The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 action RPG, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical fidelity. When paired with the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and the 16 GB AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, the measured data reveals a GPU-bound experience at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom to drive very high frame rates at 1080p. The combination of a 91st-percentile CPU and an 85th-percentile GPU results in a substantial performance profile, though the game’s engine shows clear limitations in raw frame delivery at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60+ FPS experience, the Medium preset is the favored choice across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, Medium yields an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69, placing it right at the threshold of smooth gameplay. Stepping down to High at 4K reduces the average to 51 FPS, which is playable but notable for not hitting 60. The data shows a clear scaling pattern: Low settings provide a significant jump in raw frame rate, with an average of 78 FPS at 4K, but Medium offers a better balance between visual quality and performance, especially since the minimum frame rate of 51 FPS is still within a playable range.

At 2560x1440, Medium delivers an average of 109 FPS, with a minimum of 92 and a maximum of 125. This is a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making it a strong recommendation for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at this resolution yields 93 FPS, still highly playable, but Medium provides a 17% performance improvement for what may be a minor visual trade-off. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 72 FPS, which is acceptable but not as fluid as the Medium or High offerings.

At 1920x1080, the situation is similar. Medium provides an average of 166 FPS, with a minimum of 141, making it the best choice for players with high refresh rate displays. High gives 142 FPS, which is still excellent, while Low pushes the engine to an impressive 216 FPS. Ultra is playable at 111 FPS, but the performance delta from Medium to Ultra is a 33% drop, which is significant. Overall, Medium is the sweet spot, offering high frame rates with a good balance of visual impact.

Given the data, the recommended preset for the best experience is Medium. It delivers playable frame rates at 4K, very high frame rates at 1440p, and extremely high frame rates at 1080p. It provides the most consistent performance across all resolutions, and the Minimum FPS figures for Medium (51 at 4K, 92 at 1440p, and 141 at 1080p) are the only ones recorded, indicating a more stable experience than the other presets.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, a RDNA 2.0 architecture card with a 256-bit memory bus, plays a role that becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution increases. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K, where even the Low preset only reaches 78 FPS, and the High preset drops to 51 FPS. This is a game that scales its performance heavily with the GPU’s workload. The card’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is far more than sufficient for this game, which is from 2016, so memory capacity is not a bottleneck. The measured results show that the GPU’s raw compute power is what dictates performance at high resolutions.

The card’s boost clock of 2250 MHz and base clock of 1825 MHz are high, and the 300 W TDP suggests a high-power chip. The GPU’s 512.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is also a substantial figure. In a game like The Technomancer, which is a port from older generation consoles, the GPU's shading units (4608) and TMUs (288) are likely taxed by the game’s visual effects and lighting. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as the CPU is able to push frame rates over 200 FPS. However, as resolution climbs, the GPU's rendering capabilities become the ceiling.

The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is interesting. It sits about 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, but 2.5% behind the Intel Arc A550M, and 3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. This places the 6800 XT in a mid-to-high tier, which aligns with the measured frame rates. The card is not a top-tier part, but it is more than capable of handling this game's demands, especially at 1080p and 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and expected trend: frame rates drop as resolution increases. At High settings, the game runs at 142 FPS at 1080p, which is an excellent result. Moving to 1440p, that average falls to 93 FPS, a 34.5% decrease. At 4K, the average is 51 FPS, a further 45% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling is not linear, and it indicates that the game is becoming progressively more GPU-bound as the pixel count rises.

The same pattern holds for the Low preset: 1080p yields 216 FPS, 1440p gives 141 FPS (a 35% drop), and 4K produces 78 FPS (a 45% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset follows a similar curve: 1080p at 166 FPS, 1440p at 109 FPS (a 34% drop), and 4K at 60 FPS (a 45% drop). The Ultra preset shows 1080p at 111 FPS, 1440p at 72 FPS (a 35% drop), and 4K at 40 FPS (a 44% drop).

