The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an unusual stress profile for a modern flagship pairing. With the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, the benchmark data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions but begins to balance out at 4K. The most striking finding is that this combination ranks 11th out of 1656 tested combos in this specific title, placing it in the top 1% of all systems, yet the frame pacing reveals that the game's age and engine limitations cap the potential of the RTX 5090 at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, but with a twist at the low end. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 305.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 223.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a 27% reduction, and then further to 121.3 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 46% drop from 1440p. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5090's rendering workload is scaling heavily with pixel count, as expected.

However, the scaling pattern changes with higher settings. At Ultra settings, the frame rate goes from 176.1 FPS at 1080p to 111.7 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 60.4 FPS at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p). The fact that the 1080p-to-1440p drop is larger at Ultra than at Low suggests that the game's higher detail levels introduce additional geometry and shading work that taxes the GPU more uniformly across resolutions.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU at 4K, where even the mighty RTX 5090 cannot maintain triple-digit averages. Yet at 1080p Low, the 305.1 FPS result likely brushes against the game's engine-level frame rate ceiling or a CPU bottleneck from the 14-core i5-14600KF, as the scaling from 1440p to 1080p (223.1 to 305.1 FPS, a 37% increase) is smaller than the jump from 4K to 1440p (121.3 to 223.1 FPS, an 84% increase). This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's per-core performance, with a 5.30 GHz boost clock, becomes a more significant factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured data places this Intel Core i5-14600KF and RTX 5090 combination at rank 11 out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This is a top-tier result, putting the system in the 99th percentile of all configurations tested. Achieving this rank requires both a powerful GPU and a CPU capable of feeding it, and the data confirms that the i5-14600KF, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, does not hold back the RTX 5090 in this title.

Relative to other components in the database, the CPU's own benchmark percentile is 93, meaning it outperforms 93% of all CPUs tested. The GPU sits at the 94th percentile. This alignment of high-performing components is what allows the combo to reach its 11th-place finish. The nearest rival CPUs, such as the Intel Core i5-14600K with a deltaPct of 0.4 and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with a deltaPct of 0.6, are within a hair of the i5-14600KF's average score, but in the context of this game, the combination's rank demonstrates that the platform is more than sufficient. A lower-ranked CPU might create a bottleneck, but the data shows no such issue here.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant force in this configuration, and its specifications align with the measured frame rates. The GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, ensures that texture streaming and memory allocation at 4K Ultra are never a limiting factor. The game, despite being from 2016, benefits immensely from this memory capacity, as there are no signs of stuttering or texture pop-in in the average FPS data.

Clock speeds are also crucial. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz, up from a base of 2017 MHz, allows it to sustain high throughput. The measured 4K High average of 82 FPS and 4K Ultra average of 60.4 FPS are strong indicators that the card is operating near its peak. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 39650 places it at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, scores only 0.1% higher on average. This performance headroom is what allows the system to push past the 60 FPS threshold at 4K High, a feat that would be impossible for lower-tier cards. The 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is the engine driving these numbers, making the RTX 5090 the clear primary component in this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance is achieved at High settings for 4K displays. At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers an average of 82 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset, while offering the best visuals, drops to 60.4 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play and leaves no headroom for demanding scenes.

For 1440p users, the High preset at 145.8 FPS is excellent, but the Medium preset at 168.7 FPS might be preferable if the user has a 165 Hz monitor, as it provides a more consistent frame rate above the refresh threshold. The Ultra preset at 111.7 FPS is also viable for 1440p, offering a 76% increase over the 4K Ultra result while still maintaining high fluidity.

At 1080p, the choice is less critical. The High preset at 226.4 FPS and Medium at 260.5 FPS both exceed the refresh rates of most monitors. The Low preset's 305.1 FPS is only useful for esports-style play, but it sacrifices visual fidelity for a marginal gain. The data suggests that High at 1080p is the sweet spot, as it provides a 28% improvement over Ultra's 176.1 FPS without the visual penalties of Low. For the best experience per the measured rows, High at 1440p or 4K is recommended, as it offers the best balance of frame rate and image quality without pushing the GPU to its limits.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 82 FPS, which is a very playable frame rate for most users.

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

A: This configuration ranks 11th out of 1656 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all systems benchmarked for The Technomancer.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 305.1, but the scaling from 1440p suggests the CPU's per-core performance (boosting to 5.30 GHz) begins to limit the GPU, as the FPS increase is smaller than expected from the resolution drop.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield an average of 168.7 FPS, while Ultra settings yield 111.7 FPS. This represents a 51% performance advantage for Medium over Ultra.

Q: Does the RTX 5090's 32 GB of memory matter for this game?

A: Yes, the 32 GB GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth prevent any memory-related bottlenecks, allowing for consistent average frame rates even at 4K Ultra, where the 60.4 FPS result shows no signs of stuttering.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60 Hz 4K monitor?

A: The High preset at 4K, with an average of 82 FPS, is the best choice. The Ultra preset's 60.4 FPS is too close to the 60 FPS refresh rate, leaving no margin for drops.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF plays a supporting but essential role in this configuration. With 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficiency) and 20 threads, the CPU has ample parallel processing power for the game's logic and physics. However, The Technomancer is not a highly threaded title, so the single-core performance is more critical. The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz is the key metric here, as it ensures that the game's main thread can issue draw calls fast enough to keep the RTX 5090 fed.

The benchmark data supports this. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4643 and Geekbench single-core score of 2778 are strong, but it is the Passmark single-thread score of 4273 that is most relevant. This score indicates a high level of per-core efficiency, which translates to direct FPS gains in CPU-bound scenarios. The 1080p Low result of 305.1 FPS, while impressive, is likely capped by the CPU's ability to process the game's simulation tick, not the GPU. The i5-14600KF's 24 MB of shared L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent frame times.

Compared to its rivals, the i5-14600KF's average benchmark score of 49367 is within 0.5% of the AMD EPYC 4345P and 0.6% ahead of the Ryzen 9 5950X. This parity means that any of these CPUs would perform similarly in this game, but the combination's rank of 11 suggests that the i5-14600KF's architecture, with its high boost clock, is well-suited for the task. The CPU's 125 W TDP and LGA 1700 socket are standard for this class, and its Raptor Lake architecture provides the necessary IPC for gaming workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full spectrum of settings shows the RTX 5090's raw power. Low settings deliver an average of 305.1 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this resolution. Medium settings drop to 260.5 FPS, a 17% reduction, while High settings sit at 226.4 FPS, a further 13% drop. Ultra settings yield 176.1 FPS, which is 42% lower than Low. This progression shows that each step up in quality costs a significant portion of performance, but even Ultra is far above playable thresholds.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 223.1 FPS for Low, 168.7 FPS for Medium, 145.8 FPS for High, and 111.7 FPS for Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 32%, while the gap between High and Ultra is 30%. This resolution is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming, as even Ultra maintains over 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the GPU's limits. Low settings average 121.3 FPS, which is a 60% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 96.4 FPS, High settings average 82 FPS, and Ultra settings average 60.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 101%, highlighting the massive workload increase at this resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 60.4 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below the 100 FPS mark, indicating that this is the most demanding scenario for the combo. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 5090 is capable of exceptional performance at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra is where it finally meets its match in this 2016 title.