The Technomancer

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D to produce a top-tier gaming experience in The Technomancer, placing 7th out of 2,825 tested combos. The data reveals a system with immense headroom, where performance scaling across resolutions and settings tells a clear story about which component drives the frame rates. This analysis walks through the CPU and GPU specifications, measured FPS data, and provides actionable settings recommendations based solely on the provided benchmark results.

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 built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process. Its base clock is 4.40 GHz, boosting up to 5.60 GHz. This high-frequency design is crucial for gaming, as The Technomancer benefits from strong single-thread performance. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score is 1286, while its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2253, indicating robust per-core capability. For multi-threaded workloads, the 9900X posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,172 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 22,174, showing that its 24 threads are more than sufficient for any game logic or background tasks.

In the context of The Technomancer, the CPU’s role appears to be one of providing a stable foundation rather than being a bottleneck. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo achieves 184 FPS, and at Low settings, it hits 337 FPS. The fact that performance scales so dramatically with resolution and settings suggests the CPU is not limiting these frame rates. The 9900X’s 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for the game’s world streaming and entity updates. The processor’s percentile rank among all CPUs is 92, and its average benchmark score is 57,498, placing it slightly above the AMD EPYC 9015 (deltaPct -0.1) and below the Intel Core i9-14900 (deltaPct -1.1). This indicates it is a high-end consumer chip, though not the absolute fastest in every synthetic test.

The 9900X supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. This memory bandwidth is ample for feeding the RTX 5090 D’s data demands. The processor’s 120W TDP and PCIe Gen 5 support (24 lanes) ensure it can communicate with the GPU at full speed. In this game, the CPU’s high boost clock of 5.60 GHz likely prevents any frame pacing issues, as the measured FPS numbers show no reported minimum FPS values below the averages in most rows, suggesting consistent delivery. The single-thread benchmark scores (3DMark single-thread 1286, PassMark single-thread 4672) are strong, which aligns with the game’s 2016 release era, where single-core performance was paramount.

Overall, the data indicates the Ryzen 9 9900X is a capable partner for this GPU, but in The Technomancer, it is rarely the limiting factor. The game’s engine appears to scale more heavily with GPU load, as evidenced by the FPS changes when altering graphical settings.

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

*Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking in The Technomancer?*

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 7th out of 2,825 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top percentile of systems.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D’s memory capacity influence performance at high resolutions?

A: The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 66 FPS, and at 4K High, it averages 85 FPS, showing that the large memory pool prevents any capacity-related stutters, as the game can hold all textures and assets without swapping.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No, the data shows the opposite. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 337 FPS, and with High settings, it hits 236 FPS. These high frame rates indicate the CPU is not holding back the GPU, as the GPU is still able to push hundreds of frames per second.

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

A: At 4K High, the average FPS is 85, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 66 FPS. This is a 19 FPS decrease, showing a significant performance cost for the highest preset.

Q: How does the GPU’s benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940). Its percentile rank is 92 out of all GPUs.

Q: What is the CPU’s multi-threaded capability in synthetic tests?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X scores 32,172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 22,174 in Geekbench multi-core. In 3DMark’s 16-thread test, it scores 12,552, and in the max-threads test, it scores 13,929, demonstrating strong scaling across its 24 threads.

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

Examining the measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. Starting at 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 236 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 154 FPS, a 34.7% decrease. Going further to 4K High, the average falls to 85 FPS, which is a 44.8% decrease from 1440p and a 64.0% decrease from 1080p. This steep decline as pixel count increases is a hallmark of the GPU becoming the primary constraint. The CPU is capable of delivering these frame rates, but the RTX 5090 D must work harder to fill the additional pixels.

The pattern holds across all settings. At Low settings, the FPS goes from 337 (1080p) to 235 (1440p) to 129 (4K). The scaling is almost linear with pixel count. 1080p has 2.07 million pixels, 1440p has 3.69 million (1.78x more), and 4K has 8.29 million (4.0x more than 1080p). The FPS drop from 337 to 129 is a 61.7% reduction, which is less than the 4x pixel increase, indicating that the GPU’s compute units and memory bandwidth are being utilized more efficiently at higher loads, but it is still clearly the limiting factor.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is similar: 184 FPS at 1080p, 120 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS is the lowest in the dataset, showing that even the RTX 5090 D is taxed by this game’s highest preset at 4K. The fact that the 4K High result (85 FPS) is higher than the 1440p Ultra result (120 FPS) is expected, as resolution has a larger impact than the incremental setting change from High to Ultra.

The data suggests that for this game, the limiting component at all resolutions is the GPU. The CPU’s role is to feed the GPU, and given the high FPS at 1080p (which would stress a weaker CPU), the Ryzen 9 9900X is more than adequate. The consistent frame rates with no reported minimum FPS values for most rows imply stable performance without CPU-induced stutters.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 7 out of 2,825 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This top-tier ranking places it in the 99.75th percentile of all combos tested. The RTX 5090 D is the flagship GPU in this pairing, and its performance is highlighted by its percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. The CPU, with a percentile rank of 92 and an average score of 57,498, complements the GPU well, ensuring no major bottleneck.

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Ryzen 9 9900X scores slightly higher than the AMD EPYC 9015 (deltaPct -0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-14900 (deltaPct -1.1%), but it is 0.2% behind the AMD EPYC 7313. For the GPU, the RTX 5090 D scores 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, but it trails the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT by 1.6% and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB by 2.1%. These deltas are small, indicating that in synthetic benchmarks, the components are closely matched to their immediate competitors.

