The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a clear performance picture when paired with the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT. The benchmark data shows a system that is firmly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom to push frame rates at 1080p. The overall combination ranks in the 48th percentile of tested combos for this title, indicating that while the hardware is capable, the game’s demands and the GPU’s mid-range class define the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook case of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 112 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 73 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 40 FPS, which is a 64% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline, even with the powerful Core Ultra 9 290K, indicates the Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 171 FPS, suggesting the CPU and GPU are working efficiently with minimal load. At 1440p Low, it drops to 111 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 61 FPS. The 4K Low result being nearly identical to the 1080p High result (61 FPS vs 40 FPS at High) underscores that the GPU's raw throughput is the limiting factor, not the game's visual complexity. The system cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K regardless of settings, confirming the GPU saturates well before the CPU's capabilities are exhausted.

At Medium settings, the data shows a consistent pattern. The 1080p Medium average is 131 FPS, 1440p Medium is 86 FPS, and 4K Medium is 47 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 34%, and between 1440p and 4K is 45%. This non-linear drop is characteristic of a GPU hitting its memory bandwidth or shading limits. The Ultra preset tells a similar story, with averages of 87 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 31 FPS is barely playable, highlighting that this combination is not suited for maximum fidelity at the highest resolution.

The data strongly suggests the Core Ultra 9 290K is not the limiting component. At 1080p, where CPU overhead is most significant, the system still delivers 171 FPS on Low settings, indicating the CPU has substantial headroom. The consistent frame rate collapses across all settings when moving to higher resolutions point directly to the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB VRAM and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth as the constraining factors. The game appears to scale predictably with resolution, and the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K, making the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock largely irrelevant in this scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT holds a rank of 1938 out of 3696 combos. This places it just below the median, which is a noteworthy result given the high-end nature of the CPU. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, the GPU’s 72nd percentile ranking drags the overall combo down in this specific game.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its theoretical strength. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83807) and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090). It also outperforms the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980) by 1.2%, but trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072) by 1.3%. These margins are small, indicating the CPU is performing as expected for its class, but none of these rival CPUs are paired with this GPU in this test, so the comparison is purely about the processor's standalone capabilities.

The combo rank of 1938 out of 3696 means 1758 other combinations deliver higher frame rates in this game. This is a direct result of the GPU choice; the RX 6700 XT, while competent, is not a top-tier card. The data shows that for a game like The Technomancer, which appears to be heavily GPU-dependent at higher resolutions, the CPU's performance advantage does not translate to a high combo ranking. The system is effectively held back by its graphics card, and the rank reflects this imbalance.

Benchmark results indicate that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the GPU can keep pace with the CPU. At 4K, the combo falls to the bottom quartile of performance relative to other tested pairings, as the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The rank is a clear verdict: the Core Ultra 9 290K is overqualified for the RX 6700 XT in this title, and users would see better overall ranking with a more powerful GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Technomancer with this hardware?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. At High settings, the combo averages 112 FPS, and at Low settings it reaches 171 FPS, providing smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440, High settings still manage 73 FPS, but 4K resolution drops to 40 FPS on High, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003. This is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX, and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135. It is 1.3% behind the AMD EPYC 7F72.

Q: Is the GPU or the CPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The frame rate drops by 64% from 1080p to 4K at High settings, from 112 FPS to 40 FPS. The CPU's high benchmark scores and the fact that 1080p Low achieves 171 FPS indicate the processor has significant headroom that the GPU cannot utilize at higher resolutions.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 111 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 57 FPS. This is a 54 FPS difference, or a 49% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

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

A: Yes. With this hardware, the 1080p Medium preset averages 131 FPS, and the High preset averages 112 FPS. This suggests the system can drive a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor at 1080p with High settings, though the Ultra preset at 87 FPS would be better suited for a 75Hz or 90Hz display.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 1938 out of 3696 tested combos. This places it in the lower half of all systems, indicating that while it is playable, many other hardware pairings deliver higher frame rates in The Technomancer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. The Low preset averages 171 FPS, Medium averages 131 FPS, and High averages 112 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one below 100 FPS, averaging 87 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally stable performance.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly. Low settings still provide a smooth 111 FPS, but Medium falls to 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS. High settings average 73 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS, which is on the edge of smooth gameplay for many users.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become severe. Low settings average 61 FPS, making it the only playable option at this resolution. Medium averages 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS, which is a marginal experience. High settings drop to 40 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for comfortable gameplay.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 84 FPS. At 1440p, it is 54 FPS. At 4K, it is 30 FPS. This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that changing settings has a smaller absolute impact on frame rate, because the hardware is already at its limit. For users seeking the highest frame rates, 1080p with Medium or High settings provides the best balance, while 4K is only viable with Low settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the defining component in this configuration. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The data suggests this bandwidth is a limiting factor at 4K, where the frame rate drops to 40 FPS on High settings. The GPU's base clock of 2321 MHz and boost clock of 2581 MHz are high for its class, but the game's demands at higher resolutions exceed the card's raw throughput.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 27425, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (27435) with a 0% delta. It also matches closely with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (27565), trailing by 0.5%, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27839), trailing by 1.5%. It is 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell (27135). These comparisons show the RX 6700 XT is performing at the expected level for its specifications.

The GPU's RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process, delivers 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as shown by the 112 FPS average at 1080p High. However, the 4K results indicate the card's 160 TMUs and 64 ROPs cannot keep up with the pixel fill rate required at 3840x2160. The 165.2 GPixel/s pixel rate is the key constraint, causing the frame rate to drop below 60 FPS at all settings except Low.

The GPU's 40 ray accelerators do not appear to be a factor in this game, as The Technomancer from 2016 likely does not use ray tracing. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is adequate for the game’s textures, as evidenced by the consistent performance across settings without any indication of memory-related stuttering. The limiting factor is purely the GPU's shading and memory bandwidth, which the benchmark results clearly demonstrate through the steep scaling curve.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a high-end processor that is largely underutilized in this game. With 24 cores and 24 threads, it provides massive parallel processing capability. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.80 GHz ensure that single-threaded performance is excellent, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data storage for game logic.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 84003 is competitive with its nearest rivals, as previously noted. The Passmark multithread score of 60860 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 indicate this is a top-tier processor for multi-threaded workloads. However, The Technomancer does not appear to utilize this capability fully, as the frame rates at 1080p are not exceptionally higher than what a mid-range CPU might achieve.

The data shows the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 171 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently. The fact that the frame rate drops to 40 FPS at 4K High, regardless of the CPU's power, confirms the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support are more than sufficient for this game's demands.

The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU is irrelevant for this test, as the discrete GPU is handling all rendering. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1851 platform indicate this is a power-hungry desktop part, but its performance headroom means it will not be stressed by a 2016 title. The benchmark results indicate that users with this CPU could pair it with a much stronger GPU to achieve higher frame rates in The Technomancer, as the processor is effectively idle in this configuration.