The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress test for a modern flagship pairing of the Intel Core i7-13700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The measured data reveals a configuration that is overwhelmingly powerful for this title, yet the scaling patterns expose where the bottlenecks lie. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings to understand the behavior of this exceptional hardware combo.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the burden of rendering falls. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 310.6 FPS. This is an extreme frame rate that indicates the CPU is doing the heavy lifting, pushing out frames as fast as it can. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average drops to 217.4 FPS, a significant reduction of 93.2 FPS from the 1080p result. This suggests that while the resolution increase adds work, the GPU is still not the primary constraint at this setting.

The pattern shifts decisively at 4K. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS falls to 117.2, which is a massive drop from the 1440p figure. This substantial decline of over 100 FPS highlights the immense pixel-pushing demand placed on the RTX 4090 at this resolution. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, can maintain a high frame rate ceiling, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as the resolution climbs. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows a 62% reduction in average FPS, clearly indicating the transition from a CPU-bound scenario at low resolutions to a GPU-bound scenario at 4K.

This relationship is consistent across other settings. With High settings, the average FPS goes from 219.2 at 1080p to 138.8 at 1440p, and finally to 74.5 at 4K. The incremental drop from 1440p to 4K (64.3 FPS) is larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (80.4 FPS), reinforcing that the GPU's workload increases exponentially with resolution. The game appears to scale as expected, but the sheer power of this combo means even 4K Ultra is playable, though the data suggests that the CPU is not strained even at the highest settings, allowing the GPU to be the sole performance arbiter.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for the highest average frame rate?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings yields the highest measured average at 310.6 FPS. This is the fastest configuration recorded in the measured data.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-13700K a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that at 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 310.6 FPS at Low settings. However, at 4K, the average FPS drops to 117.2 at Low settings, which indicates the GPU is now the primary constraint due to the massive increase in pixel workload.

Q: How does the combo rank among other tested configurations?

A: This specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks at position 28 out of 1656 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top percentile of all tested hardware configurations.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 217.4 FPS on Low settings to 108.4 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a significant 109 FPS penalty for enabling the highest visual quality presets.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming with this title?

A: Yes, the measured data shows that at 3840x2160, the system achieves a 74.5 FPS average on High settings and a 59.6 FPS average on Ultra settings. These figures are perfectly playable for a smooth experience.

Q: Does the game utilize the CPU's multi-threading capabilities effectively?

A: The high average FPS at 1080p suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames quickly. The processor has 16 cores and 24 threads with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, and its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000, indicate a very strong multi-threaded processor that likely prevents a CPU-side bottleneck in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this configuration at rank 28 out of 1656 total tested combos for The Technomancer. This is an exceptional ranking, placing it within the top 2% of all configurations tested on this database. The combo's position reflects the sheer power of both components. The RTX 4090 is in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, and the i7-13700K is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, making their pairing a formidable force.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows a tight cluster of performance. The i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 47282, which is only 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i7-13700KF and 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4364P. This indicates that for this game, the specific model of CPU matters less than the overall platform's capability. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4, are workstation cards with a 0.4% higher average score, but they are not relevant for gaming. The positioning of this combo in the 28th spot suggests that while there are a few faster configurations, this pairing is among the absolute elite for running this title, likely limited only by the game's own engine or the raw clock speeds of a few other top-tier CPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a standard 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Ultra preset is the most demanding, averaging 59.6 FPS. While this is technically playable, it sits right at the threshold. The High preset at 4K offers a more comfortable margin with a 74.5 FPS average, which is a better choice for maintaining a stable frame rate with high visual fidelity.

For gamers using a 1440p monitor with a high refresh rate, the Ultra settings provide a 108.4 FPS average, which will satisfy many 100Hz+ displays. However, the Medium preset at 1440p yields a much higher 164 FPS average, which is a significant jump for a small visual downgrade. This makes Medium an excellent choice for competitive play or for users with 165Hz or 240Hz monitors. At 1080p, the Ultra preset still manages a 169.7 FPS average, but the Medium preset's 252.9 FPS average is a substantial increase that will benefit esports-style play. The data suggests that High settings strike the best balance between visual quality and performance across all resolutions, avoiding the steep cost of the Ultra preset while providing a significant improvement over Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of performance across all combinations. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 310.6 on Low to 169.7 on Ultra. The specific measurements are: Low at 310.6, Medium at 252.9, High at 219.2, and Ultra at 169.7. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop accordingly: Low at 217.4, Medium at 164, High at 138.8, and Ultra at 108.4. Finally, at 3840x2160, the system produces: Low at 117.2, Medium at 92.5, High at 74.5, and Ultra at 59.6. These numbers show a consistent scaling pattern. The difference between Medium and High at 1440p is 25.2 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 30.4 FPS. At 4K, the gap between the same presets is 18 FPS and 14.9 FPS, respectively, demonstrating that the absolute FPS cost of each preset level decreases at higher resolutions, even though the relative cost remains significant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its high boost clock of 5.40 GHz and substantial 30 MB of shared L3 cache are key factors in its performance. The benchmark data shows it excels in multi-threaded workloads, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39000 and a Passmark multithread score of 45887. In The Technomancer, this processing power ensures the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. The data supports this by showing high frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU's ability to process game logic and draw calls is most critical. The 1080p Low setting average of 310.6 FPS is a strong indicator that the CPU can feed the GPU more than enough frames.

However, the single-thread performance is also crucial for older game engines. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score is 1136, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 5505, which are strong numbers. This ensures that even if the game engine is not perfectly optimized for multi-threading, the powerful single-core performance can maintain high frame rates. The CPU's percentile ranking of 93 indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors, making it an ideal match for a top-tier GPU. The data shows a negligible performance difference of 0.1% compared to the i7-13700KF, suggesting that the CPU's integrated graphics are not a factor in this discrete GPU configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed performance king in this pairing. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus providing a massive 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, it is built to handle the most demanding resolutions. Its 16,384 shading units and boost clock of 2520 MHz contribute to its raw compute power, which is reflected in its Passmark G3D score of 38194. In The Technomancer, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution increases. The data shows that at 4K, the frame rate is heavily dependent on the GPU's ability to fill pixels.

The transition from 1440p to 4K at Low settings results in a 100.2 FPS drop, clearly demonstrating the GPU's workload skyrocketing. The RTX 4090's performance is so high that even at 4K Ultra, it manages to produce a 59.6 FPS average. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 66473 confirm its top-tier status. The data suggests that for this game, the RTX 4090 is the primary component dictating the maximum frame rate at higher resolutions. The generous 24 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this title, ensuring that memory capacity is never a limiting factor, even at the highest settings and resolution.