The Technomancer

The Technomancer, an Action RPG released in 2016, presents a demanding workload for modern hardware, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions. The data indicates a system capable of high frame rates, but with scaling characteristics that reveal where the bottleneck shifts as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable yet informative decline as resolution scales from 1920x1080 up to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 234 FPS, which drops to 153 FPS at 1440p and further to 84 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is being increasingly taxed. The pattern holds across all settings presets, with the average FPS roughly halving from 1080p to 4K. For instance, at High settings, the system produces 153 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the system is not entirely GPU-limited, as the substantial frame rates leave headroom for the CPU to influence performance. However, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is steep but not linear, with a 35% reduction in FPS at High settings (from 153 to 100). This indicates a strong GPU dependency that becomes even more pronounced at 4K. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a 45% reduction (from 100 to 55 FPS), which is more severe, confirming that the RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary limiting component at 4K.

The data points to a system where 1080p and 1440p are well within the GPU's comfort zone for this game, but 4K pushes the hardware to its limits. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is 41 FPS (84 vs 43), which is a significant spread. At 1080p, the same gap is 114 FPS (234 vs 120). This compression of the settings spread at higher resolutions is classic evidence of a GPU bottleneck, as the pixel throughput demand overwhelms the performance differences between presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile combo can achieve in The Technomancer?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 234, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra experience compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the system averages 43 FPS, whereas at 1080p Ultra it averages 120 FPS. This represents a 64% reduction in performance, making 4K Ultra a demanding target.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution in this game?

A: The data suggests that at lower resolutions like 1080p, the CPU may have more influence, but the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions indicate the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's benchmark scores are high, but the game's performance scaling points to GPU dominance.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 100 FPS, while the average is 117 FPS and the maximum is 135 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for The Technomancer?

A: The combo ranks 821st out of 3696 tested combos, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: Does the RTX 4090 Mobile's 16 GB VRAM show any signs of being insufficient in the measured data?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM insufficiency. The performance drops are consistent with compute limitations rather than memory capacity issues, as the frame rates remain playable even at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 120 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 153 FPS offers a significant margin for high-refresh-rate displays, while Medium at 180 FPS is ideal for competitive play. The Low preset at 234 FPS is excessive for most displays but demonstrates the system's headroom.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averaging 100 FPS provides the best balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset drops to 78 FPS, which is still playable but loses the fluidity of the High preset. The Medium preset at 117 FPS is a strong alternative for players prioritizing frame rate over visual quality. The Low preset at 153 FPS is the choice for maximum performance.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests that the Medium preset, with an average of 65 FPS and a minimum of 55 FPS, offers the most consistent experience. The High preset at 55 FPS is borderline, with the Ultra preset at 43 FPS falling below ideal playability. The Low preset at 84 FPS is the most responsive option at 4K. The recommendation is to use Medium at 4K to maintain a stable frame rate without sacrificing too much visual detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 234 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 180 FPS, with a minimum of 153 FPS and a maximum of 207 FPS, indicating consistent frame delivery. The High preset averages 153 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 120 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 114 FPS, showing a wide range of performance scaling.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS for each preset shows a clear step down. The Low preset delivers 153 FPS, matching the 1080p High preset score. The Medium preset averages 117 FPS, with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 135 FPS. The High preset averages 100 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 78 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 75 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops become more pronounced. The Low preset averages 84 FPS, which is still respectable. The Medium preset averages 65 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. The High preset averages 55 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 43 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 41 FPS, which is the tightest of all resolutions, confirming the GPU bottleneck at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile combination ranks 821st out of 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places the configuration in the top 22.2% of all tested systems, indicating strong performance relative to the broader field. The rank reflects a system that handles the game well, particularly at lower resolutions, but is not the absolute top performer.

The GPU's individual benchmark scores support this ranking. The RTX 4090 Mobile has a Passmark G3D score of 27212, which places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 with a score of 43301 and a deltaPct of 0.8%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile with a score of 43268 and a deltaPct of 0.9%. The RTX A6000 scores 44075, which is 0.9% higher. This places the RTX 4090 Mobile in a competitive position, slightly below the A6000 but above others.

The CPU's performance is also notable. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H has an average benchmark score of 44466, which is in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, scores 44573, a deltaPct of -0.2%, meaning the Intel chip is essentially on par. The Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 44342, a deltaPct of 0.3%, while the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 scores 44309, a deltaPct of 0.4%. This shows the CPU is competitive with top-tier desktop and mobile processors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor based on the Panther Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This configuration is well-suited for gaming, as the high boost clock provides strong single-thread performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 2200.5 in single-core and 18911 in multi-core, demonstrating a balanced capability.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the system can achieve 234 FPS, which suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor at that resolution. However, the steep drop in FPS at 4K indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per core L2 cache provide ample data for game logic, but the game's rendering demands outpace CPU capabilities.

The CPU's Passmark scores, including 4280 in single-thread and 36811 in multithread, indicate it can handle complex game scenarios. The data compression score of 361763 and encryption score of 28490 further highlight its computational strength. However, for this specific game, the CPU's performance is overshadowed by the GPU's workload, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is a high-end mobile GPU based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, with 9728 shading units and 76 ray tracing cores. It has a base clock of 1335 MHz and a boost clock of 1695 MHz. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s, which is crucial for high-resolution textures. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 27212 places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs.

In The Technomancer, the GPU is the dominant factor in determining performance. The measured FPS data shows a clear correlation between resolution and frame rate, with the GPU being the limiting component at 4K. The GPU's 32.98 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 515.3 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial, but the game's demands at 4K overwhelm these capabilities. The pixel rate of 189.8 GPixel/s is a key metric, as higher resolutions require more pixel throughput.

The GPU's memory configuration is also significant. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, and the 576.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The measured FPS at 4K Medium, which averages 65 FPS, shows that the GPU can handle the workload, but the drop to 43 FPS at Ultra indicates that the GPU's compute units are saturated. The RTX 4090 Mobile's performance is consistent with its ranking, showing it is a capable but not top-tier performer for this particular title.