The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination. The benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily capable at mainstream resolutions but begins to show its limits when pushed to 4K with maximum settings. This analysis walks through the measured frame rates, setting-by-setting, to characterize the gaming experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 154.6 FPS. Moving to 1440p, that number drops to 98.2 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 53.5 FPS. This represents a 65% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at High settings, which is a classic sign of the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the system goes from 220.8 FPS at 1080p to 150 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 83.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K result at Low is still higher than the 4K Ultra result at 40.9 FPS, showing that the GPU has headroom when visual demands are relaxed. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K, which aligns with the geometric increase in pixel count. At 1080p, the CPU is likely more involved, as the Ryzen 5 5500's six cores and twelve threads can keep up with the high frame rates, but the RTX 4070's rendering workload scales directly with resolution.

Data indicates that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound at lower settings, as the jump from Low to High only reduces frame rates from 220.8 to 154.6. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint, with even Medium settings only producing 64.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 40.9 FPS is the only measurement that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this resolution and preset combination is too demanding for consistent smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the ideal balance of visual quality and performance depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 117 FPS, which is well above the smoothness threshold. However, the High preset at 154.6 FPS offers a substantial frame rate improvement with likely minimal visual difference in a fast-paced action game. For players prioritizing high refresh rates, the Medium preset at 176.4 FPS is also a strong contender, sacrificing some visual fidelity for a significant performance boost.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the clear recommendation. It produces 98.2 FPS, which is very close to the 100 FPS mark and offers a great experience. The Ultra preset at 78.1 FPS is still playable, but the drop from High to Ultra is a 20% performance penalty. The data suggests that High settings at 1440p provide the best experience per the measured rows, as it stays well above 60 FPS while retaining most visual features.

For 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The High preset at 53.5 FPS is slightly below the ideal 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 64.7 FPS is the only 4K setting that breaks the 60 FPS barrier while maintaining decent visual quality. The Low preset at 83.5 FPS is the most performant option, but it likely compromises too much visual detail for a modern title. For a consistent 4K experience, the Medium preset is the optimal choice, as it balances the need for smooth motion with acceptable graphical fidelity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays a central role in this game's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is substantial for handling the textures and geometry of a 2016 title. The card's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz are the driving forces behind its raw compute power, with an FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which scores 37507 (a 0.6% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (a 2.2% difference). These comparisons show that the RTX 4070 is a high-end desktop part, and its performance in The Technomancer reflects this. The PassMark G3D score of 26927 and DirectX 12 score of 103 indicate strong DirectX 12 support, which is relevant for a game that can utilize modern APIs.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K Ultra settings. The performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K (from 53.5 to 40.9 FPS) is more likely due to the increased shader complexity and fill rate demands rather than memory capacity, as the game's era predates the massive texture sizes common in newer releases. The GPU's pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are key metrics for understanding its ability to handle the rendering workload at high resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities across all tested configurations.

At 1920x1080, the system excels. Low settings produce an average of 220.8 FPS, which is exceptionally high. Medium settings yield 176.4 FPS, High settings produce 154.6 FPS, and Ultra settings still maintain 117 FPS. All results at this resolution are far above the 60 FPS target, indicating that the RTX 4070 has ample headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low settings deliver 150 FPS, Medium produces 114.5 FPS, High achieves 98.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 78.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 48% performance reduction, which is expected as more visual effects are enabled.

At 3840x2160, the demands increase significantly. Low settings average 83.5 FPS, which is still smooth. Medium settings produce 64.7 FPS, High settings drop to 53.5 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 40.9 FPS. This resolution is the only one where the system struggles to maintain high frame rates, with the Ultra preset being the only configuration that falls below 45 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS the system achieves in The Technomancer?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 220.8, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K with Medium settings, the system averages 64.7 FPS, which is playable. At High settings, it drops to 53.5 FPS, and at Ultra, it falls to 40.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its closest rival in the benchmark database?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score is 37283. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37507, which is a 0.6% difference, making them statistically similar in overall performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system averages 154.6 FPS. At 2560x1440 with High settings, it averages 98.2 FPS, representing a 36% drop in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is more involved at 1080p, as the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings is relatively small (220.8 vs 117 FPS) compared to the larger drops seen at 4K, where the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested CPU/GPU combinations for this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 488 out of 1656 total combinations, placing it in the top third of tested systems.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process. It features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. This configuration is well-suited for gaming, as the single-thread performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2319 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 836.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a PassMark multithread score of 19330. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for game logic and physics. The CPU's percentile rank is 79, indicating it outperforms most other processors in the database. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, has an average score of 20897, which is only 0.1% different, showing they are nearly identical in overall performance.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be secondary at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the system achieves frame rates above 150 FPS at High settings, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The 12 threads are more than sufficient for a 2016 title's threading model. However, as resolution increases, the GPU takes over as the limiting factor, and the CPU's contribution becomes less critical. The data shows that at 4K, even with Low settings, the frame rate is 83.5 FPS, which is still high, indicating that the CPU can handle the game's logic without holding back the RTX 4070.