The Technomancer

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-13700K pairs a 16-core, 24-thread configuration with a 3.40 GHz base clock and a 5.40 GHz boost clock, built on Intel's Raptor Lake architecture using a 10 nm process. This processor, released on 2022-09-26, carries a 125 W TDP and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel memory bus. The measured FPS data for The Technomancer shows this CPU is rarely the limiting factor, as even at 1080p Low settings the combo achieves 312 FPS average, which far exceeds the refresh rate of typical displays.

The CPU's benchmark profile reveals strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116. The 3DMark suite shows scaling from 1136 in single-thread to 12412 in max-threads, indicating the processor handles both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads effectively. The Technomancer, an Action RPG from 2016-06-27, was designed during an era when quad-core CPUs were mainstream, so this 16-core processor provides substantial headroom.

The percentile ranking of 89.0 against all CPUs places this chip well above the median, and its average benchmark score of 46881 sits within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971) and 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022). The nearest rivals show deltaPct values of -0.2 and -0.3 respectively, meaning the i7-13700K is effectively tied with those processors in aggregate benchmark performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX and Intel Xeon w3-2535 both trail by 0.5%, with average scores of 46654 and 46653.

For The Technomancer specifically, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 184 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 66 FPS. This 118 FPS difference across resolution changes is primarily driven by GPU load, as the CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample processing power for the game's AI, physics, and game logic. The Passmark physics score of 2716 and integer math score of 154446 suggest the CPU can handle complex simulation workloads without becoming a bottleneck.

The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide substantial on-die storage for frequently accessed game data, while the 80 KB per-core L1 cache handles immediate working sets. The processor's PCIe Gen 5 support with 20 CPU lanes ensures the RTX 5090 D can communicate at full bandwidth, though the game's age means it likely doesn't utilize modern PCIe bandwidth extensively.

# FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in The Technomancer, and at what settings?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 312 at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling for this configuration in the measured data.

Q: How does the combo's performance at 4K Ultra compare to 1080p Low?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces an average of 66 FPS, while 1080p Low achieves 312 FPS. This represents a 246 FPS difference, or roughly 4.7 times higher frame rate at the lower resolution and settings combination.

Q: What is the combo's ranking against all tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 17th out of 2825 total combinations tested, placing it in the top 0.6% of all configurations. This high ranking reflects the exceptional performance of both components.

Q: Which settings preset at 2560x1440 provides the highest minimum FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset records a minimum FPS of 153, which is the only resolution in the data with a recorded minimum for that setting. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages 120 FPS but has no reported minimum value.

Q: How much faster is the GPU compared to its nearest rival in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 77712 on average, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940). The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB trails by 2.1% with 79396, while the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB leads by 2.4% with 79605.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread versus multi-thread performance relationship?

A: The CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116 and a multi-core score of 30745, representing a 14.5 times scaling factor. The 3DMark max-threads score of 12412 is 10.9 times the single-thread score of 1136, showing strong but not perfect scaling across the 16 cores.

# Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Analyzing the measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings, the Medium preset emerges as the most balanced choice. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 276 FPS average with a minimum of 235 and maximum of 317, providing smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality above the Low preset's 312 FPS. The 1440p Medium setting produces 180 FPS average with 153 minimum and 207 maximum, which remains well above typical 144 Hz monitor refresh rates. Even at 4K, Medium maintains 99 FPS average with 84 minimum and 114 maximum, crossing the 60 FPS threshold with substantial margin.

For competitive play where maximum frame rates matter, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest measured average of 312 FPS. This comes at the cost of visual fidelity, but the Action RPG genre benefits from smoother animations and faster response times. The Low preset at 1440p still delivers 235 FPS average, making it viable for high-refresh-rate 1440p displays. At 4K, Low produces 129 FPS average, which is notably higher than the Medium preset's 99 FPS.

The High preset provides a middle ground between visual quality and performance, with 236 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that High is perfectly playable at all resolutions, though 4K High at 85 FPS may not satisfy users with 120 Hz or higher refresh rate displays. The Ultra preset delivers 184 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K, representing the maximum visual quality option.

The data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best overall experience when considering both visual quality and frame rate stability. The presence of minimum FPS data for Medium at all resolutions (235 at 1080p, 153 at 1440p, 84 at 4K) suggests this setting maintains consistent frame pacing. In contrast, other presets lack recorded minimum values, potentially indicating less consistent performance. For users with 4K displays, the 99 FPS average at Medium provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS standard, while the 84 FPS minimum ensures rare drops below 70 FPS.

# How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a combo rank of 17th out of 2825 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This places the configuration in the top 0.6% of all tested systems, indicating exceptional performance for this specific game. The ranking reflects the combination's ability to maintain high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, from the 312 FPS at 1080p Low to the 66 FPS at 4K Ultra.

