The Technomancer

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers a dominant performance profile in The Technomancer, ranking in the top percentile of all tested configurations. The data shows that this pairing is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the graphics card to operate at its full potential. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates, component roles, and optimal settings based solely on the provided benchmark data.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, supported by a 64 MB L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a 3DMark max-thread score of 13929 and a single-thread score of 1286, alongside a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253. These figures indicate exceptional multi-threaded capability and strong single-thread performance, which are relevant for game logic, physics, and AI calculations in The Technomancer.

In the context of this game's measured results, the CPU's role appears to be one of enabler rather than bottleneck. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 298 FPS, a figure that far exceeds the refresh rate of typical monitors and demonstrates that the CPU can feed frames at an extremely high rate. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2519 and 4-thread score of 4886 suggest that even with limited thread utilization, the Ryzen 9 9900X handles the game's workload efficiently. The CPU's percentile ranking of 92 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57498, places it just 0.1% behind the AMD EPYC 9015 and 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313, indicating it sits at the very top of the performance hierarchy.

The PassMark single-thread score of 4672 and multithread score of 54643 further reinforce the CPU's capacity. However, when examining the frame rates, a clear pattern emerges: the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. At 1440p Low, the combo produces 195 FPS, identical to the 1080p High result of 195 FPS. This plateau suggests that the CPU can deliver these frame rates, but the GPU's workload increases with resolution and settings, causing the bottleneck to shift. The 12 cores and 24 threads of the Ryzen 9 9900X provide substantial headroom, meaning that even in demanding scenes with many NPCs or complex physics, the processor is unlikely to constrain performance. Benchmark results indicate that the CPU's power is more than sufficient for this title, allowing the GPU to be the primary determinant of frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 213 out of 3696 tested combos in The Technomancer. This placement places it in the top 5.8% of all configurations, indicating a very high-performance pairing. The rank reflects the aggregate performance across all tested settings and resolutions, showcasing the combo's consistency and strength. While the exact scores of the combos ranked above are not provided, the position at 213 suggests that only a select few configurations, likely featuring more powerful GPUs or newer generations, outperform this pairing.

Relative to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 4080 shows a delta of 0.1% against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, meaning the two cards perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks. The RTX 4080 is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. This indicates that the GPU is a top-tier performer, and the combo's rank is reflective of that. The CPU's nearest rival comparisons show a similar story: the Ryzen 9 9900X is 1.1% behind the Intel Core i9-14900 and 1.4% behind the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M, but these differences are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios.

The measured FPS data reinforces the high ranking. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 152 FPS, which is above the 144 Hz threshold for many high-refresh-rate monitors, making it a strong choice for competitive play. At 1440p High, the 128 FPS average ensures smooth gameplay on most displays. The rank of 213 out of 3696 reflects the balanced nature of this pairing, where neither component severely bottlenecks the other, allowing for excellent performance across a wide range of settings. The data shows that this combo is not just powerful in synthetic tests but translates that power into real-world frame rates.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions, which highlights the GPU as the primary limiting component at higher settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 298 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the frame rate drops to 195 FPS, a reduction of 34.6%. At 4K Low, the frame rate further declines to 107 FPS, representing a 45.1% drop from 1440p. This steep decline with increasing resolution is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 4080's rendering workload grows proportionally with pixel count.

The same pattern is evident at High settings. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 195. This drops to 128 FPS at 1440p High, a 34.4% reduction, and then to 70 FPS at 4K High, a further 45.3% reduction. The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings indicates that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, because the CPU's workload (game logic, physics) does not change with resolution. Instead, the significant drops point to the GPU being fully utilized.

