The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical preset. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, using measured frame rate data to understand the balance between the CPU and GPU and to provide clear guidance on optimizing the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and pronounced impact of resolution on performance, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the primary limiting factor in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 178 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 116, a reduction of 62 FPS (approximately 35%). At 3840x2160, the average further declines to 64 FPS, which is a 52 FPS drop from the 1440p result and a 114 FPS drop from the 1080p baseline.

This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The performance cost is nearly linear with the increase in pixel count, suggesting that the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions. The data shows that even at 1080p, the system is not CPU-limited, as it can push out very high frame rates. The drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, with the average FPS falling by nearly two-thirds, which is a typical indication that the GPU's rendering throughput is the bottleneck.

The trend holds across all settings. For instance, at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 209 at 1080p to 136 at 1440p, and then to 75 at 4K. Similarly, at Ultra settings, the average goes from 139 at 1080p to 91 at 1440p, and finally to 50 at 4K. The consistent pattern of significant FPS loss with each resolution increase confirms that the Radeon RX 7900 XTX's capabilities are being fully exercised, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is not the component limiting performance in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers an average of 97 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers an average of 50 FPS. This represents a substantial performance cost of 47 FPS for the highest visual quality settings.

Q: Is the system capable of running The Technomancer at high refresh rates?

A: Yes, but primarily at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS exceeds 139 FPS on all tested presets, and at 2560x1440, it stays above 91 FPS. However, at 3840x2160, the average FPS falls below 100 FPS even on the Low preset, making high refresh rates (120Hz+) difficult to achieve at 4K.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium preset compare to the 4K Low preset in terms of average frame rate?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset achieves an average of 136 FPS, while the 3840x2160 Low preset achieves an average of 97 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset is significantly faster, offering a 39 FPS advantage, likely with better visual fidelity than the 4K Low preset.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck in this system for The Technomancer?

A: The data indicates a GPU bottleneck. The frame rate scales down consistently as resolution increases, which is a classic sign that the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the limiting component. The CPU, with its high core count and clock speeds, has sufficient performance to keep up with the GPU's demands.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 271, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only tested configuration that averages over 270 FPS.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 50, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset. This is the only tested configuration that averages 50 FPS or less.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience balances visual quality with a smooth frame rate. The data shows that the Medium preset offers the best compromise across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 209 FPS, providing an exceptionally smooth experience with a minimum FPS of 177 and a maximum of 240. This is only slightly below the High preset's 178 FPS but offers a significant performance advantage over the Ultra preset at 139 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is again the standout choice, delivering an average of 136 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a responsive gaming experience. While the High preset at 116 FPS is also playable, the Medium preset offers a 20 FPS improvement, which is more likely to maintain a stable frame rate on a wider range of displays.

At 3840x2160, the choice becomes more critical. The Ultra preset averages only 50 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for a playable experience but may suffer from noticeable frame pacing issues. The High preset at 64 FPS is a more stable option, but the Medium preset provides a better experience with an average of 75 FPS. The Low preset at 97 FPS is the only option that breaks the 90 FPS barrier at 4K, but it does so at a significant cost to visual fidelity. For a balanced experience at 4K, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, offering a playable average of 75 FPS while retaining more visual detail than the Low preset.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks at position 326 out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 11.5% of all tested systems, indicating a very high-performing configuration for this title. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU, and the measured FPS data confirms that this is a powerful setup.

The high rank is supported by the strong individual component performance. The CPU's benchmark scores are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The GPU also performs well, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6841. The combo's position in the 326th spot out of 2825 suggests that while many other combinations exist, this one is among the fastest for delivering high frame rates in The Technomancer. The data shows that the system is capable of exceeding 200 FPS on average at 1080p, which reflects its overall power.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the central component driving frame rates, and its substantial resources are heavily utilized in The Technomancer. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This large memory pool and high bandwidth are crucial for handling high-resolution textures and complex scenes without performance degradation. The 24 GB capacity ensures that the game will not run out of video memory, even at 4K with demanding settings.

The GPU's clock speeds also contribute to its performance. It has a base clock of 1929 MHz, a game clock of 2365 MHz, and a boost clock of 2498 MHz. These high clocks allow the GPU to process the many shading units (6144) and texture mapping units (384) efficiently. The 192 ROPs are responsible for final pixel output, and at 4K, their workload is immense, which explains the significant drop in average FPS from 1440p to 2160p. The GPU's raw compute power, rated at 61.39 TFLOPS FP32, is what allows the system to achieve the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p.

The performance scaling data demonstrates that the RX 7900 XTX is the limiting factor in this system. The frame rate drops consistently as the resolution increases, which is the direct result of the GPU having to render more pixels. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of the gaming experience, and its capabilities define the boundaries of the performance envelope. While the GPU ranks in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, which has a similar average benchmark score but is vastly different in architecture and capabilities for this particular game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across all tested scenarios.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates on all presets:

• Low: Average of 271 FPS.
• Medium: Average of 209 FPS, with a minimum of 177 FPS and a maximum of 240 FPS.
• High: Average of 178 FPS.
• Ultra: Average of 139 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong, with a noticeable drop from 1080p:

• Low: Average of 177 FPS.
• Medium: Average of 136 FPS, with a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 157 FPS.
• High: Average of 116 FPS.
• Ultra: Average of 91 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed, and frame rates become more moderate:

• Low: Average of 97 FPS.
• Medium: Average of 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS.
• High: Average of 64 FPS.
• Ultra: Average of 50 FPS.

The data clearly shows the progression of performance. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is a drop of roughly 35-38%, while the difference between 1440p and 4K is a drop of roughly 45-48%. This indicates that the cost of rendering at 4K is exceptionally high for this GPU in this specific game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus serves as the foundation for this system, providing the processing power to feed the GPU. This CPU is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, which are high frequencies that ensure strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303. This is important for game logic and physics, which often rely on a few fast cores.

The CPU's multi-core capabilities are also substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731. This indicates that it can handle the many background tasks and complex simulations that a game like The Technomancer may present. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache is a large pool that helps reduce memory latency, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s ensures data can flow quickly to the cores.

In this specific game, the CPU's role is to provide enough headroom so that the GPU is always the limiting factor. The data supports this, as the frame rate scales consistently with resolution, a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see a plateau in performance at higher resolutions or a significant drop in FPS at lower resolutions where the CPU has to work harder to keep up with the GPU's high output. The fact that the average FPS at 1080p is 271 on Low settings shows the CPU is capable of directing a massive amount of work to the GPU without being a limiting factor. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, show a performance delta of only 0.2%, further solidifying its position as a top-tier, non-limiting component in this configuration.