The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + Intel Arc B390

The Technomancer, an Action RPG from 2016, presents a peculiar testing scenario when paired with the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Intel Arc B390. The data shows a system where an exceptionally powerful CPU (87th percentile among all tested CPUs) is combined with a GPU that sits at only the 9th percentile among all GPUs. This massive imbalance defines every result in this benchmark set, and the measured FPS figures across resolutions and settings consistently reflect a component-limited experience rather than a balanced one.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling pattern in The Technomancer reveals a GPU that is overwhelmed even at the lowest tested settings. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 79 FPS average, which drops to 52 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 28 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 65% reduction again from 1440p to 4K. These are steep, nearly linear drops that indicate the rendering pipeline is saturated by pixel count rather than compute or geometry.

The scaling behavior becomes even more telling when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 52 FPS, dropping to 34 FPS at 1440p High, and then to 19 FPS at 4K High. The percentage decline from 1080p to 1440p is 35%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 44%. The steeper drop at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's memory subsystem or fill rate is the limiting factor, as the Arc B390 relies on system shared memory and has only 24 ROPs.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic degradation. The 1080p Ultra average of 40 FPS falls to 26 FPS at 1440p Ultra and plummets to 15 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is particularly notable — it is less than half of the 1080p Ultra figure, and the data suggests that at this resolution and preset combination, the experience becomes essentially unplayable for any action-oriented gameplay. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution also widens as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU's bandwidth constraints become more pronounced with higher pixel workloads.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is built on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip) and operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its shading units number 1536, with 48 TMUs and 24 ROPs. The pixel rate is listed at 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate at 120.0 GTexel/s, while FP32 performance sits at 7.680 TFLOPS. These specifications, combined with a 3 nm process node from Intel, describe a GPU that is designed for integrated or portable contexts rather than high-end desktop gaming.

The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." This has profound implications for The Technomancer's results. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 15, and the Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 19 FPS and a maximum of 25 FPS. The narrow range between minimum and maximum at 4K Medium (19-25 FPS) suggests that the system is consistently bottlenecked by memory bandwidth rather than experiencing occasional spikes or drops.

The GPU's benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1482, placing it at the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, delta 1.3%), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (score 1460, delta 1.5%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (score 1446, delta 2.5%). These are all entry-level or legacy mobile GPUs, confirming that the Arc B390's raw performance is extremely modest. The fact that it is within 2.7% of the GT 710 (score 1443) underscores how the GPU component anchors this system's gaming capability.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D stands in stark contrast to the GPU. This 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series (Zen 5, Granite Ridge architecture) has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. Its 96 MB shared L3 cache is a defining feature, and the CPU supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. The TDP is 120 W, and the chip is produced on TSMC's 4 nm process with a die size of 70.6 mm² and 8,315 million transistors.

Benchmark results for the CPU show exceptional multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 23230, while the single-core score is 2080. Geekbench reports 18696 multicore and 2964 single-core. Passmark multithread score is 40009, and the single-thread score is 4430. The 3DMark results scale from 2394 with 2 threads to 10081 with 16 threads, showing efficient scaling across the core count.

The CPU's percentile rank is 87th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39768. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS (score 39603, delta 0.4%), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (score 40048, delta -0.7%), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 (score 39485, delta 0.7%), and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (score 40081, delta -0.8%). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the 9800X3D sits in a tightly clustered performance tier — yet every one of these rivals is also a CPU with integrated graphics or mobile focus, not a high-end desktop part.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is clear from the measured results: it is never the limiting factor. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be most likely to bottleneck, the average FPS is 79, and the pattern across resolutions shows that the GPU is the consistent constraint. The data implies that the CPU's capabilities are largely untapped in this game, and that any frame rate improvements would require a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU change.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2500th out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the bottom 11.5% of all tested combinations, which is a striking outcome given the CPU's high percentile ranking. The discrepancy between the CPU's individual standing (87th percentile) and the combo's overall rank (near the bottom) illustrates how a weak GPU can negate CPU advantages in gaming workloads.

