a 34.8% reduction in average FPS, nearly identical to the High preset's drop. This consistency suggests that the game's engine and the GPU's performance curve are the dominant factors, not the CPU.

The most telling data point is the Low preset scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 150 FPS average, which is the highest measured score in the entire dataset. At 1440p Low, it drops to 98 FPS, a 34.7% decrease. However, at 4K Low, the average is 54 FPS, a 64% drop from 1080p. The fact that even at Low settings, where CPU overhead is often more significant, the frame rate still halves when moving to 4K, confirms that the RTX 5050's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are the limiting factors. The i5-10400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at all resolutions, but the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K regardless of the preset.

The Ultra preset shows the most extreme performance penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 77 FPS. This drops to 50 FPS at 1440p, a 35.1% reduction, and plummets to 28 FPS at 4K, a 63.6% reduction from 1080p. The 28 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the lowest score in the entire dataset, and it is below the threshold for comfortable playability. The data suggests that the RTX 5050 is simply not equipped to handle 4K Ultra settings in this title, as the 16,900 million transistors on the 149 mm² die are pushed to their limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on which presets offer the best balance of visual quality and performance for this specific hardware combination. For 4K gaming, the data shows that only the Low preset, with an average of 54 FPS, approaches playable territory. The Medium preset at 4K, with an average of 41 FPS and a minimum of 35 FPS, is borderline, while High (35 FPS) and Ultra (28 FPS) are not recommended for a smooth experience. The data indicates that 4K is not a viable target for this combo beyond the lowest settings.

For 1440p, the High preset offers a strong experience with an average of 64 FPS. This is likely the sweet spot for visual fidelity and performance, as the Medium preset at 75 FPS is also excellent, but High provides better graphical details for a modest 11 FPS cost. The Low preset at 1440p yields 98 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or high refresh rate monitors, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. The Ultra preset at 1440p, averaging 50 FPS, is playable but may feel less smooth than High or Medium.

At 1080p, the data shows that all presets are playable, with averages ranging from 77 FPS on Ultra to 150 FPS on Low. The Medium preset, with an average of 115 FPS and a minimum of 98 FPS, provides an excellent balance, ensuring the frame rate never drops below 60 FPS. The High preset at 98 FPS is also a strong choice. For users with a 144Hz monitor, the Low preset at 150 FPS is the only option that fully utilizes the display's refresh rate, but the Medium preset's 115 FPS average is still a very smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 77 FPS is the most visually demanding and still delivers a solid frame rate for this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the central component in this pairing, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured performance. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a key factor in the 4K performance drop, as the higher resolution demands more memory bandwidth and capacity. The data shows that at 4K, the frame rates are consistently below 60 FPS across all presets, suggesting that the 8 GB capacity and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to handle the texture and geometry load of The Technomancer at that resolution without significant stuttering or frame rate degradation.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2317 MHz and a boost of 2572 MHz, are relatively high, allowing for strong compute performance. The 2560 shading units and 80 texture mapping units are capable of producing detailed visuals, as evidenced by the 1080p scores. However, the 32 ROPs are a bottleneck for pixel fill rate, which is critical at high resolutions. The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s are limiting factors when the resolution increases, as the GPU must process more pixels per frame.

The RTX 5050's benchmark scores place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, have an average score of 20713, a delta of 1.6%, and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M, with a score of 21237, a delta of -1%. This indicates that the RTX 5050 sits in a competitive mid-range tier. In The Technomancer, the GPU's 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows it is not a 4K-capable card for this title. The 130 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it is a power-efficient card, but the performance ceiling is clear from the measured FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1721 out of 2825 combos. This places it in the lower half of all tested configurations, specifically in the 39th percentile. This ranking is notable given the GPU's individual percentile of 66, indicating that the combination is not optimized for this specific game, likely due to the age of the title and its engine's preferences for different hardware configurations.

The combo rank of 1721 suggests that while the individual components are competent, the pairing does not synergize as well as others in the database. For context, the CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% delta) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% delta), which are enterprise-class processors. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, perform within 1.6% of the RTX 5050 in general benchmarks. This suggests that the RTX 5050 is a solid mid-range GPU, but its specific driver optimization or architecture may not be ideal for The Technomancer's engine.

The 1721st rank out of 2825 combos indicates that users can expect better performance from other pairings. The data implies that a different CPU or GPU combination might yield higher frame rates in this title. However, the measured FPS shows that the combo is perfectly playable at 1080p and 1440p, which means the rank is more a reflection of relative performance against more powerful or more compatible setups, rather than a sign of poor absolute performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is a capable processor that is not the primary bottleneck in this game. The CPU's base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide sufficient single-threaded performance for daily driving the game's logic. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache is adequate for the game's data sets. The benchmark scores for the CPU, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a single-core score of 1451, place it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, indicating solid performance.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and process game logic. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates scale significantly with the GPU settings, from 77 FPS on Ultra to 150 FPS on Low. This wide range suggests that the CPU can handle the workload at these settings, and the GPU is the limiting factor. The 3DMark multi-threaded scores, such as 4748 for 16 threads and 4735 for max threads, confirm that the CPU has strong multi-threading capabilities, which can help in scenes with many characters or physics calculations.

However, the CPU's performance is not without limits. The data shows that at 4K, the frame rates are low regardless of settings, which indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU is not holding back the system, as even at 4K Low (54 FPS), the GPU is still the limiting factor. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core 7 160UL (-0.3% delta) and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (-0.6% delta), show that the i5-10400F is performing as expected for its class. For this game, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient, and the data confirms that the RTX 5050 is the component that determines the final frame rate in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details all measured FPS values for the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination in The Technomancer.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 3840x2160 | High | 35 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 54 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 41 | 35 | 48 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 28 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | High | 64 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 98 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 75 | 64 | 87 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 50 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | High | 98 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 150 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 115 | 98 | 132 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 77 | - | - |

The data shows a clear pattern: the highest average FPS is 150 at 1080p Low, and the lowest is 28 at 4K Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with complete min and max FPS data, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS of 98 ensures no drops below 60 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min FPS of 64 is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while the max of 87 shows some headroom. At 4K Medium, the min FPS of 35 and max of 48 illustrate the GPU's struggle, with an average of 41 FPS.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all presets, with an average FPS reduction of roughly 35%. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with an average FPS reduction of roughly 45-50%. This non-linear scaling is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate become critical at higher resolutions. The data confirms that for a smooth 60 FPS experience, users should target 1080p Medium or High, or 1440p Medium, while 4K is only playable on Low settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that 1080p and 1440p are the most viable resolutions. At 1080p, all presets achieve above 77 FPS average, while at 1440p, the High preset yields 64 FPS. 4K is only playable on Low settings, with an average of 54 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K. The frame rates remain low across all presets (28-54 FPS), and the CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the 1080p Low score of 150 FPS.

Q: Which preset provides the best balance of quality and performance at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 1440p, with an average of 64 FPS, offers the best balance. The Medium preset is faster at 75 FPS, but High provides better visuals for a modest 11 FPS cost.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035, placing it in the 66th percentile. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, has a score of 20713, which is 1.6% lower. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M is 1% higher with a score of 21237.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, at 1080p Medium (115 FPS), 1080p High (98 FPS), and 1440p Medium (75 FPS), the average FPS is above 60. At 1440p High, the average of 64 FPS is also above 60, but the minimum FPS is not listed.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1721 out of 2825 combinations tested in The Technomancer, placing it in the lower half of all tested setups.