The Technomancer

# The Technomancer with AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + AMD Radeon RX 7700

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test case for this modern mid-range pairing. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, a 12-core Zen 3 desktop processor, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, a 16 GB RDNA 3.0 graphics card, produce a wide spread of frame rates across resolutions and settings. The measured data reveals a system that is clearly capable of excellent 1080p performance but begins to show its limits as resolution climbs to 4K, particularly under the most demanding presets.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 delivers the highest frame rates, with an average of 179 FPS at Low settings and 117 FPS at High, while 3840x2160 drops to 42 FPS at High and 33 FPS at Ultra, making 1440p a strong middle ground at 77 FPS on High.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 117 FPS at 1920x1080 to 77 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 92 FPS, which is smooth. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 60 FPS, still acceptable. However, at 3840x2160, Ultra drops to 33 FPS, which is below typical playable thresholds.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5900X compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X has an average benchmark score of 41376, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440. It sits 0.5% below the Intel Core i7-14650HX.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks in the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon R9 370X, which scores 15862, just 0.1% higher.

Q: Does the combo rank well overall for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1275 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the upper half of all tested systems, though not in the top tier.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process. Its memory subsystem is substantial: 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. These specifications are critical for The Technomancer, as the game's world is filled with dense geometry and effects that rely heavily on memory bandwidth and fill rate.

The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s are particularly relevant. At 4K resolution, the GPU must push four times the pixels of 1080p, and the data shows this stress. The average frame rate at 3840x2160 High is 42 FPS, compared to 117 FPS at 1920x1080 High. This 2.8x drop in performance despite only a 4x pixel increase suggests the GPU is becoming a limiting factor, but not entirely saturated.

The RX 7700's 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 40 ray tracing cores are modern features, but The Technomancer's 2016 release likely doesn't use ray tracing, so the rasterization performance is what matters here. The 96 ROPs are crucial for the final pixel output stage, and the data indicates that at Ultra settings, the combination of higher shader load and memory pressure pushes the GPU to its limit, yielding just 33 FPS at 4K.

Interestingly, the GPU's benchmark average of 15852 places it in the 58th percentile, but its nearest rival in synthetic tests is the AMD Radeon R9 370X, a much older card. This suggests that in pure compute terms, the RX 7700 is not dramatically ahead of older mid-range cards, but its modern memory bandwidth and clock speeds give it an edge in real-world gaming scenarios like The Technomancer.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rates are 117 FPS at 1920x1080, 77 FPS at 2560x1440, and 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and another 45% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU is progressively becoming the bottleneck as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the pattern is more dramatic: 179 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is interesting because it shows the GPU can still produce 64 FPS when the shading load is reduced, but the 45% drop from 1440p to 4K persists. This suggests that even at Low settings, the pixel throughput at 4K is taxing the RX 7700's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

The Medium settings row provides the only complete min/max data in the pack. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 137 FPS with a min of 117 and max of 158. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 90 FPS with a min of 76 and max of 103. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 49 FPS with a min of 42 and max of 57. This 49 FPS average at 4K Medium is a borderline playable number, and the min of 42 FPS indicates occasional dips below 45 FPS.

The scaling analysis suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 9 5900X is likely the limiting component, as the GPU has headroom to produce 179 FPS at Low. As resolution climbs, the RX 7700's pixel processing capabilities become the dominant constraint. The 4K results, particularly the 33 FPS Ultra, clearly implicate the GPU as the bottleneck in this scenario.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot for this combo, especially at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 137 FPS average with a min of 117 FPS, which is well above any playability threshold and leaves headroom for consistent frame times. The jump to High reduces the average to 117 FPS, a 15% drop, while Ultra further reduces it to 92 FPS, a 21% drop from High.

At 2560x1440, Medium yields 90 FPS average with a min of 76 FPS, which is smooth for most gameplay. High drops to 77 FPS, and Ultra sits at exactly 60 FPS. The 60 FPS Ultra result is technically playable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes, making Medium the safer choice for consistent performance.

