The Technomancer

The Technomancer pairs the Intel Core i5-14400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, a combination that sits in the 62nd percentile of all tested system pairings for this title. The benchmark data shows a system that is clearly capable of delivering smooth gameplay at mainstream resolutions, but one that hits a firm wall when pushed to 4K with maximum settings. This analysis breaks down exactly where that wall is and how to work around it, using only the measured frame rates and component specifications provided.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable but steep penalty as resolution climbs. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 101.9 FPS, which drops to 64.3 FPS at 1440p and further to 39.4 FPS at 4K. That is a 61% loss in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling bottleneck. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 24.9 FPS, a 38.7% reduction, which is consistent with a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput rather than a CPU limitation.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling pattern tells a clearer story. At 1080p Low, the system hits 155.8 FPS, which is a very high ceiling. At 1440p Low, it still manages 102.7 FPS, but at 4K Low, it falls to 56.7 FPS. The fact that even the lowest settings cannot hold 60 FPS at 4K is telling. It shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 256-bit bus, is simply saturated by the 3840x2160 pixel count regardless of the graphical workload. The CPU is not the limiting factor here; the 10-core, 16-thread i5-14400F has more than enough headroom, as evidenced by the fact that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 4K yields a 30.3 FPS improvement.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding and shows the most severe scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 81.7 FPS, dropping to 54.9 FPS at 1440p and a playable-but-marginal 26.4 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K Ultra is 55.3 FPS, a 67.7% reduction. This confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck, as the data shows no sign of a CPU stall at any resolution. The i5-14400F’s boost clock of 4.70 GHz is adequate to feed the GPU at all tested settings.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo is at 1440p with High settings. The measured 64.3 FPS at this preset is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth action-RPG combat, and it leaves headroom for the GPU to handle texture streaming without dipping into the 50s. At 1080p, High settings give 101.9 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual uplift from 1080p to 1440p is significant enough to justify the 37.6 FPS cost.

For players with a 4K display, the recommendation is to use the Low preset, which yields 56.7 FPS. That is slightly below 60 FPS but is the only 4K setting that approaches playability. Medium at 4K gives 45.8 FPS, which is playable for a slower-paced RPG but will feel stuttery in fast combat. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as the 26.4 FPS result is below the threshold for a comfortable experience. The data shows that the jump from Low to Medium at 4K costs 10.9 FPS, which is a steep price for minor visual gains. At 1440p, the Medium preset at 79.6 FPS is a solid middle ground, but High at 64.3 FPS is the sweet spot for visual fidelity versus frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the clear performance limiter in this pairing. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s, the card has enough bandwidth for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show it running out of steam. The base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 26.4 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests that the 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is not sufficient for this game’s high-resolution shader work.

The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking among all tested GPUs puts it in the mid-range, and the nearest rival data shows it trading blows with the NVIDIA RTX A400 (0.5% slower) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (2.5% slower). The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 18169 Passmark G3D score is respectable, but the 4K data shows that the card is better suited to 1440p gaming. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, but The Technomancer, released in 2016, does not appear to leverage ray tracing or DLSS in the measured rows, so those features do not influence the results. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the tested settings, as there is no indication of a memory capacity bottleneck; the frame rate drops are consistent with compute and bandwidth limits rather than VRAM overflow.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1030 out of 1656 tested combinations for The Technomancer, placing it in the 62nd percentile. This is a solid mid-pack result, but it is not a top-tier pairing. The ranking reflects the GPU’s age and the CPU’s relative strength. The i5-14400F is a modern 14th-gen part, but the RTX 2070 SUPER is end-of-life, and the data shows that the GPU holds the combo back at higher resolutions. The fact that the combo ranks slightly above the 61st percentile of all combos suggests that the CPU is helping to lift the average, but the GPU prevents it from breaking into the upper quartile.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the overall benchmark database are the Intel Core i7-12800H (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2% faster), which shows that the i5-14400F is a competitive performer in synthetic tests. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (0.5% faster) and the GTX TITAN Z (0.9% slower), indicating that the 2070 SUPER is at parity with older high-end cards. This combination of a strong CPU and a mid-range GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p but unbalanced for 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is not the bottleneck in this system. The measured frame rates show that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions, as evidenced by the fact that reducing settings from Ultra to Low at 1080p increases FPS by 74.1 FPS (from 81.7 to 155.8). If the CPU were the limit, the frame rate would stay flat regardless of settings. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost of 4.70 GHz, provide ample processing power for this 2016 action RPG.

The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093 put it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival data shows it performing within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 250 and the Intel Core i7-13705H, which indicates that the i5-14400F is a capable gaming processor. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and the 10 nm process node contribute to its efficiency, but in this game, the CPU’s role is simply to feed the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system hits 155.8 FPS, which is near the practical ceiling for many displays, and the CPU is clearly keeping up. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield significant gains, while upgrading the CPU would provide little to no benefit for this specific title.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: At 4K with the Low preset, the combo averages 56.7 FPS, which is just below 60 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 45.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 26.4 FPS. It is technically playable at Low, but the experience is not smooth enough for consistent comfort.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 yields 64.3 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset gives 79.6 FPS, but the visual upgrade to High is worth the 15.3 FPS cost.

Q: Which component is limiting performance the most?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the clear bottleneck. The CPU’s strong benchmark scores and the fact that frame rates scale with settings indicate that the GPU cannot keep up at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1030 out of 1656 total combinations, placing it in the 62nd percentile. This is a mid-pack result, largely due to the GPU’s age.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable at 1080p?

A: With the Low preset, the system reaches 155.8 FPS at 1920x1080. The High preset still delivers 101.9 FPS, which is sufficient for most high-refresh-rate gaming.

Q: Does the CPU need an upgrade for this game?

A: No. The i5-14400F delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and is in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. The measured data shows no CPU bottleneck, so an upgrade would not improve The Technomancer’s frame rates.