The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, shows a clear performance pattern with the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the powerful CPU ensures high frame rates are achievable when the graphical load is lowered. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions, settings, and component roles.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the primary limiting factor in this game. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 179 FPS at 1920x1080 to 117 FPS at 2560x1440, a significant 35% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) drops the average further to 64 FPS, another 45% reduction from the 1440p figure. This pattern shows a game that is highly sensitive to pixel count.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings is a 64% reduction in average frame rate (from 179 FPS down to 64 FPS). This is a substantial penalty and clearly demonstrates that the RTX 4070 Ti's rendering capabilities are being fully taxed as resolution increases. The data points to a scenario where the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

The low settings preset shows the same trend. The average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 273 FPS, which falls to 178 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 98 FPS at 3840x2160. Even with the most demanding visual features disabled, the GPU still struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, resulting in a 64% performance hit from 1080p.

The medium settings preset shows the most detailed data, including minimum and maximum frame rates. It displays the same scaling pattern: 210 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 75 FPS at 4K. The 4K minimum of 64 FPS is a notable low point, but the average of 75 FPS is still playable. The spread between minimum and maximum frames at 4K is a tight 23 FPS, while at 1440p the spread is 42 FPS, and at 1080p it is 63 FPS. This suggests that as the resolution increases, the frame rate becomes more consistent, likely because the GPU is working at its absolute limit.

The ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows the same scaling. It delivers 140 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The 4K ultra average of 50 FPS is a significant drop from the high preset’s 64 FPS at the same resolution. This indicates that the ultra preset is extremely demanding, perhaps not suited for 4K gaming on this GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The data indicates a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate across all resolutions. For a smooth experience, the higher frame rates are more important, especially in an action RPG where combat fluidity matters.

At 1920x1080, the high preset gives an excellent 179 FPS. The ultra preset still provides a very smooth 140 FPS. The extra 39 FPS from high to ultra is a 28% reduction in performance. The data suggests that the ultra preset is playable and will offer the best visual experience at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, both high and medium presets remain well above the 60 FPS threshold. High delivers 117 FPS, and medium delivers 137 FPS. Ultra, at 91 FPS, is also very playable. The choice between high and ultra is a matter of visual preference, as listed values are all strong. The high preset strikes a good balance, but the ultra preset's 91 FPS is far from unplayable.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The ultra preset’s 50 FPS average will likely be too low for a smooth experience. The high preset at 64 FPS is on the edge of what many would consider the minimum for a playable action game, but it may be acceptable. The medium preset, at 75 FPS, is a far safer choice. The low preset delivers 98 FPS, which is very fluid, but at a significant cost to visual quality.

Considering all resolutions, the medium settings preset appears to be the most versatile. It provides smooth frame rates at 1080p (210 FPS) and 1440p (137 FPS), and a respectable 75 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS at 1440p is 116 and at 4K is 64, which are all above the traditional 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that medium settings offer the best balance of performance and visual quality across the board.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is clearly the primary bottleneck, and this is evident from the frame rate data. The GPU has a boost clock of 2610 MHz and a base clock of 2310 MHz, and it’s the component that is being pushed to its limits.

The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This is a substantial amount, but the 2016-era game engine may not be efficiently utilizing it. The high frame rates at low resolutions suggest the GPU is not memory-limited at those settings, but at 4K, the load becomes significant.

The RTX 4070 Ti has 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. These are the fundamental parts of the GPU that handle the graphics rendering. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the GPU can only produce 50 FPS, and even at Low settings, it only reaches 98 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is the component that prevents high frame rates at 4K.

The GPU’s performance is also reflected in its benchmark scores, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024. Its percentile ranking is 84, meaning it performs better than 84 percent of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, has a slightly higher average score, by 0.8%. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is 1.3% ahead, and the Intel Arc A730M is 1.7% ahead. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 is 1.6% behind. This shows that the RTX 4070 Ti is positioned in a competitive mid-to-high end segment.

How This Combo Ranks

When combined, the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieve a combo rank of 444 out of 3696 tested combinations in this game. This places the combination in the top 12% of all tested combos. This is a strong ranking, showing that this is a high-performance pairing.

The high rank is likely driven by the CPU's strong overall performance, but the GPU's limitations at 4K are a limiting factor. The combo rank of 444 indicates that there are many combinations that are faster in this game. The high rank is a result of the CPU’s ability to deliver very high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s performance is the main bottleneck at higher resolutions.

This combination is not the absolute top-tier, but it is clearly in a performance tier. The rank of 444 out of 3696 shows that this is a strong setup, but there are a significant number of combinations that can provide higher frame rates. The data shows that the combo is a good match for high-refresh-rate gaming, but 4K gaming will require compromise on settings.

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. The CPU has a 36 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB per core L2 cache. This is an incredibly powerful processor that is not a bottleneck in this game.

The benchmark data shows the i9-14900K is a top-tier CPU. Its multi-core Cinebench R23 score is 39399.5, and its single-core score is 2262.5. It also scores 152975 in Passmark 9.0 and 58674 in the Passmark multithread test. These scores show a CPU with exceptional performance in both single and multi-threaded tasks.

The average benchmark score for the i9-14900K is 79097, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are very close in performance, with the Intel Core i9-14900KF being 0.3% slower, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus being 0.6% slower, and the AMD EPYC 7413 being 1.2% slower. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% slower. These delta percentages are very small, showing that the performance is extremely competitive.

In this game, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with data. The fact that the frame rates are so high at 1080p (273 FPS on low, 179 FPS on high) demonstrates that the CPU can handle the game’s logic and draw calls with ease. The CPU does not become a limiting factor at any resolution, as the frame rate drops are directly correlated to the GPU load.

The i9-14900K’s boost clock of 6.00 GHz is a key factor in its ability to deliver high frame rates. The CPU has a strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for many games. The data shows that this CPU is more than capable of driving the RTX 4070 Ti to its limits, and the game’s performance is entirely dependent on the GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i9-14900K and RTX 4070 Ti run The Technomancer at 4K?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K with Medium settings, the average frame is 75 FPS, and at High it’s 64 FPS. The Ultra preset dips to 50 FPS, so 4K is possible, but you’ll need to adjust the settings for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: At 2560x1440, the High and Ultra presets both offer very high frame rates. High averages 117 FPS, while Ultra averages 91 FPS. The Medium preset gives 137 FPS, so any of these are good choices, but Ultra offers the best visuals at a playable frame rate.

Q: Will the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The i9-14900K is not a bottleneck. The frame rates scale directly with resolution, showing that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s high single-thread performance and core count are more than enough for this game.

Q: What is the combo’s rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 444th out of 3696 tested combos in the database. It is in the top 12% of all systems tested.

Q: How much performance difference is there between the High and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 179 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 140 FPS. There is a 20% difference in performance, so you’ll need to decide if the visual upgrade is worth the frame rate cost.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti’s performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44795. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, is 0.8% ahead. Another rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, is 1.6% behind. These differences are very small.