The rank of 2500 out of 2825 means that 325 combos perform worse, while 2499 perform better. This is a deeply unfavorable position for a system with a top-tier CPU. The data suggests that the GPU is responsible for the low ranking, as the Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU score places it among the weakest GPUs tested. In practical terms, this combo would be outperformed by virtually any system with a mid-range dedicated GPU, regardless of the CPU paired with it.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database — the GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710 — it becomes apparent that the Arc B390 is competing with GPUs from a different era. These are not modern gaming GPUs, and their presence in the rival list confirms the Arc B390's position at the bottom of the performance spectrum. The combo rank reflects this, showing that even a powerful CPU cannot compensate for such a weak GPU in The Technomancer.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so sharply from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows a 65% reduction from 1080p Low (79 FPS) to 1440p Low (52 FPS), and another 65% reduction from 1440p to 4K Low (28 FPS). This near-linear scaling indicates the GPU's memory bandwidth and fill rate are saturated by pixel count, as the Arc B390 uses system shared memory with only 24 ROPs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D ranks at the 87th percentile among CPUs, while the Arc B390 ranks at the 9th percentile among GPUs. The frame rate patterns across resolutions and settings consistently show GPU-limited behavior, with the CPU's capabilities never appearing to constrain performance.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 79 FPS average, Medium achieves 61 FPS, High achieves 52 FPS, and Ultra achieves 40 FPS. The Medium preset provides a playable frame rate with a minimum of 52 FPS, making it the best balance of performance and visual quality from the measured data.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443). These are all entry-level GPUs, confirming the Arc B390's low-end positioning.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: The measured data shows 4K results ranging from 28 FPS average at Low to 15 FPS at Ultra. Even at the lowest settings, 4K performance is marginal, and at Medium the average is 22 FPS with a minimum of 19 FPS. These results indicate that 4K gaming is not a viable experience with this GPU.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 2500 out of 2825 mean?

A: It means this specific CPU-GPU combination performs worse than 2499 other tested combos in The Technomancer, and better than only 325 combos. This places it in the bottom 11.5% of all tested combinations, despite the CPU's high individual ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 79 FPS with no minimum or maximum reported. Medium settings yield 61 FPS average, with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. High settings drop to 52 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 40 FPS average. The Medium preset's range of 52-70 FPS provides a useful window into the system's consistency at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance declines across all settings. Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS (with a minimum of 34 and maximum of 46), High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 26 FPS. The Medium range at 1440p (34-46 FPS) shows a tighter spread than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more consistently maxed out as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the results become marginal. Low averages 28 FPS, Medium averages 22 FPS (with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 25), High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The 4K Medium range of 19-25 FPS is the narrowest of all reported ranges, indicating that the system is fully saturated at this resolution and the GPU is delivering near-constant frame times under load.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 1080p offers the most balanced experience for this combo. The 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS ensures that frame rates stay above typical playability thresholds, while the Medium settings provide a moderate visual upgrade over Low. The 52 FPS minimum at 1080p Medium is higher than the 40 FPS average at 1080p Ultra, making Medium the clear choice for consistent performance.

At 1440p, the Low preset (52 FPS average) is the only setting that maintains an average above 50 FPS. Medium at 1440p drops to 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but is marginal for action sequences. For players prioritizing smoothness, 1440p Low is the recommended option, as it delivers the same average frame rate as 1080p High (52 FPS) with higher resolution.

The 4K resolution is not recommended for any settings preset. Even at Low, the 28 FPS average falls below standard playability thresholds, and the Ultra preset's 15 FPS average makes the game essentially unresponsive. The data suggests that this combo should be used at 1080p for the best experience, with Medium as the optimal preset, or at 1440p with Low settings if higher resolution is preferred. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as the 40 FPS average at 1080p does not justify the visual quality trade-off when Medium provides 21 more FPS.