This high ranking is particularly notable given the game's 2016 release date, which predates both the CPU (released 2022-09-26) and GPU (released 2025-01-29) by several years. The Technomancer's engine likely has limitations that prevent it from fully utilizing the hardware's capabilities, yet the combo still ranks among the top 17 configurations. This suggests that the game may benefit from the high single-thread performance of the i7-13700K, which scores 2116 in Cinebench R23 single-core, as older titles often rely heavily on single-threaded performance.

The GPU's aggregate benchmark score of 77712 places it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU's 46881 average score places it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs. Both components perform well above median levels, contributing to the combo's strong ranking. The GPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks show competitive performance, with the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scoring 78940 (1.6% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scoring 76904 (1.1% lower), yet the RTX 5090 D's combination with the i7-13700K achieves a top-20 ranking.

# Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the FPS scaling across resolutions reveals important insights about which component limits performance in The Technomancer. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 276 at 1080p to 180 at 1440p, then to 99 at 4K. This represents a 34.8% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45.0% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 64.1%, indicating that resolution scaling has a dramatic impact on frame rates.

For the Ultra preset, the scaling shows 184 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 34.8% from 1080p to 1440p and 45.0% from 1440p to 4K, matching the Medium preset's scaling pattern exactly. This consistency across settings suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as resolution changes affect pixel throughput proportionally regardless of the quality preset.

The Low preset exhibits similar scaling behavior: 312 FPS at 1080p, 235 FPS at 1440p, and 129 FPS at 4K. The 24.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p is smaller than the Medium and Ultra presets, but the 45.1% drop from 1440p to 4K is nearly identical. This pattern indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU may begin to play a larger role, as the 1080p Low result of 312 FPS approaches the CPU's maximum frame generation capability.

The High preset shows 236 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is 34.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is 44.8%, closely matching the other presets. The consistent scaling pattern across all settings strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU's frame generation capacity appears to exceed even the highest measured frame rates at 1080p.

The RTX 5090 D's specifications support this interpretation: with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, the GPU has ample memory resources. The 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate suggest the GPU is well-equipped for high-resolution rendering, yet the 66 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates the game's engine or graphics pipeline presents challenges even for this powerful GPU.

# Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080:

• Low: 312 FPS average
• Medium: 276 FPS average, 235 minimum, 317 maximum
• High: 236 FPS average
• Ultra: 184 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 235 FPS average
• Medium: 180 FPS average, 153 minimum, 207 maximum
• High: 154 FPS average
• Ultra: 120 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 129 FPS average
• Medium: 99 FPS average, 84 minimum, 114 maximum
• High: 85 FPS average
• Ultra: 66 FPS average

The data reveals a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, all settings exceed 180 FPS, with the Low preset reaching 312 FPS and Medium achieving 276 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 235 FPS at 1080p indicates excellent frame consistency, with the maximum of 317 FPS showing the combo can burst above the average. The 184 FPS at Ultra represents a 41.0% reduction from Low, demonstrating the substantial performance cost of maximum visual quality.

At 1440p, frame rates remain high but show expected reductions. The Low preset delivers 235 FPS, which equals the 1080p Medium minimum, showing the resolution upgrade's impact. Medium at 180 FPS with a 153 minimum and 207 maximum provides smooth gameplay for high-refresh-rate displays. Ultra at 120 FPS maintains playability for 120 Hz monitors, while High at 154 FPS offers a balanced option.

At 4K, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low produces 129 FPS, Medium achieves 99 FPS with an 84 minimum and 114 maximum, High delivers 85 FPS, and Ultra drops to 66 FPS. The 84 FPS minimum at Medium settings ensures the frame rate rarely dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making this the recommended 4K preset. The jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 33 FPS on average, representing a 33.3% performance penalty for the highest settings.

# GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D brings formidable specifications to The Technomancer, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. This massive memory capacity and bandwidth are more than sufficient for a 2016 Action RPG, as the game's texture and geometry requirements are modest by modern standards. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its exceptional overall performance, though its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks show competitive scores: the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT leads by 1.6% with 78940, while the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT trails by 1.1% with 76904.

The GPU's clock speeds of 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost provide substantial processing power, backed by 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. The 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores support advanced rendering features that The Technomancer likely does not utilize, given its release date. The 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate indicate the GPU can process geometry and textures at exceptionally high rates.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's performance scaling with resolution, suggesting that the game's rendering pipeline is primarily GPU-bound. At 4K Ultra, the 66 FPS average represents the GPU's limit at maximum settings and resolution, while at 1080p Low, the 312 FPS average approaches what the CPU can feed to the GPU. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 376915 indicate strong modern API performance, though The Technomancer likely uses older rendering paths.

The GPU's power requirements include a 575 W TDP and a suggested 950 W PSU, with a dual-slot design and 1x 16-pin power connector. The 750 mm² die size with 92,200 million transistors on TSMC's 5 nm process represents a sophisticated Blackwell 2.0 architecture. For The Technomancer specifically, the GPU's performance at 4K Medium (99 FPS) versus 4K Ultra (66 FPS) shows a 33 FPS difference, suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces effects that significantly tax the rendering pipeline. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking, combined with the CPU's 89th percentile, explains the combo's 17th place ranking among 2825 tested configurations.