The Technomancer

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for The Technomancer reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that shifts the bottleneck from CPU to GPU as pixel count rises. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 305.3 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high ceiling that suggests the CPU is doing the heavy lifting to keep frames flowing. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 214 FPS — a 29.9% reduction — while 4K Low further reduces it to 116.7 FPS, a 45.5% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as the pixel fill rate demands overwhelm what the RTX 4090 can sustain.

The scaling curve is steeper between 1440p and 4K than between 1080p and 1440p across all settings. At High settings, 1080p yields 220 FPS, 1440p drops to 143.9 FPS (a 34.6% reduction), and 4K falls to 74.7 FPS (a 48.1% reduction from 1440p). The pattern is consistent: the 4K step always produces a larger percentage drop than the 1440p step, confirming that resolution is the dominant factor in frame rate scaling for this title. At Ultra, the 1440p-to-4K transition sees a 44.9% decline (109 to 60.1 FPS), while the 1080p-to-1440p step is a 34.5% drop (166.4 to 109 FPS).

What this data implies is that The Technomancer, despite being a 2016 release, responds strongly to GPU throughput at high resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 60.1 FPS is just barely above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this combo is right at the edge of playability at the absolute maximum settings. The fact that 4K Low achieves 116.7 FPS while 4K Ultra achieves only 60.1 FPS — a 94.2% difference — shows that settings have an enormous impact on GPU load at 4K. This is a GPU-limited scenario at 4K, whereas the 1080p results, particularly the 305.3 FPS at Low, point to a CPU that can feed frames faster than the display can likely show them.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 30th out of 1,656 combos in The Technomancer. This places the combo in the top 1.8% of all tested configurations, a position that reflects the strength of both components working together. The rank is particularly notable because the RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product per its production status, yet it still achieves a top-tier result in this game.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 93 versus all CPUs indicates that the i5-14600KF is a high-performing processor, though not the absolute best. Its average benchmark score of 49,367 places it within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-14600K (49,166) and 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49,062). The delta percentages are tight — the nearest rival AMD EPYC 4345P scores 49,595, which is just 0.5% higher. This clustering suggests that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's rank; the GPU's 91st percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473, is what pushes the overall result forward.

The rank of 30 out of 1,656 implies that there are 29 combos that beat this configuration in The Technomancer, many of which likely pair the RTX 4090 with higher-end CPUs. However, the data does not specify which combos rank above, so the analysis must focus on what the measured FPS tells us: this combo delivers 60+ FPS at 4K Ultra, which is a strong result for a demanding 4K workload.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings substantial resources to The Technomancer. Its memory configuration includes 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, yielding 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The GPU's base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and it houses 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, packs 76,300 million transistors into a 609 mm² die.

These specifications translate directly into the measured FPS. At 1080p, the GPU is rarely the limiting factor — the 305.3 FPS at Low settings and 220 FPS at High suggest that the RTX 4090 has ample headroom. The GPU's compute capabilities, including 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s, are more than sufficient for a game from 2016. The texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s means that even at High settings, where texture filtering and shading are more demanding, the GPU can keep up with the CPU's frame delivery.

At 4K, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced. The 4K Ultra result of 60.1 FPS is a direct reflection of the pixel fill and shading demands that the RTX 4090 must meet. The 4K High result of 74.7 FPS shows that dropping from Ultra to High yields a 24.3% improvement, which is a substantial gain for a single settings tier. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking versus all GPUs, with a passmark G3D score of 38,194, confirms that it is a top-tier performer, but the 4K results show that even the best GPUs have limits when pushing 8.3 million pixels.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset delivers the best experience. At 1080p, every preset exceeds 166 FPS, with Low at 305.3, Medium at 256.6, High at 220, and Ultra at 166.4. Since all presets are well above 60 FPS, the choice comes down to visual quality versus frame rate headroom. Ultra at 1080p still delivers 166.4 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, and the visual fidelity gains are likely worth the 45.5% reduction from Low to Ultra.

At 1440p, the spread narrows but remains comfortable. Low hits 214 FPS, Medium 164, High 143.9, and Ultra 109. All presets stay above 100 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The data suggests that Ultra at 1440p is the sweet spot for this resolution, as 109 FPS is still far above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a significant visual upgrade over the lower presets.

At 4K, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. Ultra delivers 60.1 FPS, which is just above the playability threshold but leaves no headroom for frame drops. High improves to 74.7 FPS, a 24.3% increase, while Medium reaches 88.5 FPS and Low 116.7 FPS. For players prioritizing smoothness, Medium at 4K offers a 47.3% improvement over Ultra while maintaining a higher visual quality than Low. The data indicates that High is the best balance at 4K, as it provides a 24.3% FPS boost over Ultra with a modest visual compromise, and it remains well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset spans three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, Low averages 305.3 FPS, Medium 256.6, High 220, and Ultra 166.4. At 2560x1440, Low averages 214, Medium 164, High 143.9, and Ultra 109. At 3840x2160, Low averages 116.7, Medium 88.5, High 74.7, and Ultra 60.1.

The progression from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings shows consistent reductions: Low drops by 29.9%, Medium by 36.1%, High by 34.6%, and Ultra by 34.5%. The progression from 1440p to 4K is steeper: Low drops by 45.5%, Medium by 46.0%, High by 48.1%, and Ultra by 44.9%. These numbers show that the 4K step is consistently more punishing, with the High preset experiencing the largest relative drop.

Within each resolution, the settings scaling is also informative. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces FPS by 45.5% (305.3 to 166.4). At 1440p, the reduction is 49.1% (214 to 109). At 4K, the reduction is 48.5% (116.7 to 60.1). The similarity of these percentages across resolutions suggests that the settings presets scale in a consistent manner, regardless of the base resolution.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 60.1, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best performance at 1080p?

A: The highest measured FPS is 305.3 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, while Ultra still achieves 166.4 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 49,367 on average, which is 0.4% higher than the Core i5-14600K, 0.6% higher than the Ryzen 9 5950X, and 1.4% higher than the Xeon Gold 5318H.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4090 has 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth from 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus.

Q: Does the game scale better with settings or resolution?

A: The data shows that resolution scaling is steeper: the 1440p to 4K transition reduces FPS by 44.9% to 48.1% depending on settings, while the Low to Ultra settings change reduces FPS by 45.5% to 49.1% depending on resolution.

Q: Is the 4K High preset a good option?

A: Yes, 4K High achieves 74.7 FPS, which is 24.3% higher than 4K Ultra, offering a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it carries a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p, where the frame rates reach 305.3 FPS at Low settings. Such high frame rates require the CPU to process game logic, physics, and draw calls rapidly enough to feed the GPU. The i5-14600KF's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,889 and single-core score of 4,643 indicate strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded workloads. The PassMark multi-thread score of 38,697 and single-thread score of 4,273 further confirm its capability.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 93 versus all CPUs places it in the top 7% of processors, and its average benchmark score of 49,367 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals. The fact that the 1080p Low result hits 305.3 FPS suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions; the game is likely GPU-bound even at 1080p, given the RTX 4090's immense throughput. However, the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads ensure that any multithreaded game logic is handled without bottlenecking, which is why the combo ranks 30th out of 1,656 tested configurations. The CPU's ability to sustain high boost clocks of 5.30 GHz helps maintain consistent frame delivery, particularly in scenes with complex AI or physics calculations common in action RPGs.