The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, is a demanding title that quickly exposes the limits of older hardware. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570, using measured benchmark data. The results show a configuration that is strictly for 1080p gaming, with significant compromises required at higher resolutions. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, but the CPU's six threads also play a role in maintaining playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 45.7 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops the average to 31.2 FPS, a reduction of approximately 31.7%. The jump to 3840x2160 is even more punishing, with the average falling to 17.9 FPS, which is roughly 42.6% slower than the 1440p result and 60.8% slower than the 1080p result.

This scaling pattern is a clear indicator of GPU limitation. The RX 570's memory bandwidth and processing power are insufficient to feed the increasing pixel count at 4K. The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is not linear, suggesting that the GPU's rendering pipeline becomes saturated. At 4K, even the Low preset only manages 22.4 FPS, which is barely more than half of the 1080p High result. This confirms that the resolution is the dominant factor, and the settings have a diminished impact at this extreme.

The data shows that the system is well-suited for 1080p, where it can leverage the full range of settings. At 1440p, the performance is borderline, requiring Low settings to achieve a playable 48.2 FPS. The 4K resolution is effectively out of reach for this configuration, as even the lowest settings fail to produce a smooth experience. The limiting component is undoubtedly the GPU, as the frame rate drops are directly proportional to the increase in pixel workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In the context of The Technomancer, this CPU provides enough processing power to feed the RX 570 at 1080p. The benchmark results for the CPU show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, placing it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is tight. It is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i3-10305 and the Intel Core i3-1125G4, and 0.4% faster than the Intel Xeon E-2134. It is 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i7-8809G. These minimal deltas indicate that the i5-9400 is a solid mid-range performer, but it is not a standout. For gaming, the six cores are sufficient for most titles from this era, but the lack of hyper-threading could be a limitation in CPU-intensive scenarios.

In The Technomancer, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 70.5 FPS, which suggests that the CPU is not a hard bottleneck at this setting. However, the frame rate at 1080p Ultra is 36.8 FPS, and the difference between Low and Ultra is substantial. This indicates that while the CPU can push high frame rates at low settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor as the graphics load increases. The six threads are adequate for the game's logic and draw calls, but they do not leave significant headroom for background tasks or heavily scripted scenes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset offers the best average FPS at 70.5, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors or competitive play. The Medium preset drops to 53.8 FPS, which is still smooth, while High yields 45.7 FPS, a playable level for most gamers. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing 36.8 FPS, which is on the edge of acceptable for a single-player RPG.

For a balanced experience at 1080p, the High preset is the recommended choice. It provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining an average above 45 FPS. This is a good target for a game that benefits from higher detail settings. The Medium preset is a safer choice if you prefer a more consistent frame rate, as it offers a 15% improvement over High. The Low preset is best reserved for maximizing frame rate, but it sacrifices too much visual fidelity for most players.

At 2560x1440, the options are more limited. The Low preset is the only one that provides a consistently playable experience, with an average of 48.2 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 35.9 FPS, which is below the ideal range for smooth gameplay. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended at this resolution, as they produce averages of 31.2 FPS and 24.4 FPS, respectively. For 4K, all settings result in unplayable frame rates, with the highest being 22.4 FPS on Low. The data strongly suggests that 1080p is the only viable resolution for this combination.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Technomancer at 4K?

A: No. The measured data shows that at 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 22.4 on Low settings, with High and Ultra producing 17.9 and 14 FPS respectively. These frame rates are far below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for the Intel Core i5-9400 and RX 570 in this game?

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. It is the only resolution where all settings presets achieve at least 36.8 FPS, with Low reaching 70.5 FPS and High reaching 45.7 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The RX 570's average benchmark score is 30158. It is 0.2% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, and 0.6% faster than the NVIDIA Tesla M60. It is 0.8% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 1080p Ultra?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate drops from 70.5 FPS on Low to 36.8 FPS on Ultra at 1080p, which is a 47.8% decrease. This is a much larger change than what would be expected from a CPU limitation alone.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 48.2 FPS, while the High preset achieves 31.2 FPS. This is a difference of 17 FPS, or approximately 35.3%, indicating that the settings have a significant impact on performance at this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU's single-core performance matter for this game?

A: The CPU has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125. While the game's performance is largely GPU-bound, the single-core score is a relevant factor for game logic and physics. However, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the frame rates scale more directly with resolution and settings than with CPU changes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a Polaris 20 chip built on a 14 nm process. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, with a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 5.095 TFLOPS. The GPU's average benchmark score is 30158, placing it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's benchmark performance is closely matched with its rivals. It is 0.2% ahead of both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, and 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60. It is 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile. This suggests that the RX 570's raw compute power is on par with much newer and more expensive cards, but its 4 GB VRAM and older architecture limit its real-world gaming performance.

In The Technomancer, the 4 GB VRAM is a significant constraint. At 4K, the game likely exceeds the available memory, causing the frame rate to plummet. The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistently low across all settings at 3840x2160. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is also insufficient for the high-resolution textures and effects required at 4K. The GPU's role is to be the limiting factor, and the measured FPS data confirms this, as the performance scales almost entirely with the GPU's workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average FPS measurements for each resolution and settings preset.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: 14 FPS
• High: 17.9 FPS
• Medium: 20.4 FPS
• Low: 22.4 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: 24.4 FPS
• High: 31.2 FPS
• Medium: 35.9 FPS
• Low: 48.2 FPS

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: 36.8 FPS
• High: 45.7 FPS
• Medium: 53.8 FPS
• Low: 70.5 FPS

The data shows a clear trend: at 1080p, the system can handle all presets, with Low providing a 91.6% improvement over Ultra. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only one that stays above 40 FPS. At 4K, all presets are below 23 FPS, making the game unplayable. The combination of the i5-9400 and RX 570 is best suited for 1080p gaming, where the user has the flexibility to choose between visual quality and high frame rates. The performance at higher resolutions is consistently poor, reinforcing the conclusion that this is a 1080p-focused configuration.