The Technomancer

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal a clear story about where this system's bottleneck lies. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 221 FPS, which climbs to 267 FPS on Low settings. These are extremely high numbers, indicating the CPU and GPU are not under any significant strain at this resolution. The jump from 1080p High (221 FPS) to 1440p High (144 FPS) is a 35% drop, while the jump from 1440p High to 4K High (79 FPS) is a 45% drop. The scaling is not linear, which points to the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor as resolution increases.

The most telling data comes from the Ultra preset. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 173 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, that drops to just 62 FPS. This is a 64% reduction across the two resolution steps. Compare this to the Low preset, which goes from 267 FPS at 1080p to 121 FPS at 4K — only a 55% drop. The fact that the higher settings see a steeper performance decline with resolution suggests that the additional visual effects in Ultra are heavily resolution-dependent, placing a greater load on the GPU. This is a classic sign that the game is GPU-bound at higher resolutions, especially when coupled with the RTX 5090's massive compute resources. The data implies that if you are targeting 4K, the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, and any CPU advantage becomes secondary.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a multi-core score of 21,645 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 3,055 in the same test. This puts it in the 83rd percentile for all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32,279. The nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32,233, +0.1%), the Intel Core i9-11900 (32,226, +0.2%), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32,354, -0.2%). These are all laptop or lower-TDP parts, and the i5-14400F is effectively in the same performance class as them, which is notable for a modern desktop chip.

In gaming, this CPU is rarely the bottleneck at 1080p with the RTX 5090. At 1080p Low, the system produces 267 FPS, which is so high that the CPU's single-thread speed is likely still sufficient. However, the fact that the 1080p Low and High settings differ by 46 FPS (267 vs 221) suggests that the game engine does scale with GPU load, but the CPU still has headroom. The single-core performance of 3,055 in Cinebench R23 aligns with what we see in the gaming data, as it provides enough processing power to feed the RTX 5090 at lower resolutions. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes further, as the GPU takes over as the main constraint, which is why the 4K FPS numbers are much lower across all settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a monster of a GPU, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, a 512-bit memory bus, and 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz are supplemented by 21,760 shading units and 170 RT cores. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves 39,650 in Passmark G3D and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute. This places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, delta +1.1%) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80,959, delta -1.4%). The RTX 5090 is clearly one of the fastest GPUs available, but its performance in The Technomancer varies strongly with settings and resolution.

The measured FPS at 4K shows the GPU's raw power: on High, it hits 79 FPS, but on Ultra it falls to 62 FPS. This is a 22% drop, which is substantial, and it indicates that Ultra settings are significantly more demanding. The 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth and 32 GB of VRAM are clearly not the limitation, as even the lowest settings at 4K produce 121 FPS. Instead, the GPU shader load is the main factor. The 1080p data is more interesting: the RTX 5090 is overkill here, with 267 FPS at Low, and the CPU is the limiting factor. The GPU's massive FP32 throughput (104.8 TFLOPS) is not fully utilized at lower resolutions, which is why the FPS numbers are so high.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides clear guidance for the best settings. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers 242 FPS, which is just 23% lower than Low but 21% higher than High. Given that the game is an RPG, the visual boost from Medium is likely worth it, and the 242 FPS is far above any standard 144Hz display's refresh rate. High at 1080p is still good at 221 FPS, but the jump to Ultra costs 48 FPS (173 FPS), which is a 22% drop. The sweet spot is Medium, which balances frame rate and visual quality.

At 2560x1440, Medium provides 169 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh monitors. High offers 144 FPS, which is exactly the refresh rate of many 144Hz displays, while Ultra drops to 113 FPS. The Medium preset is again the best choice, as 169 FPS gives a comfortable margin over the 144Hz threshold. At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The Medium setting yields 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, whereas High gives 79 FPS. Ultra drops to 62 FPS, which might still be playable on a 60Hz screen, but the Medium or High settings are more practical. The data suggests that Medium is the best preset at all resolutions, as it delivers 242, 169, and 93 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. These numbers are all above 60 FPS, and the visual difference from High is minimal.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS the Intel Core i5-14400F and RTX 5090 combo can achieve in The Technomancer?

A: The best result is 267 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The highest FPS at 4K is 121 FPS with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo hit 144 FPS at 4K?

A: No, the maximum 4K average FPS is 121 on Low, which is below 144 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K yields 93 FPS.

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

A: Medium is the best, with 169 FPS average (144 min, 195 max). High at 1440p provides 144 FPS, which is also a good option for a 144Hz monitor.

Q: How does the combo's performance compare to other tested combos in this game?

A: It ranks 115th out of 3,696 combos, placing it in the top 3% of all tested combos (the 3.1% percentile).

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the drop is from 221 FPS (1080p) to 79 FPS (4K), a 64% reduction. At Low, it drops from 267 FPS to 121 FPS, a 55% reduction.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 overkill at 1080p?

A: The data suggests it is. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 267 FPS, which is likely far beyond the refresh rate of most 1080p monitors. The GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 267 FPS on Low, 242 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 206 and a maximum of 279), 221 FPS on High, and 173 FPS on Ultra. The performance is consistent, with the Medium setting showing a narrow frame time spread. This suggests that the CPU is not holding back the GPU at this resolution, as the FPS scales directly with the graphical settings.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are 220 FPS on Low, 169 FPS on Medium (min 144, max 195), 144 FPS on High, and 113 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Medium to High is 15%, and from High to Ultra is 22%, which is a typical scaling curve. The 144 FPS High result is exactly at the refresh rate of many 144Hz monitors, making High a viable option, but Medium provides a more comfortable 169 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are 121 FPS on Low, 93 FPS on Medium (min 79, max 107), 79 FPS on High, and 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting provides the best balance, with a minimum above 60 FPS, while Ultra dips below 60 FPS, which may be noticeable for some players. The 4K results clearly show that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the settings have a direct impact on FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 115th out of 3,696 tested combos, which places it in the top 3% of all tested systems. This high ranking is expected, given that the GPU alone is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, and the CPU is in the 83rd percentile. In the context of this game, the combo is likely limited by the CPU at 1080p, but the GPU at 4K, with the overall performance being excellent. The 115th rank confirms the raw power of the RTX 5090, as the i5-14400F is not the fastest CPU in the database, but the combination still outperforms 96.9% of the tested systems. The fact that it ranks in the top 3% is notable, especially considering that the game is from 2016 and may not be heavily optimized for such modern hardware. The ranking also suggests that the combo is well-balanced, with no clear weak link, at least for this title.