The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting benchmark case for this pairing of AMD's top-tier Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor with the mid-range Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card. The measured data shows a combination that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet reveals surprising CPU headroom at 1080p. With the combo ranking 929th out of 1656 tested combinations, it sits near the middle of the database, indicating competent but not exceptional performance for this specific title. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, provides ample processing power, while the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and RDNA 2.0 architecture handle the game's rendering demands. The data suggests that this is a balanced pairing where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU's strength becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where frame rates climb significantly.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a classic pattern of GPU limitation. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 112.7 at 1080p to 71.4 at 1440p, then further to 41.1 at 4K. This represents a 63.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RX 6700 XT is the limiting component as pixel count increases. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 30.3 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 41.3 FPS, showing that the GPU's rendering resources are progressively more strained at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the pattern shifts dramatically. The 1080p result of 171.4 FPS drops to 113.3 at 1440p and 58.5 at 4K. The 52.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests that even at minimal graphical load, the GPU still cannot maintain the frame rates that the CPU could theoretically support. The 4K Low result of 58.5 FPS is particularly telling, as it shows that even with reduced settings, the RX 6700 XT cannot approach the 100+ FPS territory that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D could enable if the GPU were not the constraint.

Ultra settings provide the clearest evidence of GPU-bound performance. The 1080p Ultra result of 89 FPS drops to 59.3 at 1440p and 29.3 at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is below playable thresholds for most users, and the scaling pattern shows that every resolution increase at Ultra settings produces roughly a 30 FPS loss. This consistent degradation indicates that the game's Ultra preset pushes the RX 6700 XT's 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute to its absolute limits, with the GPU's 64 ROPs and 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth becoming the decisive factors.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Technomancer?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 provides the best balance. At High settings, it delivers 71.4 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K High drops to 41.1 FPS and 1080p High at 112.7 FPS exceeds what most displays can show.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 33721, which places it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800, 1% ahead of both the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and AMD Radeon RX 480, and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5000. This indicates the GPU is competitive with these cards in synthetic tests, though actual game performance may vary.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D sufficient for this game?

A: The CPU's benchmark results show it ranks in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6353P, scores 37811, a mere 0.1% difference. This suggests the 9800X3D has substantial processing headroom for The Technomancer's demands.

Q: What settings should be avoided at 4K resolution?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields only 29.3 FPS average, which is below smooth gameplay thresholds. Even High settings at 4K only reach 41.1 FPS, so users targeting 4K should stick to Medium (48.3 FPS) or Low (58.5 FPS) presets.

Q: How does the combo's ranking compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 929th out of 1656 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the database. This suggests that while the CPU is high-end, the GPU pairing limits overall performance in this game relative to more powerful GPU combinations.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 171.4 FPS while Ultra achieves 89 FPS, a difference of 82.4 FPS. This represents a 92.6% increase in performance when dropping from Ultra to Low, indicating that the game's Ultra settings impose significant GPU load even at the lowest resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly shows that the High preset offers the best experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 112.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard and provides smooth gameplay. At 1440p, High maintains 71.4 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS, making it the ideal resolution for this preset. Even at 4K, High produces 41.1 FPS, which, while not ideal, is more playable than the 29.3 FPS seen at Ultra.

The Medium preset provides a viable alternative for users prioritizing higher resolutions. At 4K, Medium achieves 48.3 FPS, a 17.2% improvement over High's 41.1 FPS. At 1440p, Medium reaches 85.3 FPS, and at 1080p it hits 131.6 FPS. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates (171.4 at 1080p, 113.3 at 1440p, 58.5 at 4K), likely sacrifices too much visual quality for the modest gains over Medium at higher resolutions.

The Ultra preset is difficult to recommend. At 1080p, it delivers 89 FPS, which is 21% lower than High's 112.7 FPS, and at 1440p it drops to 59.3 FPS, barely touching 60 FPS. At 4K, Ultra's 29.3 FPS is below playable standards. The performance cost of Ultra over High is substantial at every resolution, with the gap widening as resolution increases, suggesting that Ultra's additional graphical features disproportionately burden the RX 6700 XT.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 929th out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the 56th percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking reflects the pairing of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU; the CPU's substantial processing power cannot fully compensate for the GPU's limitations in this game. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D alone ranks in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs, while the RX 6700 XT ranks in the 77th percentile versus all GPUs, indicating that the GPU is the weaker component in this pairing.

The ranking suggests that many combinations with more powerful GPUs but weaker CPUs achieve better performance in The Technomancer, as the game's rendering demands scale primarily with GPU capability. However, the CPU's strength does provide benefits in terms of frame rate stability and the ability to handle the game's CPU-bound aspects without bottlenecking. The 929th rank out of 1656 means the combo outperforms roughly 44% of tested configurations, which is a reasonable result for this price-performance pairing, though it does not place the combo in the upper echelon of tested systems.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, base clock of 4.70 GHz, and boost clock of 5.20 GHz, provides substantial processing capability for The Technomancer. The CPU's 96 MB of shared L3 cache and Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on TSMC's 4 nm process contribute to its strong synthetic benchmark results, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800. These figures indicate that the CPU can handle the game's AI, physics, and game logic without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's benchmark data shows strong multithreaded performance, with a PassMark multithread score of 40009 and a 3DMark max threads score of 10067. However, in The Technomancer, the measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 171.4, suggesting the CPU can support very high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by a PassMark single-thread score of 4430 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3341, ensures that the game's primary thread is well-served. The CPU's 120W TDP and support for DDR5 memory with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient memory throughput for the game's data streaming needs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 171.4, Medium 131.6, High 112.7, and Ultra 89. The spread from Low to Ultra is 82.4 FPS, with each settings tier producing a distinct performance step. The 171.4 FPS at Low indicates that the CPU and GPU combination can achieve very high frame rates when graphical load is minimized, while the 89 FPS at Ultra shows the GPU's limits when all features are enabled.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 113.3, Medium 85.3, High 71.4, and Ultra 59.3. The 1440p results show a more compressed range, with a 54 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. The Ultra setting at 59.3 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, while High at 71.4 FPS provides a comfortable margin. The Low setting at 113.3 FPS demonstrates that the GPU can still deliver high frame rates at this resolution when settings are reduced.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low 58.5, Medium 48.3, High 41.1, and Ultra 29.3. The 4K results show a 29.2 FPS range from Low to Ultra, with all settings falling below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 58.5 FPS is the only 4K configuration approaching playable frame rates, while Ultra at 29.3 FPS is significantly below acceptable levels. The 4K data confirms that the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay in this title at higher settings.