The Technomancer

The Technomancer is a 2016 Action RPG that, on the surface, does not appear to demand current-generation hardware. However, the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination reveal a title that remains highly sensitive to both resolution and quality settings, offering a wide performance envelope from a highly playable 179 FPS at 1080p Low to a demanding 33 FPS at 4K Ultra. This analysis breaks down how the specific components in this combo handle the game's engine, providing guidance on the optimal settings for your hardware and display.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data suggests a clear hierarchy of performance across the three tested resolutions, and the optimal preset depends entirely on your target frame rate and panel resolution. For 1920x1080, the data shows that this combo has significant headroom. The High preset delivers an average of 117 FPS, which is a strong baseline for a high-refresh-rate monitor. However, the Ultra preset's 92 FPS average is also well within the playable range for most users. The most balanced experience at 1080p is the High preset; it provides a substantial performance buffer over Ultra while still offering a significant visual upgrade over Medium (137 FPS). Pushing to Low nets you 179 FPS, which is only beneficial if you are chasing the absolute maximum refresh rate and are willing to sacrifice visual fidelity for a 62 FPS gain over High.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve becomes more critical. The High preset averages 77 FPS, which is excellent for a 1440p experience and represents the sweet spot for this resolution. The Medium preset sits comfortably at 90 FPS, providing an even larger safety margin for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset drops to exactly 60 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for frame time spikes or intense combat scenarios. Given that the data for Medium at this resolution shows a minimum FPS of 76, it is the safest recommendation for a consistently smooth experience on a 144Hz 1440p display if you prefer a higher frame rate over maximum detail. However, for users with a 60Hz monitor, the Ultra preset's 60 FPS average is the ideal target to maximize image quality without exceeding the display's refresh rate.

The 3840x2160 results indicate that this combo is not suited for Ultra settings. The 33 FPS average at 4K Ultra is simply too low for a responsive action RPG. The High preset at 42 FPS is borderline, but the Medium preset offers a more viable 49 FPS average with a recorded minimum of 42 FPS. This is the recommended preset for 4K gaming with this combo. For a better experience at 4K, dropping to Low yields a 64 FPS average, which is the only preset at this resolution to break the 60 FPS threshold. The performance delta between Medium and Low at 4K is significant (a 15 FPS average increase), indicating that the game's higher-end graphical features are particularly taxing at this pixel count. Therefore, the settings recommendation is as follows: 1080p users should use High for the best balance, 1440p users should use High or Medium depending on refresh rate preference, and 4K users should stick to Medium or Low to maintain playability.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the primary driver of the frame rate differences seen across the measured settings. Its role becomes more pronounced as resolution and graphical fidelity increase, pushing the workload from the CPU to the GPU. The card's specifications—16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth—are substantial. For a game from 2016, this memory capacity and bandwidth are far beyond what is typically required, meaning memory constraints are unlikely to be a bottleneck at any of the tested settings. The card's high pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s are the key assets that allow it to maintain surprisingly high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

However, the data shows a steep cliff when moving to 4K. The drop from 77 FPS at 1440p High to 42 FPS at 4K High represents a 45% performance loss. This suggests that the RX 7700's raw fillrate and shading power, while adequate for lower resolutions, are fundamentally challenged by the 4K pixel count. The boost clock of 2459 MHz and the game clock of 2041 MHz are the clocks that define this performance. The transition from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 31 FPS swing (64 to 33 FPS), which reflects how the GPU's compute units are saturated by the combination of high resolution and advanced shading effects. The GPU's compute score of 10963 on Passmark indicates a strong compute capability, which helps in physics and particle effects, but the primary bottleneck at 4K is the sheer volume of pixel work. The data suggests that while the RX 7700 has the memory and bandwidth to spare, its shader array is the limiting factor at 4K, making the Medium preset the pragmatic ceiling for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Technomancer with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. At High settings, the combo achieves an average of 77 FPS, which is well within the smooth range for most monitors. While 1920x1080 yields higher frame rates (117 FPS on High), 1440p offers a substantial increase in image sharpness without sacrificing playability.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 7700's 16 GB of VRAM necessary for this game?

A: The game's requirements are evidently modest, given the high frame rates achieved. While the card has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, the performance figures indicate that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any of the tested resolutions. The bottleneck at 4K is instead the GPU's processing power, not its memory allocation.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the Low and Ultra presets?

