The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, revealing a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher settings. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics to understand where this combo excels and where its limitations become apparent.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a classic GPU-bound workload. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 106.1 FPS. This drops to 70.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a 34% reduction, and further to 38.3 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 64% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates the graphics card is the limiting factor, as the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions.

The scaling becomes more pronounced when examining the Ultra preset. At 1080p, the system achieves 83 FPS. At 1440p, this falls to 50.8 FPS, and at 4K it bottoms out at exactly 30 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling—it hits a hard floor that suggests the GPU is fully saturated. The data shows that Low settings at 4K produce 54.9 FPS, which is higher than Ultra at 1440p, highlighting how much the preset choice matters at higher resolutions.

Interestingly, the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 30-35% of performance across all settings. The jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 45-50%. This non-linear scaling is typical for a GPU with 8 GB of memory and a 256-bit bus, as the 4K resolution demands significantly more memory bandwidth and fill rate. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at 4K, particularly with the Ultra preset which likely increases texture detail and shadow resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo achieves 70.1 FPS. At 1920x1080, all presets except Ultra exceed 100 FPS, with Low reaching 154.4 FPS and High hitting 106.1 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, 1440p High is the highest resolution and setting combination that meets this threshold.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra result compare to 4K Low?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces 30 FPS, while 4K Low produces 54.9 FPS. This represents an 83% performance difference between the two extremes. The Medium preset at 4K yields 44.7 FPS, placing it nearly halfway between the Low and High results.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates a GPU bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 7500F has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and scores 3218 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is more than sufficient for this title. The FPS scaling with resolution changes is consistent with GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1011 out of 1656 total tested combinations. This places it in the 61st percentile, indicating it outperforms the majority of tested systems but sits below the top-tier configurations.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 2070 SUPER scores 22206 on average. It is 2.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile, 0.9% ahead of the GeForce GTX TITAN Z, and 2.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5700. It also trails the NVIDIA RTX A400 by 0.5%.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance in The Technomancer?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured FPS drops at 4K suggest that memory capacity or bandwidth could be a constraint, but the game remains playable at all settings except 4K Ultra, which hits exactly 30 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER plays the dominant role in this game's performance. Its architecture, based on the TU104 chip with Turing architecture, delivers a boost clock of 1770 MHz and a base clock of 1605 MHz. The GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is substantial for a 2019 release, but The Technomancer's rendering demands at high resolutions push this hardware to its limits.

The memory subsystem is a critical factor. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card achieves 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. This is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest the memory interface becomes a bottleneck. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are sufficient for most scenes, yet the 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS indicates the GPU is hitting a fundamental throughput ceiling.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the game's geometry and post-processing effects well at lower resolutions. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but unlikely to be utilized by this 2016 title, which predates the widespread adoption of ray tracing. This means the card's full feature set is not being exercised, and performance is determined by raw rasterization throughput.

The percentile ranking of 65 for the GPU versus all other GPUs places it in the upper third of all graphics cards. Its average benchmark score of 22206 is competitive, with the nearest rival being the NVIDIA RTX A400 at 22307, which is 0.5% higher. This positioning explains why the combo achieves solid 1080p and 1440p performance but struggles at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1011 out of 1656 tested combinations places it in the bottom 40% of all tested systems. This might seem surprising given the individual component performance, but it reflects the age of the GPU relative to newer hardware. The Ryzen 5 7500F ranks at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24993. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-11850H at 24974 (0.1% slower) and the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX at 24897 (0.4% slower).

The GPU's rank of 65th percentile, combined with the CPU's 82nd percentile, creates a system that is well-balanced for most games but falls short in the most demanding scenarios. The 1656 total combos include many with newer, higher-end GPUs that push The Technomancer's 4K Ultra preset to higher frame rates. This combo's 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is exactly at the threshold of playability, which likely contributes to its lower overall rank.

The data shows that the combo performs best at 1080p, where it delivers over 100 FPS for all presets except Ultra. At 1440p, it remains playable with High and Medium settings. The rank reflects a system that is versatile but not exceptional, trading raw 4K capability for solid performance across lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 154.4 FPS, Medium produces 123 FPS, High produces 106.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 83 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 71.4 FPS, representing a 46% performance difference. This resolution shows the CPU's strength, as even the highest preset maintains a comfortable frame rate.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably but remains playable. Low settings yield 103 FPS, Medium yields 77.9 FPS, High yields 70.1 FPS, and Ultra yields 50.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 52.2 FPS, a 51% difference, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. Low settings produce 54.9 FPS, Medium produces 44.7 FPS, High produces 38.3 FPS, and Ultra produces exactly 30 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 24.9 FPS, a 45% gap. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is the only measured result that falls below the generally accepted 30 FPS minimum for playability.

The progression across resolutions shows a consistent pattern: each step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reduces performance by roughly 30-50%, depending on the preset. The Low preset shows the smallest absolute drop from 1080p to 4K (99.5 FPS), while the Ultra preset shows the largest relative drop (53 FPS from 1080p to 4K).

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 83 FPS provides the best visual experience while maintaining a high frame rate. The drop from High at 106.1 FPS to Ultra at 83 FPS is acceptable for the visual quality improvement. Players seeking maximum smoothness can use High at 106.1 FPS or Medium at 123 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 70.1 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a good balance of visual fidelity and performance. The Medium preset at 77.9 FPS offers a slight performance boost with minimal visual impact, while Ultra at 50.8 FPS is still playable but may exhibit occasional stutters in busy scenes.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 54.9 FPS is the only option that consistently stays above 50 FPS. Medium at 44.7 FPS and High at 38.3 FPS are playable but may feel less responsive. The Ultra preset at 30 FPS is at the absolute minimum for playability and is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The data suggests that the best overall experience is achieved at 2560x1440 with High settings, yielding 70.1 FPS. This provides a 64% improvement in frame rate over 4K Ultra while maintaining high visual quality. For players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, 1080p with Medium settings at 123 FPS offers a dramatically smoother experience with only a moderate reduction in graphical quality. The 1440p Medium preset at 77.9 FPS represents a strong middle ground for most users.