The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with Intel Core Ultra X9 388H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, shows distinctly different performance behavior depending on resolution and settings when paired with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Measured data reveals a system that scales predictably from a high-refresh-rate 1080p experience to a playable-but-taxing 4K one, with the RTX 4090 acting as the dominant force at lower resolutions while the CPU begins to matter more as resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 153 FPS at 1080p to 100 FPS at 1440p, then further to 55 FPS at 4K. That represents a 35% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45% reduction moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, which suggests the GPU is the primary performance limiter throughout the resolution range at this setting.

The Low settings preset tells a similar story but with even larger absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the system produces 234 FPS average, which drops to 153 FPS at 1440p and 84 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 35%, identical to the High preset. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is about 45%, also matching the High preset scaling. This consistency across presets indicates that the resolution scaling behavior is largely independent of the graphics settings applied.

Medium settings produce 180 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop here is 35%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 44%. Ultra settings yield 120 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. The corresponding drops are 35% and 45% respectively. Across all four presets, the scaling pattern is remarkably uniform, with each resolution step costing roughly one-third of the frame rate.

This uniform scaling behavior is significant. It tells us that The Technomancer's rendering pipeline is heavily pixel-bound, with the RTX 4090's fill rate and memory bandwidth being the determining factors. The GPU's 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth are being exercised consistently as resolution increases. The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical regardless of preset suggests that the game does not become CPU-bound at any tested resolution, even at 1080p Low where the frame rates are extremely high.

Looking at the minimum FPS data available for Medium settings, the pattern holds. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 153 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 100 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 55 FPS. These minimums track the average FPS closely, indicating stable frame pacing without severe dips. The 4K Medium minimum of 55 FPS is particularly notable because it suggests that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains playable performance at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the centerpiece of this configuration, and its specifications explain much of the observed performance. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD102 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, this GPU packs 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the 4K performance seen in the measured data.

The clock speeds are substantial: a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. These specifications translate into 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate. For a game like The Technomancer, which is not known for being particularly demanding by modern standards, these figures are more than sufficient at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 9223, and the Geekbench Vulkan score is 271631. The Passmark G3D score of 38194 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a delta of 0%, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 with a delta of 0.3%, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M with a delta of -2.5%. These are workstation-class GPUs, which highlights how the RTX 4090 sits in a performance tier that is effectively unmatched in the consumer space.

The VRAM capacity of 24 GB is worth examining in the context of this game. The Technomancer was released in 2016, and its texture requirements are modest by modern standards. Even at 4K Ultra settings, it is unlikely that the game approaches the 24 GB VRAM ceiling. The measured data supports this: the 4K Ultra average of 43 FPS is likely limited by GPU compute and fill rate rather than memory capacity. The memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s provides ample headroom for the game's data streaming requirements.

The GPU's production status is listed as end-of-life, with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD. It uses a triple-slot cooler with a 450 W TDP and requires an 850 W power supply. These physical requirements are substantial, but they are the price of the performance tier this GPU occupies.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for different use cases. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable frame rates, but the differences are stark. Low settings produce 234 FPS, Medium produces 180 FPS, High produces 153 FPS, and Ultra produces 120 FPS. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, Low settings at 1080p offer the highest headroom. However, the jump from Low to Medium costs 54 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 27 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 33 FPS.

At 1440p, the story shifts. Low produces 153 FPS, Medium 117 FPS, High 100 FPS, and Ultra 78 FPS. The 1440p High setting at 100 FPS is a strong balance for most gaming scenarios, offering a significant visual improvement over Low while maintaining a triple-digit frame rate. The 1440p Ultra setting at 78 FPS is still smooth, but the 22 FPS cost over High may not justify the visual gains for all users.

At 4K, the choices become more constrained. Low produces 84 FPS, Medium 65 FPS, High 55 FPS, and Ultra 43 FPS. The 4K Medium setting with its 65 FPS average and 55 FPS minimum is the sweet spot for 4K gaming on this hardware. It maintains a playable frame rate while providing a reasonable visual experience. The 4K High setting at 55 FPS is borderline, and the 4K Ultra at 43 FPS dips into territory where motion smoothness may suffer.

