The Technomancer

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 3408 out of 3696 tested combinations in The Technomancer. That places this combo in the bottom 8% of the database, a position that reflects the GPU's severe limitation rather than the CPU's capability. The CPU alone sits at the 94th percentile among all processors, but the Arc B370 lands at just the 5th percentile among GPUs. That imbalance defines the entire experience.

The recorded data shows a system that can run the game, but only at modest settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 71 FPS average, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Every other setting at that resolution falls short. At 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The verdict is clear: this is a 1080p Low-settings machine for The Technomancer, nothing more.

What makes the ranking interesting is the mismatch. The Ryzen 7 9700F is a high-end desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, Zen 5 architecture, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its PassMark multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 put it in elite company. Yet the Arc B370, an integrated GPU with 1280 shading units and 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance, drags the combined result down. The rank of 3408 reflects a bottleneck that is entirely GPU-side.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a system where the GPU dominates performance scaling, and the CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the jump from Low to Medium to High to Ultra shows a clear pattern: 71, 55, 47, and 37 FPS respectively. The GPU is the limiting factor even at the lowest resolution, since the Ryzen 7 9700F has far more headroom than the Arc B370 can exploit.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 47 at Low, 36 at Medium, 31 at High, and 24 at Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings shows a reduction from 71 to 47 FPS, a 34% decrease. At Medium, the drop is from 55 to 36, a 35% decrease. This consistent reduction indicates that resolution scaling is the primary driver, and the GPU's pixel throughput of 48.00 GPixel/s becomes the ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the situation worsens dramatically. Low settings yield 26 FPS, Medium 20 FPS, High 17 FPS, and Ultra 13 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is 47 to 26 FPS, a 45% reduction. The Arc B370's texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s and its system-shared memory bandwidth, which is system dependent, cannot keep up with 4K demands. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support are irrelevant here because the GPU cannot feed itself fast enough.

Preset scaling within each resolution further confirms the GPU-bound nature. At 1080p, going from Low to Ultra reduces frame rates by 48% (71 to 37). At 1440p, the reduction from Low to Ultra is 49% (47 to 24). At 4K, it is 50% (26 to 13). The consistency of this preset scaling across resolutions suggests that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are the binding constraint, not the CPU's instruction throughput.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Ryzen 7 9700F are all high-end processors with similar average benchmark scores. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, a 0.2% delta from the 9700F's 69996. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163, a -0.2% delta. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, a 0.7% delta. The Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69355, a 0.9% delta. Any of these CPUs would behave identically in The Technomancer because the GPU is the bottleneck.

The GPU's nearest rivals tell a more revealing story. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, a -0.2% delta from the Arc B370's 1184. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, a -0.5% delta. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, a -0.7% delta. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, a 1.4% delta. These are all older or lower-end parts, and the data shows they would deliver nearly identical frame rates in this game. The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it in the same performance class as a decade-old discrete GPU, which explains why 1080p Low is the ceiling.

For a user considering alternatives, the CPU side offers no meaningful choice: swapping the Ryzen 7 9700F for any of its nearest rivals would change nothing in this game. The GPU side, however, suggests that any of these comparable GPUs would produce similar results, all of them failing to reach 60 FPS above 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 1080p High is 47, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Only Low settings at 1080p achieve 60 FPS or higher.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 2560x1440?

A: The database shows no playable settings at 1440p. The highest average FPS at this resolution is 47 at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra yield 36, 31, and 24 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (-0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (-0.5%), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (-0.7%), and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4%). All are within 1.4% of the Arc B370.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 9700F ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, while the Arc B370 ranks in the 5th percentile among GPUs. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution and preset changes, indicating GPU-bound performance.

Q: What average FPS does this combo achieve at 3840x2160 with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Medium is 20, with a minimum of 17 and a maximum of 23. This is far below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700F have any headroom in this game?

A: Yes, considerable headroom. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 are far above what The Technomancer requires at the frame rates measured. The bottleneck is entirely the Arc B370's 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the data shows consistently low performance. Low settings produce an average of 26 FPS. Medium settings yield 20 FPS average, with a minimum of 17 and a maximum of 23. High settings drop to 17 FPS average. Ultra settings bottom out at 13 FPS average. No preset at this resolution comes close to the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the numbers improve but remain unplayable by the 60 FPS standard. Low settings reach 47 FPS average. Medium settings hit 36 FPS average, with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 41. High settings average 31 FPS. Ultra settings average 24 FPS. Even the best case, Low at 47 FPS, falls 13 FPS short of playable.

At 1920x1080, the picture changes. Low settings achieve 71 FPS average, clearing the 60 FPS threshold with an 11 FPS margin. Medium settings average 55 FPS, with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 63. High settings average 47 FPS. Ultra settings average 37 FPS. The 1080p Medium result is notable because its maximum of 63 FPS touches the playable range, but the average and minimum remain below it.

The pattern across all resolutions and presets shows a consistent hierarchy: Low is always the fastest, Ultra is always the slowest, and the gaps between presets are roughly uniform. The minimum FPS values recorded at Medium settings across resolutions (17 at 4K, 30 at 1440p, 47 at 1080p) suggest that frame pacing is stable but the overall performance ceiling is low.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The highest average is 26 FPS at Low settings, which is 34 FPS below the threshold. The database records no playable settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the situation is identical in outcome: no preset reaches 60 FPS. The best average is 47 FPS at Low settings, still 13 FPS short. No playable settings exist at 1440p.

At 1920x1080, Low settings is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold, with an average of 71 FPS. Medium settings average 55 FPS, High averages 47 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. The recommended setting for 1080p is therefore Low, which provides the only playable experience in this configuration.

The Verdict

The data answers the question directly: this combo can run The Technomancer, but only at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The verdict by resolution confirms that 3840x2160 has no playable settings, 2560x1440 has no playable settings, and 1920x1080 has exactly one playable setting: Low, at 71 FPS average.

The Ryzen 7 9700F is not the problem. Its 94th percentile CPU ranking and strong PassMark scores indicate a processor capable of far more demanding workloads. The Intel Arc B370, with its 5th percentile GPU ranking and performance comparable to GPUs from over a decade ago, is the binding constraint.

For a user who prioritizes 1080p gaming at minimum settings, this combo works. For anything higher, the data recommends against it. The 60 FPS threshold is a hard line, and this system crosses it only once across twelve measured configurations.