The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting challenge for the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination. The measured frame rates across different resolutions and settings reveal a clear performance hierarchy, with the hardware showing its strengths at higher resolutions while exhibiting significant headroom at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combination provides a clear picture of how settings impact performance. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 119 FPS, which is a substantial drop from the High preset’s 153 FPS. The Low preset achieves 233 FPS, and Medium sits at 179 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 34 FPS on average, a 22% reduction in performance, which suggests that the Ultra preset includes demanding effects that are not proportionally beneficial for the visual fidelity in this title. For players prioritizing smoothness, the High preset at 1080p is the optimal choice, as it maintains a frame rate well above 144 Hz while avoiding the steep performance penalty of Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. High preset averages 100 FPS, while Ultra drops to 78 FPS. Medium achieves 117 FPS, and Low reaches 152 FPS. The High preset at 1440p is the sweet spot, offering a 100 FPS average that is comfortably playable on high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset, while playable, dips closer to the 70 FPS range, which might be noticeable in fast-paced combat. The data suggests that High settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution, as the step to Ultra yields a 22% reduction in average FPS.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Ultra preset averages only 43 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target. High settings improve this to 55 FPS, still not reaching the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings achieve 64 FPS, crossing into playable territory, while Low presets reach 83 FPS. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point, as it is the only setting that consistently provides an average frame rate above 60 FPS. The data indicates that this hardware combination is not fully capable of running The Technomancer at Ultra settings with smooth frame rates at 4K resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 48 chip. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1660 MHz and a boost clock of 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. The memory runs at 2518 MHz, translating to 20.1 Gbps effective. These specifications indicate a high-bandwidth memory subsystem that is well-suited for texture-heavy scenes.

The GPU’s role in this game becomes evident when observing the frame rate scaling across resolutions. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average FPS drops from 153 to 100, a 35% reduction. This scaling is typical for a game where the GPU is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The RX 9070 XT’s 16 GB of VRAM is likely sufficient for The Technomancer’s assets at all tested settings, as there is no indication of memory-related stuttering in the data. The high fill rate and compute capabilities of the card, evidenced by its pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s, allow it to handle the game’s rendering demands efficiently.

The benchmark scores for the GPU, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 65879, place it in a specific performance tier. Its percentile rank of 55 against all GPUs suggests it sits near the middle of the pack in overall synthetic benchmarks. However, in this specific game, the measured FPS shows it performs admirably at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with Ultra settings. This indicates that while the GPU is powerful, The Technomancer’s engine has significant overhead at extreme settings that the card cannot overcome at high resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a significant amount that can benefit gaming workloads. The CPU’s performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228. Its Passmark multi-thread score of 41318 and single-thread score of 4704 further confirm its capabilities.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU’s role appears to be less critical than the GPU’s, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the CPU is likely a more significant factor, as the lower GPU load allows the processor to keep up with the frame generation demands. The frame rates at 1080p are high, with Low settings reaching 233 FPS, which indicates the CPU can handle the game’s logic and physics efficiently. The large L3 cache may help with the game’s asset streaming and AI computations, contributing to the consistent minimum frame rates observed at Medium settings (152 FPS at 1080p).

As resolution increases to 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the CPU’s influence diminishes relative to the GPU. The frame rate drops are more pronounced, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s high boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures that it does not become a bottleneck even when the GPU is fully loaded. The processor’s percentile rank of 92 against all CPUs indicates it is a top-tier performer, and its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14900 with a delta of 0.5%, show that it is competitive with the best desktop processors available. This suggests that in this game, the CPU provides ample headroom for the GPU to operate at its full potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 yields an average of 153 FPS, which is a 34 FPS improvement over the Ultra preset’s 119 FPS. Given the significant performance gain, High settings are recommended for the best experience at this resolution.

Q: Can this hardware run The Technomancer at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 43, which is below the standard 60 FPS target. Medium settings at 4K achieve an average of 64 FPS, making it the highest playable preset.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 9070 XT has an average benchmark score of 13543. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7770M, has an average score of 13536, showing a delta of 0.1%. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 is 0.2% slower with a score of 13515.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance headroom relative to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D has an average benchmark score of 58386. It outperforms the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M by 0.1% (58323) and the Intel Core i9-14900 by 0.5% (58115). It slightly trails the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 by 0.7% (58826).

Q: What is the minimum FPS observed in the measured data?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for the Medium settings preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 152 FPS; at 2560x1440, it is 99 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it is 55 FPS.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 153 at 1920x1080 to 100 at 2560x1440, representing a 35% decrease in performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and consistent decline in average frame rate as resolution increases. At High settings, the FPS drops from 153 at 1920x1080 to 100 at 2560x1440, and then to 55 at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is almost perfectly linear with pixel count, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting component at all resolutions.

At Low settings, the frame rates are significantly higher, starting at 233 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 152 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35%, and from 1440p to 4K is 45%, which is identical to the High settings pattern. This consistency suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline scales predictably with resolution, regardless of the settings preset.

The Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 119 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 34%, and from 1440p to 4K is 45%. The pattern of approximately a one-third reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a nearly half reduction from 1440p to 4K indicates a strong GPU dependency. The CPU’s role appears minimal in this scaling, as the high core count and clock speeds of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D are more than sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all combinations of resolution and settings.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 119 FPS. The High preset improves this to 153 FPS. Medium settings average 179 FPS, with a minimum of 152 FPS and a maximum of 205 FPS. The Low preset achieves the highest average at 233 FPS. This shows that the hardware can easily handle the game at high refresh rates, even at the most demanding settings.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 78 FPS. High settings reach 100 FPS. Medium settings average 117 FPS, with a minimum of 99 FPS and a maximum of 134 FPS. Low settings deliver 152 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 22 FPS, which is a notable reduction for potentially marginal visual gains.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to an average of 43 FPS. High settings improve this to 55 FPS. Medium settings achieve 64 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. Low settings reach 83 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming is only viable at Medium or Low settings, with the Ultra preset falling well below acceptable frame rates for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for The Technomancer, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT holds a specific position. The combo is ranked 627 out of a total of 2825 tested combinations. This places it in the top 22% of all tested systems for this game.

The rank reflects the overall performance across all settings and resolutions. The high rank is likely driven by the excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p, where the combination delivers very high frame rates. The 4K performance, while not top-tier, is still respectable, with the Medium preset achieving over 60 FPS. The combination’s strong showing in the rankings confirms the balanced nature of the CPU and GPU, with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D’s high single-thread performance ensuring that the RX 9070 XT is never left waiting for data.

The fact that this combo ranks in the 78th percentile of all tested systems indicates that it is a high-performing setup for this title. However, the GPU’s overall percentile rank of 55 in synthetic benchmarks suggests that its performance in this specific game is better than in general compute tasks, likely due to the game’s optimization for RDNA architecture. The CPU’s rank of 92 confirms it is a top-tier processor, and its contribution to the combo’s rank is significant.