The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, is not typically the first title that comes to mind for modern flagship hardware stress-testing, but the data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a fascinating profile of a game that is remarkably scalable and heavily dependent on the graphics card. With a measured combo rank of 60 out of 2825 tested configurations, this pairing sits firmly in the top percentile of systems, delivering performance that ranges from extremely high refresh rate gaming at 1080p to a playable, though demanding, 4K experience. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy of performance across resolutions and settings, providing a comprehensive look at how this specific CPU and GPU duo handles a title that predates their release by nearly a decade.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data illustrates a classic pattern of resolution scaling, where the performance cost of pushing more pixels is substantial. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 169 FPS. Stepping up to 2560x1440 at the same Ultra preset reduces the average to 110 FPS, a significant drop of 59 frames. Moving to 3840x2160 at Ultra further diminishes the average to 61 FPS. This progression indicates that the RTX 4090 is still the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the demand on the GPU's pixel processing and memory bandwidth increases exponentially.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 44.5% reduction in average FPS, which is a steep curve. However, the game remains playable at 4K Ultra with an average of 61 FPS, suggesting that the engine's workload is well-distributed across the GPU's architecture. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra is a 34.9% performance decrease, highlighting that even at 1440p, the rendering load is considerable. The data shows a non-linear relationship between resolution and frame rate, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario; the jump to 4K quadruples the pixel count, but the frame rate does not drop to a quarter, indicating that the GPU is not solely limited by fill rate but also by other factors like shading complexity.

At lower settings, the scaling pattern shifts. At Low settings, the system achieves 329 FPS at 1080p, 215 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops between resolutions are 34.6% (1080p to 1440p) and 45.1% (1440p to 4K). These numbers suggest that while the absolute frame rates are higher, the relative cost of resolution scaling remains consistent. The fact that the system can exceed 300 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the CPU is providing ample headroom, and the bottleneck is almost entirely on the GPU's ability to render the frames. The 4K Low result of 118 FPS demonstrates that even with reduced graphical fidelity, the pixel throughput at 4K is a substantial challenge for the hardware.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with averages of 253 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 34.8% drop, and from 1440p to 4K is a 44.8% drop, mirroring the patterns seen in other presets. This consistency across settings confirms that the game's performance scaling is governed by resolution independent of the quality level, a strong indicator of a well-optimized rendering pipeline that is primarily bound by the GPU's fill rate and memory subsystem. The High preset follows suit, with 216 FPS at 1080p, 141 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K, showing drops of 34.7% and 45.4% respectively.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. In the context of The Technomancer, a game from 2016, the CPU's role is less about raw multi-core grunt and more about single-thread performance and ensuring a steady supply of draw calls to the GPU. The processor's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and multi-core score of 51731 indicate exceptional processing power. The game's age suggests it likely does not utilize all 24 cores efficiently, but the high single-threaded performance is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU is more likely to be a limiting factor.

The data confirms that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the system produces 329 FPS, a frame rate that would stress even the most powerful CPUs. The fact that the RTX 4090 is able to reach such high numbers indicates the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is feeding it data fast enough. The processor's Passmark single-thread score of 4823 and its 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs further underscore its capability to handle the game's logic and physics calculations without stalling the GPU. The gap between the 1080p Low (329 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (169 FPS) is substantial, which shows that the CPU can handle the lower settings' frame rates, but the GPU is what ultimately caps performance at higher settings.

Comparing to its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores an average 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 trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%, which has an average score of 85072. These deltas are minimal, indicating that in synthetic workloads, the 290K Plus is on par with its closest competitors. For gaming, this means that swapping between these top-tier CPUs would likely yield negligible differences in The Technomancer, as the game is not heavily multi-threaded, and the differences in single-core performance between these chips are small. The processor's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample bandwidth for the game's assets.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings for this combo?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves an average of 61 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, making it playable but not at high refresh rates.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the system produces an average of 216 FPS at 1920x1080, which is 139 FPS higher than the 77 FPS average seen at 3840x2160. This represents a 180% increase in performance when dropping from 4K to 1080p.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches an average of 329 FPS. The data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck, as its strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303) allows the RTX 4090 to operate near its potential, but the GPU is still the main constraint on maximum frame rate.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the benchmark recorded a minimum FPS of 140 and a maximum FPS of 190, with an average of 165 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in The Technomancer?

