The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for modern hardware. With the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, the benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily balanced, shifting its bottleneck between the CPU and GPU depending on the resolution and settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the board indicate that this combo is capable of delivering high performance, but the scaling patterns show distinct limitations. This analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, optimal settings, and the specific roles the CPU and GPU play in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data from 1080p to 4K shows a classic curve where the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 298 FPS. This number is exceptionally high, indicating that the CPU is feeding frames at a rapid rate and the GPU is not yet saturated. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 195 FPS, a significant 34.6% decrease. This sharp decline suggests that the GPU is starting to work harder, but the frame rate remains far above the territory of playability concerns. The trend continues at 4K Low, where the average FPS falls to 107. This represents a 45.1% drop from the 1440p figure, clearly demonstrating that the rendering load at 4K is taxing the RTX 4080 Mobile heavily.

The pattern holds across other settings. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 229 at 1080p, to 149 at 1440p (a 34.9% drop), and finally to 82 at 4K (a 45.0% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium settings is telling. It indicates a linear scaling pattern where the GPU's workload increases proportionally with the pixel count. The game is not hitting a CPU wall at these settings; it is purely a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. The jump from 1440p to 4K is consistently more punishing than the jump from 1080p to 1440p, which is expected given the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K but only increases by 2.25 times from 1080p to 1440p.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound, or at least has enough headroom in the GPU to allow the CPU to dictate the maximum frame rate. The 298 FPS at Low confirms the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's strength. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's pixel fill rate and shading power become the bottleneck. This is a typical scenario for a high-end CPU paired with a mobile GPU. The RTX 4080 Mobile is powerful, but it is still a mobile part with limits. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a reduction in performance that aligns with the increased rendering resolution, rather than any other system limitation. The 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS, while lower, still demonstrates that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the game at a playable level, though it is clearly the most demanding configuration tested.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance is found at High settings. At 1080p, High settings yield an average of 195 FPS, which is a substantial 34.6% decrease from Low settings but still exceptionally smooth. The jump to Medium settings provides only a marginal FPS increase over High, going from 195 to 229 FPS. This 17.4% performance gain comes at the cost of visual quality, which is often significant for a game like this. The data suggests that High settings offer the best experience because it provides a high frame rate that is more than capable of driving a high-refresh-rate monitor, while likely offering a much better visual presentation than Medium or Low.

At 1440p, the recommendation remains High. The average of 128 FPS at this setting is excellent and provides a fluid experience for fast-paced action. Choosing Ultra at 1440p reduces the average to 100 FPS, a 21.9% drop. While 100 FPS is still playable, the improvement in visual quality from High to Ultra may not justify the performance loss, especially when the High preset is already delivering a near-perfect experience. At 4K, the choice is more nuanced. High settings produce an average of 70 FPS, which is right at the edge of what is considered smooth for many players. The data shows that 4K Medium delivers 82 FPS, a 17.1% improvement over High, but it is still a compromise. Given the game's age, the High preset at 4K is the recommended starting point, as it achieves a playable frame rate while maximizing visual fidelity.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding and shows the largest performance hit. At 1080p, it produces 152 FPS, which is a 22.1% drop from High. At 1440p, it drops to 100 FPS, a 21.9% reduction from High. At 4K, it falls to 55 FPS, a 21.4% reduction from High. The consistent ~22% performance penalty for Ultra across all resolutions suggests that it applies a uniform increase in shader complexity or post-processing effects that scale directly with resolution. For a game from 2016, the visual leap from High to Ultra is often subtle, and the performance data strongly suggests that High is the sweet spot. It offers the best frame rate per visual quality increment, making it the most efficient choice for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the definitive performance driver in this game, especially as resolution increases. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for The Technomancer at all tested settings, as no data suggests a memory capacity or bandwidth bottleneck. The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1290 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, are typical for a mobile part. The boost clock is the key figure, as it represents the sustained performance level during gaming. The benchmark results show that this GPU is capable of producing very high frame rates, but its role shifts from being a co-contributor at 1080p to the sole bottleneck at 4K.

