The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, responds predictably to the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti pairing. The data shows a system with enormous headroom at lower resolutions, but one that must make deliberate trade-offs to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K. The measured results across all settings and resolutions provide a clear picture of how this hardware balances the game's demands, making it a straightforward matter of selecting the right preset for your display.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the Ultra preset is the most demanding option, and it is only viable at 1920x1080. At this resolution, the game achieves an average of 140 FPS, which is excellent for fast-paced action. However, stepping up to 2560x1440 with Ultra settings drops the average to 91 FPS. While this is still playable, the 49 FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p suggests that this preset is not optimized for higher pixel counts with this hardware. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields a 50 FPS average, which is a poor experience for a game that requires responsive combat.

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the High preset is the clear recommendation for most users. At 1920x1080, it delivers a very high 179 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440, the average remains strong at 117 FPS, providing a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The most compelling argument for the High preset comes at 3840x2160, where it is the only setting that achieves a playable average frame rate, hitting 64 FPS. This is a significant jump from the 50 FPS of Ultra and is much more acceptable for a cinematic, story-driven game.

The Medium preset offers an alternative for those seeking higher frame rates over maximum detail. It provides a 210 FPS average at 1920x1080, a 137 FPS average at 2560x1440, and a 75 FPS average at 3840x2160. The data for the Medium preset also includes minimum frame rate figures, which are useful for understanding consistency. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 116 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it is 64 FPS. These minimums suggest that while the average is high, there are occasional dips, but they remain within acceptable bounds for smooth gameplay. The Low preset is for those chasing maximum refresh rates, hitting 273 FPS at 1080p and 178 FPS at 1440p, but it is not recommended for a visually engaging game like this due to the significant reduction in graphical quality. Ultimately, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced experience, while High at 3840x2160 is the best choice for 4K users who prioritize stability.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a formidable desktop processor built on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, and manufactured on a 4 nm process. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a key asset for gaming workloads. The processor's synthetic benchmark scores—a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228—indicate it has ample computational power.

In the context of The Technomancer, a title from 2016, the CPU is unlikely to be a bottleneck. The game's engine is not known for being heavily multi-threaded, but the 9850X3D's high single-core performance ensures that the primary game logic and draw call processing are handled with ease. The high clock speeds, reaching up to 5.60 GHz, are more than sufficient for a game of this era. The processor's performance percentile of 92 vs all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 58386, places it well above the vast majority of processors.

The data suggests that the CPU's role is to provide a stable, high-performance foundation that never limits the GPU. When comparing it to its nearest rivals, the performance differences are minimal. It is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14900, while being 0.2% behind the Intel Xeon w5-2545 and 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470. These negligible differences in average benchmark scores confirm that the 9850X3D is at the top tier of processing power, ensuring that the RTX 4070 Ti is the limiting factor in this pairing. The frame rates observed across different resolutions and settings are primarily dictated by the GPU's workload, not the CPU's capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the primary driver of performance in this pairing. Based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, it is a high-end graphics card with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its core clocks are a base of 2310 MHz and a boost of 2610 MHz. With 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, it is a powerful piece of silicon capable of handling modern game engines.

For The Technomancer, the GPU's role is to manage the rendering resolution and graphical settings. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of the GPU being the scaling factor. At 1920x1080, the card is heavily underutilized, as evidenced by the 273 FPS average on Low settings. This indicates the GPU is capable of far more than the game can demand at this resolution. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload becomes more intense. At 2560x1440, the average FPS on High settings is 117, which is a demanding but manageable load. The 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game's textures and geometry, even at 4K, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor.

The most telling performance detail is at 3840x2160. Here, the RTX 4070 Ti's limitations become apparent. The average FPS on High settings drops to 64, and on Ultra, it falls to 50. This is a direct consequence of the increased pixel count demanding more from the GPU's compute units and memory bandwidth. The card's performance percentile of 84 vs all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795, places it in the upper echelon, but it is not a top-tier 4K card. Its closest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (which is 0.8% faster), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (which is 1.3% faster), show that it is competitive but not dominant. The data clearly shows that while the RTX 4070 Ti can handle 4K in this older title, it requires a compromise in settings to maintain a playable frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 307th out of 2825 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 11% of all tested systems, indicating a very strong overall performance. This ranking reflects the high individual capabilities of both components. The CPU's high percentile and the GPU's strong performance contribute to a system that is well above average for gaming.

This high ranking is not surprising given the hardware involved. The 9850X3D is a top-tier processor that ensures no bottlenecking, allowing the RTX 4070 Ti to operate at its full potential. The ranking suggests that this pairing is overkill for 1080p gaming in this title, where the CPU and GPU are barely challenged. However, it is a well-balanced setup that scales effectively to 1440p and can even manage 4K with adjusted settings. The position at 307 out of 2825 combos means that a large majority of other systems will perform worse, making this a very capable configuration for achieving high frame rates. The data shows that the limiting factor is almost always the GPU's ability to render at higher resolutions, not the CPU's ability to feed it data.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for playing this game with this hardware?

A: The benchmark data shows that 2560x1440 with the High preset is the most balanced experience, yielding a 117 FPS average. This provides high visual quality with excellent smoothness. For 4K, the High preset is the only playable option, averaging 64 FPS, while 1080p is best for extreme refresh rates.

Q: Can this system run the game at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but the experience is suboptimal. At 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, the average frame rate is 50 FPS. This is below the threshold for smooth, responsive gameplay and is not recommended. Dropping to the High preset increases the average to 64 FPS, which is a significant improvement.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is effectively tied with its nearest competitors. It scores 0.1% higher than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-14900. It is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon w5-2545 and 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the 12 GB of VRAM on the RTX 4070 Ti sufficient for this game?

A: The data indicates that yes, it is more than sufficient. There is no indication of VRAM-related performance drops or stuttering in the measured FPS data across any resolution or setting. The game's textures are well within the memory capacity of the card.

Q: What is the difference between the High and Medium presets at 4K?

A: The High preset averages 64 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 75 FPS, a difference of 11 FPS. The Medium preset also has a recorded minimum FPS of 64, suggesting that while the average is higher, the frame time consistency is similar to the High preset's average.

Q: How does this specific combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 307th out of 2825 tested combos for the game. This places it in the top 10.9% of all systems tested, showing it is a very high-performance configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti in The Technomancer.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: The average FPS is 50.
• High: The average FPS is 64. This is the only 4K preset that achieves a playable frame rate.
• Medium: The average FPS is 75, with a minimum of 64 and a maximum of 87.
• Low: The average FPS is 98.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: The average FPS is 91.
• High: The average FPS is 117, making this an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors.
• Medium: The average FPS is 137, with a minimum of 116 and a maximum of 158.
• Low: The average FPS is 178.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: The average FPS is 140.
• High: The average FPS is 179.
• Medium: The average FPS is 210, with a minimum of 178 and a maximum of 241.
• Low: The average FPS is 273.

The data shows a clear scaling pattern. At 1080p, the system is capable of extremely high frame rates, even on the most demanding preset. The step up to 1440p incurs a performance cost of roughly 20-35% across all settings, but the results remain highly playable. The jump to 4K is the most demanding, with the Ultra preset falling below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K is the only viable option for a smooth experience, and the data shows that the Medium preset offers a slight performance advantage if you are willing to reduce visual quality further.