The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting workload for modern hardware. The benchmark data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The measured frames per second across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal a clear story of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the massive performance headroom of the RTX 4080 being constrained by the game's engine and the CPU at lower resolutions. This analysis will break down the measured performance, contextualize the CPU's role, and provide clear settings recommendations based on the data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is heavily dependent on the graphics preset, but a consistent pattern emerges. At 1080p High, the combo produces 195 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 128 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K High, the average settles at 70 FPS, which is a 64% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution scales, which is expected given the pixel throughput demands.

The Low settings preset demonstrates a different dynamic. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 237 FPS. At 1440p Low, it hits 195 FPS, which is more than enough for high refresh rate displays. The 4K Low result of 107 FPS shows a 55% reduction from 1080p. These numbers suggest that even at lower settings, the GPU is still doing significant work at 4K resolution.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend to High, with 215 FPS at 1080p, 149 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing 152 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and only 55 FPS at 4Kp. The Ultra 4K result is particularly telling, as it represents the only measured row that dips below 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth play on this combination.

A key observation is the FPS gap between settings presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (237 FPS) and Ultra (152 FPS) is 85 FPS. At 4Kp, this gap narrows to 52 FPS (107 vs 55). This indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU and game engine are better able to feed the GPU, leading to higher absolute FPS, but the relative performance hit from Ultra settings is still substantial. The data shows that the RTX 4080 has enough headroom to handle 4Kp at Medium settings, but the game's Ultra preset pushes it out of the high-refresh territory.

The scaling pattern also suggests that The Technomancer is not a particularly demanding title for modern hardware, but its Ultra settings are punishing. The 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS is a clear outlier for this high-end GPU, which otherwise maintains 70+ FPS at 4K on High settings. This is a classic case of a game that is sensitive to certain settings, likely shadows and effects, which have a disproportionate impact on the render time.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a solid 60 FPS or higher?

A: The data shows that all resolutions except 4Kp Ultra deliver 60+ FPS. Even 4K High achieves 70 FPS. The only sub-60 result is 4K Ultra at 55 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700's core configuration affect this game's performance?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700 has 8 cores and 16 threads. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, as it achieves 195 FPS on High settings. The game is likely not using all 16 threads, but the high single-thread performance of the Zen 3 architecture (scoring 901 in 3dmark_single_thread) is sufficient to feed the GPU.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 overkill for The Technomancer?

A: At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, producing 55 FPS. However, at 1080p and 1440p, the system achieves 100+ FPS on lower presets, suggesting the GPU has headroom. The data indicates the RTX 4080 is well-suited for high-refresh 1440p gameplay and solid 4Kp, but is not able to max out Ultra settings at 4Kp.

Q: What is the most forgiving settings preset for 4Kp?

A: The Low preset achieves 107 FPS at 4Kp, while Medium averages 82 FPS. High gets 70 FPS. The Low preset is the most forgiving, but Medium offers a substantial leap in visual quality for a 25 FPS cost.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700 has an average benchmark score of 25,517. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon D-2752TER, scores 25,530, which is a 0.1% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600H scores 25,550, which is also a 0.1% delta. These are essentially negligible differences, placing the 5700 in the same performance tier.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Medium produces 149 FPS, while Ultra produces 100 FPS. The difference is 49 FPS, which is a significant 33% reduction in performance when moving to Ultra. This is a key consideration for users who want to maintain high refresh rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne). It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. In the context of The Technomancer, a game from 2016, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data. The benchmark results show that the Ryzen 7 5700 is more than capable of doing so at 1080p, where the system produces 195 FPS on High settings. This indicates that the game is not heavily threaded, but the CPU's single-core performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 901, is sufficient to keep the GPU busy.

The Ryzen 7 5700's synthetic benchmark scores provide context for its performance. In Cinebench R20, it scores 8675 points in multi-core and 1224 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 9959 multi-core and 1907 single-core. These numbers place it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, showing it is a strong mid-range to upper-mid-range chip. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Xeon D-2752TER and AMD Ryzen 5 6600H, with average scores within 0.1% of the 5700's 25517. This means the Ryzen 7 5700 is not a unique performer but is part of a crowded performance tier.

The game's behavior suggests it does not scale well with 8 cores, as the FPS at 1080p on High is high but not as high as some modern titles. The 237 FPS on Low at 1080p indicates that the engine's draw calls and game logic are not hitting a hard CPU wall, but the GPU is still the primary limit. The 3dmark scores of the CPU, such as 6617 on max threads and 901 on single thread, illustrate a balanced processor that can handle both lightly and heavily threaded workloads.

