The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales sharply with resolution. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 across three resolutions and four quality presets, using the benchmark data recorded for this specific combination. The results paint a clear picture of a system where the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's capabilities remain largely in reserve. The data indicates a total of 12 measured FPS points, covering 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, with High, Medium, Low, and Ultra settings at each.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a dramatic and consistent drop as resolution increases, which is a classic indicator of a GPU-bound workload. At 1080p with the Low preset, the average frame rate is 68 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 on the same Low preset, the average falls to 44 FPS — a reduction of 24 FPS, or about 35% fewer frames. The trend continues at 3840x2160, where the Low preset yields an average of just 24 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is the most punishing, with a 20 FPS drop. This steep decline between each step strongly suggests that the graphics card is the limiting component; the rendering resolution is directly dictating the cost per frame.

The High preset tells a similar story, but at a lower overall performance level. At 1080p High, the system averages 45 FPS. At 1440p High, that number plummets to 29 FPS, a drop of 16 FPS. At 4K High, it falls further to just 16 FPS. The 4K result is borderline unplayable, and even the 1440p High result is noticeably inconsistent. The Medium preset shows the same pattern, from 52 FPS at 1080p, to 34 FPS at 1440p, and down to 19 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and the data shows it brings the system to its knees at 4K with a 13 FPS average. Even at 1440p, the Ultra preset only manages 23 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold for most action games.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is not linear, but it is consistently punishing. The average FPS at 4K Low (24 FPS) is lower than the average FPS at 1080p Ultra (35 FPS). This highlights that resolution is a more potent performance lever than the quality settings in this configuration. The 1080p to 1440p step is also significant, particularly on the Low and High presets, which lose 24 and 16 FPS respectively. The game's engine appears to be highly sensitive to the number of pixels rendered, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution tested. The measured data shows no situation where the CPU is the bottleneck; the frame rate is almost entirely defined by the graphics load.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 3000 series, based on the Zen 2 architecture and codenamed Matisse. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its benchmark results show a strong multi-threaded capability, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 7372, but its single-thread performance is more moderate, as shown by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2124 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1536. In the context of this game, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU's workload.

The fact that the measured frame rates scale so heavily with resolution indicates that the 3600 has enough headroom to feed the GTX 1650 at 1080p, but the GPU's output is still the ceiling. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 68, which is a clear sign of a GPU limit, not a CPU limit. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see more consistent frame rates across resolutions, or a smaller drop when moving to 4K. Instead, the 4K result at Low (24 FPS) is a fraction of the 1080p result, confirming the GPU is the primary limiter.

Looking at the CPU's benchmark scores, the passmark multi-thread score is 17700, and the passmark single-thread is 2562. The data suggests a processor with ample multi-threading for general tasks, but the single-thread performance is what matters most for games. The 3600 has a percentile of 71 among all CPUs, and an average benchmark score of 17035. Its nearest rivals in terms of avgScore include the Intel Core i7-1260P (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i5-11400 (-0.2% slower), and the AMD EPYC 7573X and EPYC 7742, with nearly identical scores. This places the Ryzen 5 3600 in a mid-range position for overall CPU throughput.

The game itself, The Technomancer, is not a core-heavy title, so the 6-core/12-thread setup is likely more than sufficient for its engine. The frame data implies that even a less capable CPU would produce nearly identical results with this GPU, as the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's role is to maintain the minimum frame rate and prevent stutter, but in these measurements, the average FPS is so low at 4K that it's clear the CPU is not being stressed. The data doesn't show any CPU-specific bottlenecks; the 3600's 12 threads and 32 MB of L3 cache are enough to keep the GPU fed, but the GPU can't deliver more frames. The 1080p Low result of 68 FPS is the highest measured, and it's limited by the GTX 1650's pixel and texture throughput, not the CPU's single-thread speed.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 5 3600 and the GTX 1650 ranks 3,568th out of 3,696 total combos for this game. This rank, 3568 out of 3696, places it in the lower percentile of results. The rank indicates that this combination struggles to provide a high frame rate experience in The Technomancer, especially at higher resolutions. Being in the bottom 128 combos (3696 - 3568 = 128) suggests that the majority of other hardware configurations in the database deliver more frames. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's limitations, as the GTX 1650 is a low-end part.