However, in the specific game of The Technomancer, the combination’s 7th-place finish out of 2,825 combos suggests that this particular pairing is highly optimized for the game’s engine. The game was released in 2016, and modern hardware like this combo often overdelivers on older titles. The ranking implies that only six other hardware combinations produce higher average FPS across the tested settings and resolutions. This could be due to the game’s engine favoring certain driver optimizations or the sheer power of the RTX 5090 D’s 32 GB memory and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The combo’s rank is a holistic measure, likely averaging the FPS across all measured settings. Since the data shows high FPS even at 4K Ultra (66 FPS), the overall average remains elevated, pushing this combo to the top tier.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the powerhouse in this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. This massive memory capacity is overkill for The Technomancer, but it ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the game’s textures and assets are stored locally on the GPU, preventing any bandwidth or capacity bottlenecks. The base clock is 2017 MHz, boosting to 2407 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

The GPU’s processing power is immense, with 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. It includes 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, though The Technomancer likely does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, given its 2016 release date. The pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS, which is more than enough to handle this game’s DirectX 12 workload (the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate).

In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role is dominant. At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high (337 FPS at Low), indicating that the GPU is not being fully utilized, but it still delivers smooth performance. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is pushed to its limits, averaging 66 FPS. The 32 GB VRAM is a clear advantage; even if the game attempted to use more than 8 GB, the GPU would not falter. The benchmark scores reflect its capability: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a PassMark G3D score of 44,065, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s nearest rival in synthetic tests is the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, which scores 1.1% lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, which scores 1.6% higher. These are laptop GPUs, which is odd, but the data shows that the RTX 5090 D is in a similar performance tier in these specific benchmarks. In The Technomancer, the GPU’s high clocks and massive VRAM ensure that it is the primary driver of FPS, with the CPU providing ample support.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The dataset provides average FPS for three resolutions and four settings tiers, with some rows also including minimum and maximum FPS values.

1080p:

• Low: 337 FPS average.
• Medium: 276 FPS average, with a minimum of 235 FPS and a maximum of 317 FPS.
• High: 236 FPS average.
• Ultra: 184 FPS average.

At 1080p, the performance is extraordinarily high. The jump from Low to Medium is 61 FPS, and from Medium to High is 40 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra is 52 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a significant load. The Medium setting’s minimum FPS of 235 is higher than the High setting’s average of 236, indicating that the Medium preset provides consistent frame delivery.

1440p:

• Low: 235 FPS average.
• Medium: 180 FPS average, with a minimum of 153 FPS and a maximum of 207 FPS.
• High: 154 FPS average.
• Ultra: 120 FPS average.

At 1440p, performance scales down proportionally. The Low setting at 235 FPS is nearly identical to the 1080p High setting at 236 FPS, showing that resolution has a similar impact to one setting tier. The Medium preset’s minimum of 153 FPS is still well above 60, ensuring smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset drops to 120 FPS, which is a 22% decrease from the High preset’s 154 FPS.

4K:

• Low: 129 FPS average.
• Medium: 99 FPS average, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS.
• High: 85 FPS average.
• Ultra: 66 FPS average.

At 4K, the system remains highly playable. The Low preset at 129 FPS is excellent, and the Medium preset’s minimum of 84 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 85 FPS is smooth, while the Ultra preset at 66 FPS is just above 60, making it playable but with less headroom. The Medium preset’s data shows a spread of 30 FPS between min and max, indicating some variability but no severe drops.

The data shows a clear trend: each resolution increase reduces FPS by roughly 30-40%, and each settings tier increase reduces FPS by 20-30%. The system is always above 60 FPS, even at 4K Ultra, which reflects the hardware’s power.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the user’s display resolution and preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity.

For 1080p displays: The Ultra preset at 184 FPS is the best choice. It provides the highest visual quality with an average FPS far above any refresh rate (even 165Hz or 240Hz monitors would be fully saturated). If a user wants maximum frame rates for competitive play, the Low preset at 337 FPS is available, but the visual degradation is substantial. The Medium preset at 276 FPS offers a good balance, but the 52 FPS difference between Medium and Ultra is not worth sacrificing the visual fidelity, as both are well above 144 FPS.

For 1440p displays: The High preset at 154 FPS is recommended for most users, as it provides a great balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 120 FPS is also excellent, especially for users with 120Hz or 144Hz monitors, as it delivers near-maximum refresh rates. The Medium preset at 180 FPS is overkill unless the user has a 165Hz+ monitor and prioritizes frame rate. The Low preset at 235 FPS is unnecessary, as the visual downgrade is not worth the extra FPS.

For 4K displays: The High preset at 85 FPS is the sweet spot. It provides solid performance above 60 FPS with good visual quality. The Medium preset at 99 FPS offers a higher frame rate with a slight visual compromise, and its minimum FPS of 84 ensures no drops below 60. The Ultra preset at 66 FPS is playable but leaves little headroom, and the Low preset at 129 FPS sacrifices too much visual detail for a frame rate boost that is not needed.

Overall, the data suggests that the High preset is the best general recommendation across all resolutions. It delivers 236 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K, all of which are smooth and responsive. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p and 1440p, where the FPS remains above 120. The Medium preset is a viable alternative for 4K users who want more headroom, but the High preset offers the best balance of image quality and performance based on the measured rows.