The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is a spec that could theoretically affect performance in a game like The Technomancer, but the measured FPS show no obvious memory bottleneck. The game's 2016 release date means its engine was likely designed for older, slower CPUs, and the Ryzen 7 5700's modern architecture with its 16 MB L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core is more than enough to handle the game's data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system is extremely fast. The Low preset produces an average of 237 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 215 FPS, with a minimum of 183 FPS and a maximum of 248 FPS, showing a good margin over 144 Hz monitors. The High preset yields 195 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 152 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is capable of driving high refresh rate displays, with even the most demanding Ultra preset comfortably above the 144 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS remain high but show the expected drop. The Low preset averages 195 FPS, which is the same as the 1080p High preset. The Medium preset averages 149 FPS, with a min of 127 and max of 172. The High preset hits 128 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 100 FPS. At 1440p, the system is still excellent for gaming, with every preset exceeding 100 FPS. This is a sweet spot for high-refresh 1440p monitors, as the High and Medium presets provide a good balance of visual quality and speed.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is under significant stress. The Low preset averages 107 FPS, which is still smooth. The Medium preset averages 82 FPS, with a min of 70 and max of 94, ensuring a stable experience. The High preset drops to 70 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 55 FPS, which will show stuttering on a 60 Hz display. The 4K data shows that the RTX 4080 can handle The Technomancer at 4Kp with High settings, but not at Ultra. The only sub-60 result is Ultra, which is a clear performance outlier.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between High and Ultra settings is substantial. At 1080p, the difference is 43 FPS (195 vs 152), at 1440p it's 28 FPS (128 vs 100), and at 4K it's 15 FPS (70 vs 55). This suggests that the Ultra preset includes a set of features that are particularly heavy on the GPU, such as high-quality shadows or post-processing, which are not worth the FPS cost.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination holds a combo rank of 330 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 9% of all tested systems, which is an excellent result. This ranking reflects the strong performance of the RTX 4080, which is a top-tier GPU, and the capable Ryzen 7 5700. The 78th percentile CPU and 86th percentile GPU both contribute to this high rank.

The rank of 330 out of 3696 means there are 329 combos that perform better. Those likely feature more powerful CPUs, such as the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7000 series or Intel Core i9, but the FPS data suggests the GPU is the main driver of rank. The RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54247 is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the RTX 4080 SUPER (with a 0.1% higher score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (which is 2.6% lower). The 4080 is a very strong GPU, and this rank is a reflection of that.

The 3,696 combos include a wide range of hardware, so being in the top 330 is a high ranking. However, the data shows that the game's bottleneck is often the GPU at 4K, so any combo with a faster CPU would not see much improvement in this game. The rank is a good indicator that this system is well-suited for The Technomancer, and the measured FPS confirm it.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for the best experience. For 1080p and 1440p gaming, the High preset is the recommended choice. At 1080p High, the system achieves 195 FPS, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors. At 1440p High, it hits 128 FPS, which is also well above the 120 Hz refresh rate. The Medium preset is a good alternative if you want to ensure a higher minimum frame rate, with a min of 127 FPS at 1440p, but the High preset is the sweet spot.

At 4Kp, the High preset is the best choice, delivering 70 FPS. This is a solid 60+ FPS experience. The Ultra preset falls short, achieving only 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and will cause visible stuttering on most displays. The Medium preset at 4Kp offers 82 FPS, which is a 12 FPS improvement over High, but the visual quality is visibly lower. For 4Kp gaming, the High preset is the best choice for a good balance of visual quality and performance.

The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution, as the game's visual quality will suffer significantly. However, it is useful for benchmarks, and it is the only way to achieve 200+ FPS at 1080p. For a competitive player who needs the lowest input latency, the Low preset at 1080p with 237 FPS is the extreme option, but the game is not a competitive shooter, so this is not necessary.

In summary, the best experience for this system is 1440p Ultra, which offers 100 FPS and the highest visual fidelity. Alternatively, 4K High provides a smooth 70 FPS with less demanding settings. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 is powerful enough to handle the game at 1440p Ultra and 4K High, but the Ultra preset at 4K is beyond its limits for a locked 60 FPS. The High preset is the most reliable choice for high-quality visuals without performance compromises.