The Technomancer

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a remarkably consistent experience in The Technomancer, with benchmark results indicating that the combination is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at nearly every resolution and settings level. The data shows a system that scales predictably with graphical load, offering playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra, though the most balanced experience is found at 1440p High. This combo ranks in the 84th percentile among all tested combinations, confirming its status as a high-end performer for this Action RPG.

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

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and can reach a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. The processor features a substantial cache hierarchy: 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 36 MB L3 cache. This configuration is designed to handle heavy multi-threaded workloads, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and Geekbench multi-core score of 21697.

In the context of The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, the CPU's role is largely preparatory. The game's engine does not appear to be particularly demanding on processor resources, as indicated by the measured FPS data. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 259 FPS, which is a frame rate far beyond what most displays can show and suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at this setting. The i9-14900K's single-thread performance, highlighted by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4697, ensures that the game's main simulation thread runs without bottlenecking the GPU.

The processor's 36 MB of L3 cache and high boost clock are more than sufficient for a game of this era. The benchmark results show that the CPU's performance headroom is vast; it is not until extreme frame rates are reached that the processor's capabilities are even tested. The core count of 24 and thread count of 32 are largely irrelevant for The Technomancer, which likely uses a fraction of these resources. This is a case where the CPU is over-provisioned for the task, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of performance. The data strongly suggests that even a significantly weaker CPU would not change the FPS numbers in most scenarios, making the i9-14900K a non-factor in the final output.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. When moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, the average frame rates drop significantly, which is the expected behavior when the graphics card is the primary bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 170 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p, a reduction of 59 FPS, and then further to 61 at 4K, another 50 FPS drop. This steep decline is a clear indicator that the RTX 4070 SUPER is working at its limits as resolution increases.

The pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 259 at 1080p to 169 at 1440p and then to 93 at 4K. This 166 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is substantial and confirms that the GPU's rendering load is the dominant factor. If the CPU were the limiting component, the frame rate would remain relatively flat regardless of resolution, as the CPU's workload is largely independent of pixel count. The data shows no such plateau.

The fact that the 4K Ultra setting yields an average of 48 FPS, while 4K Low yields 93 FPS, further underscores the GPU-bound nature. The performance scaling is almost perfectly proportional to the number of pixels being rendered. This analysis indicates that for users looking to maximize frame rates, reducing resolution is the most effective lever, as the i9-14900K has ample headroom to feed the GPU at any resolution. The 1080p Low result of 259 FPS confirms the CPU's capability to process game logic and draw calls quickly enough to let the GPU run unfettered.

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

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings preset for this combo in The Technomancer is 1440p High. This configuration delivers an average of 111 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on most high-refresh-rate monitors. The 1080p High setting offers 170 FPS, which is excellent, but 1440p provides a significant increase in visual fidelity for a relatively modest 59 FPS penalty. The 4K High setting at 61 FPS is playable but falls into a range where frame pacing can become more noticeable, and it does not leave much headroom for demanding scenes.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, 1440p Ultra at 87 FPS is a strong choice. This setting provides the highest level of graphical detail while maintaining a frame rate that is still comfortably above 60 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra at 1440p is 24 FPS, which is a reasonable trade-off for the enhanced visuals. At 4K, the Medium preset at 71 FPS is the best option for those with a 4K display, as it balances visual quality with playability. The 4K Ultra preset at 48 FPS is on the edge of playability and is only recommended for those who prioritize image quality over smoothness.

The Low presets are not recommended for this hardware, as they produce extremely high frame rates (up to 259 FPS at 1080p) that are unnecessary and come with a significant reduction in visual quality. The data shows that the combo has enough power to run the game at High or Ultra settings with excellent performance. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 130 FPS, which is a good fallback, but the jump to High is well worth the 19 FPS cost. The verdict is clear: 1440p High or 1440p Ultra are the sweet spots, with 4K High being a viable alternative for those who prioritize resolution.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 592nd out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 16% of all configurations, which is a strong showing. The percentileVsAllGpus for the RTX 4070 SUPER is 83, meaning it outperforms 83% of all GPUs in the database. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 95, indicating it is in the top 5% of processors. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a high-end GPU results in a ranking that is slightly lower than the GPU's percentile, which is expected due to the game's GPU-bound nature.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43223, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, deltaPct -0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, deltaPct -0.1), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43301, deltaPct -0.2). It is also close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43667, deltaPct -1). This suggests that the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER is performing in line with some high-end mobile and professional workstation parts in synthetic benchmarks.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. The i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097, which is just below the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79371, deltaPct -0.3), the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79574, deltaPct -0.6), and the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041, deltaPct -1.2). It is slightly above the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (77740, deltaPct 1.7). This indicates that the i9-14900K is performing as expected for its class. The combo's rank of 592 out of 3696 is a direct result of the GPU's strong but not top-tier performance, and the data shows that it is a very capable pairing for this game.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary driver of performance in The Technomancer. It is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and built on TSMC's 5 nm process. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2475 MHz, with a base clock of 1980 MHz. The GPU has 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation pipelines. It also includes 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, though these are not likely to be heavily utilized in a game from 2016.

The 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for The Technomancer's textures and geometry, even at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's high memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The benchmark results show that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p Low. The pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s are more than capable of handling the game's visual load, but the sheer number of pixels at 4K overwhelms the GPU's compute resources.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 43223 and its percentile of 83 confirm that it is a solid upper-mid-range performer. The data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER is able to maintain an average of 61 FPS at 4K High, which is a demanding workload. The fact that it can achieve 259 FPS at 1080p Low without issue highlights that the GPU's raw power is best utilized at lower resolutions, where the CPU can keep up. The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios, as the game's requirements are well within the 12 GB allocation.

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

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its highest frame rates. The Low preset yields an average of 259 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 199 FPS, with a minimum of 169 and a maximum of 229 FPS. The High preset delivers an average of 170 FPS. The Ultra preset results in an average of 133 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the combo is capable of delivering extremely high frame rates, even at the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset averages 169 FPS. The Medium preset averages 130 FPS, with a minimum of 111 and a maximum of 150 FPS. The High preset averages 111 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 87 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all presets, with a reduction of roughly 35-40% in frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is under significant load. The Low preset averages 93 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset averages 71 FPS, with a minimum of 61 and a maximum of 82 FPS. The High preset averages 61 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 48 FPS, which is the only setting in the measured data that falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K results show a clear progression, with each step up in settings costing roughly 10-20 FPS. The data confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the bottleneck at this resolution, as the FPS is directly tied to the graphical workload.