The Technomancer

The data for The Technomancer with the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 580 reveals a combination that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, yet it manages to deliver playable frame rates at 1080p with adjusted settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes the combo’s standing among other tested configurations, and answers key questions about the hardware’s behavior in this specific Action RPG.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, confirming that the AMD Radeon RX 580 is the primary bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 77.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings drops the average to 51.5 FPS, a reduction of approximately 33%. At 4K with Low settings, the average falls further to 24.4 FPS, which is less than one-third of the 1080p Low result. This pattern indicates that the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are being saturated as the pixel count grows, with the CPU’s six cores and 12 threads having ample headroom to feed frames at 1080p.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is particularly telling when examining the High settings tier. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 53.1, but this drops to 33 at 1440p and then to 17.5 at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K is a 47% reduction, which is steeper than the 33% drop observed at Low settings. This suggests that the game’s High preset adds graphical effects that disproportionately tax the RX 580’s 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus when operating at 4K, where the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor. The Ultra settings reinforce this: 41.1 FPS at 1080p, 26.9 FPS at 1440p, and a nearly unplayable 11.6 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the i5-10400F is not the limiting component in any resolution tested. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be most likely to bottleneck, the 77.4 FPS average suggests the processor is keeping up. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and single-core score of 1453, are strong for a six-core part, but the game’s engine appears to be GPU-bound. The core count of 6 and 12 threads is sufficient for The Technomancer’s demands, as the frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and settings, not with CPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1535 out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the bottom 7.3% of all configurations, indicating that while it can run the game, it does so at performance levels far below the majority of other hardware pairings. The rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s mid-range standing, as the RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is comparatively stronger at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database help contextualize its performance. The RX 580’s average benchmark score of 13559 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which scores 13564, a delta of 0%. It is also very close to the GTX 950, which scores 13549, just 0.1% behind. This means that in terms of raw compute, the RX 580 is essentially equivalent to those older NVIDIA cards, despite its newer Polaris 20 architecture. The CPU’s nearest rivals show a slightly different picture; the i5-10400F’s average score of 14168 is 0.4% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7552, but 1.1% behind the Intel Core i5-8500, which scores 14332. This places the CPU in a competitive tier for its generation, but the combo’s low rank in this game is driven by the GPU’s inability to maintain high frame rates at demanding settings.

The 1535 rank out of 1656 means that 121 combos perform worse, but the vast majority of systems tested can deliver better results in The Technomancer. This is not a surprising outcome given the GPU’s age and the game’s release date of 2016-06-27, which suggests that modern hardware, even mid-range, should have an advantage. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with compromises on quality settings, as the 4K Ultra result of 11.6 FPS is a clear indicator of the hardware’s limits.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Technomancer at 1080p with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, at 1080p with Low settings the average FPS is 77.4, and at Medium it is 60.8. High settings yield 53.1 FPS, which is still playable, but Ultra drops to 41.1 FPS, which may be borderline for some users.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware in this game?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings tiers achieve an average above 40 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings (51.5 FPS) and Medium (37.9 FPS) are remotely playable, while 3840x2160 is not viable for any settings tier, with the best average being 24.4 FPS at Low.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its closest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, which is exactly 0% different from the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564) and 0.1% higher than the GTX 950 (13549). It is also 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455, which scores 13416.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the low combo rank?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU ranks at the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs. The combo’s rank of 1535 out of 1656 reflects the GPU’s weaker relative performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 51.5 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 26.9 FPS. This is a 47.8% reduction in average FPS, showing that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding on the GPU.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM on the RX 580 help at 4K?

A: Despite having 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, the 4K results are poor. The best 4K average is 24.4 FPS at Low settings, and Ultra drops to 11.6 FPS. The memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and the GPU’s compute throughput are insufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-10400F + AMD Radeon RX 580 in The Technomancer is as follows, with average FPS reported for each resolution and settings combination:

• 1920x1080: Low settings deliver an average of 77.4 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 60.8 FPS. High settings produce 53.1 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 41.1 FPS. This is the only resolution where all settings exceed the 40 FPS threshold.

• 2560x1440: Low settings yield an average of 51.5 FPS, which is the only playable option at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 37.9 FPS, High settings are at 33 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 26.9 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 26.4% reduction in performance.

• 3840x2160: All settings are below playable thresholds. Low settings average 24.4 FPS, Medium averages 19.2 FPS, High averages 17.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 11.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 52.5% in average FPS, indicating that the game’s Ultra preset is extremely taxing on this GPU.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the RX 580 can handle 1080p with most settings, struggles at 1440p with anything above Low or Medium, and fails to provide a smooth experience at 4K. The average FPS figures are not supplemented by minimum or maximum values, so the analysis relies on these averages, which are sufficient to draw conclusions about overall playability.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 plays the dominant role in determining this combo’s performance in The Technomancer. The GPU’s specifications are central to understanding why the frame rates scale the way they do. The card features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 2000 MHz, with an effective data rate of 8 Gbps. The GPU’s base clock is 1257 MHz, with a boost clock of 1340 MHz. These clocks are modest by modern standards, and the chip’s compute throughput is rated at 6.175 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, which is a mid-range figure.

In this game, the GPU’s memory subsystem is likely a key constraint. The 8 GB capacity is sufficient for most titles, but the bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions and with Ultra settings, which may require more texture data to be fetched. The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s are moderate, and the 32 ROPs and 144 TMUs are standard for a card of this class. The shading units number 2304, which is high for the architecture but still insufficient for 4K gaming.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 13559. Its nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA cards, with the GTX 570 matching its score exactly. This suggests that the RX 580, despite being released on 2017-04-17, performs at a level similar to GPUs from several years prior. In The Technomancer, this translates to the observed frame rates: the card is capable of 60+ FPS at 1080p only when settings are lowered to Medium or Low. The GPU’s DirectX 12 support is limited to feature level 12_0, which may also affect how efficiently the game’s engine utilizes the hardware.

The CPU, while not the bottleneck, still plays a supporting role. The i5-10400F’s 12 threads and 12 MB of shared L3 cache are more than sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates do not improve significantly when resolution is lowered, which would typically alleviate CPU pressure. The GPU is the clear limiting factor, and any attempt to improve performance in The Technomancer would require a more powerful graphics card, not a faster processor.