The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress test for modern hardware. When pairing the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, the benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by both the aging CPU and the modern GPU, depending on the resolution and settings. The measured frame rates show a clear narrative of where each component's influence begins and ends, making this combo a study in generational imbalance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a classic pattern of scaling, but with specific quirks dictated by the game's engine and the hardware's capabilities. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 173.5 FPS. This is the highest frame rate recorded across all configurations. Moving to Medium settings drops the average to 160.3 FPS, a modest 7.6% reduction. High settings further reduce performance to 148.4 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 136.3 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 21.4% performance penalty, suggesting that the CPU is keeping up well enough to let the GPU handle the increasing graphical load without significant bottlenecks.

At 1440p, the performance envelope shifts. The Low preset yields an average of 150.8 FPS, which is a noticeable 13.1% drop from the 1080p Low result. This indicates the GPU is starting to work harder. Medium settings at 1440p produce 136.2 FPS, and High settings produce 132.3 FPS, a very narrow gap of only 2.9% between these two presets. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 107.7 FPS, showing a steeper 18.5% decline from High. This pattern suggests that at 1440p, the game is becoming more GPU-bound, but the CPU is still providing enough headroom to avoid severe frame rate collapse.

The most dramatic scaling occurs at 4K. At this resolution, the Low preset averages 111 FPS, which is a 26.4% drop from the 1440p Low result. This is a significant jump in graphical demand. Medium settings at 4K produce 86.2 FPS, and High settings produce 73 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 59.9 FPS, barely maintaining a playable frame rate. The data shows that from 1080p to 4K on the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 148.4 FPS to 73 FPS, a 50.8% reduction. This steep decline confirms that at 4K, the RTX 5080 is the primary limiting component, as its workload scales dramatically with pixel count, while the CPU's role becomes less critical.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 7969 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1125 points in single-core. These scores place it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 and the Intel Core i7-8809G, show that it sits in a tight performance band, with deltaPct values of 0.2% and -0.6% respectively.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be most prominent at lower resolutions and settings. The fact that the frame rate scales from 173.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 136.3 FPS at 1080p Ultra suggests that the CPU is able to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates, but it is not the primary bottleneck. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 37.2 FPS, which is substantial, but the game still runs well above 130 FPS even at the highest settings. The CPU's six physical cores are likely sufficient for the game's logic and physics, as the frame rate does not collapse at 1080p, indicating that the i5-9400 can keep up with the GPU's output at that resolution.

However, the data suggests that the CPU's influence wanes as resolution increases. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 51.1 FPS (from 111 to 59.9). This larger absolute drop indicates that the GPU is now dominating the performance equation. The CPU is no longer the limiting factor; it is simply waiting for the GPU to render each frame. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is adequate for single-threaded tasks, but the lack of hyper-threading means it has only six threads to handle all game processes. While this is enough for The Technomancer, it does mean the system relies heavily on the GPU's raw power to achieve high frame rates at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a powerhouse, featuring 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. It has a boost clock of 2617 MHz and contains 10752 shading units. In synthetic tests, it scores 8637 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 36565 in Passmark G3D, placing it at the 89th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, including the Intel Arc A570M and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, show it is significantly faster, with deltaPct values of 1.6% and 2.6% respectively, meaning the RTX 5080 outperforms them by those margins.

The GPU's dominance is most evident at 4K resolution. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 59.9 FPS, which is the lowest frame rate recorded. This is a clear indicator that the GPU is being pushed to its limits. The jump from Low (111 FPS) to Medium (86.2 FPS) at 4K is a 22.3% drop in performance, showing how sensitive the game is to increased graphical fidelity. The 16 GB of VRAM is likely a boon here, as The Technomancer's high-resolution textures can be fully loaded without spilling into system memory, which would cause stutters. The memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is also crucial for feeding the GPU's cores at 4K, ensuring that data transfer is not a bottleneck.

At 1080p, the GPU is almost certainly underutilized. With frame rates exceeding 136 FPS on Ultra, the RTX 5080 has significant headroom. The data shows that the GPU is capable of far more than the game demands at this resolution, but the CPU is likely preventing it from reaching its full potential. The 50.8% frame rate drop from 1080p High to 4K High highlights the GPU's scaling with resolution. The RTX 5080 is clearly the star of this combo, and its performance in The Technomancer is only limited by the resolution and settings chosen, not by its own capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 173.5 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 59.9 FPS, which is the lowest result across all tested configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data suggests the CPU is more of a limiting factor, as frame rates are high but do not scale as dramatically with settings changes as they do at higher resolutions, indicating the GPU has headroom.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p High and 4K High?

A: The average frame rate drops from 148.4 FPS at 1080p High to 73 FPS at 4K High, a reduction of 50.8%.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A570M?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score that is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M, according to the nearestRivals data.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates across all tested resolutions?

A: Yes, the lowest average frame rate recorded is 59.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still above the standard 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 holds a rank of 349 out of 1656 tested combos. This places it in the top 21% of all configurations tested for this game. This is a strong ranking, indicating that the combo performs well overall. However, it is not at the very top, which is likely due to the CPU's mid-range standing, as indicated by its 50th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

The rank suggests that while the RTX 5080 provides immense graphical power, the i5-9400 holds the system back from achieving the absolute highest frame rates possible. The data shows that the combo excels at 4K, where the GPU is the primary driver, but at 1080p, the CPU's limitations become more apparent. With a rank of 349, this system is clearly capable of delivering a high-quality experience in The Technomancer, but users looking for the absolute best performance might find that a more modern CPU would yield even better results, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU's role is more significant.