The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, presents a demanding workload for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 when paired with the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D. The measured frame rates reveal a system where the GPU is the definitive bottleneck across all tested resolutions, with the CPU's substantial power going largely untapped. The data indicates that this combination is only viable at lower resolutions and settings, with performance degrading sharply as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is severe and consistent, clearly demonstrating that the GTX 1650 is the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate is 68 FPS. Moving to 1440p (2560x1440) at the same Low settings, the average drops to 44 FPS, a decrease of 24 FPS or roughly 35%. At 4K (3840x2160) with Low settings, the average plummets to 24 FPS, which is less than half of the 1080p performance and only 35% of the 1080p Low result.

The scaling pattern for High settings is similar. The 1080p High preset yields 45 FPS on average, which falls to 29 FPS at 1440p and then to 16 FPS at 4K. This progression shows a nearly linear relationship between resolution and performance, where doubling the pixel count roughly halves the frame rate. This is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card's fill rate and memory bandwidth are exhausted before the CPU's processing capabilities become relevant.

The difference between Low and High settings at 4K is a mere 8 FPS (24 vs. 16), while at 1080p the difference is 23 FPS (68 vs. 45). This compression of performance at higher resolutions further confirms the GPU bottleneck. The GTX 1650 is simply unable to maintain playable frame rates at 4K regardless of the visual fidelity, making the resolution impractical for this pairing. The data suggests that 1080p is the only resolution where this configuration can approach a smooth experience, and even then, it requires a careful choice of settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the clear performance ceiling for this system in The Technomancer. Its specifications, while dated, are the primary driver of the measured results. The card features a 4 GB GDDR5 memory pool on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. This limited memory capacity and bandwidth are likely contributing factors to the performance collapse at higher resolutions, where texture data and framebuffer requirements exceed the available resources.

The card's clock speeds are listed as a base of 1485 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz. Its compute capabilities include 896 shading units and a FP32 throughput of 2.984 TFLOPS. These figures place the GTX 1650 in the lower tier of modern GPUs, corroborated by its 40th percentile ranking against all GPUs. In the Passmark G3D benchmark, it scores 7880, placing it in close competition with the AMD Radeon HD 8850M, which scores 7447 (a 0.3% delta), and the Intel UHD Graphics 750, which scores 7441 (a 0.4% delta). The data shows it is only 1% ahead of the Intel Arc A310, which scores 7550.

These benchmark results align perfectly with the in-game performance. The GTX 1650's modest pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s are insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering, resulting in the single-digit to low-20s frame rates observed. The GPU's role is not to deliver high-fidelity experiences at high resolutions, but rather to offer a playable baseline at 1080p. In this context, the measured 68 FPS at Low settings is the card's practical limit for smooth gameplay in The Technomancer.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this system is the Medium preset at 1920x1080. This configuration delivers an average of 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. The minimum frame rate staying above 40 FPS suggests a reasonably stable experience, which is preferable to the Low preset's higher average but potentially more variable performance.

The Low preset at 1080p offers the highest average frame rate at 68 FPS, but the jump to Medium only costs 16 FPS on average while presumably providing a significant improvement in visual fidelity. The High preset at 1080p drops the average to 45 FPS, which is still playable but pushes the minimum frame rate closer to the threshold where stutter becomes noticeable. The Ultra preset at 1080p is not recommended, as the average drops to 35 FPS, which is a substantial compromise for marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, the data suggests that only the Low preset, with an average of 44 FPS, is suitable for play. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 34 FPS, which may be tolerable for some, but the minimum of 29 FPS indicates potential for noticeable dips. All settings at 4K are below the threshold for smooth gameplay, with even the Low preset managing only 24 FPS. Therefore, the only sensible recommendation for a playable frame rate is the Medium preset at 1080p, offering a reasonable balance of visual quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is a direct measurement of the system's performance across all tested configurations. The results are presented as average FPS, with minimum and maximum values where available.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average 68 FPS.
• Medium: Average 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS.
• High: Average 45 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 35 FPS.

At 1080p, the system scales predictably with settings. The gap between Low and Medium is 16 FPS, between Medium and High is 7 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 10 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded frame time variance, showing a spread of 16 FPS between the minimum and maximum.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average 44 FPS.
• Medium: Average 34 FPS, with a minimum of 29 FPS and a maximum of 39 FPS.
• High: Average 29 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 23 FPS.

The 1440p results show a similar pattern but with overall lower performance. The drop from Low to Medium is 10 FPS, and the drop from Medium to High is 5 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution is only 6 FPS behind the High preset, indicating that the GPU is so constrained that the visual settings have a diminished impact on the frame rate.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average 24 FPS.
• Medium: Average 19 FPS, with a minimum of 16 FPS and a maximum of 22 FPS.
• High: Average 16 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 13 FPS.

At 4K, all results are below the threshold for playable performance. The frame rate drops are severe, with a 5 FPS difference between Low and Medium, and a further 3 FPS drop to High. The Ultra preset manages only 13 FPS, which is a slideshow. The data shows this configuration is not viable for 4K gaming in The Technomancer.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system can achieve a consistently playable frame rate above 60 FPS on the Low preset. At 2560x1440, the maximum average on any setting is 44 FPS, and at 3840x2160, all averages are below 25 FPS.

Q: Can this system run The Technomancer at 4K?

A: No. The measured average frame rates at 3840x2160 range from 13 FPS on Ultra to 24 FPS on Low. These are all well below the standard for smooth gameplay and indicate a non-functional experience.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1650 has a Passmark G3D score of 7880. This places it 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (score 7447), 0.4% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (score 7441), and 1% behind the Intel Arc A310 (score 7550). It is essentially at parity with these parts.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Medium presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 68 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 52 FPS. This is a 16 FPS decrease for the higher visual quality, but the Medium preset still maintains a minimum of 44 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The frame rate data shows a clear GPU bottleneck. The performance scales directly with resolution and settings, which are GPU-centric workloads. The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, with its high benchmark scores, is not the limiting factor in any of the measured configurations.

Q: What is the average FPS for the High preset at 1440p?

A: The measured average FPS for the High preset at 2560x1440 is 29 FPS. This is a significant drop from the 45 FPS average at 1080p on the same preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a high-end desktop processor, and its specifications suggest it is more than capable of handling the demands of The Technomancer. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This processing power is reflected in its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228. In the Passmark multithread test, it scores 41318.

However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU's power is largely irrelevant in this specific pairing. The GTX 1650 is the bottleneck, and the CPU is never challenged. The frame rates are determined exclusively by the GPU's ability to render frames, not the CPU's ability to feed it data. The CPU's 92nd percentile ranking against all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 58386, which is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900, confirms its raw capability.

Yet, in this game, that capability remains idle. For a CPU-bound title, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D would likely excel, but The Technomancer's performance is dictated by the graphics card. The data indicates that upgrading the CPU would yield zero performance improvement in this scenario. The system's overall rank in this game is 2738 out of 2825 combinations, placing it in the bottom 3% of tested configurations, a direct result of the GPU's limitations rather than any fault of the processor. The CPU's role is to ensure the system is not a bottleneck, and it does so with substantial headroom to spare.