The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, proves surprisingly demanding even for a modern flagship pairing. The Core i5-14400F and RTX 4090 combo delivers playable performance at every preset, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the CPU holds the reins; at 4K, the GPU takes over, making this a versatile, if somewhat imbalanced, pairing for a title that is clearly not optimized for high-refresh-rate displays.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, yet the shape of that curve depends heavily on the chosen graphics preset. At the Ultra setting, the drop from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 is 59.1 FPS (from 170.6 to 111.7), and then another 52.2 FPS down to 4K (59.5 FPS). This indicates that at Ultra, the GPU is the primary limiting factor even at 1080p, as the 4090 is heavily taxed by the game's unoptimized effects. Conversely, at Low settings, the scaling is far more dramatic: 265.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 216.1 FPS at 1440p (a 49.6 FPS drop), and then plummets to 115.7 FPS at 4K (a 100.4 FPS drop). This pattern signals that at Low and 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound; the frame rate is artificially capped by the processor's ability to feed the GPU, explaining the relatively small gap between 1080p and 1440p.

The most telling data point is the Medium preset. It achieves 240.5 FPS at 1080p, 168.9 FPS at 1440p, and 93.8 FPS at 4K. This shows a near-linear scaling with pixel count, which is the signature of a balanced system where neither component is completely overwhelmed. Moving from 1080p to 4K on Medium settings yields a 146.7 FPS loss, which is a 61% reduction in performance. In contrast, the High preset sees a 143.6 FPS loss (from 219.7 to 76.1), a 65% reduction. The fact that the absolute FPS loss is similar across these presets, but the percentage differs, confirms that the RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are sufficient even at 4K, but the game engine's rendering load scales disproportionately with the more complex High and Ultra shading features.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. In this game, the CPU's role is most evident in the 1080p Low and Medium results. The 265.7 FPS at 1080p Low is a hard ceiling; the fact that the RTX 4090 cannot push past this figure despite its massive 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute suggests the game's main thread is a bottleneck. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is crucial for a game from 2016 that likely relies on a few primary threads. The data shows that as resolution increases, the CPU load decreases relative to the GPU, allowing the 4090 to stretch its legs. At 4K Ultra, the 59.5 FPS result is almost entirely GPU-limited, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed the frames.

However, the CPU's architecture relative to this game is more critical than raw core count. With a PassMark multithread score of 25783 and a PassMark single-thread score of 3723, the 14400F ranks in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. This high single-thread performance is what prevents the game from stuttering at high frame rates. The data indicates that at 1440p High, the system achieves 142.1 FPS, which is a smooth experience, but pushing to 1080p High (219.7 FPS) does not yield a proportional increase, further reinforcing the CPU limit. The 10-core, 16-thread configuration is largely irrelevant for this title; it is the boost clock of 4.70 GHz that matters most.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. The data shows 142.1 FPS at this setting, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and nearly double the 4K Ultra result. Choosing High over Medium at 1440p costs only 26.8 FPS (from 168.9 to 142.1) but offers significantly improved lighting and shadow quality that the Ultra preset's 111.7 FPS cannot justify. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset (240.5 FPS) is the recommended choice. It provides a 20.8 FPS advantage over High (219.7 FPS) and avoids the steep 69.9 FPS penalty (from 240.5 to 170.6) that Ultra incurs, a penalty that offers negligible visual gains in a 2016 title.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The Medium preset (93.8 FPS) is the only viable option for a smooth experience, as High (76.1 FPS) and Ultra (59.5 FPS) dip into ranges that may cause noticeable frame pacing issues on high-refresh displays. The Low preset (115.7 FPS) is technically the fastest, but it sacrifices too much visual quality. The measured data strongly suggests that Medium at 4K is the optimal compromise, as it maintains a 93.8 FPS average while keeping the GPU utilization high enough to avoid the CPU bottleneck that plagues the 1080p Low setting.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of an Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 37th out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 2.2% of all systems tested, which is an exceptional result. The rank is impressive given the game's age and its apparent lack of optimization for modern hardware. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is a limiting factor at lower resolutions, the sheer power of the GPU dominates the overall score. The RTX 4090's percentile rank of 91 against all GPUs, combined with the CPU's 88th percentile, creates a synergistic pairing that outperforms most other systems in the database. The data shows that this combo is particularly effective in this game because the 4090's raw rasterization power (evidenced by its 38,194 PassMark G3D score) can brute-force through the engine's inefficiencies at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only on Medium settings. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 is 93.8 on Medium, 76.1 on High, and 59.5 on Ultra. The Ultra preset is technically below 60 FPS.

Q: Why is the performance at 1080p Low (265.7 FPS) not much higher than 1080p Medium (240.5 FPS)?

A: The data indicates a CPU bottleneck. The Core i5-14400F's single-thread performance, while strong, cannot feed the RTX 4090 fast enough to fully utilize its power at lower resolutions and settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At High settings, it delivers 142.1 FPS, which is a significant step down from the 219.7 FPS at 1080p but with a much higher visual quality per frame.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of FPS cost?

A: At 4K, Ultra (59.5 FPS) is 16.6 FPS slower than High (76.1 FPS). At 1440p, the difference is 30.4 FPS (111.7 vs 142.1). At 1080p, the difference is 49.1 FPS (170.6 vs 219.7).

Q: Is this a top-tier combo for this game?

A: Yes, it ranks 37th out of 1656 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2.2% of all systems in the database.

Q: Does the CPU matter in this game?

A: Yes, significantly at lower resolutions. The data shows a 49.6 FPS drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, but a 100.4 FPS drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low, indicating the CPU limits performance at 1080p but the GPU takes over as the bottleneck at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data is as follows. At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 265.7 on Low, 240.5 on Medium, 219.7 on High, and 170.6 on Ultra. At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 216.1 on Low, 168.9 on Medium, 142.1 on High, and 111.7 on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the average FPS falls further to 115.7 on Low, 93.8 on Medium, 76.1 on High, and 59.5 on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent penalty: at 1080p, Ultra is 95.1 FPS slower than Low; at 1440p, Ultra is 104.4 FPS slower; and at 4K, Ultra is 56.2 FPS slower. This data shows that the relative cost of Ultra settings diminishes at higher resolutions, as the GPU becomes the primary constraint. There is no min or max FPS data available, so only the average figures can be considered.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its role becomes increasingly important as resolution rises. With 16,384 shading units and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, the GPU delivers 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the 4K texture loads in this game. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the 4090 achieves 59.5 FPS, which reflects its raw power given the game's age and lack of modern optimizations. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking against all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 38,194, confirms its elite status.

The 4090's performance in this game is not limited by its memory capacity or bandwidth, as the 4K results do not show a disproportionate drop compared to 1440p. Instead, the limiting factor is the game engine's ability to utilize the GPU's parallel processing power. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this title, as it was released before ray tracing became mainstream. The GPU's 450W TDP and triple-slot design are worth noting, but the measured FPS data indicates that the card is the clear performance driver, especially when the CPU is not the bottleneck. The transition from 1440p High (142.1 FPS) to 4K High (76.1 FPS) shows a 46% performance drop, which is consistent with the pixel count increase, proving the GPU is scaling as expected under load.