The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting stress profile for modern hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 across various resolutions and settings, using only the provided benchmark data to interpret how this combination handles the game’s demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 224.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 71660, which is 1.8% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X's score of 70420, based on the deltaPct of 1.8.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate observed in the measured data?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 40.9 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 (4K) resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: At what resolution and settings does the combo first exceed 60 FPS on average?

A: At 4K resolution with Medium settings, the average FPS is 59.4, which is just below 60. The first instance of exceeding 60 FPS is at 4K with High settings, achieving an average of 52.4 FPS, which is still below 60. The first clear pass over 60 FPS is at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, hitting 73.2 FPS.

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is in the 80th percentile for performance, meaning it outperforms the majority of GPUs in the database.

Q: How many total combinations does this specific CPU and GPU pairing rank against in The Technomancer?

A: This combo ranks 521st out of 1656 total tested combinations in the game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, based on the Ampere architecture, is a substantial piece of silicon with 8704 shading units and a 320-bit memory bus. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory provides a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s, a critical asset for feeding the high-resolution textures in an action RPG like The Technomancer. The card's boost clock of 1710 MHz and base clock of 1440 MHz define its raw processing potential, which is further quantified by its 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The benchmark results show a clear relationship between GPU load and frame rate. At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with Low settings hitting 224.9 FPS. This suggests the GPU is not the primary limiting factor at this resolution. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, indicating that the RTX 3080's rendering capabilities are being taxed more heavily. The data shows a direct scaling: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 40.9, a stark contrast to the 1080p Low result. This demonstrates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute throughput are the primary drivers of performance at higher graphical fidelity and resolution.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores, such as its Passmark G3D score of 25086 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4407, reinforce its position in the 80th percentile of all GPUs. This percentile ranking indicates it is a high-performing part, though its nearest rivals show it is not at the very top. Its performance is a mere 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, based on the deltaPct of -0.9, showing that it is competitive with newer generation parts.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution and desired smoothness. For 1080p, the High preset at 148.2 FPS offers an excellent balance, providing significantly more visual detail than Low (224.9 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. While Ultra at 116 FPS is also playable, the marginal visual gain over High may not justify the performance drop.

At 1440p, the High preset again stands out, delivering a strong 92.8 FPS average. This is a substantial improvement over the Ultra preset's 73.2 FPS, making High the sensible choice for maintaining high refresh rates. The Medium preset at 112.2 FPS is also viable, but High provides a better visual experience for a relatively small performance cost.

The 4K resolution is where the RTX 3080 begins to struggle. The High preset yields 52.4 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset at 59.4 FPS is very close to the 60 FPS target but still falls short. For a more consistent frame rate at this resolution, the Low preset at 79.1 FPS is the only option that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, though it sacrifices most visual fidelity. The data suggests that High settings at 1080p and 1440p provide the best combination of visual quality and performance, while 4K requires a significant compromise in settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a rank of 521 out of 1656 tested combinations in The Technomancer. This places it in the top 31.5% of all systems tested, which is a respectable position. However, given the high-end nature of the components, one might expect a higher ranking. This suggests that the game's engine may not be fully utilizing the strengths of this particular hardware combination.

The CPU is a top-tier part, as evidenced by its 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 71660, which is 2.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700KF. The GPU, while in the 80th percentile, is not at the absolute peak of performance. The combination of a very high-end CPU with a high-end, but not flagship, GPU likely means that the overall ranking is more heavily influenced by the GPU's performance, especially in a graphically demanding title like The Technomancer. The rank of 521 suggests that while this system is capable, there are many other combos that deliver higher average frame rates in this specific game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture. Its high core count and 128 MB of shared L3 cache are designed to provide exceptional multi-threaded performance, which is reflected in its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 59712. The CPU's base clock of 4.30 GHz and boost clock of 5.70 GHz ensure strong single-threaded performance as well, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 8430.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. At 1080p, the frame rates are very high, reaching 224.9 FPS on Low settings. This suggests that even at these high frame rates, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The 16 cores are likely more than enough for this game, which may not be optimized to use all of them effectively.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is telling. It is 1.8% faster than the non-3D V-Cache AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and 2.2% faster than the Intel Core i7-14700KF. This indicates that the 9950X3D is a leader in CPU performance. However, the measured FPS data in The Technomancer does not show a dramatic advantage over what a less powerful CPU might achieve, because the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The CPU's job is to ensure that it does not hold the RTX 3080 back, and the data suggests it succeeds in this role.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of the combo's performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 224.9 FPS on Low, 172.8 FPS on Medium, 148.2 FPS on High, and 116 FPS on Ultra. This shows a linear progression where each increase in settings costs a significant number of frames, but all results are well above the playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop considerably. The average FPS is 142.4 on Low, 112.2 on Medium, 92.8 on High, and 73.2 on Ultra. The relative performance gap between settings remains similar, but the absolute numbers are lower. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a performance hit of approximately 36.7% on Low settings (from 224.9 to 142.4 FPS).

At 3840x2160, the performance takes another significant hit. The average FPS is 79.1 on Low, 59.4 on Medium, 52.4 on High, and 40.9 on Ultra. This is the only resolution where the Low settings preset is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS. The data shows that the RTX 3080 is heavily taxed at 4K, making even the Medium preset struggle to maintain a smooth frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU load. When moving from 1080p to 1440p, the frame rate drops by an average of about 36% across all settings. This is a significant reduction, but it is expected as the GPU has to render 1.78 times more pixels.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even more pronounced. The frame rate drops by an average of about 44% from the 1440p figures. This steeper decline indicates that the GPU is becoming the dominant limiting factor. For example, on High settings, the frame rate goes from 92.8 FPS at 1440p to 52.4 FPS at 4K, a 43.5% reduction.

The fact that the frame rate does not scale linearly with pixel count suggests that the RTX 3080 is running out of raw throughput and memory bandwidth at 4K. The 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, while high, is insufficient to maintain the same level of performance when the pixel count quadruples from 1080p. The data implies that the CPU, with its powerful 16-core design, is not the bottleneck in this scenario. The consistent and significant frame rate drops at higher resolutions point directly to the GPU as the limiting component, which is typical for a graphically intensive title like The Technomancer.