The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but capable of exceptional frame rates at 1080p. This analysis walks through the measured performance, ranking, and settings to provide a clear picture of what this combination delivers.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 192.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 129.3 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 63.2 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 68.4 FPS, which is a 124.1 FPS decrease from the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling directly with pixel count, a classic sign that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting component.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 294.6 FPS at 1080p to 192.4 FPS at 1440p, and then to 106.9 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, starting at 149.4 FPS at 1080p, falling to 99.3 FPS at 1440p, and finally reaching 55.3 FPS at 4K. The consistent proportional drop across presets suggests that the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU, and the performance ceiling is entirely dictated by the graphics card's capability at each resolution.

This behavior is typical for a game from this era when paired with modern high-end hardware. The Core i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is not being stressed by the game's logic at these frame rates. The data shows that the CPU's role is to provide a stable platform, while the GPU's raw throughput determines the final output. The 4K results, while playable, show a significant compromise compared to the fluid 1440p experience, highlighting the resolution ceiling for this specific title.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested configurations, this combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER holds a rank of 106 out of 1656 total combos for The Technomancer. This places the system in the top 6.4% of all tested hardware pairings, indicating a very high level of performance. The percentile ranking for the CPU is 96, meaning it outperforms 96% of all CPUs in the database, while the GPU's percentile is 88, outperforming 88% of all GPUs.

The CPU's standing among its nearest rivals is extremely tight. The Intel Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 70074, which is a 0% delta from the i7-14700KF's score of 70104. This indicates that the unlocked "KF" variant offers no measurable performance advantage over its "K" counterpart in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD EPYC 9115 is just 0.3% behind, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.4% behind. The Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is the only rival with a notable margin, coming in 1.3% ahead. These negligible differences suggest that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this game's performance.

For the GPU, the competitive landscape is similarly close. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT trails by just 0.2% in average benchmark score, while the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 0.4% behind. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is 2.1% slower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is 2.9% slower. These small deltas mean that the RTX 4080 SUPER is performing as expected for its class, with no significant outliers or anomalies in its synthetic test results. The data positions this combo as a high-tier solution, though not an absolute top performer, given the specific requirements of The Technomancer.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired smoothness. For a 4K experience, the High preset at 68.4 FPS is the most balanced choice. The Ultra preset drops to 55.3 FPS, which may be below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience on many displays. The Medium preset at 79.1 FPS and Low at 106.9 FPS are viable alternatives for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, but High offers the best compromise between image quality and performance.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers an excellent 129.3 FPS, which is well-suited for high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 99.3 FPS is still highly playable and provides the maximum visual quality. The Medium preset at 148.2 FPS and Low at 192.4 FPS are options for competitive play, but the visual downgrade may not be necessary given the strong performance of High and Ultra. The data suggests that Ultrawide users can comfortably enable the highest settings without sacrificing smoothness.

For 1920x1080, the story is about headroom. The High preset at 192.5 FPS and Ultra at 149.4 FPS both provide exceptionally smooth gameplay. The Low preset reaches 294.6 FPS and Medium hits 226.3 FPS, which are far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. In this scenario, the recommendation is to enable Ultra settings to extract the maximum visual quality, as the performance cost is minimal relative to the frame rates achieved. The system has more than enough power to run this game at maximum settings on 1080p displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset of measured average frame rates provides a detailed view of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are remarkably high across all presets. The Low setting produces an average of 294.6 FPS, Medium yields 226.3 FPS, High delivers 192.5 FPS, and Ultra achieves 149.4 FPS. These numbers show a clear scaling pattern where each step up in quality reduces performance by a significant but predictable margin.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction from the increased pixel load. The Low setting averages 192.4 FPS, which is almost identical to the High setting at 1080p. The Medium preset achieves 148.2 FPS, High reaches 129.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 99.3 FPS. This resolution represents a sweet spot for the hardware, offering high refresh rates even on the most demanding preset.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more moderate. The Low setting still manages an impressive 106.9 FPS, showing the raw power of the GPU. The Medium preset averages 79.1 FPS, High drops to 68.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 51.6 FPS, indicating that the visual upgrades at 4K come at a substantial performance cost. These numbers provide a clear roadmap for users to dial in their preferred balance of quality and speed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant factor in this game's performance, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for The Technomancer, preventing any potential bottlenecks from texture loading or memory capacity at 4K. The ample 16 GB capacity ensures that the game's assets can be fully loaded without stuttering.

The GPU's clock speeds are also noteworthy. The base clock is 2295 MHz, with a boost clock of 2550 MHz. These high frequencies contribute directly to the frame rates observed in the benchmarks. The architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 379 mm² containing 45,900 million transistors. The shading units number 10240, paired with 320 TMUs and 112 ROPs, which explains the GPU's ability to handle the pixel throughput required at 4K.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores corroborate its in-game performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test yields a score of 6600, while the Passmark G3D score is 34245. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 246994, and the Vulkan score is 226163. These figures place the GPU in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end status. The GPU's role is clearly to provide the massive fill rates and shader processing power needed to drive high resolutions, and the data shows it performs this role effectively.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At High settings it delivers 129.3 FPS, and even Ultra achieves 99.3 FPS, providing both high visual quality and smooth gameplay. While 1080p offers higher frame rates (up to 294.6 FPS on Low), the visual fidelity is lower, and 4K is limited to 68.4 FPS on High.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70104, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core i7-14700K (70074, 0% delta). It is also within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 9115, showing that CPU choice makes little difference for this workload.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 4K?

A: Yes, but with a performance cost. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 55.3 FPS. This is playable, but the High preset at 68.4 FPS provides a smoother experience with a modest visual downgrade, making it the recommended option for 4K.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 294.6 FPS, while Ultra averages 149.4 FPS. This is a difference of 145.2 FPS, showing the significant performance headroom available at this resolution, allowing users to prioritize visual quality without concern.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 106th out of 1656 tested combos for The Technomancer, placing it in the top 6.4% of all configurations. This indicates a very high level of performance, though there are 105 other combinations that perform better in this specific game.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth, and does it matter here?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s from its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus. This high bandwidth ensures that the GPU is not starved for data, allowing it to maintain the high frame rates seen across all resolutions and settings.