The GPU's benchmark percentile vs. all GPUs is 40, and its average benchmark score is 7472, which puts it in the lower half of the ranked graphics cards. The GTX 1650's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (0.3% delta), the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (0.4% delta), and the AMD Radeon R7 350 (0.6% delta), while the Intel Arc A310 is 1% slower. This shows the GPU is a low-end component, so the combo's rank is expected. The CPU's rank is considerably better, but the combo's in-game performance is dragged down by the GPU.

The combination's ranking also reflects the settings and resolutions tested. The measured 4Kp results (16-24 FPS on High/Low, 13-19 on Medium/Ultra) are all below 30 FPS, which is a common target for playable frame rates. At 1440p, the results are better but still low, with the best result of 44 FPS on the Low preset. Only at 1080p does the combo achieve a decent performance, with a 68 FPS on Low and 52 on Medium. The rank reflects the entire set of measurements, so the low 4K and 1440p scores heavily influence the overall ranking. There is no scenario where this combo provides a high frame rate, but it can reach a playable 60+ FPS at 1080p on the Low setting.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data is presented in the table below, showing the average FPS at each resolution and preset. The minimum and maximum FPS are only available for the Medium preset at each resolution, as the other presets only record an average.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|-----------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 68 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 52 | 44 | 60 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 45 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 35 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 44 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 34 | 29 | 39 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 29 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 23 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 24 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 19 | 16 | 22 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 16 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 13 | - | - |

Starting with the 1080p resolution, the highest average is 68 FPS at Low settings. This is the only preset at this resolution that reaches a smooth 60+ FPS. The Medium preset averages 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS, indicating some frames will dip below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset averages 45 FPS, which is playable but not consistently smooth. The Ultra preset is significantly lower, at 35 FPS, which may be too low for fast-paced action. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 35 FPS to 68 FPS, a 33 FPS difference.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the only playable one, at 44 FPS. Medium drops to 34 FPS, and the range is from 29 to 39 FPS. The High preset is 29 FPS, and the Ultra is 23 FPS. The impact of resolution is clear: even the Low preset at 1440p loses 24 FPS compared to 1080p Low. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 21 FPS, from 44 to 23.

At 4K, the results are all below playability. The Low preset is 24 FPS, Medium is 19 FPS, High is 16 FPS, and Ultra is 13 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is only 11 FPS, indicating that the GPU is so limited that the quality settings have a smaller effect. The frame rates are consistently low, and this confirms the GPU is the ceiling. The Medium preset shows a min of 16 FPS and a max of 22 FPS at 4K, showing a tight range. Overall, the 1080p Medium preset is the best compromise, with an average of 52 FPS, and the 1080p Low is the only one to hit 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a GeForce 10-series card based on the Turing architecture, with a chip of TU117. It has a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. Its shading units are 896, with 56 texture mapping units and 32 ROPs. The pixel rate is 53.28 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 93.24 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS. The GPU's average benchmark score is 7472, and it ranks in the 40th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (0.3% higher), Intel UHD 750 (0.4% higher), and AMD Radeon R7 350 (0.6% higher), with the Intel Arc A310 being 1% slower.

The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory is a crucial factor for this game. The Technomancer is a game with large textures, and 4 GB is likely to be a limiting factor at higher resolutions or preset settings. The data, however, shows that resolution plays a bigger role than memory capacity, because the 1080p Ultra, which would use more memory, still achieves 35 FPS, whereas the 1440p Low, which uses less memory, only achieves 44 FPS. This indicates that the GPU's raw compute (2.984 TFLOPS) and memory bandwidth (128.1 GB/s) are the main constraints, not just the VRAM capacity.

