The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test case for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU's role becoming more apparent only at 1080p. This pairing delivers high frame rates across the board, but the scaling pattern reveals where each component's effort is concentrated.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 229 FPS at 1080p to 154 FPS at 1440p, and then to 85 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, though the magnitude of the drop varies.

At Low settings, the system produces 267 FPS at 1080p, 232 FPS at 1440p, and 129 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep here, with the average falling by 103 FPS, or roughly 44%. This suggests that even at the lowest quality preset, the pixel throughput required at 4K becomes a significant burden for the GPU. At Medium settings, the numbers are 242 FPS at 1080p, 180 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K, showing a similar proportional decline. The Ultra preset yields 184 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K, with the 4K result being the lowest recorded average in the entire dataset.

The scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p performance is smaller in relative terms than the gap between 1440p and 4K, which is typical for a GPU with this level of raw compute power. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes a more relevant consideration. The difference between 229 FPS at High and 267 FPS at Low at 1080p is 38 FPS, while at 4K the same settings difference is only 44 FPS, but from a much lower baseline. This suggests that resolution scaling is not uniform across settings, and the GPU's shading workload grows faster than its memory bandwidth can compensate for at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with 1.25 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 21,645 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3,055 in single-core, along with 11,268 in Geekbench multicore and 2,058 in single-core. These figures place it in the 83rd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32,279.

For a game like The Technomancer, which was released in 2016, the CPU requirements are typically modest by modern standards. The data shows that at 1080p, the system is able to push frame rates above 200 FPS on most presets, which indicates that the i5-14400F is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The highest recorded average is 267 FPS at Low settings, and even at Ultra, the system maintains 184 FPS. These numbers suggest that the CPU has ample headroom for this title, and the game's threading model does not appear to be limiting the GPU's output.

The processor's performance relative to its nearest rivals is tight. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U scores 32,233, which is 0.1% lower than the i5-14400F's average. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32,226, also 0.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores 32,354, which is 0.2% higher, and the Intel Core i7-12800H scores 32,121, which is 0.5% lower. These deltaPct values are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning that for gaming workloads, the differences among these CPUs are likely negligible. The i5-14400F's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for a game from this era, and the boost clock of 4.70 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, which is often the more critical factor for older game engines.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 40th out of 2,825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 1.4% of all tested configurations, which is an exceptionally strong showing. The high ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which is one of the most powerful available, but the CPU's ability to keep up at lower resolutions ensures that the combo does not lose ground to configurations with faster processors.

The RTX 5090 D itself is in the 92nd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT with an average score of 76,904 and a deltaPct of 1.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with a score of 78,940 and a deltaPct of -1.6%, and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB with a score of 79,396 and a deltaPct of -2.1%. These comparisons show that the RTX 5090 D is competitive with, but not dramatically ahead of, these other high-end parts in synthetic tests. However, in actual gaming measurements for The Technomancer, the combo's 40th place ranking out of 2,825 indicates that the real-world performance is excellent.

The fact that this combo ranks so highly despite the CPU not being a top-tier model suggests that The Technomancer is not heavily CPU-dependent at the settings and resolutions that were measured. The data shows that even at 1080p, where CPU load is typically highest, the system maintains frame rates above 180 FPS on all presets. This indicates that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, and the CPU is rarely the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average is 267 FPS. Medium settings produce 242 FPS, with a minimum of 206 and a maximum of 279. High settings yield 229 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 184 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 83 FPS, which is the largest absolute difference among the three resolutions. This indicates that at 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom that even the most demanding settings preset does not cause a severe frame rate collapse.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clear step down. Low settings average 232 FPS. Medium settings average 180 FPS, with a minimum of 153 and a maximum of 207. High settings average 154 FPS, and Ultra settings average 120 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 112 FPS, which is a larger absolute gap than at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU's shading workload is scaling more steeply with settings at this resolution, and the memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is being utilized more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are the lowest but still playable. Low settings average 129 FPS. Medium settings average 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 114. High settings average 85 FPS, and Ultra settings average 66 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 63 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms than at 1440p, but the percentage difference is similar. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings at 4K is 84, which is above the threshold for smooth gameplay on most displays, but the 66 FPS average at Ultra suggests that some users may prefer to drop to High for a more consistent experience.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is not a limiting factor at any resolution or settings combination. The memory bus width is 512 bit, and the bandwidth is 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for a game from 2016. The GPU's base clock is 2017 MHz, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and it has 21,760 shading units. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, which are far beyond what The Technomancer requires.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing. It is based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 750 mm² and 92,200 million transistors. The GPU has 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, along with 680 texture mapping units and 176 render output units. Its FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

For The Technomancer, the GPU's role is to render the game's environments and characters at the chosen resolution and settings. The measured data shows that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates at 4K, where the average FPS drops to 66 at Ultra settings. This is not a reflection of the GPU's weakness, but rather the immense pixel workload at 3840x2160. The GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is more than adequate for this game, and its 512-bit bus provides ample bandwidth.

The RTX 5090 D's benchmark scores are impressive. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 14,326. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 310,674, and in Vulkan, it scores 376,915. The Passmark G3D score is 44,065, and the Passmark GPU Compute score is 28,396. These numbers place it well above the average GPU, and its 92nd percentile ranking confirms its high-end status. The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, which is 1.1% slower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, which is 1.6% faster. These are close margins, but in actual gaming tests, the RTX 5090 D's performance in The Technomancer is strong enough to place the combo in the top 40 out of 2,825.

The GPU's power consumption is high, with a TDP of 575 W and a suggested PSU of 950 W. It requires a single 16-pin power connector and is a dual-slot design. These are practical considerations for a builder, but they do not affect the measured frame rates. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz is maintained under load, and the data shows consistent performance across the measured rows.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver frame rates above 180 FPS, so the choice is between visual fidelity and raw performance. Ultra settings at 184 FPS are perfectly playable, and the visual improvements over High are likely noticeable. For users with high refresh rate monitors, dropping to High at 229 FPS or Medium at 242 FPS provides additional headroom. Low settings at 267 FPS are only advisable for competitive play where every frame matters, as the visual quality reduction is significant.

At 2560x1440, the recommended preset is High, which delivers 154 FPS. This strikes a balance between image quality and frame rate, and the 154 FPS average is smooth on most 144Hz displays. Ultra settings at 120 FPS are also viable, but the 34 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains for all users. Medium settings at 180 FPS are a good choice for those who prioritize frame rate, and Low at 232 FPS is excessive for most gaming scenarios. The minimum FPS for Medium at 1440p is 153, which is still high, indicating that the system does not suffer from severe frame time spikes at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the settings recommendation is more nuanced. High settings at 85 FPS provide a good experience, and the 85 FPS average is above the 60 FPS threshold for most 4K displays. Medium settings at 99 FPS offer a better frame rate with a modest reduction in visual quality, and the minimum of 84 FPS confirms that the experience remains smooth. Ultra settings at 66 FPS are playable, but the margin for error is smaller, and any demanding scene could push the frame rate below 60. Low settings at 129 FPS are unnecessarily fast and sacrifice visual quality. For most users, High or Medium at 4K is the sweet spot, with Medium being the safer choice for consistent performance.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 D is capable of handling The Technomancer at 4K Ultra with an average of 66 FPS, but the settings recommendations should account for the user's display refresh rate and tolerance for frame rate drops. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 84 FPS minimum, is the most reliable option for maintaining a smooth experience. At 1440p, High is the best all-around choice, and at 1080p, Ultra is recommended for the best visual experience without sacrificing playability.