The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting challenge for the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the powerful CPU ensures high frame rates at 1080p. The benchmark results show a clear scaling pattern from a silky-smooth 1080p experience to a demanding 4K output, placing this combo in the 1632nd position out of 2825 tested combinations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of which settings preset offers the best balance of performance and visual fidelity for this specific hardware pairing. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 103 FPS, which is a substantial 23 FPS gain over the Ultra preset’s 80 FPS. This difference is significant for gameplay smoothness, and the High preset still provides a high level of graphical detail. The data suggests that the jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 23 FPS, a 22% performance hit, which is a steep price for the incremental visual improvements typically found in that preset tier.

For 2560x1440, the High preset again emerges as the optimal choice, producing an average of 67 FPS. While this is playable, it is noticeably lower than the 1080p result. The Medium preset at this resolution offers 79 FPS, providing a 12 FPS advantage over High. However, the visual quality reduction from High to Medium is often quite noticeable in a game like The Technomancer, which relies on environmental detail. The 67 FPS average of High is generally sufficient for a smooth experience, and the data shows it maintains playability without dipping into the lower frame rate territory seen at higher settings.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more challenging. The High preset yields a 37 FPS average, which is below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience on many displays. The Low preset at 4K provides 56 FPS, making it the only 4K settings tier that breaks the 60 FPS barrier. However, playing at Low settings on a 4K display often defeats the purpose of the high resolution, as texture quality and draw distances are significantly reduced. The Medium preset at 4K offers 43 FPS, which is a compromise but still not ideal.

The optimal experience for this combination is clearly the High preset at 1920x1080. It provides a high average frame rate of 103 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard, and the visual quality is high enough to appreciate the game's art style. For users with 1440p monitors, the High preset is the best balance, offering a playable 67 FPS. The data strongly indicates that the Ultra preset is not worth the performance cost at any resolution, as the FPS drops by 23 at 1080p, 15 at 1440p, and 8 at 4K compared to High settings. The performance scaling suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher settings, making High the sweet spot for this pairing.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that the High preset at 1920x1080 provides the best experience, achieving an average of 103 FPS. This is the only combination of resolution and preset that delivers a frame rate well above 100 FPS, ensuring maximum smoothness.

Q: How does the RX 9060 perform at 4K resolution in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 struggles to maintain high frame rates. The data shows an average of 37 FPS on High, 43 FPS on Medium, and only 29 FPS on Ultra. The Low preset achieves 56 FPS, but this requires significant visual compromises.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K or the AMD Radeon RX 9060 the limiting factor in The Technomancer?

A: The benchmark data suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K (from 103 FPS to 37 FPS on High), a pattern that indicates a graphics card bottleneck. The CPU's strong performance allows for high frame rates at 1080p, but it cannot overcome the GPU's limitations at 4K.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 102 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 52 FPS. This is a 50 FPS difference, demonstrating that the Ultra preset nearly halves the frame rate compared to Low. The High preset, at 67 FPS, sits between these two extremes.

Q: How does the combo's overall rank in this game compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo rank for The Technomancer is 1632 out of 2825 tested combinations. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance spectrum, indicating that while it can play the game, many other hardware pairings achieve higher frame rates.

Q: Does the game support high refresh rate monitors at 1080p with this hardware?

A: Yes, the data indicates this is possible. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 157 FPS and the Medium preset achieves 120 FPS, both of which are suitable for 144Hz displays. The High preset, at 103 FPS, is also capable of driving a 100Hz monitor.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario for this hardware combination in The Technomancer. Examining the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 103 FPS at 1920x1080 to 67 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 37 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% reduction in performance when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 45% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is a substantial 64%, from 103 FPS down to 37 FPS. This severe decline with increasing resolution is a strong indicator that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the limiting component.

The frame rate scaling is not linear, which is typical for GPU-bound workloads. The pixel count increases by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p, and by 2.25x from 1440p to 4K. The performance drops are roughly proportional to these pixel increases, confirming that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints. The i9-14900K, with its high single-core performance, is clearly not the bottleneck here, as the frame rates scale inversely with the rendering workload.

