The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting challenge for modern hardware. The measured data for the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination shows a wide performance envelope across resolutions and presets, with the system landing at rank 485 out of 2825 tested combos. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and how to interpret the scaling behavior for this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination indicates a clear hierarchy in performance across the four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 128 FPS, while High yields 164 FPS, Medium produces 193 FPS, and Low reaches 251 FPS. The jump from Ultra to High represents a 36 FPS gain, which is substantial, but the medium preset offers the most balanced experience at 1080p. With a minimum of 164 FPS at Medium, this preset ensures the frame rate stays well above typical high-refresh-rate display thresholds, making it the optimal choice for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern remains consistent but with lower absolute numbers. The Ultra preset averages 84 FPS, High averages 108 FPS, Medium averages 126 FPS, and Low averages 164 FPS. Here, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot, as it provides a 24 FPS improvement over Ultra while maintaining an average of 108 FPS, which is suitable for most 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p is also viable, with a minimum of 107 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off from High to Medium is often not worth the 18 FPS gain.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset averages 59 FPS, which is borderline, while Medium averages 69 FPS and Low averages 90 FPS. For a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it provides an average of 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS. The High preset at 4K is too close to the 60 FPS line, with no recorded minimum, making it a riskier choice for demanding scenes.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, Medium provides the best balance of frame rate and visual fidelity, with a 193 FPS average. For 1440p, High is recommended, as it delivers 108 FPS average with a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. For 4K, Medium is the only preset that reliably exceeds 60 FPS, with a 69 FPS average. Users prioritizing maximum visual quality over frame rate can still use Ultra, but should be prepared for averages of 46 FPS at 4K and 84 FPS at 1440p.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of frame rates in this combination, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for The Technomancer, a game from 2016, meaning VRAM capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor at any of the tested settings or resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1387 MHz, a game clock of 2025 MHz, and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The architecture is RDNA 3.0, built on a 5 nm process, with 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs. The raw compute capability is substantial, with an FP32 throughput of 51.48 TFLOPS. These specs suggest the GPU has ample headroom for this title, which is reflected in the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. At 1080p, the GPU is not the bottleneck, as frame rates reach 251 FPS at Low settings. At 1440p, frame rates drop by roughly 35-40% across presets compared to 1080p, indicating increasing GPU load. At 4K, the drop is more severe, with the Ultra preset falling to 46 FPS, suggesting the GPU is heavily utilized. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 55, which places it in the middle of the pack, but its nearest rivals on average benchmark score are much less powerful, such as the AMD Radeon 660M and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile. The RX 7900 XT's average benchmark score of 13745 is within 1.5% of these rivals, which is misleading given the massive difference in gaming performance; this is likely due to the benchmark suite's composition.

The GPU's boost behavior is critical for 4K performance. The difference between High (59 FPS) and Medium (69 FPS) at 4K is 10 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling at higher settings. The fact that Low at 4K achieves 90 FPS shows that the GPU can deliver high frame rates if the workload is reduced, but the Ultra preset's 46 FPS indicates that the game's Ultra settings are particularly demanding on the GPU's shading and ROP throughput.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The CPU's key feature is its large L3 cache of 96 MB shared, which is beneficial for gaming workloads. The TDP is 65 W, making it an efficient processor. The memory support is DDR5, with dual-channel bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, which is ample for feeding the GPU.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is less pronounced than the GPU's, especially at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU must keep up with the GPU's high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combination achieves 251 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score is 3494, and its multithread score is 25047, with a percentileVsAllCpus of 89. This places the CPU in the top 11% of all CPUs, indicating strong performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals on average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.5% faster), and AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (0.6% faster), with the Intel Core i5-14600 being 0.7% slower. These deltas are minimal, meaning the CPU is competitive with other high-end processors. However, the CPU's advantage in gaming likely comes from the 96 MB L3 cache, which is not reflected in the average benchmark score.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the resolution increase, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1080p, the CPU may be more relevant, but the 251 FPS at Low settings suggests it is still not a limiting factor. The CPU's boost clock of 4.50 GHz and 12 threads provide sufficient headroom for this game's logic and physics, which are not heavily multithreaded. The PassMark physics score of 2779 further indicates that the CPU handles physics calculations adequately.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 485th out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the top 17% of all tested configurations. This rank is respectable but not top-tier, indicating that while the hardware is capable, there are many other combinations that achieve higher frame rates. The rank of 485 suggests that the combo is well above average, but not elite for this specific game.

