The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting challenge for a modern flagship mobile platform. The data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shows a system capable of very high frame rates, but the performance scaling reveals where the bottlenecks lie in this specific title. The game’s engine, likely built before the advent of current multi-core processors, shows distinct behavior when pushed to the limits of this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second (FPS) data reveals a classic curve that shifts the performance burden from the CPU to the GPU as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the system is heavily CPU-bound, which is typical for a game from this era. The jump from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p shows a drop from 245 FPS to 125 FPS, indicating that while the GPU is working harder, the CPU is still capable of feeding it enough data to maintain high frame rates. The fact that even at Ultra settings the average FPS remains above 120 suggests the processor is not the primary limiting factor at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, we see a more pronounced impact from the GPU. The Low preset delivers 160 FPS, which is a substantial 85 FPS drop from the 1080p Low result. This 47% reduction in frame rate as pixel count increases by 78% indicates that the graphics card is starting to become the limiting component. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 82 FPS, a figure that is still very playable but demonstrates the increased workload on the renderer.

The most telling data point is at 3840x2160, or 4K. Here, the GPU is definitively the bottleneck. The Low preset at 4K produces 88 FPS, which is nearly half the 160 FPS seen at 1440p Low. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 45 FPS, which is just at the edge of acceptable smoothness for many players. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is not linear, but the dramatic drop across all settings confirms that the RTX 5090 is being pushed to its limits by the sheer pixel count, while the CPU has headroom to spare. The data suggests that for a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, the High preset is the maximum this combo can realistically achieve.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 holds a rank of 551 out of 2825 total combinations. This places it in the top 20% of all tested systems for this game, which is a strong result given the age of the title and the focus on modern hardware.

The combo’s ranking is likely held back by the CPU’s performance relative to other high-end processors. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35670 and sits at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 with a deltaPct of -0.1, the Intel Core 7 250H at -0.2, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 at -0.4. This indicates that while the CPU is powerful, it is not at the absolute top of the performance heap, and other processors in the database achieve higher average scores.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090 is a dominant force. It has an average benchmark score of 79842 and is at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are older workstation and mobile parts like the NVIDIA Tesla P100 and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, but the RTX 5090’s score is significantly higher in most instances, with deltas of +0.3% and +1.1% respectively. The combination of a very fast GPU with a merely very good CPU means that in a game like The Technomancer, which may not be heavily multithreaded, the system’s overall rank is determined more by the CPU’s single-threaded performance and the engine’s ability to utilize it.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a high-refresh-rate 1080p monitor, the Low preset at 245 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, but for a more visually rich experience, the High preset at 160 FPS offers a substantial improvement in visual fidelity while still maintaining a frame rate far above what most displays can show.

At 1440p, the High preset at 105 FPS is the sweet spot, providing a balance between visual quality and smoothness that is ideal for most players. The Medium preset at 123 FPS is also viable if you prefer higher frame rates over the extra graphical effects, but the jump from Medium to High is significant enough that most would prefer the visual upgrade. The Ultra preset at 82 FPS is playable, but the performance cost for the extra settings is high.

For 4K gaming, the data points to the Medium preset as the most practical choice. It delivers an average of 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS, which is just enough to maintain a mostly stable 60 FPS experience. The High preset at 58 FPS is borderline, and any dips below that could be noticeable. The Low preset at 88 FPS is the only way to get a consistently high frame rate at 4K, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay, as the frame pacing would likely suffer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data shows consistent scaling across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 245 FPS. The Medium preset averages 188 FPS, with a minimum of 160 and a maximum of 216. The High preset averages 160 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to an average of 125 FPS. There is a clear step-down in performance as the preset quality increases, with a 120 FPS difference between Low and Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 160 FPS. The Medium preset averages 123 FPS, with a minimum of 104 and a maximum of 141. The High preset averages 105 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 82 FPS. The pattern is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower, confirming the increased GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 88 FPS. The Medium preset averages 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 and a maximum of 78. The High preset averages 58 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 45 FPS. This resolution shows the most significant performance drop-offs, particularly from Low to Medium, which suggests that the game’s higher-quality textures and effects are particularly taxing on the memory bandwidth and fill rate at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 plays a dominant role in this combo, especially at higher resolutions. Its specifications include a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. For a game like The Technomancer, which was released in 2016 and likely does not have high-resolution texture packs that can utilize such a large frame buffer, the 32 GB capacity is largely irrelevant to the performance in this title. The available VRAM is far more than what the game requires, so it does not act as a bottleneck.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also a factor. The base clock is 2017 MHz, and the boost clock is 2407 MHz. The data shows that the performance at 1080p is limited by the CPU, as the GPU is not being fully utilized. However, at 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s raw compute power, which includes 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs, becomes the deciding factor. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are critical for the 4K performance, and the measured FPS drops at 4K indicate that even this powerful GPU is working at near full capacity to render the frame.

The RTX 5090’s benchmark scores are impressive, with a passmark_g3d score of 39650 and a 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 18355. These numbers place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals in the database are all significantly slower. In The Technomancer, the GPU is the component that determines the maximum frame rate at 4K, and the data shows that it is the primary performance limiter at that resolution.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 on the High preset offers the best balance, averaging 105 FPS. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 160 FPS is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. 4K is viable on Medium or High, but the frame rates are lower.

Q: Can this system run The Technomancer at 4K smoothly?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 averages 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS, which provides a mostly stable 60 FPS experience. The High preset averages 58 FPS, which is playable but closer to the edge of smoothness.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this game?

A: The data shows it depends on resolution. At 1920x1080, the CPU is the primary limiter, as evidenced by the high frame rates across all settings. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, with frame rates dropping significantly even on Low settings.

Q: Why is the 32 GB of VRAM on the RTX 5090 not helping more?

A: The Technomancer was released in 2016, and its texture assets and memory requirements are far below the 32 GB available. The game cannot utilize the full frame buffer, so it does not impact performance either positively or negatively.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems in the database?

A: It is ranked 551 out of 2825 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20%. This is a strong result, though the CPU’s performance relative to other top-tier processors prevents it from ranking higher.

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

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 averages 160 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 82 FPS. This is a difference of 78 FPS, showing the substantial cost of the highest visual quality settings.