The Technomancer

The Technomancer presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and Intel Arc B390 combination, with benchmark results showing this pairing positioned firmly in the lower tier of tested configurations. The data indicates a system that can achieve playable frame rates only at the most modest settings and lower resolutions, with the GPU acting as the primary constraint across the board.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a clear and consistent performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. 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 falls further to 19 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern shows that moving from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35% of the performance, while the jump to 4K from 1440p incurs an additional 44% loss. The trend is nearly linear in terms of pixel count, suggesting the rendering pipeline is heavily dependent on the fill rate and pixel throughput of the Intel Arc B390.

At the Low preset, the same resolution scaling is visible but with higher absolute numbers: 79 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The relative drops are similar in magnitude, indicating that even when graphical complexity is reduced, the resolution itself remains a dominant factor. The Medium preset shows a marginally different pattern with 61 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, while the Ultra preset delivers the lowest results across all resolutions with 40 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and just 15 FPS at 4K.

The frame rate deltas between Low and Ultra presets widen as resolution increases. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 39 FPS, but at 4K it narrows to 13 FPS. This compression of performance at higher resolutions is a strong indicator that the GPU is becoming the limiting component, as the additional pixel workload saturates the graphics processor regardless of the quality settings. The data suggests that the CPU, an 8-core and 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, has ample headroom at 4K, as the frame rates are dictated almost entirely by the Arc B390's rendering capabilities.

For users targeting 1080p, the resolution scaling is more forgiving, with the High preset achieving 52 FPS and Low reaching 79 FPS. However, the 1440p results show that even the Low preset barely maintains playability at 52 FPS, while higher settings fall below the 40 FPS threshold. The 4K results are uniformly below playable standards, with the fastest configuration (Low preset) only reaching 28 FPS, making this resolution impractical for this hardware combination in The Technomancer.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this combination is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 79 FPS. This represents the only configuration in the dataset that approaches high refresh rate territory, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves 61 FPS on average, with minimum frame rates of 52 FPS and maximums of 70 FPS, which is also playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option, producing 52 FPS on average. The Medium preset at this resolution drops to 40 FPS, which may be acceptable for some users but falls short of smooth gameplay standards. The High preset at 1440p yields 34 FPS, and Ultra is not recommended at 26 FPS. For 4K, none of the presets deliver playable results, with Low achieving 28 FPS and all other settings falling below 22 FPS, so this resolution should be avoided entirely.

The Ultra preset offers the worst experience across all resolutions, with 40 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K. The performance cost of Ultra over High is significant, representing a 12 FPS drop at 1080p and 4 FPS at 4K. Given that the High preset at 1080p produces 52 FPS, it serves as a reasonable middle ground for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rates, but the data shows that the Low preset provides the most stable and fluid experience for this hardware configuration.

The measured minimum frame rates for the Medium preset provide additional insight into stability. At 1080p, the minimum is 52 FPS, which equals the average of the High preset, indicating that Medium maintains consistent performance without severe dips. At 1440p, the Medium preset's minimum of 34 FPS matches the High preset's average, showing a similar pattern of consistency. The maximum frame rates of 70 FPS at 1080p and 46 FPS at 1440p for Medium suggest that there is occasional headroom, but the averages remain the best indicator of sustained performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the defining component in this system's gaming performance, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The pixel rate is listed at 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate at 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 7.680 TFLOPS. These specifications place the Arc B390 in the entry-level segment, which is confirmed by its percentile ranking of 9 among all GPUs.

The GPU's memory configuration is notable for its "System Shared" designation, meaning it relies on shared system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This architecture likely contributes to the performance limitations observed, as memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent." The GPU's benchmark score for 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1482, which places it in close competition with older NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, delta 1.3%), GeForce 800M (1460, delta 1.5%), GT 625 OEM (1446, delta 2.5%), and GT 710 (1443, delta 2.7%). These rivals are all significantly older and lower-end parts, indicating the Arc B390's modest standing.

The clock behavior of the Arc B390 shows a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, a substantial range that allows for power saving during light loads but requires sustained boost to achieve the measured game performance. The GPU's TDP is rated at 80 W, which is modest for a discrete-class part, and it is classified as an IGP with a slot width of "IGP," meaning it is integrated into a portable device rather than being a standalone card. This integration likely imposes thermal and power constraints that affect sustained performance in gaming workloads.

