The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing. This combination, ranked 3157 out of 3,696 tested combos for this title, positions the system squarely in the lower-middle tier of all tested configurations. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, but which exhibits a surprising amount of headroom at the standard 1080p target, making the overall experience highly dependent on the user's chosen settings and display.

Resolution Scaling

The performance delta between 1080p and 4K is stark and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 72 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, that figure drops to 47 FPS, a reduction of 25 frames, or roughly 34.7%. The step to 4K High is even more punishing

yielding an average of only 26 FPS—a further drop of 21 frames from the 1440p result.

This scaling pattern demonstrates that the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the system still produces a playable frame rate. The jump to 4K, however, is catastrophic for performance, producing a 26 FPS average that is well below the threshold for smooth, fluid gameplay. This is a classic symptom of a GPU that is being pushed beyond its intended resolution capability for this particular game. The data shows a consistent and steep decline in frame rate as the resolution increases, indicating that the GPU's processing power and memory bandwidth are simply insufficient to handle the increased pixel workload at 4K.

The same pattern is evident at lower settings. At Low settings, the 1080p average is 110 FPS, which drops to 72 FPS at 1440p, a 34.5% decrease. The 4K Low average of 39 FPS represents a 64.5% drop from the 1080p result. This is a similar trend, but the higher base frame rate at 1080p suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU more data if the resolution were not the limiting factor. The GPU is the bottleneck in all scenarios, but the severity of that bottleneck becomes more pronounced with each increase in resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's overall ranking in The Technomancer is 3157 out of 3696 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the 85.4th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms only about 14.6% of the other combinations in this particular game. This low ranking is a direct result of the GPU's performance class and the game's demanding nature, especially at higher resolutions. While the CPU is a solid performer in its own right, its capabilities are largely masked by the GPU's inability to maintain high frame rates at 1440p and 4K.

In the context of the benchmark database, this combo is clearly not a high-end performer. The ranking is a strong indicator that users should not expect a high-refresh-rate experience at 1440p or a playable experience at 4K without significantly reducing graphical presets. The data suggests that for a smoother experience, a more powerful GPU would be the necessary upgrade path. The CPU's ranking percentile of 75% against all CPUs suggests it is a much stronger component than the GPU, which sits at the 53rd percentile against all GPUs. This pairing of a relatively capable CPU with a mid-range GPU results in the low overall ranking for this specific game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Zen+ architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. The processor is built on a 12 nm process and has a 65W TDP. It comes with 16 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications indicate a capable multi-threaded processor that was a top choice at the time of its release.

In the context of The Technomancer, a game that is primarily GPU-bound, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with sufficient data to avoid being a bottleneck. The benchmark results suggest that the Ryzen 5 2600 is not a significant limitation at 1080p. For instance, the game achieves 110 FPS at 1080p Low settings, which is a very high frame rate for this title, indicating that the CPU is capable of processing the game's logic and draw calls at a fast pace. However, at 4K resolution, a growing number of pixels are being rendered, and the CPU's performance becomes less relevant because the GPU is the limiting factor.

The multi-threaded nature of the Ryzen 5 2600, with its 12 threads, is well-suited for modern games that can utilize multiple cores. The processor's Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 1248. a multi-threaded performance. The single-core score of 157.3 is also respectable. The data indicates that the CPU is strong enough to keep up with the GPU at all tested settings and resolutions, meaning the GPU is the definitive bottleneck in this system. The CPU's architecture and high core count ensure that frame pacing remains stable, but the GPU's performance is the tie-breaker.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all tested resolutions and settings.

1920x1080 (1080p): At this resolution, the system delivers the most playable frame rates. At Low settings, the average is 110 FPS. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 84 FPS, with a minimum of 72 and a maximum of 97. High settings produce an average of 72 FPS, a 34.3% reduction from Low. Ultra settings bring the average down to 56 FPS. This shows the game scales well with settings for the 1080, with a 54 FPS difference between the lowest and highest presets.

2560x1440 (1440p):

At this resolution, the system starts to show its limits.

• The Low setting yields an average of 72 FPS, which is the same as the 1080p High setting. Medium settings drop to a 55 FPS average, with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 63, which is a playable experience. High settings average 47 FPS, which is on the edge of playable, but may feel inconsistent. Ultra settings fall to 37 FPS, which is a significant drop and not ideal for a smooth experience.

3840x2160 (4K):

At 4K, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates.

• The Low setting averages 39 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings are 30 FPS, with a minimum of 26 and a maximum of 35. High settings have an average of 26 FPS. Ultra settings drop to a poor 20 FPS. The system is simply not capable of delivering a consistent 60 FPS experience at this resolution.

The data shows a clear pattern. The 1080p resolution is the only one that provides a fully fluid experience across all settings, with 1440p being a viable alternative for those willing to compromise on graphical fidelity. The 4K resolution is not a practical option for this system, as it fails to reach even a 30 FPS average in the best-case scenario.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process. It features 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The card has a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. It is equipped with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU's TDP is 125 W.

This GPU is the primary bottleneck for this system. It is a mid-range card that is well-suited for 1080p gaming but is not powerful enough for high-resolution or high- settings. The 6 GB of VRAM is also a potential constraint at 4K, where high-resolution textures can easily fill up the memory buffer. The GPU's performance in The Technomancer is heavily influenced by the resolution. At 1080p, the card is often able to maintain high frame rates, but as the resolution increases, the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become insufficient.

The GTX 1660 SUPER's closest rivals in the benchmark database include the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which is a mobile GPU with a similar average score, and the AMD Radeon RX 580. The 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 12986, which is only 0.4% higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and 0.4% higher than the RX 580. This shows that its performance is right in line with other mid-range cards of its era. The GPU's percentile rank is 53, meaning it is a solid mid-pack performer, but it lacks the raw power to push the high frame rates of a top-tier card. The 4K results show that the GPU is overwhelmed, with the average frame rate falling to as low as 20 FPS at Ultra settings. This is a direct result of the GPU's limitations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the best experience with this combination is achieved at 1080p. The High preset provides an average of 72 FPS, which is a smooth and responsive experience. This is the highest preset that still delivers a 60+ FPS average at this resolution.

For a more performance-focused experience, the Medium preset delivers an 84 FPS average, which is an excellent frame rate. While the Low preset offers the highest frame rate of 110 FPS, the visual quality is significantly reduced. The Ultra preset, with an average of 56 FPS, is a playable option for those who prioritize visual fidelity over a high frame rate, but this is the only resolution where this is a viable choice.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides the best balance of performance and visual quality, with a 55 FPS average. This is acceptable for, but users who demand a higher frame rate may need to use the Low preset (72 FPS) or lower the resolution to 1080p. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p are not recommended for a consistent experience, as they dip below the 50 FPS mark.

For 4K gaming, this system is not a suitable option for a fluid experience. The Low preset provides the highest average frame rate of 39 FPS, which is not smooth enough for most players. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets produce averages of 30, 26, and 20 FPS, respectively, which are all well below the playability threshold. The data strongly suggests that 4K is not a target resolution for this hardware in this title.

Therefore, the data indicates that the best experience is to run the game at 1080p with the High preset. This offers a high-quality visual experience with a solid 72 FPS average. Users can select the Medium preset for a higher frame rate, or Ultra for a visual, but the High preset is the sweet spot for this system, providing a strong balance of visual quality and performance.