The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, presents an interesting case study in CPU and GPU scaling when paired with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. The measured frame rates show a title that responds strongly to both resolution and settings, with the RTX at the center of a balanced platform. The data indicates a system capable of very high refresh rates at 1080p and a smooth, playable experience at 4K, with the CPU showing clear signs of being the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this combination of AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 reveals a wide spread of performance across the four presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 248 at “Low” to 152 at “Ultra,” with “High” achieving 195 and “Medium” at 226. At 2560x1440, the spread is from 195 at “Low” down to 100 at “Ultra,” while “High” yields 128 and “Medium” gives 149. At the demanding 3840x2160 resolution, the spread narrows, with “Low” producing 107 FPS, “Medium” 82, “High” 70, and “Ultra” only 55.

For players prioritizing a high refresh rate experience at 1920x1080, the “High” preset is the optimal choice. It delivers an average of 195 FPS, which is a substantial 43 FPS above the “Ultra” setting’s 152 FPS, while the visual difference between “High” and “Ultra” is often negligible in fast-paced action. The “Medium” preset at 226 FPS offers even more headroom for 240 Hz displays, but “High” provides a better balance of fidelity and performance. The data shows that “Ultra” at 1080p is a waste of performance, as the 43 FPS loss does not justify the marginal visual improvements.

At 2560x1440, the “High” preset remains the best balance, producing 128 FPS. This is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The “Medium” preset pushes to 149 FPS, which could be beneficial for 165 Hz displays. “Ultra” at 100 FPS, while playable, sees a significant 28 FPS drop from “High,” indicating diminishing returns. The frametime data for “Medium” shows a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172, indicating a stable range.

For 3840x2160, the “High” preset is the recommended choice for a consistent experience, with an average of 70 FPS. The “Medium” preset, at 82 FPS, is a viable alternative for those who prefer a higher frame rate and can tolerate a slight reduction in visual quality. The “Low” preset, at 107 FPS, is exceptionally high for 4K and indicates that the RTX 4080 is not fully utilized at this resolution. Conversely, “Ultra” at 55 FPS is not smooth enough for a consistent experience and should be avoided. The data strongly suggests that “High” or “Medium” at 4K is the sweet spot, with the 55 FPS “Ultra” result being too close to the 60 FPS threshold for comfort.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1920x1080 gaming with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: The “High” preset is optimal, delivering an average of 195 FPS. This is 43 FPS higher than the “Ultra” preset (152 FPS) and only 31 FPS lower than “Medium” (226 FPS). The performance data shows that “Ultra” at this resolution doesn’t provide a playability benefit.

Q: How does the combo perform at 2560x1440 on the “High” preset?

A: The average frame rate is 128 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin for high-refresh-rate 1440p displays. The “Medium” preset is close behind at 149 FPS, but “Ultra” drops to 100 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, the data indicates that 4K is playable with the right settings. The “High” preset yields an average of 70 FPS, and “Medium” yields 82 FPS. The “Ultra” preset, however, drops to 55 FPS, which is below a smooth 60 FPS target.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor?

A: The CPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the “Low” preset achieves 107 FPS while “High” drops to 70, indicating the GPU is not being fully utilized at lower settings. The CPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between “Low” and “Ultra” at 1920x1080?

A: The difference is 96 FPS. The “Low” preset achieves 248 FPS, while the “Ultra” preset achieves 152 FPS. This shows a significant performance cost for the highest visual settings.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo is ranked 305th out of 3696 tested combinations. This places it in the top percentile of all configurations, indicating an extremely high level of performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, a Zen 3 architecture part on the AM4 socket, features 8 cores and 16 threads. The base clock is 3.80 GHz and the boost clock is 4.70 GHz. This is a substantial processing core that shows clear signs of becoming the limiting factor in The Technomancer at higher resolutions.

The benchmark data from 3DMark shows strong multi-threaded performance, with a score of 7586 on the 16-thread test and 7578 on the max-thread test. The single-thread score is 943, which is a strong result for the older game. In Cinebench R23, the multi-core score is 15476 and the single-core is 1574.5. These results indicate that the CPU is more than capable of handling the game’s logic and physics.

The limiting factor is evident in the FPS data. At 1920x1080, the RTX 4080 is able to push very high frame rates, such as 248 at “Low” and 226 at “Medium.” However, the FPS at “Ultra” is 152. This indicates that the CPU is not able to fully feed the GPU at higher settings. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is a powerful part but shows its age with a 2016 game that may not fully utilize all threads. The data shows that the CPU is the primary bottleneck in this configuration, especially at 1080p where the GPU is not as stressed.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 305th out of 3696 combos. This puts it in the top 8.3% of all tested systems, which is an outstanding result for an action RPG. The rank confirms the high performance of both components, but it is also a reflection of the game’s age. Newer titles may show a different ranking, but for The Technomancer, this combo is exceptionally strong.

