The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress test for a modern flagship pairing. The data measured for the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions, with the GPU becoming an increasingly dominant factor as pixel count rises, while the CPU's robust multi-threading capabilities ensure headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data demonstrates a significant shift in system behavior as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 213.4 FPS, but this drops to 144.1 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 79 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 63% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at High settings, indicating that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count. The 4K Ultra preset, at 58.1 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that even this top-tier GPU is challenged by the game's maximum settings at that resolution.

The scaling pattern across all settings reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low, the system produces 247.1 FPS, which is a relatively modest increase over the 213.4 FPS at High. This relatively small gap between Low and High at 1080p suggests that the CPU is already near its practical limit for this game's engine at those frame rates. The Ryzen 9 5950X, with 16 cores and 32 threads, shows its strength here — the game's single-threaded aspects are handled efficiently, but the frame rate ceiling at 1080p appears to be more about the game's engine and CPU architecture than raw GPU power.

Looking at 4K scaling, the drop from Medium (94 FPS) to High (79 FPS) is 16%, while the drop from High to Ultra (58.1 FPS) is 26%. This nonlinear scaling at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting component, with each settings tier adding substantial shading and texture work. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are clearly being utilized, as the game's textures and effects at 4K Ultra likely require significant memory bandwidth and capacity. At 1440p, the pattern is similar but less extreme: Low yields 215.5 FPS, Medium 169.2 FPS, and Ultra 107.7 FPS, showing a 50% reduction from Low to Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's specifications provide context for its measured performance in The Technomancer. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 16,384 shading units. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for a game that appears to scale heavily with texture quality settings. The benchmark results show the GPU's strength: a Passmark G3D score of 38194 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, placing it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (58.1 FPS) versus 4K Low (119.4 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU's raw compute capabilities are substantial but not unlimited. The 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are being pushed hard at the highest settings. The game appears to be heavily texture-bound, as evidenced by the steep drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K (94 to 58.1 FPS, a 38% reduction). This suggests that the 24 GB memory capacity is being filled, and the bandwidth is being saturated by the game's high-resolution assets.

Interestingly, the GPU's performance at 1080p Low (247.1 FPS) is only 16% higher than at 1080p High (213.4 FPS), indicating that the GPU is not the primary constraint at lower resolutions. The RTX 4090's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 with a deltaPct of -0.4% and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 with -0.9%, are far below its gaming performance, confirming that this GPU is designed for extreme workloads. The data shows that in The Technomancer, the GPU's role becomes dominant only at 4K with higher settings, where its memory bandwidth and shading power are fully engaged.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: All measured settings at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 exceed 60 FPS, with the lowest 1440p result being 107.7 FPS at Ultra. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to 58.1 FPS, below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X averages 49062 points, which is 0.2% behind the Intel Core i5-14600K (49166) and 0.6% behind the Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367). It sits 0.7% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698).

Q: Does the GPU's 24 GB VRAM make a difference in this game?

A: The 4K Ultra preset, which likely uses the most texture data, still achieves 58.1 FPS, and the 4K Medium preset reaches 94 FPS. The 24 GB capacity and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth appear sufficient for the game's demands, as no memory-related stutters are indicated in the average FPS data.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the combo produces 213.4 FPS, while at 4K High it produces 79 FPS. This is a 63% reduction, showing how pixel count heavily impacts performance.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 56th out of 1656 tested combinations for The Technomancer, placing it in the top 3.4% of all systems tested.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 247.1 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it drops to 168.8 FPS. The relatively small gap between Low and High (247.1 vs 213.4) suggests the CPU is near its limit for this game's engine at these high frame rates, making it the primary constraint at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 56th out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This top 3.4% placement reflects the strength of both components, but the data reveals nuances. The CPU's average benchmark score of 49062 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's average of 66473 puts it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. However, the game's performance at 4K Ultra (58.1 FPS) suggests that the combo is not fully optimized for maximum settings at that resolution, given that 55 other combos achieve higher average FPS.

The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 49166 on average, a mere 0.2% higher, yet the Ryzen 9 5950X offers 16 cores and 32 threads versus the i5's more modest configuration. In a game like The Technomancer, which was released in 2016 and may not fully utilize 32 threads, the CPU's advantage is less pronounced. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000, are workstation-class parts with lower gaming performance, confirming that the RTX 4090 is a top-tier gaming GPU.

The combo's rank is particularly impressive given that it represents a pairing of a 2020 CPU with a 2022 GPU, both from different generations. The data shows that the GPU's 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are likely the key differentiators at 4K, where the combo still manages 79 FPS at High settings. The rank of 56 suggests that while this is a very strong setup, there are a few dozen combinations that edge it out, likely newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance or more optimized memory configurations for this specific game engine.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 168.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset at 224.6 FPS and High at 213.4 FPS offer diminishing returns for the performance difference, so Ultra is the clear choice at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves 107.7 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. The drop from High (144.1 FPS) to Ultra (107.7 FPS) is 25%, but the visual improvements at Ultra are typically worth the trade-off for a game with this visual style. If a higher refresh rate monitor is the priority, the High preset at 144.1 FPS is the recommended choice, as it aligns well with 144Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Ultra preset falls to 58.1 FPS, just below the 60 FPS target, making it playable but not ideal for smooth motion. The High preset at 79 FPS provides a better experience, with only a 26% reduction from Medium (94 FPS). For 4K gaming, the High preset is the recommended setting, as it maintains a comfortable frame rate while still offering high-quality visuals. The Low preset at 119.4 FPS is an option for those prioritizing maximum frame rates, but the visual downgrade is significant. The data suggests that the Medium preset at 94 FPS is a strong middle ground for 4K, offering near-Ultra quality with a 62% higher frame rate than Ultra.