The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study when paired with the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. This combination represents a significant generational gap, where a modern, high-end GPU is tasked with driving a title built for older hardware. The resulting frame rates reveal a complex interaction between resolution, settings, and the age of the game engine, with the data showing that the experience scales in ways that are both predictable and surprising for a modern GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a steep, but not uniform, drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At the High preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 results in a performance decrease from 150.1 FPS to 109 FPS, a reduction of roughly 27%. Moving further up to 3840x2160, the frame rate falls to 60.7 FPS, which is a 44% drop from the 1440p result and a 60% drop from the 1080p figure. This pattern strongly indicates that the RX 7900 XT is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the workload shifts from the CPU to the GPU's rendering pipeline.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less punishing than the jump to 4K. For instance, at the Low preset, the performance only drops from 173.6 FPS at 1080p to 149 FPS at 1440p, a 14% decrease. However, the jump to 4K at Low settings brings the frame rate down to 86.5 FPS, a 42% reduction from 1440p. This suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the game's engine or the CPU might be creating a bottleneck that prevents the GPU from reaching its absolute maximum output, but once the resolution is high enough, the sheer pixel count overwhelms the GPU's fill rate capabilities. The data implies that 4K is a significant hurdle for this combination, even on a 2016 title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores, such as 7969 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1125 points in single-core, place it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer by modern standards. The data shows it is very closely matched with rivals like the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, with a deltaPct of 0.2% in its average benchmark score.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be critical in preventing frame rates from soaring even higher at lower resolutions. The fact that the frame rate at 1080p Low (173.6 FPS) is only slightly higher than at 1080p High (150.1 FPS) suggests that the game is not purely GPU-bound at this resolution. The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads, lacking Hyper-Threading, might be a limiting factor in a game from 2016 that may not be optimized for multi-threading. The data suggests that while the GPU is capable of immense throughput, the older CPU's single-thread performance is a bottleneck that caps the maximum achievable frame rate, preventing the experience from scaling fully at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a powerhouse on paper. With 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, it offers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 2394 MHz, provide a theoretical FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS. This hardware is clearly designed for high-resolution gaming, and its benchmark scores reflect that, with a Passmark G3D score of 29009 and a strong 5623 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. It sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with its average benchmark score being nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile.

In The Technomancer, the GPU's role is clearly defined by the resolution. At 4K, the GPU is unquestionably the limiting factor. The frame rates at 4K (60.7 FPS High, 43.6 FPS Ultra) are far below what the GPU's raw compute power would suggest, indicating that the game's rendering techniques are likely using the GPU's resources inefficiently by modern standards. The massive 20 GB VRAM buffer is more than sufficient for this title, but the data shows that the GPU's raw processing power is being held back by the game's engine, which was released before the RDNA 3 architecture existed. The GPU's performance here is less about its absolute capabilities and more about how well it can adapt to the legacy DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) codebase of this older title.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 494th out of 1656 tested combos for this game. This places it in the top 30% of all tested systems, which is a solid result. The high ranking is almost entirely due to the GPU's immense power, which allows it to brute-force its way through the game's demanding settings, especially at high resolutions.

However, the ranking also reveals the potential mismatch of the components. The CPU's 50th percentile standing in its own benchmarks suggests that it is not a top-tier performer. The fact that this combo still achieves a rank of 494 indicates that the game's performance is heavily weighted towards GPU capabilities. If the CPU were a more modern or higher-end part, the combo's rank would likely be higher, as the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions would be less severe. The data suggests that this combo is a case of a GPU that is a few generations ahead of the CPU, and the overall ranking reflects the GPU's dominance in this particular game title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the Ultra preset is extremely demanding, providing the lowest frame rates at every resolution. At 4K, Ultra drops to 43.6 FPS, which is not a smooth experience. Even at 1080p, the Ultra preset yields 126.3 FPS, a significant drop from the High preset. For a high-refresh-rate monitor at 1080p, the High preset is preferable, as it maintains 150.1 FPS, which is much closer to the Low preset's 173.6 FPS, while offering better visual fidelity.

For 1440p gaming, the High preset is the clear sweet spot. It provides a very playable 109 FPS, which is nearly a 32% improvement over the Ultra preset's 82.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 126.9 FPS, which is also excellent, but the High preset appears to be the best balance of quality and performance. At 4K, the choices are more constrained. The High preset is the only one that provides a playable experience, hitting 60.7 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is slightly behind at 69.2 FPS, which is also acceptable, but the data suggests High is the most stable option. The Low preset at 4K (86.5 FPS) is an option for those who prioritize frame rate over visuals, but the High preset's 60.7 FPS is the recommended baseline for a playable 4K experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset shows a clear progression of performance. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are high across the board, starting at 173.6 FPS on Low and only dropping to 126.3 FPS on Ultra. The High preset records 150.1 FPS, and the Medium preset is in between at 159.2 FPS. At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong, with the Low preset at 149 FPS and the High preset at 109 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 82.4 FPS, while Medium remains playable at 126.9 FPS.

The 3840x2160 results are where the GPU's limits are tested. Here, the Ultra preset struggles significantly, producing only 43.6 FPS. The High preset is the only one to break the 60 FPS barrier, achieving 60.7 FPS. The Medium preset is close behind at 69.2 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 86.5 FPS. The data reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 47.3 FPS. At 4K, this difference grows to 42.9 FPS, but the relative performance penalty for Ultra is much steeper, highlighting the engine's struggle with the combination of high resolution and high-quality effects.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with the High preset provides a strong balance, achieving 109 FPS. While 1920x1080 offers higher frame rates (150.1 FPS on High), the 1440p result demonstrates a significant visual upgrade with a still-smooth frame rate.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The measured data shows that at 3840x2160, only the High preset (60.7 FPS) and Medium preset (69.2 FPS) provide playable frame rates above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset is not viable at 4K, dropping to 43.6 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The data shows it is extremely closely matched, with a deltaPct of only 0.2% compared to the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4. It is also just 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon E-2134 and 0.6% behind the Intel Core i7-8809G.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT a high-performance GPU relative to its peers?

A: Yes. Its average benchmark score is 38358, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its score is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, with a deltaPct of 0%, and it is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 70HX.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The difference is significant. The Low preset achieves 173.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 126.3 FPS, a difference of 47.3 FPS. This indicates that even at 1080p, the Ultra preset has a substantial performance cost.

Q: Is the combo more limited by the CPU or the GPU at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The frame rates at 3840x2160 are dramatically lower than at 2560x1440, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's impact is more apparent at lower resolutions where the frame rate does not scale as high as the GPU's potential would suggest.