A: The combination ranks 60th out of 2825 tested combos, placing it in the top 2% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's performance here affected by its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60347, which is essentially identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326, 0% delta) and slightly lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61896, -2.5% delta). However, these are synthetic benchmark comparisons, and in gaming, the 4090's specialized hardware typically provides a significant advantage.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of The Technomancer, the pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 60 out of 2825 tested combinations. This placement in the 97.9th percentile indicates that this system is faster than the vast majority of others tested. The data confirms that this is a top-tier configuration for this game, despite the title's age. The high rank is a result of both the CPU's excellent single-threaded performance, which ensures the game logic runs smoothly, and the GPU's immense rendering power, which can handle the game's effects at high resolutions.

The CPU's percentile rank of 96 among all CPUs is a strong indicator of its overall capability, and its closest rivals in the synthetic benchmarks are all within a 1.3% performance delta. This suggests that the specific choice of a top-tier CPU matters less than the GPU for this game's overall ranking. The GPU's percentile rank of 88 among all GPUs is slightly lower, but its raw performance in gaming is what allows the combo to reach the 60th position. The delta in performance between the 290K Plus and its nearest rival, the 285K, is a mere 0.2%, which would translate to a negligible difference in FPS, reinforcing that the GPU is the dominant factor in achieving this high rank.

When looking at the frame rates, the combo's rank is justified by its ability to push high refresh rates at 1440p. The 141 FPS average at 1440p High is a figure that many systems cannot achieve, and the 110 FPS at 1440p Ultra is equally impressive. The fact that the system can also deliver a playable 61 FPS at 4K Ultra puts it in a unique category. The combination of a high single-thread capable CPU and a flagship GPU from the Ada Lovelace generation results in a setup that is overkill for 1080p but perfectly suited for high-refresh 1440p gaming and solid 4K experiences.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this hardware configuration depend heavily on the user's target resolution and refresh rate. For 3840x2160, the High preset delivers an average of 77 FPS, which is a good balance for a smooth experience on a standard 60Hz display, but it falls short of 120Hz or 144Hz targets. The Medium preset at 4K yields 91 FPS, which is a better choice for higher refresh rate 4K monitors, offering a 14 FPS improvement over High with presumably minor visual sacrifices. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 61 FPS, which is still playable but may not be ideal for fast-paced action.

At 2560x1440, the data shows that the Ultra preset is the sweet spot for high refresh rate gaming, providing an average of 110 FPS. This is sufficient for most high-refresh-rate monitors and offers the best visual fidelity. The High preset at 1440p achieves 141 FPS, which is excellent for 144Hz displays, but the visual difference between High and Ultra may be noticeable to discerning players. For those with 240Hz monitors, the Medium preset at 165 FPS is a strong option, though it requires a step down in graphical quality.

For 1920x1080, the recommendation is to use the highest settings possible. The Ultra preset delivers 169 FPS, which is a great experience for 144Hz and 165Hz monitors. The High preset at 216 FPS is ideal for 240Hz displays, and the Medium preset at 253 FPS is pushing towards the limits of what the CPU can feed the GPU. Given the card's capabilities, there is no reason to use Low settings at 1080p unless the user is chasing extremely high frame rates beyond 300 FPS. The data suggests that the Ultra preset at 1440p offers the best overall balance of visual quality and performance for a high-end setup, while 4K High is the most sensible choice for 4K resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measurements for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in The Technomancer:

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--------- | :------- | :---------- | :------ | :------ |

| 3840x2160 | | | | |

| | Ultra | 61 | - | - |

| | High | 77 | - | - |

| | Medium | 91 | 77 | 104 |

| | Low | 118 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | | | | |

| | Ultra | 110 | - | - |

| | High | 141 | - | - |

| | Medium | 165 | 140 | 190 |

| | Low | 215 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | | | | |

| | Ultra | 169 | - | - |

| | High | 216 | - | - |

| | Medium | 253 | 215 | 291 |

| | Low | 329 | - | - |

The data clearly shows a performance hierarchy where Ultra is the most demanding preset, and Low is the least. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max FPS values, showing a variance of 27 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. This variance suggests some scenes are more demanding than others, but overall frame pacing is stable. The progression from Ultra to Low at 4K shows increases of 16 FPS (Ultra to High), 14 FPS (High to Medium), and 27 FPS (Medium to Low), totaling a 57 FPS difference between the lowest and highest quality settings. At 1440p, the jumps are 31, 24, and 50 FPS, and at 1080p, they are 47, 37, and 76 FPS, indicating that the performance headroom for lower settings expands significantly as resolution decreases.