The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, is not a modern showcase title, but the benchmark data for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT reveals a pairing that is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions and surprisingly capable at 4K. The measured frame rates show a clear performance hierarchy across settings, with the combo delivering high refresh rate gameplay at 1080p and playable, though not maximal, performance at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, which is typical for a graphically demanding title, but the rate of decline reveals where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 230.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p reduces that to 152.8 FPS, a 33.7% decrease. At 4K, the average falls to 79.4 FPS, which is a 65.5% drop from the 1080p figure. This substantial scaling indicates that the Radeon RX 9070 XT is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

However, the picture changes when looking at the High and Ultra presets. At 1080p High, the average is 154.7 FPS, which drops to 102.1 FPS at 1440p (a 34% reduction) and then to 52.9 FPS at 4K (a 65.8% reduction from 1080p). The percentage drops are nearly identical between Low and High settings, suggesting that the processor is keeping up well and that the GPU's workload is scaling linearly with resolution. The fact that the 1080p Low average of 230.4 FPS is not significantly higher than the 1080p High average of 154.7 FPS suggests that even at 1080p Low, the RX 9070 XT's raw throughput is the main constraint, not the Ryzen 9 7900X's 12 cores and 24 threads.

The most telling data point is the Ultra preset. At 1080p, the average is 120.9 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 77.1 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 45 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only sub-60 FPS average in the entire dataset, showing that pushing every setting to its maximum at the highest resolution is the only scenario where this combination truly struggles. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on Ultra is a 41.6% drop, which is less severe than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (36.2% drop), indicating that the game's engine is becoming more GPU-limited at the highest resolutions, but the GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is sufficient to avoid any memory-related stutters.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provides a 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth. This is a key factor in the game's performance, as The Technomancer's textures and effects can be memory-intensive. The data shows that moving from Medium to High settings yields a minimal performance hit at most resolutions. At 1080p, the difference is 178.4 FPS to 154.7 FPS (a 13.3% drop), and at 1440p, it's 115.3 FPS to 102.1 FPS (an 11.4% drop). This suggests that the GPU has enough memory bandwidth to handle the increased texture detail without a major penalty.

The GPU's clock speeds are also relevant. With a base clock of 1660 MHz and a boost clock of 2970 MHz, the card is capable of significant sustained performance. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the card is able to push 230.4 FPS, which is a strong indicator of its raw pixel-pushing capability. The 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs are responsible for this throughput. The 48.66 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is more than sufficient for a game of this era.

The GPU's 304 W TDP and dual 8-pin power connectors are typical for a high-end card, but the performance per frame is what matters. The data shows that the card is not thermal or power throttling in a way that would cause inconsistent frame rates. The fact that the 4K High average is 52.9 FPS, while the 4K Medium is 63.1 FPS, shows that the card can handle the resolution, but the Ultra preset's 45 FPS average is the only time the card's limits are fully exposed. The RX 9070 XT is clearly the dominant component in this pairing, as the CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1093, is more than enough to feed the GPU.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p with High settings, the average is 102.1 FPS, and even at Ultra, it maintains a 77.1 FPS average. 4K is only viable for 60 FPS at Low (79.4 FPS) or Medium (63.1 FPS) settings.

Q: How much of a performance gain is there from using Low settings over Ultra at 4K?

A: The difference is significant. At 4K, the Low preset averages 79.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 45 FPS. This represents a 76.4% improvement in average frame rate when dropping from Ultra to Low.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 7900X a bottleneck for the RX 9070 XT in this game?

A: No. The benchmark data indicates the system is GPU-bound. The 1080p Low average of 230.4 FPS is high, but the scaling to 1440p and 4K is consistent, which suggests the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a better experience than High at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 1440p averages 102.1 FPS, which is a very smooth experience. Ultra drops that to 77.1 FPS. While Ultra offers higher visual fidelity, the 24.5% drop in frame rate may not be worth it for a game like this. High is the more balanced choice.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: Yes, but with caveats. It achieves a 52.9 FPS average on High and 63.1 FPS on Medium. For a consistent 60 FPS, Medium is the safer choice, while High is playable but will dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

Q: How does the 1080p performance compare between Medium and Low?

A: The gap is noticeable. Low averages 230.4 FPS, while Medium averages 178.4 FPS. This is a 22.6% difference. The jump from Low to Medium is a significant visual upgrade, but it costs a substantial amount of frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's ranking of tested CPU and GPU combinations for The Technomancer, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT holds the 439th position out of 1656 total combos. This places it in the top 26.5% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a game released in 2016. The rank suggests that while there are many faster combinations, this setup is far from the bottom of the barrel.

The CPU itself is well-regarded, with a percentileVsAllCpus of 93, meaning it outperforms 93% of all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score of 50556 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, which scores 50598 (a deltaPct of -0.1%). This indicates that the CPU is not holding the system back. The GPU, with a percentileVsAllGpus of 82, is also a high performer. Its average score of 39647 is comparable to the AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39703, deltaPct -0.1%) and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, deltaPct 0.2%). This positioning shows that the GPU is a solid mid-to-high-range part.

The combo's rank of 439 suggests that the system is well-balanced for this title. The Ryzen 9 7900X's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its cinebench_r23_multicore score of 43695, ensures that any CPU-related tasks are handled with ease. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM prevents any memory-related bottlenecks, allowing the system to maintain consistent frame rates. The combination is not a top-tier contender for this specific game, but it is a highly capable one, placing it well ahead of the majority of tested systems.

Settings Recommendations

For a 1080p monitor, the data suggests that High settings (154.7 FPS) are the optimal choice. The Ultra preset (120.9 FPS) offers diminishing visual returns for a 21.9% drop in frame rate. Low (230.4 FPS) is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized over visuals. Medium (178.4 FPS) is a good fallback if you want a smoother experience than High.

At 1440p, the High preset (102.1 FPS) is the best experience. It provides a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a good balance of visual quality and performance. The Medium preset (115.3 FPS) is a safer choice if you want to ensure no drops below 100 FPS. Ultra (77.1 FPS) is playable but sacrifices a significant amount of smoothness. Low (152.8 FPS) is overkill for this resolution.

For 4K, the recommendation is the Medium preset (63.1 FPS). This is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS. The High preset (52.9 FPS) is playable but will be noticeably less smooth. Ultra (45 FPS) is not recommended, as the frame rate is too low for a consistent experience. Low (79.4 FPS) is a viable option if you want a very smooth experience at 4K, but the visual quality will be severely compromised.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following are the exact measured average FPS values for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination across all tested configurations.

1920x1080:

• Low: 230.4 FPS
• Medium: 178.4 FPS
• High: 154.7 FPS
• Ultra: 120.9 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 152.8 FPS
• Medium: 115.3 FPS
• High: 102.1 FPS
• Ultra: 77.1 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 79.4 FPS
• Medium: 63.1 FPS
• High: 52.9 FPS
• Ultra: 45 FPS

The data confirms a clear pattern: the performance penalty for each step up in settings is consistent across resolutions. The most dramatic difference is between Low and Medium at 1080p, where 52 FPS are lost. The smallest difference is between Medium and High at 4K, where only 10.2 FPS are lost. This indicates that the game's Medium preset is the most efficient setting tier, offering a substantial visual upgrade over Low for a moderate performance cost, while the High and Ultra presets add progressively less visual value for a higher performance penalty.