The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test case for modern hardware. The combination of an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 CPU and an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU produces surprisingly varied results across different settings and resolutions, revealing a game that is more sensitive to certain presets than newer titles. This analysis examines the measured data to provide a clear picture of what this specific component pairing delivers, how it scales, and where its strengths and limitations lie within this particular game. The data shows a pairing that can deliver excellent frame rates, but the path to the best experience is not always straightforward, with the measured results suggesting a complex relationship between the CPU and GPU at various settings.

Settings Recommendations

For the user of this specific combination, the measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across different settings presets. The benchmark results indicate that the "Ultra" preset is the most demanding, as expected. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops to 46 FPS, making it the only preset at this resolution to fall below what is generally considered the minimum for a smooth experience. The jump from "Ultra" to "High" is significant, with a measured gain of 13 FPS at 4K, bringing the average up to 59 FPS. This score is barely playable but not ideal. The improvements continue with the "Medium" preset, which yields a more comfortable 69 FPS at the same resolution.

The "Low" preset offers the highest performance, but it does so at the cost of visual fidelity. At 1080p, the "Low" preset achieves a massive 234 FPS, while "High" achieves 164 FPS, and "Medium" sits at 193 FPS. This pattern holds across all resolutions. The question is which setting provides the "best experience" balancing visual quality and frame rate. The "Medium" preset is arguably the sweet spot. At 2560x1440, it delivers an average of 126 FPS, with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS. This indicates a consistent performance within a range that should feel fluid on most displays. At the more common 1080p resolution, the "Medium" preset produces 193 FPS on average, which is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors.

The "High" preset is a valid alternative if visual fidelity is the priority. At 1440p, it is measured at 108 FPS, which is still an excellent result for a high-detail setting. The "Ultra" preset, while visually the most impressive, presents a trade-off. At 1440p, it is measured at 84 FPS, a considerable drop from the 126 FPS of "Medium". Therefore, the data suggests that "Medium" provides the most balanced experience, ensuring high frame rates and a smooth gameplay without compromising visual quality too much. For those with a 4K display, the "Medium" preset is the only one that reliably exceeds 60 FPS, so it is the recommended starting point. The "High" preset at 4K is borderline, capable of 59 FPS, and could be used if a dip below 60 is acceptable. The "Ultra" preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it significantly reduces performance without a proportional increase in visual quality in this game's engine.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It belongs to the 5000 series and is built on a 7 nm process. In the context of The Technomancer, a 2016 title, the CPU's role is likely to be more significant at lower resolutions and less important at higher ones. The data supports this. The measured FPS at 1920x1080 with "Low" settings is 234 FPS. This is the highest number in the entire measured set, which suggests that at 1080p with light settings, the CPU is able to drive the frame rate to a very high level. The performance at 1080p with "High" settings is 164 FPS, still very high, but lower than the "Low" setting, indicating that the GPU is starting to take on more work.

The Ryzen 5 5600's benchmark scores show its general capabilities. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 18309, its single-core score is 2584, and its Geekbench scores are 9158 for multicore and 1936 for singlecore. These numbers place it in a specific performance tier. It has a percentile of 74, meaning it does better than a majority of all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V with a 0.1% difference in average score, the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G with a 0.2% difference, and the AMD EPYC 9454P with a 0.2% difference. The Ryzen 5 5600 is clearly a strong performer. The game’s frame rates at lower resolutions likely benefit from the CPU's robust single-core performance. However, the data also shows that the CPU can bottleneck the system at lower resolutions when settings are also low, as the frame rates become high enough that the CPU's limit is reached. The game's action RPG nature, with combat and AI, likely uses several threads, but the 6-core, 12-thread configuration is more than adequate for a game from this era. The CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache and support for PCIe Gen 4 also contribute to its overall responsiveness, though these are not directly measured in the game's FPS data.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, with a 5 nm process and the Navi 31 chip. It boasts 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The GPU's clock speeds are a base of 1387 MHz, a boost of 2394 MHz, and a game clock of 2025 MHz. It has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. These are substantial specifications. The GPU's role in The Technomancer becomes more dominant as resolution and settings increase. The data shows a clear scaling. At 1080p with "Low" settings, the frame rate is 234, which is likely CPU-bound. As the settings increase to "Ultra", the frame rate drops to 128, showing the GPU is taking on more work. At 1440p, the same pattern is visible, with a "Low" of 164 and an "Ultra" of 84. At 4K, the GPU is fully engaged, with the "Low" setting only hitting 90 FPS, and "Ultra" falling to 46.

The RX 7900 XT's benchmark scores reflect its high-end position. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 5623, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 71068. Its Passmark G3D score is 29009. The GPU has a percentile of 55. The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 660M with a -0.5% difference, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile with a -0.5% difference, and the AMD Radeon RX 570X with a -0.9% difference. This is a very odd set of rivals. The 660M is an integrated GPU, and the RX 570X is a much older card, so the 7900 XT's score is clearly being compared to a mixed bag of hardware. The average benchmark score for the GPU is 13745. The high bandwidth of the RX 7900 XT likely helps with the game's textures, but the data doesn't show a significant difference in performance that would be attributed to VRAM capacity. The game is not using the full 20 GB of VRAM, but the capacity ensures that there are no texture pop-ins or other memory-related stutters. The GPU's compute capabilities are also high, with a FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS, but the game engine likely doesn't stress this heavily.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT in The Technomancer is ranked 764th out of 3696 tested combinations. This is a strong performance, placing it in the top 20.7% of all tested combos. This rank is a direct result of the pair's ability to achieve high frame rates across most settings. The data indicates that the combination is well-balanced for this title. The CPU's strong single-threaded performance and the GPU's massive processing power work together to avoid significant bottlenecks. The rank of 764 out of 3696 is a measure of the combo's overall performance in this particular game. It is important to note that this is a specific game, and the ranking can vary significantly from one game to another.

