The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test case for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination. The benchmark data shows a pairing where the GPU's immense power is frequently held in check by the game's engine and the CPU's capabilities, resulting in a performance profile that varies significantly with resolution and settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions reveal distinct bottlenecks and scaling behaviors.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable decline in average FPS as resolution increases, but the rate of decline reveals crucial information about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with High settings, the combination delivers an average of 181 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the average drops to 144 FPS, a decrease of 37 FPS or roughly 20%. The jump to 3840x2160 sees the average fall further to 79 FPS, which is a significant 65 FPS drop from the 1440p result and a 56% decrease from the 1080p figure.

This scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is the primary limiting factor. The relatively small performance gap between 1080p (181 FPS) and 1440p (144 FPS) indicates that the RTX 5090 is not being fully utilized at the lower resolutions; it is waiting for the CPU to feed it data. The RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, is capable of far higher frame rates, but the Ryzen 5 5500X3D's processing of game logic and draw calls becomes the ceiling.

The large drop from 1440p to 4K is a different story. Here, the workload on the GPU increases dramatically, and the RTX 5090 begins to become the limiting component. The 79 FPS average at 4K High suggests that while the GPU is now working much harder, the overall performance is still a mix of both CPU and GPU limitations. The fact that the 4K High result (79 FPS) is lower than the 1440p Ultra result (113 FPS) highlights the massive pixel throughput required at 4K. In contrast, the 1080p Low setting achieves 211 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine or CPU-imposed frame rate cap, further solidifying the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 181 at 1920x1080 to 79 at 3840x2160. This represents a 102 FPS or approximately 56% reduction in performance.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 the main bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The data suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p. The jump from Low (211 FPS) to Ultra (166 FPS) at 1080p is just 45 FPS, and the high frame rates overall indicate the GPU has headroom, but the CPU cannot deliver frames fast enough to utilize it fully.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium setting compare to the 4K Medium setting?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 166. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 93. This is a 73 FPS difference, showing the substantial cost of the higher resolution.

Q: What is the best performing preset at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset provides the highest average FPS at 121. The Ultra preset provides the lowest average FPS at 62.

Q: Does the game show a significant frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 144 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 113 FPS. This is a 31 FPS difference, indicating that the Ultra preset has a considerable performance cost.

Q: Based on the data, is the 1080p Medium setting a good target for high refresh rate monitors?

A: The 1080p Medium preset averages 191 FPS, with a minimum FPS of 163. This is well above the 144Hz threshold and even approaches 165Hz in average, making it a viable option for high-refresh displays, though the 1080p Low preset at 211 FPS is even higher.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications paint a picture of immense processing capability. The GPU is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units. These figures are supported by a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, allowing for substantial compute throughput.

The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a staggering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. In the context of The Technomancer, this memory configuration is massive overkill. The game, released in 2016, is unlikely to require more than a fraction of this capacity or bandwidth at any resolution or setting. The data shows that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, where its capabilities are left untapped. For example, the 1080p High setting yields 181 FPS, which is high but not exceptional for an RTX 5090, which should be capable of much more in a less CPU-limited scenario.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at 4K. The 4K Ultra preset, which averages 62 FPS, and the 4K High preset, which averages 79 FPS, show the GPU beginning to hit its limits as the pixel count and shading complexity increase. The jump from Medium (93 FPS) to High (79 FPS) at 4K is a 14 FPS drop, indicating that the extra visual effects in the High preset are taxing the GPU's processing power. The GPU's percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs in the database confirms its high-end status, but its performance in this specific game is often constrained by the CPU and the game's engine.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The comprehensive FPS measurements provide a detailed look at the performance across different configurations.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high. The Low preset yields the highest average at 211 FPS. The Medium preset averages 191 FPS, with a minimum of 163 FPS and a maximum of 220 FPS. The High preset drops to 181 FPS. The Ultra preset is the lowest at 1080p, with an average of 166 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show more variation. The Low preset continues to lead with an average of 183 FPS. The Medium preset averages 166 FPS, with a minimum of 141 FPS and a maximum of 191 FPS. The High preset averages 144 FPS. The Ultra preset sees a significant drop to an average of 113 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset is the only one to break the 120 FPS barrier, with an average of 121 FPS. The Medium preset averages 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. The High preset averages 79 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 62 FPS, which is the lowest measured score in the entire dataset.

The data shows a consistent pattern where the difference between Medium and High is smaller than the difference between High and Ultra, particularly at higher resolutions, suggesting that the Ultra preset uses effects that are disproportionately expensive.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 202nd out of 2,825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 7% of all tested configurations. This is a strong ranking, reflecting the raw power of the components.

However, the ranking is not as high as the RTX 5090's individual capabilities might suggest. The GPU alone ranks in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The fact that the combo rank is lower than the GPU's individual percentile indicates that the CPU is holding back the overall performance in this game. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D's average benchmark score is 37,018, which puts it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, but its performance in gaming is not as dominant as the GPU's.

The ranking of 202 out of 2825 suggests that many other combinations, likely with more powerful CPUs, are able to extract more performance from similar or even lesser GPUs in this specific title. The data implies that while this combo is very fast, it is not the optimal pairing for The Technomancer due to the CPU bottleneck, which prevents the system from reaching the absolute top tier of performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate.

For 4K (3840x2160) , the Low preset is the only one that provides a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 121 FPS. The Medium preset averages 93 FPS, which is playable but may not be ideal for high-refresh displays. The High (79 FPS) and Ultra (62 FPS) presets are best avoided if aiming for 60+ FPS consistency, as their averages are close to or below that threshold.

For 1440p (2560x1440) , the High preset offers an excellent balance, with an average of 144 FPS. This is a perfect match for 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset (166 FPS) is even faster and would suit 165Hz displays. The Ultra preset, at 113 FPS, is still highly playable and might be preferred for maximum visual fidelity, but it sacrifices the high frame rates of the other settings.

For 1080p (1920x1080) , all presets are playable at high frame rates. The Medium preset, with an average of 191 FPS and a minimum of 163 FPS, provides a great combination of visual quality and performance, easily clearing the 144Hz and 165Hz thresholds. The High preset at 181 FPS is also an excellent choice. The Ultra preset, at 166 FPS, is the most visually demanding but still delivers frame rates high enough for most high-refresh monitors.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. A defining feature is its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a significant asset for gaming workloads.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is crucial, and it appears to be the primary performance limiter at lower resolutions. The benchmark data shows high frame rates that plateau around 211 FPS at 1080p Low and 183 FPS at 1440p Low. The fact that these scores do not scale as much with resolution as one might expect from a GPU like the RTX 5090 suggests that the CPU is struggling to keep up with the GPU's frame generation capabilities.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 37,018 places it in the 85th percentile, with rivals like the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F being within 0.2% of its score. While this is a solidly performing CPU, its 6-core/12-thread configuration is not top-tier. The game's engine appears to be sensitive to single-thread performance and possibly multi-thread scaling, and the Ryzen 5 5500X3D's 4.00 GHz boost clock is not exceptionally high. The data indicates that while the large 3D V-Cache helps, it cannot fully overcome the clock speed and core count limitations in this specific title, leading to the CPU bottleneck observed in the 1080p and 1440p results. The 105W TDP and AM4 socket indicate a power-efficient but not extreme-performance part, which aligns with its role as a strong gaming CPU that occasionally cedes the spotlight to more powerful processors in CPU-heavy games.