The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, responds surprisingly well to modern hardware. With the Intel Core i9-14900K driving the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, the data reveals a pairing that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but capable of delivering extremely high frame rates at 1080p. The benchmark results provide a clear picture of how this specific CPU and GPU combination handles the game’s engine, which appears to scale predictably with both resolution and graphical fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show a clear pattern: the High preset is the optimal balance for most users. At 1920x1080, High delivers an average of 137.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate monitor. Moving to Ultra only provides a marginal visual improvement but costs a significant 30.1 FPS, dropping the average to 107.8 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset holds strong at 90 FPS, while Ultra dips to 71.8 FPS, which is still playable but begins to sacrifice the smoothness that the lower settings provide.

For those with 4K displays, the choice is more constrained. The High preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 50.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset at 56.3 FPS offers a slightly better frame rate but still falls short of the 60 FPS target that many consider the baseline for a smooth experience. The data suggests that for 4K, the Ultra preset is essentially unusable, with an average of just 37.4 FPS. The Low preset, while achieving 73.5 FPS at 4K, sacrifices too much visual quality for a game that relies on atmosphere and detail.

The data strongly indicates that the High preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. It provides the best frame rate-per-quality ratio, avoiding the steep performance penalty of Ultra while maintaining a much higher visual standard than Medium or Low. If you are targeting a locked 60 FPS at 4K, the High preset is the closest you will get without dropping to Medium, which itself does not reach the target.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, but not with a large margin of comfort. The measured average at 3840x2160 with High settings is 50.6 FPS. This is playable but will not take full advantage of a 60Hz or higher refresh rate display.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 offers the best balance. The High preset achieves an average of 90 FPS, providing a fluid experience that combines high detail with strong performance. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are extremely high, but the GPU has more headroom than the display likely needs.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The performance drop is significant but expected. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 137.9 at 1920x1080 to 90 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 47.9 FPS. This indicates a heavy reliance on the GPU's rendering capabilities.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using?

A: The data suggests it is only viable at 1920x1080, where it still maintains an average of 107.8 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 71.8 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 37.4 FPS, which is too low for comfortable gameplay. The visual uplift from High to Ultra is rarely worth this level of performance cost.

Q: Does this game favor the CPU or GPU more?

A: The benchmark results indicate a strong GPU bottleneck. The frame rate scales dramatically with resolution, showing typical GPU-bound behavior. The Intel Core i9-14900K, with its high core count and boost clocks, is not the limiting factor in these tests.

Q: What average FPS can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 137.9 FPS. This is a very high frame rate that will easily support a 144Hz monitor, leaving plenty of headroom for other applications running in the background.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. The difference between 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 is substantial, but the jump to 3840x2160 is even more punishing. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 137.9 FPS at 1080p to 90 FPS at 1440p, a 34.7% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops from 90 FPS to 50.6 FPS, a 43.8% reduction. This non-linear scaling is typical for a game that is heavily reliant on pixel fill-rate and memory bandwidth.

This scaling behavior points directly to the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT as the primary limiting component. The Core i9-14900K is capable of feeding the GPU with data at any resolution, but the GPU's rendering throughput is what determines the final frame rate. The 4K results are particularly telling. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 36.1 FPS (73.5 vs 37.4), which shows that the GPU is being saturated by the increased shader and texture work at higher settings. The data suggests that to achieve a stable 60 FPS at 4K, you would need to rely on the Low preset or accept a frame rate in the 50s with High settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT holds a rank of 631 out of 1656 combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 38% of all systems tested, which is a respectable position. The ranking indicates that while this is not an absolute top-tier configuration for this specific game, it performs better than the majority of other CPU and GPU pairings that have been benchmarked.

The GPU's individual performance percentile is 76, meaning it outperforms 76% of all GPUs in the database. However, the CPU is in the 97th percentile, showing that the processor is a much stronger component relative to its peers. The combination's overall rank in the game is influenced by the GPU's bottleneck; the powerful CPU cannot fully compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. This rank suggests that for a game like The Technomancer, the RX 7800 XT is the determining factor in overall system performance, and users with this combo should expect a solid mid-to-high tier experience, not a top-100 ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. In the context of The Technomancer, this level of processing power is far more than the game requires. The benchmark results show that the frame rate is almost entirely dictated by the resolution and graphics settings, which are tasks handled by the GPU. The CPU's role is to prepare the frames for the GPU to render, and with a processor of this caliber, it is unlikely to ever be the bottleneck in this title.

The data implies that the game is not heavily multithreaded, as the massive core count of the i9-14900K does not translate to disproportionate performance gains. Instead, the high boost clock of 6.00 GHz is likely more beneficial, as it ensures strong single-thread performance for the game's main logic thread. The CPU's large L3 cache of 36 MB also helps by keeping frequently accessed game data close to the cores. However, despite these strengths, the measured FPS numbers are clearly limited by the RX 7800 XT, especially as the resolution increases and the pixel count multiplies.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the CPU-GPU combo is capable of producing exceptionally high frame rates. The Low preset averages 209.3 FPS, which is an extreme result that will exceed the refresh rate of most monitors. Medium settings reduce this to 161.2 FPS, still a very high number. The High preset, which is the recommended setting, averages 137.9 FPS. The Ultra preset, while still playable at 107.8 FPS, represents a significant drop of 30.1 FPS from High, showing that the Ultra settings are not optimized for this GPU.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the expected impact of the increased pixel count. Low settings average 136.3 FPS, while Medium dips to 103.9 FPS. The High preset averages 90 FPS, which is a solid result for 1440p gaming. Ultra settings at this resolution fall to 71.8 FPS. This is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but the gap between High and Ultra is 18.2 FPS, reinforcing the recommendation to use High.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a more significant hit. Low settings are the only option that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 73.5 FPS. The Medium preset averages 56.3 FPS, and High averages 50.6 FPS. These are close to the 60 FPS target but do not consistently hit it. Ultra settings are the least viable option, with an average of just 37.4 FPS. The data shows a clear progression: as the resolution increases, the need to lower settings becomes more critical to maintain a smooth frame rate. The High preset is the best compromise at 1080p and 1440p, while at 4K, you must accept a lower settings level to achieve playable performance.