These consistent percentage drops across all presets suggests that the performance scaling is highly predictable and is solely a function of the GPU's rendering load. The CPU is clearly not a limiting factor at 1080p, as the frame rates are very high, but the GPU is the main component that dictates performance as resolution increases. The fact that the frame rate nearly outro when going from 1080p to 4K (e.g., 142 to 51 FPS at High, a 64% drop) confirms that this is a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 1158 out of a total of 3696 tested combos for this game. This places it in the upper echelon of configurations, specifically the 68th percentile of all tested. This ranking is a holistic view, reflecting the system's ability to handle the game across all settings and resolutions.

The rank is likely a function of the GPU's performance, as the CPU is very powerful. The GPU's 85th percentile performance is a strong base, but the CPU’s 91st percentile means it is not the bottleneck. The rank indicates that this specific pairing is better than 2 out of 3 other configurations tested, proving it a solid, high-end choice for this title. It is not a top-10 or top-100 setup, but it is a very capable system for The Technomancer, with the measured data showing it can handle the game at high frame rates in most scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is a high-end desktop processor. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are strong, and the 64 MB of L3 cache ensures that data is delivered quickly to the cores. For a game from 2016, this CPU is overkill. The measured frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, with the Low preset achieving 216 FPS, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck. The game is not likely to use all 12 cores, but the 7900X’s high single-thread performance is what matters here. Its single-thread score in Cinebench R20 is 2016, which is very high, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4238 is also robust.

The CPU's performance in the 91st percentile of all CPUs shows it is a top-tier part. However, for this game, the primary role of the CPU is to feed the GPU with data. At 1080p, the CPU is able to provide a frame rate of 216 FPS, which is a clear indicator that it is not a bottleneck. The data shows that at 4K, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU is. The CPU’s workload remains relatively constant, but the GPU slows down, leading to the lower frame rates. The CPU’s 12 cores are more than sufficient for this game, and its high clock speeds ensure that the GPU is never starved of data.

Core and Clock

The 12 cores and 24 threads are a strong foundation, but the game is likely to use only a few. The high boost clock of 5.60 GHz is the most important feature for gaming. In a game with many on-screen characters and environmental effects, the CPU’s per-core performance directly impacts the frame rate. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU can handle everything the game throws at it, delivering over 200 FPS. At 4K, the frame rate is limited by the GPU, but the CPU still has headroom. The 7900X is a capable gaming CPU, but in this combination, it is not the component that dictates the performance ceiling in the higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average FPS is 78. This is a high frame rate for 4K, indicating the game is not particularly demanding on the GPU at this setting.
• Medium: Average FPS is 60, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69. This is a solid result for 4K, and the min FPS shows it can hold a steady 60.
• High: Average FPS is 51. This is a playable, but not ideal, frame rate for a smooth experience.
• Ultra: Average FPS is 40. This is a low result, and the game is likely to feel sluggish.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average FPS is 141. This is a very high frame rate, ideal for 144Hz displays.
• Medium: Average FPS is 109, with a minimum of 92 and a maximum of 125. This is a great result for 1440p.
• High: Average FPS is 93. This is still a very good frame rate for 1440p.
• Ultra: Average FPS is 72. This is a playable, but not the highest, frame rate.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average FPS is 216. This is an exceptionally high frame rate, likely hitting the monitor’s refresh rate limit.
• Medium: Average FPS is 166, with a minimum of 141 and a maximum of 191. This is a stellar result.
• High: Average FPS is 142. This is a high frame rate, good for any monitor.
• Ultra: Average FPS is 111. This is a solid frame rate, but lower than the other presets.

The data shows a clear performance hierarchy. At 1080p, the Low preset is the highest, with the Medium preset not far behind. The Ultra preset is the lowest of the four, but still over 100 FPS. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only one that exceeds 120 FPS, and the Medium is the next, with a 109 FPS average. The 4K resolution shows the most significant performance drop, with only the Low preset reaching over 60 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that hits the 60 FPS mark at 4K. The data also shows the game's engine is not well optimized for high resolutions. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, with the Ultra preset dropping from 111 FPS to 40 FPS, a 64% loss. The CPU’s performance is consistent across all these settings, indicating that the GPU is the sole factor in the lower frame rates at 4K.