This behavior suggests that players with 1440p or 4K monitors will need to make significant compromises to the settings presets to achieve playable frame rates. The data shows that at 1440p, the Low preset can achieve 102 FPS, which is close to the 1080p High preset performance. This indicates that the GPU can handle the resolution if the graphical load is reduced, but the visual quality will suffer. At 4K, even the Low preset only manages 56 FPS, highlighting the GPU's limitations at this extreme resolution. The scaling data strongly implies that the RX 9060 is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates without compromising on the High settings preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a detailed look at the performance envelope of this combo across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves the highest average frame rate at 157 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, showing a consistent performance range. The High preset averages 103 FPS, which remains very smooth. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 80 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant 23 FPS loss compared to High. This resolution is clearly where this hardware shines, offering high refresh rate capabilities on all but the most demanding preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance begins to show strain. The Low preset still performs well, averaging 102 FPS. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS, with a range of 67 to 90 FPS. The High preset produces a 67 FPS average, which is the minimum for a stable 60 FPS experience. The Ultra preset falls to 52 FPS, which introduces noticeable stuttering and is below the smoothness threshold for many players. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 50 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of the settings preset on performance.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The Low preset averages 56 FPS, making it the only playable option at this resolution. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS, with a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS, indicating it can dip into uncomfortable territory. The High preset drops to 37 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 29 FPS. These numbers show that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combination unless the user is willing to play on Low settings. The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, while the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for The Technomancer places this system at 1632 out of 2825 tested combinations. This percentile position, roughly in the 42nd percentile, indicates that this hardware pairing performs in the lower half of all tested systems for this specific game. The data suggests that while the Intel Core i9-14900K is a high-end processor, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 holds the system back, preventing it from achieving a higher ranking.

The rank is a holistic measure that considers all resolutions and settings tested. The strong 1080p performance is likely what keeps the rank from being even lower, as the CPU ensures high frame rates at that resolution. However, the poor 4K performance and the significant FPS drops at higher settings drag the overall rank down. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU creates a mismatch that is reflected in this ranking. The data implies that other systems with more balanced CPU-GPU pairings, or those with more powerful GPUs, will consistently outperform this combo in The Technomancer, particularly at higher resolutions.

Compared to its component peers, the GPU's average benchmark score is only 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, indicating similar raw performance. Yet, the game's engine seems to favor the specific capabilities of this AMD card, or perhaps the system's overall balance, to land it in this specific rank. The CPU, while being a top performer in synthetic benchmarks with a 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, cannot compensate for the GPU's rendering limitations in a game like this. The rank of 1632 suggests a system that is competent for 1080p gaming but will struggle to provide a high-end experience at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a flagship processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process. It features 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a substantial 36 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications contribute to its exceptionally high synthetic benchmark scores, such as a multi-core score of 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 2262.5.

In The Technomancer, the data suggests the CPU plays a supporting role, providing the necessary headroom for the GPU to operate. At 1080p, the frame rates are high (103 FPS on High), which indicates that the processor is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The game, being an Action RPG from 2016, likely does not stress all 24 cores, but the i9-14900K's strong single-core performance is crucial for maintaining high frame rates. The boost clock of 6.00 GHz is particularly relevant for gaming, as many game engines rely on a few fast cores for physics, AI, and draw call processing.

The CPU's role becomes more evident when examining the resolution scaling. As the resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant. This is a classic sign that the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU is simply unable to render the higher pixel counts fast enough. The i9-14900K's high L3 cache and fast clock speeds ensure that it can feed the GPU with data without introducing stutters or frame pacing issues. The data shows that this CPU is more than capable of driving this game, and its performance is only constrained by the GPU's output.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the clear bottleneck in this system for The Technomancer. This GPU is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a 4 nm process, featuring 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU's clock speeds are notable, with a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. Its synthetic benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322, place it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs.

The measured FPS data directly reflects the GPU's limitations. The substantial frame rate drops at higher resolutions, such as the 103 to 37 FPS drop on High settings from 1080p to 4K, are a direct consequence of the GPU's rendering capabilities. The 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are likely insufficient for 4K textures and high detail settings, leading to the low performance observed. The GPU's 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is a limiting factor when dealing with the high pixel throughput required at 4K.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals is telling. It is 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in average benchmark scores, yet its performance in The Technomancer is heavily dependent on resolution. At 1080p, it can achieve high frame rates, but at 4K, it falls below playable levels on all but the lowest settings. The data implies that the RX 9060 is designed for 1080p and perhaps light 1440p gaming, but it lacks the raw horsepower and memory bandwidth to handle 4K in a demanding game like The Technomancer. The boost clock of 2990 MHz helps at lower resolutions, but the hardware's fundamental limits are exposed as the resolution increases.