The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting case study for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX pairing. While the hardware is modern and powerful, the game’s engine and age dictate the performance landscape. The data shows a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU’s substantial multi-threading capabilities becoming more relevant only as the resolution drops and frame rates climb.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic resolution scaling curve, with the most significant performance drop occurring between 1440p and 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 116 FPS at 2560x1440 to 64 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 45%. This steep decline is a strong indicator that the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the primary limiting component at 4K, as the pixel count increase directly saturates the GPU’s rendering pipeline. The jump from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is less severe, with a drop from 178 FPS to 116 FPS, but still substantial enough to confirm the GPU’s dominance in this workload.

The scaling pattern changes character when moving from Medium to Low settings. At 4K, the average FPS increases from 75 on Medium to 97 on Low, a 22 FPS gain. At 1440p, the same setting reduction yields a larger absolute gain, from 136 FPS to 177 FPS. At 1080p, the Low setting produces 271 FPS compared to 209 FPS on Medium. This widening gap at lower resolutions suggests that while the GPU is still the main bottleneck, the CPU’s headroom becomes more apparent when the render load is reduced. The fact that the 1080p Low result is 271 FPS—far beyond any 144Hz display’s capability—indicates that the CPU is not strictly capping performance, but the GPU is still doing the heavy lifting.

The 4K to 1440p scaling is particularly telling. At High settings, the 4K average of 64 FPS is nearly half the 1440p average of 116 FPS. This is a larger percentage drop than would be expected from pixel count alone, suggesting that the RX 7900 XTX’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are being heavily taxed at 3840x2160. The 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s, is not the constraint here; rather, it is the raw shading and rasterization workload of the game’s scenes. The data shows that for a smoother 4K experience, users would need to dial settings down to Medium, which yields 75 FPS, or accept the 64 FPS High preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X brings a 12-core, 24-thread configuration based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). Its base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are high enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios. The benchmark scores for the CPU are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253. These figures place the CPU in the 92nd percentile among all tested CPUs, indicating top-tier performance for both threaded and lightly-threaded workloads.

In The Technomancer, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU. The game, being from 2016, is unlikely to leverage 24 threads effectively. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 271, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU’s thread scheduling and core clocks are being exercised. However, the lack of a significant difference between the 9900X’s performance and what a less capable CPU might achieve is not visible in the measured data. The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the AMD EPYC 9015 (avg score 57555, deltaPct -0.1) and the Intel Core i9-14900 (avg score 58115, deltaPct -1.1), are close in synthetic benchmarks, but this does not translate to a measurable difference in this game’s FPS.

The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth) provide ample memory bandwidth for feeding the GPU. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution tested. Even at 1080p Low, where frame rates are highest, the system does not appear to hit a CPU-imposed ceiling, as the FPS scales linearly with resolution changes. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 12552 and max-thread score of 13929 indicate strong multi-threading, but for a game like The Technomancer, the single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1286) is likely more relevant for game logic and draw calls, and it is sufficient to keep up with the GPU’s output.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the clear performance driver in this configuration. Built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture (Navi 31 chip), it features 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz are high, but the card’s 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus is a defining feature. The memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is substantial, and the FP32 performance of 61.39 TFLOPS gives it immense compute headroom.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmarks, however, show a peculiar pattern. Its average benchmark score of 19410 places it in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, which is lower than expected for a flagship card. The nearest rivals listed are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (avg score 19334, deltaPct 0.4) and the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (avg score 19602, deltaPct -1). This is a stark contrast to the CPU’s high percentile ranking. The discrepancy might be due to the benchmark suite weighting or driver maturity for specific tests, but it does not align with the measured FPS results in The Technomancer. In this game, the RX 7900 XTX delivers playable frame rates at 4K, with a 64 FPS average on High settings, which is a solid result.

The GPU’s performance scaling with settings is consistent. At 4K, dropping from Ultra (50 FPS) to High (64 FPS) to Medium (75 FPS) to Low (97 FPS) shows a clear 20 FPS improvement per step down, except for the Ultra to High jump which is 14 FPS. This indicates that the card is not memory-limited, as the settings changes primarily affect shading complexity and texture filtering, which are compute-bound. The 24 GB VRAM is unlikely to be fully utilized even at 4K Ultra, given the game’s age and texture sizes. The GPU’s 64th percentile ranking in synthetic tests is an anomaly when compared to its in-game performance, suggesting that the benchmarks used for the percentile do not reflect this game’s specific workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and RX 7900 XTX ranks 476th out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 13% of all configurations tested for this game. Given the age of the game, this ranking is reasonable. It is not a top-10 contender, because the game is likely CPU-bound on the engine side for many high-end combos, but it is far from the bottom. The rank suggests that this pairing is well-balanced for this title, with the GPU providing the bulk of the performance.

