The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that clearly separates the capabilities of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060. This combination, ranked 2212 out of 2825 tested configurations, demonstrates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in most scenarios, while the CPU's substantial processing power ensures headroom for high frame rates at lower resolutions. The benchmark data reveals a consistent pattern of performance scaling across settings and resolutions, painting a precise picture of what this hardware pairing can deliver.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in The Technomancer?

A: The combo ranks 2212 out of 2825 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid range of all tested hardware pairings for this specific game.

Q: How does the RTX 2060's average benchmark score compare to its closest rival, the RTX 3050 OEM?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, which is 0.6% higher than the RTX 3050 OEM's score of 15199, indicating a near-identical performance level in general compute tasks.

Q: What is the difference in multi-threaded performance between the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Core Ultra 9 285K?

A: The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Core Ultra 9 285K's score of 83807, showing a marginal performance advantage.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo at 1080p, and at what settings?

A: The highest average frame rate is 130 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is there a significant performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 85 FPS on Low settings to 43 FPS on Ultra settings, representing a substantial 49.4% reduction in performance.

Q: What is the frame time variance like at 4K Medium settings, based on the available data?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 36, with a minimum of 30 FPS and a maximum of 41 FPS, indicating a noticeable fluctuation in frame times.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the defining component for this combo's performance in The Technomancer. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Clocked at a base of 1365 MHz and a boost of 1680 MHz, the GPU's raw compute power is characterized by its 1920 shading units and a FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS. The data shows that the GPU's capabilities are the primary constraint, as performance scales predictably with resolution.

At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to produce high frame rates, but as the resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the demand on the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth grows. The RTX 2060's 48 ROPs and 80.64 GPixel/s pixel rate are responsible for the final output to the display, and these figures become limiting factors at higher resolutions. The benchmark results show a clear trend: the average FPS at 1080p High is 85, which falls to 56 at 1440p High and 31 at 4K High. This demonstrates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the workload becomes increasingly pixel-bound.

The GPU's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are features of the Turing architecture, but their impact on this 2016 title is not directly measurable from the provided data. The game's rendering engine likely relies more on traditional rasterization, which is handled by the shading units and TMUs. The RTX 2060's performance percentile of 58% versus all GPUs places it in the mid-range, and its average benchmark score of 15290 is nearly identical to the GeForce GTX 580, which has a deltaPct of 0. This indicates that while the RTX 2060 is not a high-end part, it is a capable performer for its class, but it is clearly overmatched by the demands of 4K gaming in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1080p gaming, the High preset is the best choice. It delivers an average of 85 FPS, which is a solid playable frame rate, while the Ultra preset drops to 66 FPS. The Low preset pushes performance to 130 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is likely too significant for the extra frames, especially since High already achieves a high frame rate.

At 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance. It produces an average of 65 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS, which provides a smooth experience. The High preset falls to 56 FPS, which is still playable but approaches the threshold where frame drops become more noticeable. The Ultra preset's 43 FPS is below the ideal playable range for a fast-paced action RPG. The data shows that Medium is the sweet spot, offering a significant improvement over High's 56 FPS without the performance penalty of the higher settings.

For 4K gaming, the data indicates that this combo is not well-suited for high or ultra settings. The 4K High preset yields an average of just 31 FPS, which is not smooth. Even the Medium preset only manages 36 FPS, with a minimum of 30 FPS, which is marginal. The Low preset is the only setting that provides a playable frame rate at this resolution, averaging 47 FPS. For a playable 4K experience, users would need to select Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is not ideal. The recommendation is to prioritize either 1080p High or 1440p Medium for the best combination of visual fidelity and performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2212 out of 2825 tested configurations places it in the 22nd percentile of all tested combos in The Technomancer. This indicates that a significant majority of hardware combinations tested will outperform this setup. The ranking is a direct result of the RTX 2060 being a mid-range GPU that struggles with the game's demanding rendering at higher resolutions.

The CPU, however, is a top-tier part. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus sits in the 96th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals include the Core Ultra 9 285K, which is 0.2% slower, and the AMD EPYC 9135, which is 1.2% slower. This shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo's ranking. The low rank is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's performance ceiling. The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 15290 places it in the 58th percentile versus all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the GTX 580 (0% delta) and the Radeon 680M (0.1% delta). This means the GPU is performing as expected for its class, but that class is simply not powerful enough to drive high settings at high resolutions in this title.

The data suggests that this specific pairing is unbalanced for this game. The CPU offers far more processing power than the GPU can utilize, especially at higher resolutions where the workload becomes GPU-bound. The result is a system that is held back by its graphics card, leading to a lower overall rank than the CPU's individual performance would suggest.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this workload. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 85 FPS at 1080p to 56 FPS at 1440p, a 34.1% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K High, the frame rate drops further to 31 FPS, a 44.6% decrease from the 1440p figure. This steep decline is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the number of pixels to render quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling pattern is consistent across other settings. With Low settings, the average FPS goes from 130 at 1080p to 85 at 1440p (a 34.6% drop) and then to 47 at 4K (a 44.7% drop from 1440p). This consistent percentage drop across different presets indicates that the limiting factor is the GPU's rendering throughput, not the CPU or memory bandwidth. The performance loss is directly proportional to the increase in pixel count.

This scaling analysis strongly suggests that the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is not a limiting factor at any tested resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance difference between 1440p and 4K, as the GPU would become less utilized at lower resolutions. Instead, the frame rates continue to scale down as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU, but the RTX 2060 simply cannot process the frames fast enough at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the combo's performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings average 130 FPS, Medium settings average 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 and a maximum of 115, High settings average 85 FPS, and Ultra settings average 66 FPS. This shows a smooth, predictable scaling curve, with each increase in preset costing roughly 15-30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 85 FPS, Medium settings average 65 FPS with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 75, High settings average 56 FPS, and Ultra settings average 43 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42 FPS, which is a substantial range. The Medium preset's minimum of 55 FPS is notable, as it suggests that there can be occasional frame drops even at this middle-ground setting.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become challenging for smooth gameplay. Low settings average 47 FPS, Medium settings average 36 FPS with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 41, High settings average 31 FPS, and Ultra settings average 24 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 23 FPS. The data shows that only the Low preset provides an average frame rate above 30 FPS, and even that is marginal. The 4K Medium settings, with a minimum FPS of 30, will likely experience noticeable stuttering in demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a high-end desktop processor with 24 cores and 24 threads. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The CPU's massive multi-threaded capability is demonstrated by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and its single-core score of 7303. This processing power ensures that the CPU will not be a bottleneck in The Technomancer, a game from 2016 that is unlikely to utilize all 24 cores effectively.

The benchmark results support this analysis. The consistent FPS drops observed when increasing resolution point to the GPU being the limiting factor. If the CPU were struggling, we would expect to see frame rates plateau or become erratic at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom. Instead, the FPS scales smoothly from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the CPU is delivering frames to the GPU faster than the GPU can process them.

The CPU's cache configuration includes a large 36 MB shared L3 cache, which helps with data locality. Its memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface is also substantial. These features ensure that the CPU can quickly feed the GPU with draw calls and geometry data. In this specific game, the CPU's role is to ensure that the GPU is never starved for data, and the data confirms that it succeeds in this role. The CPU's performance is more than adequate for this workload, and its high core count and clock speeds are not fully utilized by a game of this era.