The Technomancer

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination produces a highly playable experience in The Technomancer, with performance scaling that reveals a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p gaming, while 4K Ultra requires significant settings adjustments to maintain smooth frame rates. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all tested configurations, examines the role of each component, and contextualizes the combo's ranking against the broader database.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates where the performance ceiling lies. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 117 FPS, which drops to 77 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 64% performance loss from 1080p to 4K, a substantial decline that indicates the rendering pipeline becomes progressively more taxing on the GPU as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets. With Low settings, the system delivers 179 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The 4K result here is nearly identical to the 1080p High result, suggesting that the GPU's raw throughput is the limiting factor when pushing over 8 million pixels. The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 137 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K.

The most telling data point comes from the Ultra preset. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 33, which is below the 42 FPS minimum observed at 4K Medium. This steep drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K (49 to 33 FPS, a 33% reduction) suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately impact the GPU's compute and memory subsystems. The delta between 1440p and 4K at Ultra (60 to 33 FPS) is the largest relative drop among all presets, reinforcing that the RX 7700's 16 GB frame buffer and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at this extreme configuration.

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 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a significant asset for a game like The Technomancer that was released in 2016 but still demands substantial memory throughput at high resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1900 MHz and boost clock of 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz, demonstrate a wide frequency range that allows for aggressive boosting under load.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput of 25.18 TFLOPS positions this card well above the entry-level segment, which is reflected in its measured performance. The benchmark results show a PassMark G3D score of 20974 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028, placing the GPU in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

The RX 7700's nearest rivals in the database provide context for its raw performance. It sits nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 370X (deltaPct of -0.1%), within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (deltaPct of -1%), and 1.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. This clustering suggests that the RX 7700 occupies a specific performance tier, and its 16 GB memory capacity is a distinguishing feature that helps in texture-heavy scenarios like The Technomancer's Ultra preset. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures full feature compatibility, though the game's 2016 release date means it likely relies on older DirectX 11 paths, which the PassMark DirectX 11 score of 186 reflects.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X provides a formidable foundation with 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). Its base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz deliver exceptional single-threaded performance, as evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3010. The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core provide ample fast storage for game data.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (179 FPS) and 1080p High (117 FPS) suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the GPU is capable of producing very high frame rates without being starved. The 3DMark max-threads score of 13929 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 indicate that even in multi-threaded scenarios, the 9900X has ample headroom.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database are server and high-end desktop parts. It sits within 0.2% of the AMD EPYC 7313 (deltaPct of 0.2%) and 0.1% of the AMD EPYC 9015 (deltaPct of -0.1%), while trailing the Intel Core i9-14900 by 1.1% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M by 1.4%. This positioning confirms that the 9900X is a top-tier consumer processor, and its benchmark scores—including a PassMark multi-thread score of 54643 and a single-thread score of 4672—show it can handle any game workload without issue. The CPU's PCIe Gen 5 support with 24 lanes ensures the GPU has full bandwidth available, though the RX 7700's PCIe 4.0 interface is unlikely to be a limiting factor in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and RX 7700 achieves a rank of 1275 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places the system in the 55th percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms more than half of the tested configurations. The rank reflects a balance between the CPU's high-end processing power and the GPU's mid-to-upper tier graphics performance.

Given the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 58th percentile among all GPUs, the combo rank of 1275 out of 2825 is consistent with a system where the GPU is the primary determinant of gaming performance. The data suggests that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would likely yield a higher combo rank, as the CPU has significant headroom to support more powerful graphics cards. Conversely, the current GPU is well-matched to the CPU for this game, as the frame rates are not CPU-limited at any resolution.

The combo's rank also reflects the game's age and optimization. The Technomancer was released in 2016, and its engine may not fully utilize modern hardware features like ray tracing or mesh shaders. The RX 7700's 40 ray accelerators and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are not directly relevant to this title's performance, which likely relies on traditional rasterization. This explains why the GPU's raw rasterization performance (as measured by PassMark G3D score of 20974) is a better predictor of results than its more advanced features.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080 displays, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 92 FPS, which is smooth and highly playable for an action RPG. The High preset at 117 FPS offers a noticeable improvement in frame rate with potentially minimal visual differences, making it the recommended choice for competitive or fast-paced play. The Low preset at 179 FPS is unnecessary for most users but available for those seeking maximum refresh rate headroom on 360 Hz monitors.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 77 FPS is the sweet spot, providing a good balance between visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 90 FPS is also viable, especially for users who prefer higher frame rates over maximum fidelity. The Ultra preset at 60 FPS is playable but may exhibit occasional dips, so it is only recommended for users with adaptive sync displays or those who prioritize visuals over frame rate stability.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 49 FPS is the highest playable option, though it requires accepting a sub-60 FPS experience. The High preset at 42 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 33 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 4K users, the Low preset at 64 FPS provides the best performance, but the visual compromise may be significant. The absence of min FPS data for most 4K presets (except Medium, which shows a min of 42 FPS) suggests that the GPU's frame pacing may be inconsistent, making the Medium preset the safest choice for 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K in The Technomancer?

A: No, not consistently. The measured data shows a maximum 4K average of 64 FPS at Low settings, but the Medium preset averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS. The High and Ultra presets average 42 FPS and 33 FPS respectively, all below the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data indicates 1440p is the optimal resolution. At High settings, the system averages 77 FPS, which is well within the smooth gameplay range. At 1080p, the system can reach 117 FPS on High, but the visual fidelity gains at 1440p are worth the frame rate trade-off.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7700's average benchmark score of 15852 is within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129), 1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014), and 0.1% from the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862). It also outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 1.1%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a 3DMark max-threads score of 13929 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172, are far above what The Technomancer requires. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent GPU-limited pattern, not CPU stalls.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS. This provides a very smooth experience with headroom for frame rate fluctuations.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM make a difference in this game?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is more than sufficient for The Technomancer. The 624.1 GB/s bandwidth ensures texture streaming is not a bottleneck, even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 33 due to compute limitations rather than memory capacity issues.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

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

2560x1440 (1440p):

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

3840x2160 (4K):

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

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each resolution step up reduces frame rates by roughly 30-40%, while each settings tier increase (from Low to Medium to High to Ultra) costs approximately 15-25% performance. The 4K Ultra result of 33 FPS is the only configuration that falls below the playability threshold, while all 1080p and 1440p presets remain at or above 60 FPS. The minimum FPS data, available only for Medium presets, shows that the system maintains reasonably tight frame pacing: at 4K Medium, the min of 42 FPS is only 14% below the average, and at 1440p Medium, the min of 76 FPS is 16% below average. This suggests that the RX 7700 delivers stable performance without severe frame drops, even when pushed to its limits.