The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and Intel Arc B390 combination. The measured data reveals a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics subsystem, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The Intel Arc B390, operating as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs, consistently delivers low frame rates, making the system's performance profile clear from the outset.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 exposes a severe performance bottleneck in the graphics pipeline. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 52 FPS at 1080p to 34 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 18 FPS, and then plummets to 19 FPS at 4K. This represents a 63% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is operating far beyond its comfortable capacity at higher resolutions. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings, with Low preset falling from 79 FPS at 1080p to 52 FPS at 1440p and finally to 28 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests that the limiting component is unequivocally the Intel Arc B390. The GPU's benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it in the 9th percentile, with its nearest rivals being the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, which score 1463 and 1460 respectively. The Arc B390's performance is so constrained that even the most significant resolution jump—from 1440p to 4K—yields a proportional drop in frame rates, with the Medium preset falling from 40 FPS to 22 FPS. This linear degradation is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario, where the processor's capabilities are rendered irrelevant by the graphics card's inability to keep pace with pixel throughput demands.

At 1080p, the system shows slightly more headroom, with the Low preset achieving 79 FPS. This suggests that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, can adequately feed the GPU at this resolution. However, the frame rate ceiling is still firmly set by the Arc B390. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 39 FPS (79 vs 40), which narrows to just 13 FPS at 4K (28 vs 15). This compression at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the additional pixel workload leaves less room for settings-based performance differentiation.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking a playable experience with this hardware combination, the measured data points to the Low preset as the only viable option at most resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 79 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS, which is technically playable but represents a significant drop of 18 FPS from Low. The High preset at 1080p drops further to 52 FPS, while Ultra falls to 40 FPS, making both less desirable for consistent frame delivery.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset achieves 52 FPS, which is the only setting at this resolution that maintains a playable average. Medium drops to 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering in action sequences. High and Ultra at 1440p produce 34 FPS and 26 FPS respectively, both of which fall below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that 1440p should only be considered with the Low preset, and even then, the 52 FPS average is borderline.

The 3840x2160 resolution is effectively unplayable across all settings. The best result is 28 FPS on Low, which is below the minimum for acceptable motion fluidity. Medium, High, and Ultra at 4K produce 22, 19, and 15 FPS respectively. The recommendation from the data is clear: for this configuration, 1080p with Low settings provides the best balance of performance and visual fidelity, as it is the only combination that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a compromise for those willing to sacrifice frame rate for improved visuals, but the 61 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum is the limit of what this GPU can reasonably handle.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this system's performance profile. Built on Intel's 3 nm process with the Xe3-LPG architecture and codenamed Panther Lake, this integrated GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory configuration is system-shared, meaning it relies on the host system's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This architecture explains the GPU's limited performance, as it must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth.

The GPU's specifications reveal a modest compute capability: 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output pipelines. It also includes 12 ray tracing cores, but the raw throughput is limited to 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and 15.36 TFLOPS FP16. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. These figures, combined with the GPU's 80 W TDP and IGP slot width, indicate a design optimized for efficiency rather than raw performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463 with a deltaPct of 1.3.

The data shows that the Arc B390's performance is insufficient for The Technomancer at any setting above Low at 1080p. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking means it outperforms only 9% of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts from over a decade ago. In practical terms, this means the GPU is operating at the very bottom of the performance spectrum. The 19 FPS average at 4K High and 15 FPS at 4K Ultra are indicative of a GPU that is completely overwhelmed by the game's rendering requirements at high pixel counts. Even at 1080p, the Ultra preset's 40 FPS average demonstrates that the GPU cannot handle the increased shader complexity and texture detail of higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combination in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution that yields playable frame rates. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 79 FPS, while the Medium preset reaches 61 FPS. All other resolutions, including 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, produce average frame rates below 60 FPS across all settings.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 9th percentile. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with a score of 1463, a deltaPct of 1.3. The GeForce 800M scores 1460 (deltaPct 1.5), and the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (deltaPct 2.5).

Q: Is there a playable setting at 2560x1440?

A: The only setting at 1440p that approaches playability is Low, which produces an average of 52 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 34 FPS and 26 FPS respectively, all below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 79 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 40 FPS. This represents a 39 FPS difference, or a 49% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Q: Why does the system perform so poorly at 4K?

A: The Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. With a 9th percentile ranking and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, the GPU lacks the raw throughput to handle 3840x2160 resolution. The best 4K result is 28 FPS on Low, with Ultra producing only 15 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance relate to gaming results?

A: The Ryzen 5 7600X scores 15236 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1965 in single-core, with a 79th percentile ranking. These scores indicate a capable processor, but the gaming results are constrained by the GPU. The CPU's performance is only relevant at 1080p Low, where the 79 FPS result shows the processor can feed the GPU adequately.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, a 7000 series desktop processor built on the Zen 4 architecture with the Raphael codename, provides the computational foundation for this system. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking among all processors indicates solid overall performance, with an average benchmark score of 27636. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, which scores 27535 with a deltaPct of 0.4, showing the 7600X is slightly ahead.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 7600X demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15236 and a single-core score of 1965. The Geekbench results show 13858 multicore and 2603 single-core, while PassMark tests reveal 28390 for multithread and 4135 for single-thread. The 3DMark scores indicate scaling from 1060 single-thread to 6879 with 16 threads. These numbers suggest the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic and physics calculations, but the gaming data shows that this capability is not being utilized.

The measured FPS across all resolutions and settings shows a clear GPU bottleneck. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth with DDR5 support are sufficient for the game's requirements, but the Arc B390's system-shared memory creates a contention point. At 1080p Low, the 79 FPS average indicates the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output, but at higher settings and resolutions, the GPU's performance ceiling becomes the limiting factor. The 40 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 19 FPS at 4K High are not indicative of CPU limitations but rather the GPU's inability to process the increased graphical workload. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 7600X is not the bottleneck in this configuration, as its benchmark scores and 79th percentile ranking would predict much higher frame rates if the GPU could deliver them.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average of 79 FPS, followed by Medium at 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 70 FPS. The High preset achieves 52 FPS, while Ultra drops to 40 FPS. This resolution shows the widest performance spread, with a 39 FPS difference between Low and Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly across all settings. The Low preset maintains an average of 52 FPS, which is the only playable result at this resolution. Medium produces 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 46 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 34 FPS and 26 FPS respectively. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p narrows to 26 FPS, reflecting the increased GPU load at higher pixel counts.

The 3840x2160 resolution yields the lowest results, with no setting achieving playable frame rates. Low produces 28 FPS, Medium averages 22 FPS with a minimum of 19 FPS and maximum of 25 FPS, High drops to 19 FPS, and Ultra falls to 15 FPS. The performance difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 13 FPS, indicating that the GPU is saturated regardless of settings. The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the impact of settings diminishes, and the frame rates converge toward the GPU's absolute performance limit. The combination's rank of 2500 out of 2825 combos in this game further underscores the configuration's position at the lower end of the performance spectrum.