The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, shows a peculiar performance profile when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The measured data reveals a system where the CPU is a significant bottleneck at lower resolutions, while the GPU’s immense power dominates at higher settings. This pairing produces a set of results that are less about raw GPU capability and more about the balance between a modern flagship graphics card and a mid-range desktop processor from a previous generation.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the performance ceiling lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 227.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p, that number drops to 196.5 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 118.7 FPS. This pattern, where the most significant drop occurs between 1440p and 4K, suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding frames at a high rate at lower resolutions, but the GPU starts to become the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The transition from High to Ultra settings at each resolution provides further insight. At 1080p, the difference between High (197.5 FPS) and Ultra (177.8 FPS) is a relatively modest 19.7 FPS. This relatively small delta indicates that even at Ultra settings, the CPU is still the primary constraint, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased graphical load without a massive frame rate penalty. The story changes at 4K, where High settings yield 80.2 FPS and Ultra settings drop to 63.7 FPS, a more substantial 16.5 FPS difference. This steeper decline at 4K shows the GPU is now working much harder, and its performance scaling is more directly tied to the settings preset.

The data points to a system that is heavily CPU-limited at 1080p. The Ryzen 5 5600G, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to be the bottleneck, preventing the RTX 5090 from reaching its full potential at that resolution. The gap between the 1080p Low (227.7 FPS) and 1440p Low (196.5 FPS) is 31.2 FPS, which is a substantial drop, but the 1440p to 4K Low drop of 77.8 FPS is far more severe. This indicates that while the CPU constraint is present at 1440p, the GPU’s workload becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. The 4K results, particularly the 80.2 FPS at High and 63.7 FPS at Ultra, demonstrate that the RTX 5090 is finally being tasked to a degree that allows its performance to scale with the settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 76th out of 1656 combos. This places it in the top 5% of all tested systems, a strong position that reflects the sheer power of the GPU. The high rank is largely evidence of the RTX 5090’s ability to brute-force its way through the game’s engine, even when paired with a less capable processor.

The CPU’s own benchmark standing provides context for its role in this ranking. The Ryzen 5 5600G holds an average benchmark score of 19983, which places it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-11600H, which scores 19949 (a 0.2% difference), and the Intel Core i7-11800H, which scores 20024 (a -0.2% difference). This data shows that the 5600G is a solid, mid-range performer, but it is not a top-tier processor. The fact that this combo still ranks 76th overall indicates that the game’s performance is heavily skewed by the GPU, but the CPU’s limits prevent the system from climbing higher into the top ranks where more balanced pairings would reside.

The GPU itself is an absolute powerhouse. The RTX 5090’s average benchmark score of 84306 puts it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D with a score of 84241, a negligible 0.1% difference. This GPU is clearly at the top of its class. The combination of a 94th-percentile GPU with a 78th-percentile CPU explains the 76th-place ranking: the GPU is doing the heavy lifting, but the system is not achieving the heights it would with a more powerful processor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. For a smooth and visually rich experience at 4K, the High preset at 80.2 FPS is the clear choice. It provides a significant performance advantage over the Ultra preset’s 63.7 FPS while likely offering a visually similar experience in a game from this era. Pushing to Ultra at 4K is possible, but the drop to below 70 FPS may not be worth the marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers an excellent 144.1 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 111.9 FPS is also highly playable and offers a more demanding visual experience. The measured data shows a 32.2 FPS difference between these two presets, so users with a 144Hz display will likely prefer High to maintain a consistent frame rate, while those with a 120Hz display could comfortably choose Ultra. The Medium preset at 168.7 FPS is a good middle ground, but High offers a better balance of performance and fidelity.

At 1080p, the system is so CPU-bound that the choice of settings is less critical for achieving high frame rates. The Low preset produces 227.7 FPS, while Ultra still manages 177.8 FPS. The recommendation here is to simply select Ultra, as the 177.8 FPS average is still exceptionally high and will provide the best visual quality without any meaningful performance compromise. The 49.9 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is a clear sign that the CPU is the limiting factor, so users should take advantage of the free performance headroom to maximize graphical fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured results provides a detailed look at the system’s behavior. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are: Low at 227.7 FPS, Medium at 205.3 FPS, High at 197.5 FPS, and Ultra at 177.8 FPS. The scaling is relatively linear, with a total spread of 49.9 FPS between the lowest and highest settings. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decrease in performance, with the most significant single drop occurring between High and Ultra (19.7 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 196.5 FPS, Medium at 168.7 FPS, High at 144.1 FPS, and Ultra at 111.9 FPS. The spread here is much wider, at 84.6 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra is 32.2 FPS, which is more pronounced than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a factor. The difference between Low and Medium is 27.8 FPS, and between Medium and High is 24.6 FPS, showing a consistent performance cost for each step up in quality.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are: Low at 118.7 FPS, Medium at 96.2 FPS, High at 80.2 FPS, and Ultra at 63.7 FPS. This resolution shows the most significant performance scaling, with a total spread of 55.0 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 22.5 FPS, from Medium to High is 16.0 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 16.5 FPS. These results clearly show the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, and each setting increase has a substantial impact on the final frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card with a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 2407 MHz. These specifications place it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 84306 is only 0.1% higher than its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D. This is a card with no equal in the database.

In this game, the GPU’s role is complex. At 1080p, its power is largely untapped due to the CPU bottleneck, resulting in high but not overwhelming frame rates. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 5600G cannot issue draw calls fast enough to keep the RTX 5090 fully occupied. This is why the 1080p frame rates, while high, do not scale dramatically with settings. The GPU is essentially waiting for the CPU.

The situation changes dramatically at 4K. Here, the GPU’s immense processing power and memory bandwidth are finally put to work. The frame rates scale more predictably with settings, and the performance is more representative of the GPU’s true capabilities. The 63.7 FPS at 4K Ultra is a solid result for a demanding resolution, but it is not the 200+ FPS that the GPU could theoretically deliver in a less CPU-constrained scenario. The 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, and the high bandwidth ensures that textures can be streamed without issue. The GPU is clearly the dominant component at 4K, but the system’s overall performance is still held back by the processor, preventing this combo from reaching the absolute top tier of the rankings.