The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a lopsided combo for The Technomancer, but the benchmark data reveals exactly where each component dominates. This 2016 Action RPG is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet the six-core Zen 3 processor still holds its own at 1080p. The measured FPS across four settings presets and three resolutions tells a consistent story: this pairing delivers playable frame rates everywhere, and exceptional performance at 1440p and below. The combo ranks 378th out of 3,696 tested configurations, placing it in the top 10% of all combos tested for this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 brings six cores and twelve threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. This is a Zen 3 architecture chip built on a 7 nm process, featuring 16 MB of L3 cache. The single-thread performance is solid — the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,319 and Geekbench single-core score of 1,730 indicate that the CPU can handle the per-thread demands of an older Action RPG like The Technomancer without bottlenecking the RTX 4080 at lower resolutions.

The multi-threaded results are equally respectable. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,429 and the Geekbench multi-core score of 7,976 show a CPU that can feed a high-end GPU in most scenarios. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,386 and max-thread score of 5,411 suggest that the processor's twelve threads are well-utilized in gaming workloads. The Ryzen 5 5500 sits in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,593. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 averages 19,617 (0.1% faster), the Intel Core i5-12500 averages 19,668 (0.4% faster), the Intel Core i7-10700F averages 19,499 (0.5% slower), and the Intel Core i5-11600KF averages 19,723 (0.7% faster). This places the 5500 squarely in the mid-range of modern desktop processors.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role becomes clear when examining the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 220 FPS average — a number that suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,645 and single-thread score of 836 indicate that even older games with modest thread utilization will see adequate performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 3,058 further confirms this. The data shows that the Ryzen 5 5500 is not the limiting factor in this pairing, even at 1080p where CPU overhead typically matters most.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 55 FPS average, which is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. Dropping to High raises the average to 70 FPS — a 27% improvement that makes the game noticeably smoother. The Medium preset hits 82 FPS average with a minimum of 70 FPS and maximum of 94 FPS, offering the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate at 4K.

At 1440p, the situation improves dramatically. The Ultra preset averages 100 FPS, which is excellent for a 2016 Action RPG. High settings push that to 128 FPS, while Medium reaches 149 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS and maximum of 172 FPS. The Low preset hits 191 FPS average, which is overkill for most displays but shows the headroom available.

At 1080p, every preset exceeds 150 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 152 FPS, High averages 189 FPS, Medium averages 200 FPS with a minimum of 170 FPS and maximum of 230 FPS, and Low averages 220 FPS. The data indicates that Medium settings provide the most consistent frame pacing at 1080p, with the narrowest gap between minimum and average FPS. For the best overall experience, Medium at 4K or High at 1440p appears optimal, depending on the display's native resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 189 at 1080p to 128 at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and then to 70 at 4K (a 63% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario — the RTX 4080's workload increases with pixel count, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant.

The Low settings preset shows similar scaling: 220 FPS at 1080p, 191 at 1440p (13% drop), and 107 at 4K (51% drop from 1080p). The Medium preset follows the same trend: 200 FPS at 1080p, 149 at 1440p (26% drop), and 82 at 4K (59% drop). The Ultra preset delivers 152 FPS at 1080p, 100 at 1440p (34% drop), and 55 at 4K (64% drop).

The fact that the FPS reduction is steeper at higher settings presets confirms that the RTX 4080's compute resources are the limiting factor as resolution increases. The Ryzen 5 5500's role diminishes at 4K, where the GPU's rasterization throughput becomes the primary constraint. At 1080p, however, the CPU is still keeping pace — the 220 FPS Low result suggests that the six-core processor can feed the GPU adequately even in a best-case scenario for CPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 378th out of 3,696 tested combinations for The Technomancer, placing it in the top 10.2% of all tested configs. This is an impressive result for a mid-range CPU paired with an upper-mid-range GPU. The RTX 4080's percentile ranking of 86 among all GPUs, combined with the Ryzen 5 5500's 73rd percentile CPU ranking, explains why this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems.

The RTX 4080's benchmark data shows it's a capable performer: its PassMark G3D score of 34,457 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 place it near the top of the GPU hierarchy. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% faster), AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% faster), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (2.6% faster), and AMD Radeon 8060S (2.7% faster). The close margins indicate that the RTX 4080 sits in a competitive performance band.

The combination of a 73rd percentile CPU and 86th percentile GPU yields a top-10% result in this game, suggesting that The Technomancer's engine scales well with GPU resources while not being overly demanding on the CPU. The ranking also reflects the game's age — a 2016 title with relatively modest hardware requirements benefits from this generation's strong single-thread performance.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in The Technomancer?

A: The data suggests not. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 220 FPS average, and at 1080p Medium it holds 200 FPS with a 170 FPS minimum. These numbers indicate the CPU can keep pace with the GPU's output in this game, even at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is highest.

Q: What settings preset should I use for the smoothest experience at 4K?

A: Medium settings at 4K deliver 82 FPS average with a 70 FPS minimum and 94 FPS maximum. This provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate consistency. The High preset offers 70 FPS average but lacks the minimum/maximum data, while Ultra drops to 55 FPS average.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209 (0.1% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (2.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55,757 (2.7% higher). The differences are minimal, indicating near-parity among these GPUs.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming at high refresh rates?

A: Yes. At 1440p High, the average FPS is 128, and at Medium it reaches 149 with a 127 FPS minimum. Even Ultra settings average 100 FPS. This comfortably exceeds 60 FPS and approaches the refresh rates of many 144Hz monitors.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 5500's 73rd percentile CPU ranking hold back the system?

A: Not in this game. The combo ranks 378th out of 3,696 configurations, placing it in the top 10.2%. The CPU's nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, Intel Core i5-12500, Intel Core i7-10700F, and Intel Core i5-11600KF — all score within 0.7% of the 5500, showing this processor is competitively positioned for this workload.

Q: What is the FPS difference between High and Ultra settings at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, High averages 189 FPS versus 152 FPS for Ultra (a 24% difference). At 1440p, High averages 128 FPS versus 100 FPS for Ultra (a 28% difference). At 4K, High averages 70 FPS versus 55 FPS for Ultra (a 27% difference). The consistent percentage gap suggests similar GPU workload scaling across resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: 55 FPS average
• High: 70 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average, 70 FPS minimum, 94 FPS maximum
• Low: 107 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: 100 FPS average
• High: 128 FPS average
• Medium: 149 FPS average, 127 FPS minimum, 172 FPS maximum
• Low: 191 FPS average

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: 152 FPS average
• High: 189 FPS average
• Medium: 200 FPS average, 170 FPS minimum, 230 FPS maximum
• Low: 220 FPS average

The data shows a clear pattern: each resolution drop of one step (4K to 1440p, or 1440p to 1080p) yields roughly a 50-80% increase in average FPS, depending on the settings preset. The Medium preset consistently provides the most complete data with minimum and maximum values, showing frame pacing that is stable across all three resolutions. The gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution decreases — at 4K it's a 52 FPS difference (107 vs 55), at 1440p it's 91 FPS (191 vs 100), and at 1080p it's 68 FPS (220 vs 152). This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor, while at 1080p the CPU's ability to feed frames matters more.