The minimum FPS data for Medium settings is particularly useful here. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 55 FPS, which means the system never drops below that threshold. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 100 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it is 153 FPS. These tight minimum-to-average ratios indicate consistent performance without major hitches.

For the best overall experience, the data suggests Medium settings at the target resolution. At 1080p, Medium delivers 180 FPS with a 153 FPS minimum, which is more than sufficient for any display. At 1440p, Medium's 117 FPS average with a 100 FPS minimum provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, Medium's 65 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum is the highest quality preset that maintains consistent playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 588th out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in roughly the 79th percentile of all tested systems for this specific game. The rank is notable because it is lower than the individual component percentiles would suggest: the CPU is in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is also in the 88th percentile of all GPUs.

This discrepancy between component percentiles and the combo rank indicates that The Technomancer's performance is not solely determined by raw hardware capability. The game's engine, released in 2016, may not fully utilize the modern architecture of the RTX 4090. The 588th rank out of 2825 combos means there are 587 tested configurations that perform better in this game, despite many of them likely having less powerful components on paper.

The CPU's performance context helps explain this. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score of 44466, placing it just 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13950HX, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600. This is a tightly clustered group of CPUs, and the small deltas suggest that CPU performance is not a differentiator in this game.

The GPU's ranking context is similar. The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347, which is 0% different from the Intel Arc Pro A60, 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, 2.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, and 2.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO V710. These are all workstation or professional GPUs, and the tight deltas indicate that the RTX 4090 is not dramatically ahead of its nearest competitors in synthetic benchmarks.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 3, based on the Panther Lake architecture on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 25 W. The cache hierarchy consists of 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3. Memory support is LPDDR5X with dual-channel configuration and 153.6 GB/s bandwidth.

The CPU's benchmark scores show a mixed profile. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 18911, and the single-core score is 2200.5. The Passmark multi-thread score is 36811, with a single-thread score of 4280. The Passmark physics score is 3226, which is relevant for game physics calculations. The data compression score of 361763 and encryption score of 28490 indicate strong general-purpose compute capabilities.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The uniform resolution scaling observed in the FPS data suggests that the game is not CPU-bound at any tested resolution. Even at 1080p Low with 234 FPS average, the CPU does not appear to be the limiting factor, as the scaling pattern remains consistent with GPU-bound behavior.

The CPU's 16 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for a 2016 game that was designed for the multi-core CPUs of that era. The high boost clock of 5.10 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, which is often more important for game logic and physics. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data locality, and the 153.6 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 88th among all CPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 44466, shows that it is a high-end mobile processor. However, in this game, the CPU's capabilities are not fully utilized. The 588th combo rank suggests that other factors, such as the game's engine limitations or driver overhead, may be limiting performance more than the CPU itself.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1440p High settings, the system averages 100 FPS, and at 1440p Medium, it averages 117 FPS with a 100 FPS minimum. The 4K resolution is playable but requires Medium settings to maintain a 65 FPS average.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 perform at 4K in this game?

A: The RTX 4090 delivers 84 FPS at 4K Low, 65 FPS at 4K Medium, 55 FPS at 4K High, and 43 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 4K Medium setting is the recommended choice because it maintains a 55 FPS minimum, ensuring consistent playability.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all presets, with roughly 35% drops from 1080p to 1440p and 45% drops from 1440p to 4K. This uniform scaling pattern is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 588th out of 2825 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This places it in approximately the 79th percentile of all tested systems for this specific game.

Q: What settings should I use at 1080p for maximum frame rate?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 234 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 180 FPS, High delivers 153 FPS, and Ultra delivers 120 FPS. For maximum frame rate, Low settings at 1080p provide the highest headroom.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM matter for this game?

A: The 24 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for The Technomancer. The game's 2016 release date means its texture requirements are modest, and the measured FPS data does not indicate any memory-related performance limitations, even at 4K Ultra settings.