The Technomancer

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for The Technomancer with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7700 shows a predictable and steep performance curve as resolution climbs. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers 117 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 77 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 42 FPS, which is 64% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The scaling between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution further reinforces this. At 1080p, the gap between Low (179 FPS) and Ultra (92 FPS) is 87 FPS, showing that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high frame rates when settings are reduced. At 1440p, Low produces 117 FPS while Ultra yields 60 FPS, a 57 FPS spread. At 4K, Low hits 64 FPS and Ultra falls to 33 FPS, a 31 FPS difference. The shrinking absolute gap between settings at higher resolutions is classic GPU-bound behavior — the GPU's raw throughput caps performance before settings can fully stretch the frame rate.

The 4K Medium result includes a min FPS of 42 and max of 57, with an average of 49. That min figure exactly matches the 4K High average of 42, suggesting that even at Medium settings, the system occasionally dips to the same performance floor seen at High. This is a strong indicator that at 4K, the RX 7700 is operating near its sustained limit regardless of modest settings changes.

For 1440p Medium, the data shows a min of 76 FPS and max of 103, averaging 90. The 1080p Medium result shows a min of 117 and max of 158, averaging 137. These ranges show that the combo maintains playable frame rates at 1440p across all settings, but 4K Ultra at 33 FPS is below the smooth threshold for most action RPG gameplay. The resolution scaling data clearly points to the GPU as the bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU has ample headroom at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1275 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. That places this pairing in the 55th percentile of all tested configurations — slightly above the median but far from top-tier performance. This middling rank is consistent with the GPU's overall standing; the RX 7700 sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks at the 91st percentile among all CPUs.

The rank disparity between the two components is telling. A 91st-percentile CPU paired with a 58th-percentile GPU produces a combo that lands just above average in this game. This suggests that The Technomancer's performance is heavily weighted toward GPU capability rather than CPU throughput. If the game were CPU-sensitive, the strong 9900X3D would likely push the combo higher in the rankings.

In the context of the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 7700 shows a narrow competitive band. The AMD Radeon R9 370X is just 0.1% behind in average benchmark score, and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is 1% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 1.1% ahead, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti leads by 1.7%. These are all sub-2% differences, meaning the RX 7700 is effectively tied with several older and newer cards in raw benchmark terms. However, in The Technomancer specifically, the combo rank of 1275 reflects real-game results that may diverge from synthetic averages.

For the CPU, the nearest rivals show similarly tight clustering. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF is 0.6% behind the 9900X3D in average score, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K is 1.3% ahead. The Intel Xeon 6505P and Intel Core i7-14700F are 2% and 2.1% ahead, respectively. These small deltas suggest that the 9900X3D is not dramatically faster than mid-range Intel alternatives in aggregate benchmarks, despite its high core count and 3D V-Cache advantage.

The combo's rank of 1275 out of 2825 means that roughly 55% of tested configurations outperform it in The Technomancer. Given the CPU's strength, this rank is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's mid-pack position. Users seeking higher rankings in this game would need a more powerful graphics card, as the CPU is likely leaving performance on the table at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the Navi 32 chip using RDNA 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory capacity is generous for a mid-range card and proves sufficient for The Technomancer's 4K Ultra settings, where the average FPS of 33 indicates the card is compute-limited rather than memory-limited.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. The game clock represents the expected sustained frequency under typical gaming loads, and the measured FPS results align with a card operating near that figure. At 1080p Low, the card reaches 179 FPS, which is high enough to expose any CPU limitations — but the 9900X3D's strong single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 1269) ensures the GPU is the constraint even here.

The RX 7700's raw compute specifications include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. The texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s are modest figures that explain the steep FPS drops at 4K. The card's FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS places it in the mid-range tier, consistent with its 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7700 achieves a passmark G3D score of 20974 and a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028 further confirms its mid-range positioning. The card's nearest rival in average benchmark score is the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 15862 versus the RX 7700's 15852 — a 0.1% difference that is statistically negligible. This near-tie with a much older card highlights that raw benchmark averages don't tell the full story; the RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM and modern architecture may matter more in specific games.

The GPU's API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Technomancer, released in 2016, predates these modern APIs, so the game likely runs in a compatibility mode that doesn't fully exploit the card's capabilities. This could explain why the RX 7700 doesn't pull further ahead of older rivals in this specific title.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p High produces 77 FPS average, which is smooth and visually detailed. At 1080p High, the combo reaches 117 FPS, but the resolution scaling suggests the CPU has headroom that the GPU cannot fully use. For a balance of quality and frame rate, 1440p is the sweet spot, while 4K High at 42 FPS may be too low for fast-paced action.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to its closest rival in this game?

