The Technomancer

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a playable experience in The Technomancer, but the definition of “playable” depends heavily on your target resolution. At 1080p, this setup is a powerhouse, handling even the most demanding preset with headroom to spare. Moving to 1440p, the system still holds its ground, but the options narrow to the lower two presets. At 4K, the hardware hits a hard wall, with no settings achieving the 60 FPS threshold. The data paints a clear picture of a system that is well-balanced for mainstream gaming but ultimately limited by the GPU’s throughput at higher pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent scaling pattern across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system starts with a strong showing at Low settings, delivering an average of 121 FPS. Stepping up to Medium produces an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS, indicating smooth frame pacing. High settings yield an 80 FPS average, while the Ultra preset, the most demanding, still achieves a respectable 62 FPS average. This means even at the highest visual quality, the system clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a small but definitive margin.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance cost of additional pixels becomes evident. Low settings average 79 FPS, which remains comfortable. Medium settings produce a 61 FPS average, with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS, placing it right on the edge of the playability threshold. High settings drop to a 52 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 38 FPS, highlighting the significant GPU workload increase at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings average 44 FPS, which is a 44% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 33 FPS, with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 39 FPS. High settings average 29 FPS, and Ultra drops to just 22 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a performance cliff, with the Ultra preset delivering less than half the frame rate of the Low preset. The data shows no configuration at this resolution comes close to the 60 FPS target.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets indicates that the Intel Arc B570 is the primary bottleneck in this pairing. The CPU, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a solid foundation, but its influence on frame rates diminishes as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (121 FPS) and Ultra (62 FPS) is substantial, suggesting the GPU is being pushed harder by the more complex shading and geometry of higher presets. However, the CPU still has enough headroom to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the playable Ultra performance.

The role shifts become more pronounced at 1440p and 4K. When moving from 1080p Medium (93 FPS) to 1440p Medium (61 FPS), the frame rate drops by 34%, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The CPU’s workload does not scale with resolution in the same way the GPU’s does. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor; even dropping to Low settings only yields 44 FPS, which is far below the 121 FPS seen at 1080p Low. This indicates that the Arc B570’s raw fillrate and memory bandwidth are insufficient for 4K rendering in this title, regardless of the CPU’s capability.

The benchmark results support the conclusion that the Ryzen 5 5500 is not holding back the system in this game. Its 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and multi-thread score of 5411 suggest adequate computational power for a 2016 action RPG. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 14195 and its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are the decisive factors. While the CPU handles game logic and draw calls, the GPU’s pixel and texture rates dictate the final frame output, and these are the metrics that fail to scale to 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Technomancer at 4K resolution?

A: No. The measured data shows no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best result is Low settings with an average of 44 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. All other presets at this resolution average between 22 and 33 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p that stays above 60 FPS?

A: Medium settings is the highest preset that maintains playability, with an average of 61 FPS, a minimum of 52 FPS, and a maximum of 70 FPS. Low settings also works with an average of 79 FPS, but High and Ultra averages of 52 and 41 FPS respectively are not playable.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 strong enough for this game?

A: Yes. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319, are more than sufficient for a 2016 title. The performance data shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, not the CPU.

Q: How does the Ultra preset at 1080p compare to Medium at 1440p?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 62 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it averages 61 FPS. This shows a near-identical frame rate, but the 1440p Medium preset offers higher resolution with slightly lower visual effects settings.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is 59 FPS. Low settings average 121 FPS, while Ultra settings average 62 FPS. This represents a 49% reduction in frame rate when enabling the highest visual quality preset.

Q: Does the system provide a smooth experience at 1080p High settings?

A: Yes, the High preset at 1080p averages 80 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a comfortable margin for most gameplay scenarios, though exact minimum frame rates are not recorded for this preset.

The Verdict

The verdict by resolution is clear. At 3840x2160, the system cannot run the game at a playable level; there are no playable settings that reach the 60 FPS threshold, and the highest average is 44 FPS on Low. At 2560x1440, the system is partially capable, with Low and Medium settings clearing the bar, but High and Ultra do not. At 1920x1080, the system is fully capable, with all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—achieving an average of 60 FPS or higher. The data indicates that this CPU-GPU combination is best suited for 1080p gaming in The Technomancer, where it can deliver high frame rates even at maximum visual quality. For 1440p, users must be willing to compromise on settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is as follows:

• 3840x2160: No preset achieves 60 FPS. The closest is Low with an average of 44 FPS, but this is not playable per the threshold.
• 2560x1440: Medium settings, which yields an average of 61 FPS, a minimum of 52 FPS, and a maximum of 70 FPS. This is the highest visual quality that remains playable.
• 1920x1080: Ultra settings, which produces an average of 62 FPS. This allows for the highest image quality while still maintaining a playable frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2972 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the lower half of all possible hardware configurations for this game, which is a surprising result given its strong 1080p performance. The ranking suggests that while the system performs adequately at lower resolutions, it is outclassed by many other combos that can handle higher resolutions or more demanding settings. The data indicates that the Arc B570, despite its modern architecture, does not have the raw power to compete with higher-tier GPUs in this specific title, particularly at 4K where its 22 FPS Ultra result is a significant weak point.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU, several hardware combinations would behave similarly to this setup.

• The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 is the closest CPU rival, with an average benchmark score of 19617, which is just 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 5 5500’s 19593. This CPU would provide nearly identical processing performance.
• The Intel Core i5-12500 has an average score of 19668, which is 0.4% higher, and the Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, which is 0.5% lower. These CPUs would yield very similar frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.
• On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile has an average score of 20534, just 0.1% below the Arc B570’s 20556. This suggests nearly identical rasterization performance for this game.
• The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, which is 0.1% higher, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662, which is 0.5% higher. Any of these GPUs paired with the Ryzen 5 5500 would produce benchmark results within a fraction of a percent of the tested configuration, meaning users could expect the same playable settings at 1080p and 1440p, and the same lack of 4K capability.