The Technomancer

The Technomancer is a 2016 Action RPG that, on paper, should be easily crushed by a modern pairing like the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. The benchmark data for this combination confirms that expectation at lower resolutions, but reveals a steep and telling performance cliff as resolution and settings scale upward. This combo places 562nd out of 1656 tested combinations, a solidly mid-pack ranking that underscores a significant bottleneck dynamic between the six-core processor and the high-end Ada Lovelace GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K is the defining characteristic of this benchmark run. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo generates 152.4 FPS, which is exceptionally fluid. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that figure to 99 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 57.2 FPS, representing a 62% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the game becomes progressively more GPU-bound as pixel count rises, which is typical for a title of this era.

The 4K Ultra setting is where the combination struggles most, producing only 39.6 FPS. This is a stark contrast to the 1080p Low setting, which hits 172.3 FPS. The spread between the lowest and highest stress points is a massive 132.7 FPS. This data suggests that while the RTX 4070 has the raw horsepower to push high frame rates at 1440p, the 4K Ultra preset demands a level of fill-rate and shading performance that pushes the GPU to its limits. The fact that 4K High (57.2 FPS) is playable while 4K Ultra (39.6 FPS) is not highlights the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset’s additional effects.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake generation, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows a median position relative to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305. In the context of this game, its role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. At 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as evidenced by the relatively small frame rate gains when lowering settings.

At 1080p, the difference between Low (172.3 FPS) and High (152.4 FPS) is only 19.9 FPS, and between Low and Ultra (118.6 FPS) it is 53.7 FPS. This suggests that even at the highest settings, the CPU is able to maintain a frame rate in the 118-172 range, but it cannot push much beyond that ceiling. The processor’s 6-thread configuration is adequate for this game, but it lacks the headroom of higher-core-count parts. The data shows it sits within 0.6% of rivals like the Intel Core i7-8809G and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i3-10305, confirming it is a solid, if unspectacular, mid-range performer in synthetic tests.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is a 5nm Ada Lovelace part with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 2475 MHz. The GPU’s benchmark data shows it is a strong performer, sitting in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. However, its nearest rivals in the database are a mixed bag, including the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, indicating that its synthetic average score of 37283 places it in a competitive mid-to-high tier.

In The Technomancer, the GPU’s role becomes dominant at higher resolutions. At 1440p, the scaling from Low (149.1 FPS) to High (99 FPS) shows a 50.1 FPS drop, a much larger penalty than at 1080p. This indicates the GPU is now the primary bottleneck. The 4K results confirm this, with the GPU struggling to maintain 60 FPS at High settings. The 12 GB VRAM buffer is sufficient for this title, but the sheer compute demand of 4K rendering on a 2016 engine is what limits performance. The GPU’s 184 texture mapping units and 64 ROPs are being fully utilized at this resolution, resulting in the 39.6 FPS floor at Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 562 out of 1656 tested combinations places it in the 66th percentile of all tested pairings. This is a respectable position, but it is lower than what the GPU’s individual 81st percentile ranking might suggest. The discrepancy is explained by the CPU’s 50th percentile ranking. The data indicates that the CPU is holding the GPU back, especially in scenarios where frame rates are high, such as 1080p Low.

This rank implies that a large number of tested combinations, likely those pairing high-end CPUs with similarly powerful GPUs, outperform this setup. The i5-9400’s performance, while adequate, does not allow the RTX 4070 to fully stretch its legs in CPU-bound scenarios. In a game like The Technomancer, which is not particularly demanding on cores, the bottleneck is more about single-thread throughput and overall IPC. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz helps, but the six-core design is dated compared to newer alternatives. The rank suggests that for users prioritizing high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, this combo is fine, but for 4K, the GPU becomes the limiter, and the combo’s mid-pack rank reflects that it is neither a top-tier 1080p machine nor a true 4K powerhouse.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results across the board. Low settings yield 172.3 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings are slightly lower at 158 FPS, while High settings drop to 152.4 FPS. The most demanding 1080p preset, Ultra, still manages a very playable 118.6 FPS. The narrow spread between Low and High (19.9 FPS) at this resolution reinforces the conclusion that the CPU is the primary constraint, as lowering graphical load does not proportionally increase frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced GPU influence. Low settings produce 149.1 FPS, which is a significant 23.2 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings yield 118.7 FPS, and High settings drop to 99 FPS. The Ultra preset here is 75.5 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 43.1% reduction from the 1440p Low setting. This resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, offering high refresh rates on High settings while maintaining excellent visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the performance ceiling is clearly defined by the GPU. Low settings are the only preset to break 60 FPS, achieving 85.8 FPS. Medium settings fall to 67 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings drop to 57.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to a demanding 39.6 FPS. The scaling here is steep and consistent, with each step up in settings costing roughly 10-20 FPS. For a 60 FPS target at 4K, users would need to stick to Medium settings, while High settings will require a tolerance for sub-60 FPS performance. The 4K Ultra preset is not viable for smooth gameplay with this configuration.