The GPU's pixel rate (53.28 GPixel/s) is a strong indicator of its ability to handle resolutions. At 4K (3840x2160), the number of pixels is about 8.3 million. The pixel rate is a theoretical maximum, but the measured data shows a severe drop at 4Kp, which is consistent with the GPU being unable to fill pixels fast enough. The texture rate (93.24 GTexel/s) also matters for the game's surface detail, but the drop from 1080p to 4K is so steep that the pixel fill rate is the dominant bottleneck.

The GPU's performance is the primary reason for the combo's low ranking. The 1080p Low result of 68 FPS is the highest, and it is already a moderate frame rate. The 1440p and 4K results are all below the playable threshold, which is 60 FPS. The GTX 1650 is a low-end GPU, and The Technomancer is a demanding title. The benchmark data shows that the GPU is the limiting component in every scenario, as the CPU has plenty of headroom. The GPU's 4 GB memory, while not the only factor, also contributes to the poor performance at higher presets, but the compute and fill rate are the primary constraints. The GPU's 128.1 GB/s bandwidth is also a relevant factor, as the 4Kp results are so low that the memory may be a bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience for this combination is at 1080p resolution with the Medium preset. The 1080p Medium results in an average of 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. The minimum of 44 FPS is above the playable 30 FPS threshold, and the average of 52 is close to the 60 FPS target. This setting provides a balance between visual quality and performance. The 1080p High preset offers 45 FPS, which is a 7 FPS drop, and the 1080p Ultra is 35 FPS, which is too low for a smooth action game.

At 1080p, the Low preset is the only one that hits 60 FPS, but it does so by lowering quality. The 1080p Low average is 60 FPS, but this is a compromise on visual fidelity. For users who prefer a high frame rate, the Low preset is the best option, but the Medium preset's 52 FPS with a minimum of 34 is a more stable choice. The measured data shows that the Medium preset is the "sweet spot" for this GPU.

At 1440p, the results are too low for a good experience, with the Low preset only reaching 44 FPS and the High preset at 29 FPS. The 44 FPS Low might be playable for a less demanding game, but for an Action RPG, it is borderline. The 4K results are all below 30 FPS, so they are not recommended. The Ultra presets at 1440p and 4K are not viable, with 23 FPS and 13 FPS respectively.

Therefore, the recommendation is to run the game at 1080p with the Medium preset. This yields an average of 52 FPS, and it is the highest average that maintains a playable minimum. The High preset at 1080p is also acceptable, but the Medium offers a higher minimum. The Low preset is the only 60 FPS option, but it sacrifices visual quality. The 1440p and 4K resolutions are not playable with this GPU, the data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck, so adjusting settings won't bring those resolutions to a playable level. The 1080p Medium is the best choice for a playable, visually reasonable experience.

| Settings | Resolution | Avg FPS | Recommendation |

|-----------|-------------|---------|----------------|

| Medium | 1920x1080 | 52 | Best balance |

| Low | 1920x1080 | 68 | Highest FPS |

| High | 1920x1080 | 45 | Acceptable |

| Ultra | 1920x1080 | 35 | Low |

| Low | 2560x1440 | 44 | Borderline |

| Medium | 2560x1440 | 34 | Low |

| High | 2560x1440 | 29 | Not ideal |

| Ultra | 2560x1440 | 23 | Poor |

| Low | 3840x2160 | 24 | Unplayable |

| Medium | 3840x2160 | 19 | Unplayable |

| High | 3840x2160 | 16 | Unplayable |

| Ultra | 3840x2160 | 13 | Unplayable |

Ultimately, the data shows that the combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 and GTX 1650 is only suited for 1080p gaming with a moderate graphics preset. The 1440p and 4K results are too low to be playable. The system is GPU-bound, so upgrading the GPU would be the only way to improve performance at higher resolutions. The CPU's single-thread performance is adequate, but the GPU is the core limitation.