The Technomancer

The Technomancer is a 2016 Action RPG that, on paper, should not stress modern hardware, yet the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 tell a more complex story. This combination of a 12-core Zen 5 processor and a 4nm RDNA 4 graphics card produces a wide spread of playable and non-playable results depending on resolution and quality preset, with the data revealing a system that is far more GPU-limited at high resolutions than its raw specifications might suggest. The benchmark results indicate a configuration that excels at 1080p and 1440p for this title but struggles to maintain acceptable performance at 4K, making the choice of settings and resolution critical for an enjoyable experience.

Resolution Scaling

Examining the measured FPS across the three tested resolutions provides a clear picture of how the AMD Radeon RX 9060 scales in The Technomancer. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 103 FPS at 1920x1080 to 67 FPS at 2560x1440, a substantial 35% reduction in performance. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields only 37 FPS on average, which represents another 45% decline from the 1440p figure. This steep scaling curve from 1440p to 4K strongly suggests the graphics card becomes the limiting component at higher pixel counts, as the 8 GB GDDR6 memory buffer and 128-bit bus are likely saturated by the increased rendering load.

The Low preset shows similar behavior but with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 157 FPS on average, which drops to 102 FPS at 1440p and then falls to 56 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent with the High preset: roughly 35% between 1080p and 1440p, and 45% between 1440p and 4K. This consistency across presets indicates that resolution scaling is governed primarily by the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities rather than by CPU bottlenecks or memory bandwidth constraints.

The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, offers additional insight into frame time stability. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Medium, the average falls to 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS. The delta between min and max FPS remains relatively consistent around 30 FPS across all three resolutions, suggesting that while the GPU is being pushed harder at higher resolutions, it does not introduce disproportionate frame pacing issues.

The Ultra preset tells the most telling story about 4K performance. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 80, which is playable for this genre. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 52 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 29 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in an action RPG. The 4K Ultra result represents only 36% of the 1080p Ultra performance, demonstrating that the RX 9060 simply does not have the raw fillrate or memory bandwidth to handle The Technomancer's most demanding settings at 2160p.

What these numbers collectively indicate is that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the primary bottleneck at 1440p and especially at 4K. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, is not the limiting factor in any of these scenarios, as the frame rate drops correlate directly with resolution increases. The scaling pattern from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload, where the CPU has ample headroom to feed the graphics card at lower resolutions but the GPU's throughput becomes the ceiling as pixel count rises.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this CPU and GPU combination depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 80 FPS on average, which is smooth for an action RPG, and the High preset pushes that to 103 FPS. Given that the game runs well even at Ultra on 1080p, players with 1080p displays should feel comfortable using the Ultra preset for maximum visual fidelity, as the 80 FPS average leaves sufficient margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 120 FPS for those who prioritize frame rate over visuals, but the data shows that 1080p Ultra is a viable choice without sacrificing playability.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. The High preset produces 67 FPS on average, which is adequate for most players but does not provide much headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset yields 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, making it the safer choice for maintaining consistent performance above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 52 FPS, which falls short of the 60 FPS target and may result in noticeable stutter during combat sequences. The data suggests that High is the best balance for 1440p, offering 67 FPS while retaining higher quality settings than Medium, but players sensitive to frame rate dips might prefer Medium's 79 FPS average and 67 FPS minimum.

For 3840x2160, the measured results are less encouraging. The High preset averages only 37 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches playability at this resolution. However, 43 FPS is still below the 60 FPS target that most action RPG players expect. The Low preset at 4K delivers 56 FPS, which is the only way to get close to smooth performance at 2160p, but it requires sacrificing most visual quality settings. The data indicates that 4K gameplay with this combination is only feasible on Low settings, and even then, the 56 FPS average leaves little room for demanding scenes.

The most balanced experience across all resolutions appears to be the High preset at 1440p, which provides 67 FPS average performance while maintaining reasonable visual quality. For players who cannot tolerate frame rates below 60 FPS, the Medium preset at 1440p with 79 FPS is the recommended choice. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 80 FPS offers the best visual experience without compromising playability. At 4K, the Low preset at 56 FPS is the only option that stays above 50 FPS, but the visual tradeoffs are substantial.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X brings substantial computational resources to this pairing, with 12 cores, 24 threads, a base clock of 4.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. These specifications place it in the top percentile of CPUs, with a percentileVsAllCpus score of 92. Its benchmark results are impressive across the board: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 32172, Geekbench multicore scores 22174, and Passmark multithread scores 54643. The single-thread performance is equally strong, with Cinebench R23 singlecore at 2253 and Geekbench singlecore at 3010.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions shows that the Ryzen 9 9900X is not the bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 157 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would typically expose CPU limitations in older games. The fact that the frame rate continues to climb from Low to Medium to High at 1080p (157, 120, 103 FPS respectively) indicates that the CPU has significant headroom even at lower presets where the GPU is less stressed.

The nearest rivals to the Ryzen 9 9900X in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i9-14900 with a score of 58115 and a deltaPct of -1.1, meaning the Ryzen 9 9900X trails by 1.1%. The AMD EPYC 9015 scores 57555 with a deltaPct of -0.1, and the AMD EPYC 7313 scores 57399 with a deltaPct of 0.2. These rival comparisons show that the 9900X is in the same performance tier as these high-end server and desktop processors, but none of these rivals would change the outcome in The Technomancer because the game is clearly GPU-bound at 1440p and above.