The fact that the combo ranks 476th, rather than higher, implies that there are many other combinations that achieve better FPS. This could be due to the game’s preference for certain architectures or the fact that the RX 7900 XTX’s drivers are not optimized for a 2016 title. The CPU’s 92nd percentile ranking does not translate to a top-tier game combo ranking, which reinforces the notion that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect a higher combo rank, as the CPU is among the best available. The data indicates that for this game, the GPU’s raw rasterization power is more important than the CPU’s thread count or clock speed.

The deltaPct values for the CPU’s nearest rivals show that the 9900X is within 1.4% of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 1.1% of the Core i9-14900 in average benchmark score. This means that swapping the CPU for a rival would not change the in-game FPS meaningfully, as the GPU remains the bottleneck. Conversely, the GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the GTX 1060 3 GB, have similar average benchmark scores, but the RX 7900 XTX’s actual in-game performance is far superior, as evidenced by the 4K High average of 64 FPS. This highlights that synthetic GPU benchmarks can be misleading for older games.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance across resolutions and settings.

At 3840x2160 (4K):

• Low settings: 97 FPS average.
• Medium settings: 75 FPS average, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS.
• High settings: 64 FPS average.
• Ultra settings: 50 FPS average.

The Medium preset’s min FPS of 64 FPS is notable, as it suggests that even at this setting, the frame rate can dip to the same level as the High preset’s average. This could be due to specific scene complexity or transient GPU load spikes. The Low preset is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS at 4K, making it the only viable option for a 60Hz display without compromises.

At 2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low settings: 177 FPS average.
• Medium settings: 136 FPS average, with a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 157 FPS.
• High settings: 116 FPS average.
• Ultra settings: 91 FPS average.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 116 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset’s minimum of 116 FPS matches the High preset’s average, indicating that the Medium preset offers a more stable experience. The Ultra preset, while still above 90 FPS, shows a significant drop from High, suggesting that the extra settings are not worth the performance cost.

At 1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low settings: 271 FPS average.
• Medium settings: 209 FPS average, with a minimum of 177 FPS and a maximum of 240 FPS.
• High settings: 178 FPS average.
• Ultra settings: 139 FPS average.

At 1080p, the CPU’s influence becomes more apparent, as the frame rates are high enough to stress the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU. The Low setting’s 271 FPS average is a clear indicator that the GPU is not the bottleneck here; otherwise, we would see a closer grouping of scores. The Medium preset’s minimum of 177 FPS is still above the High preset’s average, which shows that the game’s engine may not scale perfectly with settings. The Ultra preset’s 139 FPS is a solid result, but the jump from High to Ultra is a 39 FPS drop, which is more significant than the 31 FPS drop from Medium to High.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 4K with a stable 60 FPS?

A: At 4K, the High preset averages 64 FPS, but the Medium preset’s minimum FPS is 64, which means High is not guaranteed to stay above 60 FPS in all scenes. For a consistent 60 FPS, the Low preset (97 FPS average) is the safest choice, as the Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X holding back the RX 7900 XTX in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 271 FPS, and the CPU’s single-thread score (1286 in 3DMark) is high. The CPU is ranked in the 92nd percentile, so it is unlikely to be the limiting factor at any resolution tested.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX’s synthetic benchmark ranking compare to its in-game performance?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 19410 places it in the 64th percentile, with rivals like the GTX 1060 3 GB having a similar score. However, the in-game FPS at 4K High (64 FPS) is far beyond what a GTX 1060 could achieve, indicating that the synthetic benchmarks do not reflect this game’s workload.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 averages 116 FPS, which is slightly below a 144Hz refresh rate. The Medium preset averages 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS, providing a more stable experience closer to the 144Hz target. The Low preset hits 177 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU’s 24-thread count matter for this game?

A: The game is from 2016 and is unlikely to use more than a few cores. The CPU’s multi-thread performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172) is not a factor here. The single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253) is more relevant, and it is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra preset playable with this hardware?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. This is playable for slower-paced games, but it is not ideal for action sequences. The data shows that dropping to High yields a 14 FPS improvement, which is a more reasonable trade-off for visual fidelity.