The Technomancer

The Technomancer, an Action RPG released on 2016-06-27, presents a demanding workload for the combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system where the GPU is the primary constraint, limiting the otherwise capable processor. This analysis draws exclusively from measured data to characterize the performance envelope of this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop when moving from 1080p to 4K is severe, confirming that the GeForce GTX 1650 is the bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the average frame rate is 68 FPS. At 1440p Low, this falls to 44 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 4K Low, the average drops to 24 FPS, which is a 65% reduction from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern shows that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the limiting factor, as the CPU’s thread count and clock speed are not the constraint in this title.

Looking at the Medium preset, the data shows a similar trend. The 1080p Medium average is 52 FPS, while 1440p Medium is 34 FPS, and 4K Medium is 19 FPS. The 4K Medium result is only 37% of the 1080p Medium performance. The min-to-max range at 4K Medium is 16 to 22 FPS, indicating that even the frame time variance is compressed at the lower performance level. The High preset follows the same pattern: 45 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset produces the lowest averages across all resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 35 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it is 23 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it is 13 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the least playable, representing a 63% drop from the 1080p Ultra figure. The data across all settings shows that the scaling from 1440p to 4K is more punishing than the 1080p to 1440p step, which is typical when the GPU is saturated by the higher pixel count. The GTX 1650’s 4 GB of memory and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture card with a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. It has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The memory configuration is 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. These specifications are low by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect this. The GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 40, meaning it only outperforms 40% of the database’s GPU entries.

The card’s average benchmark score is 7472, with a Passmark G3D score of 7880 and a Passmark DirectX 12 score of 35. These low scores explain the GPU’s position in the performance hierarchy. The GPU achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 33042. These numbers are indicative of a card that is not designed for high-end gaming, and the measured FPS in The Technomancer corroborate this.

The GTX 1650’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with an average score of 7447 and a deltaPct of 0.3%, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 at 7441 with a 0.4% delta, and the AMD Radeon R7 350 at 7425 with a 0.6% delta. The Intel Arc A310 has a higher average score of 7550, which is 1% ahead. These close margins show that the GTX 1650 is at the bottom of the desktop GPU stack, competing with older or integrated solutions.

The GPU’s 75 W TDP and lack of external power connectors indicate it is a low-power card, but this does not translate to performance headroom. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (68 FPS) is the only setting where the card provides a smooth experience. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component in all tested resolutions, as the CPU’s high core count and clock speeds are never the primary constraint.

Settings Recommendations

The data provides a clear picture of which settings offer the best experience for this combo. At 1080p, the Low preset yields an average of 68 FPS, which is the highest measured value. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 52 FPS, which is still playable but with a noticeable drop. The High preset at 1080p is 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset is 35 FPS. The 1080p Low setting is the only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for a smooth experience.

At 1440p, the Low preset averages 44 FPS, while Medium averages 34 FPS. The High preset is 29 FPS, and Ultra is 23 FPS. For a 1440p monitor, the Low preset is the only one that approaches a playable frame rate, but the performance is still suboptimal. The 4K resolution is not viable for gaming with this GPU, as the Low preset averages only 24 FPS, and the Ultra preset is 13 FPS. The data suggests that users should target 1080p Low for the highest frame rates, with Medium as a compromise if visual quality is more important.

The measured FPS at 1080p Medium shows a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS, with an average of 52. This indicates that the frame rate can dip to 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset lacks a min/max measurement, but the average of 68 FPS is more stable. The data does not support using any preset above Low at 1440p or 4K, as the average FPS is too low for a responsive gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate measured for this combo in The Technomancer?

A: The highest measured average is 68 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: How fast is the GTX 1650 compared to its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 7472, which is 0.3% above the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (7447), 0.4% above the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441), and 0.6% above the AMD Radeon R7 350 (7425). It is 1% below the Intel Arc A310 (7550).

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average at 4K Ultra is 13 FPS, with no min or max data provided.

Q: Does the CPU show any sign of bottlenecking in the measured results?

A: No, the data shows the GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 9900X has 12 cores and 24 threads, but the frame rates are low across all resolutions, indicating the GPU is the constraint.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The GTX 1650 has a 40th percentile ranking, meaning it performs better than 40% of all GPUs in the database.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: The 1440p Medium preset averages 34 FPS, with a minimum of 29 FPS and a maximum of 39 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU’s L3 cache is 64 MB, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253. The Geekbench multicore score is 22174, and the single-core score is 3010. The Passmark multithread score is 54643, and the single-thread score is 4672.

The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 92, indicating it outperforms 92% of tested CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD EPYC 9015 with an average score of 57555 (0.1% lower), the AMD EPYC 7313 at 57399 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-14900 at 58115 (1.1% higher), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M at 58323 (1.4% higher). These scores show that the 9900X is a high-end processor, but the measured FPS in The Technomancer do not reflect its power.

The CPU has 12 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, but the game’s FPS are limited by the GPU. At 1080p Low, the CPU is likely not the bottleneck, as the frame rate is 68 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly saturated, the CPU’s utilization is not a factor. The data shows that the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU, but the GPU is so weak that the CPU is never stressed. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 57498, which is high, but it does not translate to higher FPS in this GPU-bound scenario.

The section of the data indicates that this CPU would perform better with a more powerful GPU. The 12 cores and 5.6 GHz boost are more than sufficient for The game, but the GTX 1650’s limited pixel fillrate and memory bandwidth prevent the system from delivering high frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo’s performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 68 FPS, the Medium preset averages 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 60, the High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 35 FPS. The 1080p results show that the Low preset is the only one that comes close to a 60 FPS experience, while the Ultra preset is below the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable playability.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 44 FPS, the Medium preset averages 34 FPS with a minimum of 29 and a maximum of 39, the High preset averages 29 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 23 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently lower, with only the Low preset providing a playable average of 44 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are not viable for any environment.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 24 FPS, the Medium preset averages 19 FPS with a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 22, the High preset averages 16 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 13 FPS. The 4K results are all below the playable threshold, with the Ultra preset being the lowest at 13 FPS. The data shows a clear degradation from 1080p to 4K, with the GPU being the sole reason for this.

The specific min/max data is only available for the Medium presets: 1080p Medium 44 to 60 FPS, 1440p Medium 29 to 39 FPS, and 4K Medium 16 to 22 FPS. These min/max values show that the frame time variance is more pronounced at higher resolutions, but the average FPS is the main indicator of performance. The lack of min/max for Low, High, and Ultra presets limits the analysis, but the average FPS provides a clear hierarchy.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 3568 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer, which places it in the bottom percentile. This rank reflects the GPU’s limitations, as the CPU is a high-end model that would rank much higher with a more powerful GPU. The comboRankInGame of 3568 out of 3696 (96.5th percentile) shows that this setup is one of the slower ones for this game.

The GPU’s 40th percentile among all GPUs is the primary driver of this rank. The CPU’s 92nd percentile is offset by the GPU’s low performance. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck, but the GPU is so weak that the overall combo is near the bottom of the ranking. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (68 FPS) is the only setting that provides a good experience, but the rank reflects the GPU’s weakness at higher settings and resolutions.

The nearest rivals for the GPU are all low-end parts, such as the Intel UHD Graphics 730 with a 7441 score (0.4% higher) and the AMD Radeon R7 350 with 7425 (0.6% higher). These are not gaming GPUs, but the GTX 1650 is only slightly better. The combo’s rank of 3568 out of 3696 means that only 128 other combos perform worse in this game, making this setup a poor choice for any resolution above 1080p. The GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and low bandwidth are the cause of this, and the CPU’s power cannot compensate.