The combo's rank is a reflection of the measured FPS across all the tested settings. A combo that performs well at both 1080p and 4K will rank higher than one that does not. The data shows this combo can handle the game at 4K with "High" settings at 59 FPS, which is a key metric for high-end systems. At 1440p, the combo achieves over 108 FPS on "High" and over 84 FPS on "Ultra", which is excellent. The 1080p results are also very high. The rank reflects the GPU's power, as the CPU is a mid-range part. The GPU is carrying the load at higher resolutions, while the CPU is able to keep up at lower ones. The combo's rank of 764 is a solid result, indicating that this is a well-balanced system for The Technomancer. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher settings and resolutions, while the CPU is more than capable of supporting it. The ranking system takes all of these factors into account, and the result is a position that is better than the vast majority of the tested combinations. This is a positive signal for users considering this pairing for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the game's performance scales with resolution. The pattern is consistent: as resolution increases, the frame rate decreases. The "Low" setting at 1080p is 234 FPS, at 1440p is 164 FPS, and at 4K is 90 FPS. This is a drop of 70 FPS from 1080p to 1440p (a 29.9% decrease), and a drop of 74 FPS from 1440p to 4K (a 45.1% decrease). The "Medium" setting shows a similar trend: 193 FPS at 1080p, 126 at 1440p, and 69 at 4K. The "High" setting drops from 164 FPS at 1080p, to 108 at 1440p, and 59 at 4K. The "Ultra" setting is 128 at 1080p, 84 at 1440p, and 46 at 4K. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p is substantial, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is even more pronounced. This is typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

The data also shows the effect of the CPU. At 1080p, the difference between the "Low" (234 FPS) and "Ultra" (128 FPS) is 106 FPS, which is a large range. This indicates that the CPU can drive a high frame rate on "Low", but the GPU is still able to keep up. At 4K, the difference between "Low" (90 FPS) and "Ultra" (46 FPS) is 44 FPS. The absolute drop is smaller, but the relative performance is similar. The fact that the "Low" setting at 4K only reaches 90 FPS is a strong indicator that the GPU is the main bottleneck. The CPU is not the issue. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a classic GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's rendering work increases with the resolution, and the frame rate drops accordingly. The CPU's workload does not increase much with resolution, so its performance remains constant. The data suggests that the CPU will not be a limiting factor for this game at any resolution, but the GPU will be the key to achieving high frame rates at 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the performance of the combo across all settings and resolutions.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average FPS is 234. This is the highest measured average in the entire set, indicating a very high frame rate.
• Medium: Average FPS is 193, with a minimum of 164 and a maximum of 222. The minimum still exceeds 60 FPS, showing a smooth experience.
• High: Average FPS is 164.
• Ultra: Average FPS is 128.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average FPS is 164.
• Medium: Average FPS is 126, with a minimum of 107 and a maximum of 145.
• High: Average FPS is 108.
• Ultra: Average FPS is 84.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average FPS is 90.
• Medium: Average FPS is 69, with a minimum of 59 and a maximum of 80.
• High: Average FPS is 59.
• Ultra: Average FPS is 46.

The data shows that the "Medium" preset is the only one at 4K that provides a minimum frame rate above 60 (at 59), and it is a close call. The "High" preset at 4K is borderline, with an average of 59, which might be acceptable for some users. The "Ultra" preset is not playable at 4K, as it averages 46 FPS. The "Low" setting at 4K is 90 FPS, which is a good result. At 1440p, the "High" and "Ultra" presets are very playable, with 108 and 84 FPS respectively. The "Medium" preset at 1440p is particularly smooth, with a minimum of 107 FPS. At 1080p, all settings are playable, with the "Ultra" setting still hitting 128 FPS. This data indicates that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can handle the highest settings with ease, and can also deliver a solid 4K experience at lower settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate measured with this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 234 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Can this system run the game at 4K with the "Ultra" preset?

A: The data shows that the "Ultra" preset at 3840x2160 results in an average FPS of 46, which is below the standard 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience. It is not recommended.

Q: What is the difference in performance between "Low" and "Ultra" at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset achieves an average of 164 FPS, while the "Ultra" preset achieves an average of 84 FPS. This is a difference of 80 FPS, indicating a substantial performance cost for the higher visual quality.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. Frame rates are high at 1080p and drop as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The "Low" preset at 4K (90 FPS) is significantly lower than at 1080p (234 FPS), showing the GPU's workload scaling.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking compared to other tested combos?

A: The combo ranks 764th out of 3696 tested combinations, which places it in the top 20.7% of all tested systems for this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the "Medium" settings at 1080p?

A: For the "Medium" preset at 1920x1080, the minimum FPS is 164, with an average of 193 FPS and a maximum of 222 FPS. This indicates a very stable and high performance.