The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, shows remarkably consistent scaling behavior on the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination. The measured frame rates across its four presets and three resolutions reveal a title that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, while the CPU’s strong single-thread performance keeps frame rates high at lower loads. The data indicates that this platform delivers a smooth experience at 1440p but struggles to maintain high refresh rates at 4K on the most demanding presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which clearly points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At the Ultra preset, the average frame rate falls from 117 FPS at 1080p to 77 FPS at 1440p and then to 42 FPS at 4K. That represents a 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a substantial hit that is typical for a game rendering a dense, open-world environment. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K costs 35 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 40 FPS, indicating that pixel count is the dominant stressor.

The pattern repeats at the High preset, where average frame rates go from 150 FPS at 1080p to 98 FPS at 1440p and 54 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K here is 44 FPS, a slightly larger absolute loss than at Ultra, which suggests that the GPU is still the limiting factor but the workload is shifting. At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 176 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The most telling data point is at the Low preset, where the game hits 229 FPS at 1080p but still falls to 82 FPS at 4K. Even with the lowest graphical load, the 4K resolution demands more from the RTX 5080, and the frame rate drops by more than half.

This behavior indicates that the RTX 5080, with its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, is being pushed hard by the game’s rendering engine. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, does not appear to be a limiting factor at any resolution, as the frame rate scaling is consistent with pure GPU workload increases. For users targeting 4K, the data shows that only the Low preset approaches playable frame rates above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra presets will require a compromise on visual fidelity or the use of upscaling technology, which is not measured in this data. The 1440p resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, as it offers a significant boost over 4K while maintaining high frame rates on all but the Ultra preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets, and the choice of settings depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 150 FPS, which is an excellent experience for fast-paced action, and the Medium preset offers 176 FPS for those seeking even higher refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 117 FPS is still very smooth, but it comes at a significant cost in frame rate compared to High. The Low preset at 229 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rates are paramount, as the visual quality drop is substantial.

At 1440p, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering 98 FPS on average. This is a solid frame rate for a single-player action RPG, and the visual quality is high. The Medium preset at 115 FPS is also a strong option, offering a 17% performance boost over High with a minor visual penalty. The Ultra preset drops to 77 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for a game with fast-paced combat. The Low preset at 150 FPS is unnecessary at this resolution, as the High preset already provides a good balance. For 4K, the situation is more challenging. The Medium preset at 63 FPS is the only option that approaches a playable 60 FPS, but it is not quite there. The High preset at 54 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 42 FPS is too low for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 82 FPS is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS, but it requires a significant sacrifice in visual fidelity.

The data suggests that users should prioritize the High preset at 1080p and 1440p, as it offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 4K, the Medium preset is the highest quality option that remains within a playable range, but the Low preset is the only way to achieve a frame rate above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with displays that support adaptive sync and who are willing to tolerate lower frame rates for maximum visual quality. The measured minimum frame rates, when available, show that the Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 98 FPS, which matches the average of the High preset, indicating good frame pacing stability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications align with the measured performance. The GPU has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, which are relatively high for a 5 nm process node. It is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is crucial for high-resolution textures and the game’s open-world streaming, and it is a likely reason why the frame rates scale predictably with resolution.

The GPU’s benchmark scores further contextualize its performance. It scores 36,565 in Passmark G3D, which puts it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 8060S, scores 55,757 with a delta of 0.6%, showing that the RTX 5080 is only marginally ahead of an integrated GPU in synthetic tests, which is surprising given its discrete nature. However, the RTX 5080 is 2.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which scores 57,367. This suggests that the RTX 5080 is positioned in a competitive mid-to-high range, but not at the absolute top of the performance stack. In the game itself, the combination ranks 717 out of 2825 combos, which puts it in the top 25% of tested configurations.

The GPU’s 45,600 million transistors and 10,752 shading units provide substantial compute power, but The Technomancer appears to be more sensitive to memory bandwidth and pixel throughput. The pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s are high, but the 4K Ultra results of 42 FPS indicate that the GPU is still overwhelmed by the game’s effects and draw calls. The VRAM usage is not directly measured, but the 16 GB capacity is ample for a 2016 title, even at 4K with high-resolution textures. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p, and users should not expect to run this game at maximum settings on a 4K display without frame rate concessions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full set of measured frame rates provides a comprehensive view of the system’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 229 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate. The Medium preset averages 176 FPS, with a minimum of 150 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. The High preset averages 150 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 117 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression, with each preset tier costing roughly 25-30 FPS. The minimum frame rate at Medium is 150 FPS, which matches the average of the High preset, indicating that the Medium preset has very consistent frame delivery.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 150 FPS, which is a 34% drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset averages 115 FPS, with a minimum of 98 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. The High preset averages 98 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 77 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 33% across all presets, confirming that the GPU is being utilized consistently. The minimum frame rate at Medium, 98 FPS, is still very high and indicates that the system can handle demanding combat scenarios without significant stutters.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 82 FPS. The Medium preset averages 63 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. The High preset averages 54 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 42 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, with an average reduction of nearly 45% across all presets. The Medium preset’s minimum of 54 FPS shows that the system can dip below the 60 FPS threshold during intense scenes, which may be noticeable to users. The Ultra preset’s 42 FPS average is below the standard for a playable experience, and the lack of minimum and maximum data for this preset suggests that the frame rate may be unstable.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this CPU and GPU at 1080p?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 229 FPS, which is achieved at the Low preset with a resolution of 1920x1080.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 fast enough to run The Technomancer at 4K Ultra settings smoothly?

A: No. The data shows the average frame rate at 4K Ultra is 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 4K is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 82 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In the Passmark G3D benchmark, the RTX 5080 scores 36,565. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, scores 57,367, which is 2.2% higher. The RTX 5080 is also only 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S, which scores 55,757.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 98 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 77 FPS. This represents a 21 FPS difference, or a 21% reduction in performance when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, which is a sign of a GPU-bound workload. The CPU has a high Passmark multithread score of 54,934, but the game does not appear to stress it enough to limit frame rates.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum frame rate recorded is 54 FPS, which occurs at the 4K Medium preset. This is the only preset where a minimum frame rate below 60 FPS is observed.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It has a 64 MB shared L3 cache and a 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth via its quad-channel LPDDR5X support. This is a powerful mobile CPU, and its benchmark results show that it is more than capable of keeping up with the RTX 5080 in this game. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 35,314, and its single-core score is 2,044, which are strong numbers that indicate excellent per-thread performance.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 77,740 on average, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900K, scores 79,097, which is 1.7% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX scores 76,212, which is 2% lower. The CPU’s Passmark single-thread score of 4,147 is high, and this is likely the key metric for The Technomancer, as the game’s engine relies on a few strong threads for physics and AI. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 229 FPS, which indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to reach very high frame rates.

The CPU’s 16 cores and 32 threads are not fully utilized by a 2016 game, but they provide ample headroom for background tasks and future titles. The processor’s 95th percentile ranking against all CPUs means that it is unlikely to be a limiting factor in any scenario tested. The boost clock of 5.10 GHz is particularly important for single-threaded workloads, and the data confirms that the CPU does not hold back the GPU at any resolution. The combination of a high single-core boost and a large cache ensures that frame pacing remains stable, as evidenced by the minimum frame rates at 1440p Medium, which match the average of the High preset. The CPU’s role here is to provide a solid foundation for the GPU, and it does so without any apparent bottlenecks.