The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput for this game. The 3DMark benchmark scores reinforce the CPU's capabilities: 12552 for 16 threads, 9114 for 8 threads, and 4886 for 4 threads. These scores indicate strong multi-threaded performance that can handle any background tasks while gaming. However, the data from The Technomancer suggests that none of this CPU power is being fully utilized, as the frame rates at 4K are limited by the GPU's 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 191.4 GPixel/s pixel rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 1632 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths: the CPU ranks in the top 8% of all processors, and the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile of all graphics cards. The discrepancy between component-level rankings and combo-level ranking highlights how game-specific performance can diverge from synthetic benchmark averages.

The GPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a score of 16129 and a deltaPct of -0.7, meaning the RX 9060 trails by 0.7%. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862 with a deltaPct of 1, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 15852 with a deltaPct of 1. These rivals are all older or lower-tier cards, yet the RX 9060's percentileVsAllGpus of 59 indicates it sits just above the midpoint of all tested GPUs. This suggests that while the RX 9060 is a competent card, it does not have the high-end performance needed to push The Technomancer to top-tier combo rankings.

The combo rank of 1632 out of 2825 means that roughly 58% of tested combinations perform better in this specific game. This is a significant underperformance relative to what the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking might suggest. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the combo achieves respectable frame rates that would likely rank higher, but at 4K, the 29 FPS Ultra result and 37 FPS High result drag down the overall assessment.

The combination's ranking in this game is more reflective of the GPU's capabilities than the CPU's. The RX 9060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus, is positioned as a mid-range card, and The Technomancer's demanding nature at high resolutions exposes its limitations. The 1632 rank suggests that players using this combo should expect performance similar to what mid-range GPUs from previous generations would deliver, despite the modern RDNA 4 architecture and 4nm process node.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the most comfortable resolution, with the Ultra preset averaging 80 FPS and the Low preset achieving 157 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 67 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only averages 56 FPS, making 4K a challenging target for this pairing.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score is 16014, which is 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) and 1% above both the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852). The GPU sits in the 59th percentile of all tested graphics cards.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X bottlenecking the RX 9060 in this game?

A: No. The resolution scaling data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p, frame rates reach 157 FPS on Low settings, which shows the CPU can feed the GPU at high rates. The frame rate drops from 103 FPS at 1080p High to 37 FPS at 4K High follow a pattern consistent with GPU-bound performance.

Q: What preset should I use at 1440p to stay above 60 FPS?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays above 60 FPS even in demanding scenes. The High preset averages 67 FPS but may dip below 60 FPS in the most intense moments, while Ultra averages only 52 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to all tested combinations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combo ranks 1632 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested configurations, despite the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all processors.

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

A: Barely, and only on Low settings, which averages 56 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 37 FPS and 29 FPS respectively. For consistent 60 FPS gameplay at 4K, this combination is not sufficient.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and RX 9060 produce the following average frame rates across the four tested presets: Low settings deliver 157 FPS, Medium settings deliver 120 FPS, High settings deliver 103 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 80 FPS. The Medium preset also recorded a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, showing a 36 FPS spread between minimum and maximum frame times. These numbers demonstrate that 1080p is well within the capabilities of this hardware, with every preset exceeding the 60 FPS threshold by a substantial margin.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down considerably. The Low preset averages 102 FPS, which remains excellent for 1440p gaming. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS, providing a smooth experience that rarely dips below 60 FPS. The High preset averages 67 FPS, which is adequate but does not provide much buffer for frame rate drops in combat-heavy scenes. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 52 FPS on average, which falls below the 60 FPS target and may result in noticeable stutter during intense gameplay moments.

At 3840x2160, the measured results show significant strain on the GPU. The Low preset averages 56 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability. The Medium preset averages 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS, meaning the frame rate can drop into the 30s during demanding scenes. The High preset averages 37 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS, both of which are below acceptable thresholds for an action RPG. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 48% performance penalty, from 56 FPS down to 29 FPS, indicating that the RX 9060's 8 GB memory buffer and 128-bit interface are severely taxed at this resolution.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: the Ultra preset imposes roughly a 35-40% performance cost compared to High, and the High preset imposes a similar cost compared to Medium. The jump from Low to Medium is less severe, typically around 15-20%. This consistent scaling suggests that the RX 9060's bottleneck is primarily its memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s and pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s, which limit how many pixels can be shaded and textured per second. The GPU's 1792 shading units and 28 ray tracing cores are sufficient for lower resolutions but cannot compensate for the memory constraints at 4K.

The measured FPS data includes min and max values only for the Medium preset at each resolution, providing a glimpse into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the 102-138 FPS range indicates a 36 FPS variance, which is relatively tight for a 120 FPS average. At 1440p Medium, the 67-90 FPS range shows a 23 FPS variance on a 79 FPS average, suggesting slightly better frame pacing relative to the average. At 4K Medium, the 37-50 FPS range on a 43 FPS average shows a 13 FPS variance, which is proportionally similar to the other resolutions. This consistency in frame time variance suggests that the game does not introduce additional stuttering as resolution increases, with the GPU maintaining stable performance characteristics across all tested configurations.