Given the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 55, it is surprising that the combo ranks as high as 485, as the GPU's average benchmark score is only in the middle percentile. This discrepancy highlights that The Technomancer's performance is not directly correlated with synthetic benchmark scores. The GPU's nearest rivals in average score are significantly less powerful in gaming, such as the AMD Radeon RX 570X and AMD Radeon 660M, which would not achieve the same frame rates in this game. The combo's rank of 485 out of 2825 implies that the CPU and GPU work well together for this title, likely due to the CPU's large cache and the GPU's high memory bandwidth.

The rank also indicates that there are 2340 combos that perform worse, which is expected given the high-end nature of this hardware. However, there are 484 combos that perform better, which may include configurations with more powerful GPUs or CPUs that are better optimized for this game's engine. The data does not provide specific rival combos, but the rank alone suggests that this is a strong pairing for The Technomancer, delivering playable frame rates at all resolutions except Ultra at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear resolution scaling pattern. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 30-35% across all settings. For example, at High settings, the drop is from 164 FPS to 108 FPS, a 34% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 128 FPS to 84 FPS, a 34% reduction. This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases, but the CPU is still capable of maintaining high frame rates.

Moving from 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe. At High settings, the drop is from 108 FPS to 59 FPS, a 45% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 84 FPS to 46 FPS, a 45% reduction. This steeper decline indicates that the GPU is heavily burdened at 4K, and the frame rate is approaching the limits of what the RX 7900 XT can deliver in this game. The fact that Low settings at 4K still achieve 90 FPS, compared to 164 FPS at 1440p, shows that the GPU's performance scales with the workload but is not linear.

The scaling behavior suggests that the limiting component shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU and GPU are balanced, as the frame rate is high but not limited by either component individually. At 1440p, the GPU starts to become the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the 30-35% drop in FPS. At 4K, the GPU is definitively the limiting component, with the Ultra preset falling below 60 FPS. The CPU's role is minimized at 4K, as the frame rate is entirely dependent on the GPU's ability to process pixels. The data shows that for 60+ FPS at 4K, the Medium preset is necessary, as it provides 69 FPS, while High at 4K is borderline at 59 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset is recommended for 1440p, as it delivers an average of 108 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset averages 84 FPS, which is also playable, but High provides a 24 FPS improvement with a modest visual quality reduction.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings. The Medium preset at 4K averages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS, while High averages 59 FPS and Ultra drops to 46 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, Medium is the only reliable choice.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 251 FPS, indicating that neither component is a strict bottleneck. The CPU's high single-thread score of 3494 and the GPU's strong compute capability allow for very high frame rates, with the GPU becoming the limiter only at higher settings.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 485th out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the top 17%. This rank is strong, though there are 484 combos that achieve higher frame rates, likely with more powerful GPUs.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate drops from 164 FPS at 1080p to 59 FPS at 4K, a 64% reduction. This significant drop indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K, and the CPU's role becomes less important.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: With 20 GB of GDDR6 memory, the RX 7900 XT has more than enough VRAM for The Technomancer, a 2016 title. The measured data shows no indication of VRAM limitations, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, suggesting that memory capacity is not a factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination is as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: Average 251 FPS.
• Medium: Average 193 FPS, with a minimum of 164 FPS and a maximum of 222 FPS.
• High: Average 164 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 128 FPS.

At 2560x1440:

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

At 3840x2160:

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

The data shows that the Medium preset at each resolution has recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing a range of performance. For example, at 1080p Medium, the frame rate varies from 164 to 222 FPS, indicating some scene-to-scene variance. At 1440p Medium, the range is 107 to 145 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it is 59 to 80 FPS. This variance is normal for an Action RPG with dynamic scenes. The Low and High presets do not have recorded minimum or maximum values, so only the averages are available. The Ultra preset also lacks these values, but the average at 4K is below 60 FPS, confirming it is not suitable for smooth gameplay at that resolution.