A: The RX 7700's average benchmark score of 15852 is 0.1% lower than the AMD Radeon R9 370X's 15862, making them effectively tied in synthetic tests. However, the RX 7700 has 16 GB of VRAM compared to older cards, which may provide advantages in texture-heavy scenes that synthetic benchmarks don't capture.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X3D holding back the RX 7700?

A: No. The CPU ranks at the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with a passmark single-thread score of 4646 and a 3dmark single-thread score of 1269. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 179 FPS, indicating the CPU can drive frame rates well above what the GPU can sustain at higher settings. The bottleneck is the GPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 4K, Low settings produce 64 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 33 FPS. That is a 31 FPS difference, or roughly a 48% reduction. Medium sits between at 49 FPS, and High at 42 FPS. The card's compute limits cap Ultra at 33 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target most gamers prefer.

Q: Does the RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM matter for The Technomancer?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. The game runs at 4K Ultra with 33 FPS, which is compute-bound rather than memory-bound. The VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor here; the card's 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the constraint.

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

A: The combo ranks 1275 out of 2825 tested combos in The Technomancer. That places it in the 55th percentile, slightly above average. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking and the GPU's 58th percentile ranking combine to produce this mid-tier result.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a complete picture of performance.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 179 FPS average
• Medium: 137 FPS average (min 117, max 158)
• High: 117 FPS average
• Ultra: 92 FPS average

At 1080p, the combo delivers high frame rates across all settings. Even Ultra at 92 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The spread from Low to Ultra is 87 FPS, showing that the CPU can push the GPU hard when settings are lowered. The Medium min of 117 FPS matches the High average exactly, indicating consistent performance within that settings range.

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 117 FPS average
• Medium: 90 FPS average (min 76, max 103)
• High: 77 FPS average
• Ultra: 60 FPS average

At 1440p, the frame rates remain playable across all settings. Ultra hits exactly 60 FPS average, which is the minimum for smooth gameplay. Low at 117 FPS matches the 1080p High result, showing that resolution scaling at lower settings is nearly linear. The Medium min of 76 FPS is still above the 4K High average, confirming that 1440p is the practical ceiling for high-refresh gaming.

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 64 FPS average
• Medium: 49 FPS average (min 42, max 57)
• High: 42 FPS average
• Ultra: 33 FPS average

At 4K, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low at 64 FPS is the only setting that clears the 60 FPS mark, and it does so narrowly. Medium drops to 49 FPS, High to 42 FPS, and Ultra to 33 FPS. The min FPS at Medium (42) equals the High average, suggesting that the card hits a performance floor around 40 FPS regardless of settings. For 4K gaming, users would need to stick to Low settings or accept sub-50 FPS averages.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It runs on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's TDP is 120 W, and it supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth.

The CPU's cache hierarchy is substantial: 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 128 MB of L3 cache. This large L3 cache is a hallmark of the X3D series and helps in games that benefit from high cache capacity. In The Technomancer, however, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the combo's 55th percentile ranking despite the CPU's 91st percentile standing.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 9900X3D excels. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and single-core score of 6739 demonstrate strong all-around performance. The Geekbench multicore score of 22884 and single-core score of 3041 further confirm its capability. The 3dmark scores show scaling from 2512 at 2 threads to 13795 at max threads, indicating that the CPU scales well with thread count — a trait that matters little in a game like The Technomancer that likely uses fewer threads.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF at 55093 (0.6% behind the 9900X3D's 54762), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K at 54053 (1.3% ahead), the Intel Xeon 6505P at 53701 (2% ahead), and the Intel Core i7-14700F at 53620 (2.1% ahead). These tight deltas show that the 9900X3D is not dramatically ahead of mid-range Intel chips in aggregate benchmarks, despite its higher core count and cache.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's performance headroom is evident from the 1080p Low result of 179 FPS. This high frame rate at low settings indicates the CPU can process game logic and draw calls faster than the GPU can render frames. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1269 and passmark single-thread score of 4646 both point to strong per-core performance, which is what matters for older games that may not utilize many threads.

The CPU's boost clock of 5.50 GHz provides high single-thread throughput, and the measured FPS data at 1080p reflects this. However, the combo rank of 1275 out of 2825 shows that in this specific game, the CPU's strength cannot compensate for the GPU's mid-range positioning. The 9900X3D is a top-tier processor, but The Technomancer's performance is gated by the RX 7700's 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. For users considering this combo for other titles, the CPU offers substantial headroom for future GPU upgrades.