The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents a demanding workload for modern hardware. The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a distinct performance profile that varies significantly with resolution and settings. The measured data available provides a clear picture of where this combination excels and where it reaches its limits, particularly at the highest fidelity presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant, revealing a system that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 90.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces the average to 59.8 FPS, a decline of roughly 34%. At 4K High, the average falls to 35.5 FPS, which is a further 41% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is typical for a mid-range GPU being pushed into high-resolution territory.

The data indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary limiting factor at 1440p and 4K. The frame rate declines are steep and consistent, suggesting that the GPU’s resources—its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth—are being saturated. At 1080p, the scaling is less severe. The difference between 1080p High (90.5 FPS) and 1440p High (59.8 FPS) is a 30.7 FPS drop, while the jump to 4K High costs another 24.3 FPS. This shows that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot maintain that pace as the rendering load increases. The data suggests that 1080p is the resolution where this combination is most balanced, with the CPU and GPU working in closer harmony.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this specific pairing holds a rank of 1271 out of 1656 total combos. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance spectrum, indicating that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it is far from the slowest. The ranking suggests that a significant number of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this particular game.

The rank reflects the age and tier of the GPU. The RTX 2060 SUPER, while capable, is an end-of-life product from the GeForce 20-series. The Ryzen 5 9600X, conversely, is a modern processor with a high performance ceiling. The discrepancy between the CPU’s potential and the GPU’s output is a key factor in this ranking. The combo is effectively held back by the GPU in a game that appears to be graphically demanding. The 1271st position out of 1656 combos implies that a majority of tested systems outperform it, likely those equipped with newer or higher-tier graphics cards. This ranking serves as a baseline for understanding the system’s overall capability in this specific title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture and features 2176 shading units. Its performance is characterized by a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The card is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. In the context of The Technomancer, these specifications dictate the frame rates observed at higher resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest that the memory bandwidth and raw compute power are insufficient for Ultra settings.

The GPU’s benchmark scores position it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 19774. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores 19680, a delta of 0.5%, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, scoring 19706, a delta of 0.3%. This indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is performing near the expected level for its class. The data shows that in The Technomancer, the GPU’s limitations become apparent at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 24.7. The card's performance is a clear bottleneck for the CPU in this scenario, as its compute capabilities cannot keep pace with the demands of the highest settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a detailed view of the system's behavior across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates strong performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 140.8. Moving to Medium reduces this to 107.7 FPS. High settings yield 90.5 FPS, while Ultra drops to 73.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 67 FPS difference, showing that the settings have a substantial impact. At this resolution, the CPU is able to maintain high frame rates, and the GPU is the primary driver of the differences between presets.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates begin to reflect the increased pixel load. Low settings produce an average of 91.5 FPS. Medium settings result in 70.4 FPS. High settings drop to 59.8 FPS, which is a significant reduction from the 1080p result. Ultra settings yield 47 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 44.5 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s headroom is being consumed more rapidly. The 1440p results show that the system is still playable, but the margins between settings are tightening.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the definitive limiting factor. Low settings average 49.4 FPS. Medium settings produce 38.5 FPS. High settings drop to 35.5 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding, yielding only 24.7 FPS. The performance difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 24.7 FPS, almost exactly the same as the Ultra score itself. This suggests that the GPU’s resources are exhausted at this resolution, and the frame rates are constrained by its absolute processing power. The data shows a clear trend: each step up in resolution or settings has a compounding effect on the average FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory contribute to its high single-thread and multi-thread performance. In The Technomancer, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with data. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any of the tested resolutions.

The Ryzen 5 9600X scores in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28246. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-13490F, which scores 28173 (a 0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS, scoring 28369 (a -0.4% delta). This indicates that the CPU is performing competitively. In the game data, the CPU’s capability is evident at 1080p, where the system achieves 140.8 FPS on Low settings. The fact that the frame rate at 1080p Low is so high suggests that the CPU can handle the game’s logic and draw calls without issue. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s workload, not the CPU. The data implies that the Ryzen 5 9600X has ample headroom to support a more powerful GPU in this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's target resolution and frame rate preference. For a smooth 60 FPS experience at 2560x1440, the High preset is the best choice, as it delivers an average of 59.8 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p offers a more comfortable margin at 70.4 FPS, but High provides better visual quality while staying close to the 60 FPS target. At 1080p, the High preset is also the recommended starting point, offering 90.5 FPS with solid visual fidelity. Users with high refresh rate monitors could consider the Medium preset at 107.7 FPS or even the Low preset at 140.8 FPS for maximum performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset is the only setting that achieves a playable average of 49.4 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 38.5 FPS, and High falls to 35.5 FPS, both of which may be below the threshold for a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as the 24.7 FPS average is likely to feel sluggish. For 4K users, the data suggests that the Low preset is the only viable option for maintaining playable frame rates. The analysis indicates that the best overall experience for this combo is at 1440p with High settings, balancing visual quality with a frame rate that is close to the 60 FPS target. The 1080p High preset is also an excellent option for those prioritizing a higher frame rate.