A: The difference is significant and scales with resolution. At 1920x1080, the average FPS jumps from 92 on Ultra to 179 on Low, a 87 FPS difference. At 2560x1440, the gap is 57 FPS (60 to 117). At 3840x2160, the gap is 31 FPS (33 to 64). This indicates that the Ultra preset applies a heavy load that is disproportionate to its visual impact at higher resolutions.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The only preset that achieves a comfortable frame rate is Low, which averages 64 FPS. For a more visually detailed experience, the Medium preset averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for 4K due to their sub-60 FPS averages.

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: Very well. The card provides an average of 179 FPS on Low, 137 FPS on Medium, and 117 FPS on High. This means that even at the High preset, the combo is capable of driving a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor, provided you accept the possibility of frame rate drops from the 117 FPS average.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5700G a bottleneck for the RX 7700 in this game?

A: The data suggests that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the GPU. However, the performance scaling from 1080p High (117 FPS) to 1080p Low (179 FPS) suggests that the CPU is capable of supporting very high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as the CPU's workload does not increase with resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across the three primary resolutions and four quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 179 FPS, showcasing the CPU and GPU's ability to push a high frame rate when the graphical load is minimal. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 137 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS, indicating a stable experience. The High preset delivers an average of 117 FPS, which is a 20 FPS reduction from Medium, suggesting the High preset includes some computationally expensive effects. Finally, the Ultra preset averages 92 FPS. This represents a 25 FPS drop from High, showing that the jump to Ultra is the most demanding setting transition at this resolution, but it remains a playable experience.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset still delivers a very high 117 FPS average, identical to the 1080p High setting. The Medium preset averages 90 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, providing a solid 1440p experience. The High preset averages 77 FPS, which is a 13 FPS drop from Medium. The Ultra preset hits an average of exactly 60 FPS. This is the first resolution where Ultra dips to the edge of playability for some users, as the 60 FPS average leaves no headroom for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Low preset averages 64 FPS, which is the only playable option for a smooth 60 FPS experience. The Medium preset averages 49 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS. This is a playable, albeit not ideal, experience. The High preset drops to an average of 42 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to an average of 33 FPS. These two presets are not recommended for 4K gaming, as the frame rates are too low to provide a responsive or visually smooth experience in an action RPG.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall database of tested hardware combinations for The Technomancer, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 S ranks at 1275 out of 2825 combos. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is a slightly above-average performer for this specific game. This ranking confirms the CPU's strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities, which are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios.

The ranking is likely held back by the GPU's performance at higher resolutions. While the combo is powerful at 1080p and 1440p, its performance at 4K leaves it behind many other combinations that feature more powerful graphics cards. The data shows that the combo's ranking is a reflection of its status as a well-balanced 1440p machine rather than a high-end 4K contender. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests that it is a strong performer, but the GPU's 58th percentile ranking indicates that it is a more mid-range part. This combination of a high-performing CPU and a mid-range GPU results in a system that is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming and solid 1440p gaming, but which falls behind in the 4K segment.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G plays a crucial role in ensuring the GPU can perform to its potential, particularly at lower resolutions. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, it provides ample processing power for the game's logic, AI, and physics. Its boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is often critical for game engines. The benchmark data supports this, showing a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1494 and a multi-core score of 12830.5, which are solid figures that place it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role is most evident in the 1080p results. The ability to reach 179 FPS on Low settings suggests that the CPU can handle a very high number of draw calls and game logic updates. The performance difference between 1080p Low (179 FPS) and 1440p Low (117 FPS) is a 62 FPS drop, which is almost entirely due to the increased GPU load at the higher resolution. This indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p Low; the GPU is simply able to render frames faster than the game's engine can produce them, up to a point. However, the fact that the 5700G is a 65W TDP part with a 16 MB L3 cache and DDR4 memory support suggests it is a balanced component. Its performance relative to rivals like the Intel Core i9-9900K (a 0.2% difference in average score) shows that it holds its own against older high-end desktop parts. For this game, the CPU does not appear to be a limiting factor at any of the tested resolutions; the frame rate scaling is dictated almost entirely by the GPU's workload.