The frame rate data aligns with the GPU's capabilities. At 1080p Low, the Arc B390 produces 79 FPS, which is a reasonable result for an entry-level part, but the drop to 52 FPS at High shows that the GPU struggles with increased shading and texture workloads. The 4K results, ranging from 15 to 28 FPS across presets, demonstrate that the GPU's 24 ROPs and shared memory bandwidth are insufficient for high-resolution rendering. The performance scaling across resolutions and settings points to the Arc B390 as the bottleneck, while the CPU remains underutilized in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Technomancer, this configuration ranks 2500 out of 2825, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the combined performance ceiling of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and Intel Arc B390, with the GPU's low percentile (9) dragging down the overall position despite the CPU's stronger showing. The combo rank indicates that the vast majority of other tested configurations deliver higher frame rates in this game.

The CPU's individual performance metrics do not account for the low combo ranking, as the Ryzen 7 5700G achieves an average benchmark score of 27051, placing it in the 79th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-9900K (27097, delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 (26936, delta 0.4%), Intel Core i5-14400T (27166, delta -0.4%), and Intel Core i7-1370P (26900, delta 0.6%). These deltas are all within 1% of the Ryzen 7 5700G's score, indicating that the CPU is competitive with processors from multiple generations and market segments.

The disparity between the CPU's 79th percentile ranking and the combo's 12th percentile ranking highlights the extent to which the Arc B390 limits overall gaming performance. The GPU's 9th percentile and its proximity to ancient parts like the GT 710 and GT 520MX create a significant bottleneck that the CPU cannot overcome. For users considering this combination, the data suggests that the CPU has substantial headroom for future GPU upgrades, as its processing capabilities are far ahead of what the current graphics solution can utilize in The Technomancer.

The combo ranking also reflects the game's specific demands. The Technomancer, released in 2016, was designed for hardware of that era, but the Arc B390's shared memory architecture and limited compute resources still struggle to maintain modern frame rate expectations. The rank of 2500 out of 2825 means that 325 tested configurations performed worse, but the overwhelming majority of systems deliver better results, making this combination a poor choice for this particular title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G provides substantial processing power that is largely untapped in The Technomancer's measured scenarios. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne), with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core contribute to strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by benchmarks such as Cinebench R23 multi-core scoring 12830.5 and Geekbench multi-core reaching 9950.

The CPU's benchmark results show consistent performance across synthetic tests, with PassMark multi-thread scoring 24419 and 3DMark 16-thread scoring 6629. Single-thread performance is also solid, with Cinebench R23 single-core at 1494 and Geekbench single-core at 1894. These metrics indicate that the Ryzen 7 5700G can handle both multi-threaded and lightly-threaded workloads effectively, which should translate well to gaming scenarios where the CPU must feed frames to the GPU.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU across all tested configurations. The frame rate differences between presets at the same resolution are driven by GPU workload, not CPU limitations. For instance, at 1080p, the Low preset achieves 79 FPS while Ultra achieves 40 FPS, a difference that reflects the GPU's rendering burden rather than CPU capability. The CPU's 3DMark 2-thread score of 1758 and 4-thread score of 3389 suggest that it can handle the game's threading requirements without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's memory support includes dual-channel DDR4 with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, which is relevant given the GPU's use of system shared memory. The shared memory architecture means that the CPU and GPU compete for the same memory bandwidth, potentially creating contention in bandwidth-heavy scenarios. However, the measured frame rates do not show signs of CPU-induced stuttering, suggesting that the Ryzen 7 5700G's memory controller and cache hierarchy are sufficient for the game's demands.

The nearest rival comparisons for the CPU reinforce its standing. The delta of -0.2% against the Intel Core i9-9900K, a high-end desktop processor, shows that the Ryzen 7 5700G is competitive with older flagship parts. Similarly, its performance against the Intel Core i5-14400T (delta -0.4%) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 (delta 0.4%) indicates that it remains relevant against newer mid-range options. This CPU performance, however, does not translate to gaming superiority when paired with the Arc B390, as the GPU's limitations dominate the experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combination for this hardware in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers the highest average frame rate at 79 FPS, making it the best combination for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves 61 FPS and is a viable alternative, but Low provides the most headroom.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 perform relative to other GPUs?

A: The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its closest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% higher), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% higher), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% higher), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7% higher), indicating it is only marginally faster than these older entry-level parts.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No, the benchmark data indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 5700G has an average benchmark score of 27051, placing it in the 79th percentile, while the GPU sits in the 9th percentile. The frame rates are consistently limited by GPU performance, not CPU capability.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K resolution?

A: All 4K results are below playable thresholds. The Low preset achieves 28 FPS, Medium averages 22 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. None of these configurations provide acceptable performance for 4K gaming in The Technomancer.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: This combination ranks 2500 out of 2825 tested configurations, placing it in the bottom 12%. This ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's low performance, as the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile among all processors.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the Low and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 52 FPS while the High preset averages 34 FPS, a difference of 18 FPS. The Medium preset falls between them at 40 FPS, and Ultra is significantly lower at 26 FPS.