The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress profile for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. The benchmark data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution, showing clear shifts in bottleneck behavior across the 1080p to 4K spectrum.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance gradient as resolution increases, indicating a classic transition from a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound scenario at higher ones. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces an average of 153.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces this to 96.4 FPS, a drop of approximately 37%. The step to 4K High is even more punishing, with the average falling to 56.8 FPS, another 41% reduction from the 1440p figure.

This scaling pattern is telling. The 1080p to 1440p delta is large, suggesting that the graphics card is already being tasked heavily at 1440p. However, the even larger drop from 1440p to 4K confirms that the RX 9070 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary limiting component at the highest resolution. The data shows that the game's demands on the rendering pipeline outpace the GPU's ability to fill pixels at 4K, even with a powerful card.

The Low settings profile offers a clearer view of the CPU's headroom. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 181.9 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still manages 152.9 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is only about 16%, which is far less than the 37% drop seen at High settings. This indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is able to keep the GPU fed, and the performance is closer to the GPU's raw capability. However, at 4K Low, the average falls to 84.1 FPS, a 45% drop from 1440p Low, signaling that even with reduced graphical load, the sheer pixel count at 4K overwhelms the GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 3000 series, based on the Zen 2 architecture. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz are modest by current standards, but its benchmark scores suggest it remains a capable partner for this game. In Cinebench R23, it scores 15045 in multi-core and 2124 in single-core tests. The single-core score is particularly relevant for The Technomancer, which, like many titles from its era, often relies on fewer threads for the main game logic.

The processor's performance percentile sits at 76, meaning it outperforms 76% of all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 18129 places it in close competition with the Intel Core i5-11400, which scores 18150, a negligible 0.1% difference. This suggests the Ryzen 5 3600 provides a level of computational throughput that is well-matched to the demands of this game at high frame rates.

In the context of the measured results, the CPU's role becomes clear at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 181.9 FPS, which is the highest average recorded across all settings. This high frame rate, combined with the relatively small drop to 1440p Low (152.9 FPS), indicates that the CPU is capable of issuing draw calls fast enough to sustain over 150 FPS. The CPU is not the limiting factor until the GPU becomes saturated. The data suggests that the 6-core, 12-thread configuration provides sufficient parallelism for the game's engine at these frame rates, allowing the RX 9070 XT to stretch its legs.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is a powerhouse based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture. It features 4096 shading units, 64 ray tracing cores, and a 256-bit memory bus. The GPU's boost clock is listed at 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. This combination of high clock speeds and a large 16 GB GDDR6 memory pool gives it significant raw throughput.

The GPU's benchmark results are strong, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260 and a Passmark G3D score of 26795. It holds an 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 39647 puts it in a tight race with the AMD Radeon Pro 575, which scores 39703 (a 0.1% difference), and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, which scores 39568 (a 0.2% difference). This data points to a card that delivers high-end performance.

The GPU's role in The Technomancer is decisive at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra setting yields a demanding average of 39.7 FPS, which is the lowest score in the entire dataset. This is a clear indication that the GPU is working at its absolute limit. The difference between 4K High (56.8 FPS) and 4K Ultra (39.7 FPS) is a 30% reduction in performance for the highest quality preset. This demonstrates that the Ultra preset introduces a level of graphical complexity, likely involving the 128 ROPs and the 760.3 GTexel/s texture rate, that heavily taxes the GPU's pixel and texture processing capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT holds a rank of 520 out of 1656 total combos. This places it in the upper third of all tested systems, indicating a solid, high-performance configuration. The rank reflects the balance between the two components; while the GPU is clearly a top-tier part, the CPU is a previous-generation model, which pulls the overall combo ranking down from the absolute top.

The ranking suggests that while the system is excellent for 1440p gaming, its performance at 4K is limited by the GPU's ability to render frames, and its performance at 1080p is likely limited by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU. This is a balanced system, but not a perfectly matched one. The data implies that for this specific title, the combo is more capable than 68.6% of all other tested pairings, making it a strong choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, but not the ultimate 4K solution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the average FPS measured for this specific combination of CPU and GPU in The Technomancer.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 181.9 FPS
• Medium: 169.6 FPS
• High: 153.9 FPS
• Ultra: 120 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 152.9 FPS
• Medium: 116.8 FPS
• High: 96.4 FPS
• Ultra: 78.6 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 84.1 FPS
• Medium: 63.7 FPS
• High: 56.8 FPS
• Ultra: 39.7 FPS

The data shows that the system is most comfortable at 1080p, where even the Ultra preset achieves a playable 120 FPS. The step to 1440p brings the High preset down to 96.4 FPS, which is still smooth for most displays. At 4K, the system struggles to maintain 60 FPS at High settings, achieving only 56.8 FPS, and dips to 39.7 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is consistent, showing a clear hierarchy of settings. The largest relative drop from Low to Ultra occurs at 4K, where performance falls by over 52%, compared to a 34% drop at 1440p and a 34% drop at 1080p. This reinforces the conclusion that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as resolution and settings increase.