At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 55, which is the lowest measured value. This is a 63.8% drop from the 1080p Ultra result of 152 FPS. The pattern is consistent: as resolution increases, the GPU has to render more pixels, and the frame rate falls correspondingly. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal, as its performance does not degrade with resolution. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the combo is often CPU-limited at low settings (as evidenced by the identical 195 FPS at 1080p High and 1440p Low), but at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Benchmark results indicate that players seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to reduce settings, while those at 1080p may find the CPU limiting the GPU's full potential.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1440p High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 128 FPS. This indicates strong performance for most gaming monitors, though not sufficient for the highest refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54247, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's score of 54209. This negligible difference suggests near-identical performance in most workloads.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo, and at what settings?

A: The lowest average FPS is 55, achieved at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the most demanding configuration tested and represents the lower bound of playability for this pairing.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 9900X bottleneck the RTX 4080 at 1080p?

A: The data suggests a potential CPU limitation at lower resolutions. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 195, which is identical to the 1440p Low result of 195 FPS. This plateau indicates that the CPU may be reaching its frame-delivery limit around 195 FPS in this game.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 213 out of 3696 tested combos. This places it in the top 5.8% of all configurations, indicating a very high-performance pairing that outperforms the vast majority of systems.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra?

A: The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 152, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 55. This represents a 63.8% decrease in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K at the highest settings, highlighting the significant rendering load on the GPU.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring the AD103 chip on a 5 nm process. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). These specifications are substantial, and the 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for The Technomancer, a game released in 2016, which likely does not require more than 8 GB even at 4K.

The GPU's synthetic benchmarks show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 214739, and a Vulkan score of 263779. In PassMark, the G3D score is 34457, with a GPU compute score of 20671. These numbers indicate strong raw compute and rendering performance. The RTX 4080's percentile ranking of 86 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, places it just 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X.

In the context of The Technomancer, the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 298 FPS, but this is likely limited by the CPU, as the GPU has more headroom. As resolution and settings increase, the GPU's workload ramps up, and the frame rates drop proportionally. At 4K Ultra, the 55 FPS average indicates that the GPU is being pushed to its limits, but the 16 GB VRAM ensures no memory-related stuttering or texture pop-in. The boost clock of 2505 MHz allows the GPU to sustain high performance under load, while the 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, though not specifically utilized by this older title, provide future-proofing for more demanding games. The data shows that the RTX 4080 is a capable GPU for this game, delivering playable frame rates at 4K and excellent performance at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and refresh rate priorities. At 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 195 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming (e.g., 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors). The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 152 FPS, which is still above 144 Hz, but the 43 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not be worth the graphical gains for competitive players. For those with 240 Hz monitors, the Low preset at 298 FPS is the only option that fully saturates the display, but the visual compromise is significant. The Medium preset at 229 FPS offers a good balance for 240 Hz displays, providing higher visual fidelity than Low while maintaining a frame rate above 200 FPS.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 128 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors, offering a smooth experience with high visual quality. The Medium preset at 149 FPS provides a slight performance buffer, while the Ultra preset at 100 FPS is still playable but may not fully utilize a 144 Hz display. For 1440p, the High preset is recommended as it offers the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate, sitting comfortably above 60 FPS and near the 144 Hz refresh rate target. The Low preset at 195 FPS is overkill for most 1440p monitors and sacrifices too much visual quality.

At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Ultra preset delivers only 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and may feel stuttery. The High preset at 70 FPS is more acceptable, providing a playable experience, but still not ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset at 82 FPS (with a min of 70 and max of 94) is the best option for 4K, offering a noticeable improvement over High while maintaining a frame rate above 80 FPS. The Low preset at 107 FPS is the smoothest 4K experience but at the cost of significant visual downgrades. For 4K users, the Medium preset is recommended as it strikes the best balance between performance and visual quality, ensuring a consistent experience above 70 FPS in the most demanding scenes.

In summary, the data suggests that for 1080p, High or Medium is optimal; for 1440p, High is the sweet spot; and for 4K, Medium provides the best experience. These recommendations are based solely on the measured average FPS and the min/max values where available, ensuring that the chosen preset delivers a smooth and visually satisfying experience without pushing the hardware to its limits.