The ranking is further contextualized by the CPU’s nearest rivals. The Ryzen 7 5800X has an average benchmark score of 29123. The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H has a score of 29093, which is 0.1% slower. The Intel Xeon Phi 7210 has a score of 29245, which is 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i5-13500HX has a score of 29270, which is 0.5% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT has a score of 28940, which is 0.6% lower. This shows that the 5800X is in a strong position, with the performance delta being within 0.5% of the nearest competitors.

The GPU’s nearest rivals further strengthen the combo’s position. The RTX 4080 has an average score of 54247. The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average score of 54209, which is 0.1% slower. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has a score of 54828, which is 1.1% faster. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB has a score of 55698, which is 2.6% faster. The AMD Radeon 8060S has a score of 55757, which is 2.7% faster. This indicates that the RTX 4080 is a very high-end card, with its performance being within a few percent of the very fastest available.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data across the three resolutions reveals a classic pattern of CPU and GPU scaling. At 1920x1080, the “Low” preset shows 248 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same preset yields 195 FPS, which is a 21.4% drop. At 3840x2160, the “Low” preset yields 107 FPS, a 45.1% drop from 1440p. This is a massive reduction, which indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, but only when the CPU is not the main constraint.

For the “High” preset, the scaling is very different. At 1080p, the average is 195 FPS. At 1440p, it is 128 FPS, a 34.4% drop. At 4K, it is 70 FPS, a 45.3% drop from 1440p. The “Ultra” preset shows a similar pattern: 152 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K.

The key insight is that the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p is steep, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is even steeper relative to the number of pixels. This indicates that the CPU is a limiting factor at 1080p, because the GPU is not being stressed. At 1440p, the GPU starts to become more relevant, but the CPU still has a strong presence. At 4K, the GPU is almost fully utilized, and the CPU is less of a factor. This is consistent with the data showing that the “Low” preset at 4K (107 FPS) is much higher than the “Ultra” preset at 1080p (152 FPS), which shows that the CPU is the main bottleneck at 1080p, but at 4K, the GPU is the main limit.

Measured FPS Breakdown

This section presents the exact average frame rates measured for each resolution and settings preset.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 248 FPS average
• Medium: 226 FPS average, with a minimum of 192 and a maximum of 259
• High: 195 FPS average
• Ultra: 152 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 195 FPS average
• Medium: 149 FPS average, with a minimum of 127 and a maximum of 172
• High: 128 FPS average
• Ultra: 100 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 107 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average, with a minimum of 70 and a maximum of 94
• High: 70 FPS average
• Ultra: 55 FPS average

The data shows a consistent trend across all resolutions: the “Low” and “Medium” presets are far ahead of the “Ultra” preset. At 1080p, the difference between “Low” and “Ultra” is 96 FPS. At 1440p, it is 95 FPS. At 4K, the difference is 52 FPS. This indicates that the game’s “Ultra” preset is very demanding, and the performance cost is steep, especially at 1080p where the CPU is the limit.

For the “Medium” preset, the minimum and maximum values are provided, showing the frame time stability. At 1080p, the variation is 67 FPS, while at 1440p it is 45 FPS, and at 4K it is 24 FPS. This indicates that the frame rate is more consistent at higher resolutions, which is a common pattern when the GPU is the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end graphics card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD103 chip on a 5 nm process. It is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, offering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The card’s boost clock is 2505 MHz, and the base is 2205 MHz. The high memory capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for The Technomancer, which is a 2016 game with less demanding texture and geometry requirements.

The GPU’s benchmark results are staggering. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scores 6567. In Geekbench, its OpenCL score is 214739 and Vulkan is 263779. The Passmark G3D score is 34457, and the GPU compute score is 20671. These are very high scores, and they are reflected in the game’s performance.

The RTX 4080 is the primary reason for the high frame rates at 4K. The data shows that at 4K with “High” settings, the card can produce 70 FPS. This is a high amount of graphical work. However, the card’s raw power is often limited by the CPU at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the card can deliver 248 FPS at “Low,” which shows the CPU is the limiting factor. The GPU is not running at 100% in these scenarios.

The GPU’s nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which is 0.1% slower in average score, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% faster, the RX 6750 GRE is 2.6% faster, and the Radeon 8060S is 2.7% faster. This shows that the 4080 is a top-tier card, and its performance in this game is expected to be very high.

The GPU’s 16 GB of VRAM is more than enough for The Technomancer, and the memory bandwidth is not a constraint. The card’s power consumption is 320W, which is not a factor in the game’s performance, but it is a consideration for system build. The card is a triple-slot design, which is normal for a high-end part.

In summary, the RTX 4080 is a powerful card that is the primary component for 4K performance. The data shows that the GPU is not fully utilized at 1080p, but it is the main driver of the frame rate at 4K. The CPU and GPU are well-matched for this game, with the CPU being the more common bottleneck at lower resolutions.