At 3840x2160, the recommendation shifts decisively. Medium averages 49 FPS with a min of 42 FPS, which is marginal but potentially playable with adaptive sync. High drops to 42 FPS, and Ultra at 33 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. Low at 64 FPS is the only 4K setting that provides comfortable performance, but it sacrifices visual quality significantly.

The data suggests that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 137 FPS average is excellent. At 1440p, 90 FPS is strong. At 4K, 49 FPS is playable, though not ideal. Users prioritizing frame rate over visuals should consider Low at 4K for the 64 FPS result.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo in The Technomancer is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 179 FPS average
• Medium: 137 FPS average (min 117, max 158)
• High: 117 FPS average
• Ultra: 92 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 117 FPS average
• Medium: 90 FPS average (min 76, max 103)
• High: 77 FPS average
• Ultra: 60 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 64 FPS average
• Medium: 49 FPS average (min 42, max 57)
• High: 42 FPS average
• Ultra: 33 FPS average

The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy: Low delivers 179 FPS, Medium 137, High 117, and Ultra 92. The gap between Low and Medium is 42 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 25 FPS. This indicates diminishing returns as settings increase, with the most significant performance cost coming from the Low-to-Medium transition.

At 1440p, the pattern is similar but compressed. Low delivers 117 FPS, Medium 90, High 77, and Ultra 60. The 60 FPS Ultra result is notable as a benchmark of the GPU's capability at this resolution. The min FPS values at Medium (76) suggest that even in demanding moments, the frame rate stays above 75 FPS.

The 4K results are where the GPU struggles. Low delivers 64 FPS, Medium 49, High 42, and Ultra 33. The min FPS at Medium is 42, indicating that the GPU can dip below 45 FPS in heavy scenes. The 33 FPS Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset and is not recommended for smooth play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a large 64 MB L3 cache. Its memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 5900X shows strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16262 and a Geekbench multicore score of 14118. Its single-thread performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1527 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2083. The 3DMark scores range from 941 in single-thread to 10075 in max-threads, indicating good scaling across core counts.

The CPU's percentile ranking is 87th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41376. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (delta 0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (delta 0.4%), AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 (delta 0.4%), and Intel Core i7-14650HX (delta -0.5%). This places the 5900X in a competitive position against newer mobile and desktop processors.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the GPU is not heavily taxed and the frame rate reaches 179 FPS. At this level, the CPU's single-thread performance and 64 MB L3 cache help maintain high frame rates without stuttering. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and the CPU's 12 cores are less relevant. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9075 and 8-thread score of 6601 suggest that the CPU can handle heavily threaded game workloads, but The Technomancer's 2016 engine likely doesn't scale perfectly to 24 threads.

The CPU's 105 W TDP and 7 nm process node make it a power-efficient choice for this pairing. Its 8,300 million transistors on a 2x 74 mm² die size demonstrate the density of the Zen 3 architecture. For this game, the CPU is more than sufficient, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1275 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms slightly more than half of all combinations tested.

When interpreting this rank, it's important to consider the GPU's overall standing. The RX 7700 ranks in the 58th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 15852 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X (delta -0.1%). This suggests that while the GPU is modern in features, its raw performance is comparable to much older cards, which may limit the combo's ranking.

The CPU, however, is a strong performer, ranking in the 87th percentile among all CPUs. This means the processor is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The combination of a top-tier CPU and mid-tier GPU results in a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p but falls short at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings where the 33 FPS result drags down the overall experience.

The rank of 1275 out of 2825 suggests that there are many combos that perform better, likely those with higher-end GPUs. However, the data also shows that this combo is far from the bottom, outperforming roughly 55% of all tested systems. For a game like The Technomancer, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, this combo provides a good experience at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K playable only at Medium settings or below.

The measured FPS data corroborates this ranking. At 1080p High, the 117 FPS average is strong, and at 1440p High, the 77 FPS average is respectable. The 4K High result of 42 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, but the Medium settings at 4K provide 49 FPS, which is closer to playable. The combo's rank reflects this mixed performance profile, with strong results at lower resolutions but clear limitations at 4K.