The data shows a clear correlation between the GPU's workload and the FPS. At 1080p Low, the 298 FPS average is likely limited by the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and process game logic. The GPU is waiting for work. However, at 4K Ultra, the 55 FPS average shows the GPU is fully saturated. The RTX 4080 Mobile's raw compute power, measured at 24.72 TFLOPS for FP32, is being pushed to its limits by the 4K resolution. The GPU's benchmark scores also provide context. Its Passmark G3D score of 24926 and its 81st percentile ranking against all GPUs indicate it is a high-performing part. The data indicates that in this specific game, the GPU's performance is the deciding factor for the overall experience at higher resolutions. The 4K results, ranging from 107 FPS on Low to 55 FPS on Ultra, show that the GPU has a wide performance envelope, but it is still the component that dictates the upper limits of frame rate at these settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the aggregated benchmark database for The Technomancer, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combos. This places it in the top 5.8% of all tested systems, demonstrating that it is a very high-performance pairing. The combo's rank affirms the strength of both components. However, it is not at the very top, which indicates that there are other combinations that yield higher frame rates. This could be due to the fact that the RTX 4080 Mobile, while powerful, is outclassed by desktop GPUs or newer mobile parts that have higher performance ceilings.

The rank of 213 is more impressive when considering the specific components. The CPU, Ryzen 7 9850X3D, has an average benchmark score of 58386 and ranks in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, RTX 4080 Mobile, has an average benchmark score of 38135 and ranks in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Both are top-tier parts, and their combination is logically near the top of the charts. The fact that it's not higher is likely due to the GPU being a mobile variant, which has power and thermal constraints that limit its performance compared to its desktop counterparts. The data shows that this combo is a high-end pairing that will deliver a premium gaming experience. The rank confirms that while there are faster systems, this one is unequivocally in the upper echelon of performance for this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D plays a crucial role in ensuring the system never becomes CPU-bound at standard gaming resolutions. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, this processor is a powerhouse. Its high boost clock of 5.60 GHz is a key factor in its gaming performance. The benchmark data from the system shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with a peak of 298 FPS on Low settings. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with more than enough data. The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228, reinforces its strength. The single-core performance is particularly important for gaming, as many game engines rely heavily on a few threads.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role becomes less critical as resolution increases. The data shows that the FPS scales down consistently with resolution across all settings. For instance, the average FPS at High settings drops from 195 at 1080p to 70 at 4K. This is a 64.1% reduction in performance, which is far more than any CPU limitation would cause. It is a clear indication that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The CPU's high core count and large 96 MB of shared L3 cache are beneficial for maintaining stable frame pacing, but they are not the primary determinants of the final frame rate at higher resolutions. The CPU's role is to provide the headroom for the GPU to operate at its maximum potential. At 1080p, it succeeds admirably, but at 4K, the GPU's workload is so heavy that the CPU's speed is no longer the main factor. The data confirms that this is a balanced system where the CPU is more than capable of supporting the GPU, but the GPU's performance envelope defines the overall experience.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that both 1080p and 1440p yield very high frame rates. At 1440p High, the system achieves an average of 128 FPS, which is excellent and provides a great balance between visual detail and performance. 1080p is for maximum frame rates, reaching up to 298 FPS on Low, but 1440p High is recommended as the sweet spot for a high-quality experience.

Q: How much of a performance hit is the Ultra preset?

A: The Ultra preset consistently costs about 22% of the average FPS compared to the High preset across all tested resolutions. For example, at 1440p, the average drops from 128 FPS on High to 100 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, it drops from 70 FPS on High to 55 FPS on Ultra.

Q: Is the system CPU-bound or GPU-bound in this game?

A: The data indicates that the system is GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 298 FPS average suggests a CPU limit, but as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the consistent and significant FPS drops show that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile's rendering capabilities are the primary limiting factor.

Q: How does this combo compare to other systems in the database?

A: This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combos for The Technomancer. This places it in the top 5.8% of all tested systems, indicating it is a very high-performance pairing.

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate at 3840x2160 with High settings is 70 FPS. This is a playable frame rate, but it is noticeably lower than the 128 FPS average achieved at 2560x1440 with the same settings.

Q: Does the CPU, AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, hold the system back at any point?

A: The data does not show the CPU holding back the system except potentially at 1080p with Low settings, where the 298 FPS average is extremely high. In all other tested configurations, the FPS scales with resolution and settings in a way that is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck, meaning the CPU is providing sufficient performance.