The Technomancer

The Technomancer, a 2016 Action RPG, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by resolution and settings, with the GPU acting as the primary performance limiter at higher loads. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results to understand how this specific hardware pairing handles the game’s demands.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the dominant constraint at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 90.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 61.2 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 33%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average plummets to 34.3 FPS, which is a 62% decrease from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario.

The data suggests that the RX 6600 XT’s memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory are sufficient for 1080p but become increasingly strained as the pixel count rises. At 4K, the gap between Low and Medium settings is also revealing. The average FPS at 4K Low is 49.3, while at 4K Medium it drops to 38.5. This 10.8 FPS difference shows that even modest increases in graphical fidelity at this resolution have a significant impact on the GPU's workload. The frame rate at 4K Ultra falls to 23.9 FPS, making it essentially unplayable for smooth action. The data implies that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, is not the bottleneck at 4K; instead, the GPU's raw processing power is the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal choice at 1080p, delivering an average of 112.5 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over the 74.6 FPS seen at Ultra, while still providing a visual upgrade over the Low preset's 143.5 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs about 21.7 FPS, which is a noticeable hit for the visual gains offered. At 1440p, the Medium preset also stands out, with an average of 72.3 FPS, making it the only settings tier above Low that maintains a frame rate comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 4K, no preset achieves a consistently smooth 60 FPS. The Low preset, with an average of 49.3 FPS, is the only viable option for playable frame rates, but it requires significant visual compromises. The data indicates that users targeting 4K with this combo should expect to lower settings to Low to avoid the sub-30 FPS experience of the High and Ultra presets. The benchmark results point to Medium as the "sweet spot" for this game, providing a good balance between visual quality and performance for the majority of users on 1080p and 1440p displays.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969, places it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs. This suggests a mid-range processor that is adequate for gaming but not a top-tier performer. In The Technomancer, the CPU's role seems to be a supporting one, providing enough throughput to feed the GPU at lower resolutions but not being the primary driver of performance.

The evidence for this is in the scaling. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 143.5, which is very high and suggests the GPU is still able to render frames quickly. However, the CPU must be able to handle the game's logic and draw calls at this rate. The fact that the frame rate drops dramatically as resolution increases, regardless of the CPU, indicates that the i5-9400 is not the limiting factor. The data shows that the system is GPU-bound, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck, allowing the RX 6600 XT to be the determining factor in the final frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average is 143.5 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in The Technomancer?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the average frame rate ranges from 23.9 FPS on Ultra to 49.3 FPS on Low, indicating that 4K is only playable at the lowest settings and still falls short of 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 27985. It is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M395X, but 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 61.2 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 44.4 FPS. This represents a performance cost of 16.8 FPS for the higher preset.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, has a score of 2300, making the i5-9400 just 0.2% faster.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest frame rate at 4K?

A: The Low preset provides the highest average frame rate at 3840x2160, with a measured average of 49.3 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip. It features 2048 shading units and a boost clock of 2589 MHz, which contributes to its FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS. This GPU has a solid benchmark presence, with a Passmark G3D score of 16461 and a percentile rank of 71 among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 27985 is closely matched by its nearest rivals, being only 0.1% ahead of the GTX 980 Ti and 0.9% behind the RTX 3070.

In The Technomancer, the GPU is clearly the primary driver of performance. The data shows that reducing the settings from Ultra to Low at any resolution provides a massive frame rate boost. For example, at 1080p, the average FPS jumps from 74.6 to 143.5, a 92% increase. This demonstrates that the RX 6600 XT’s rendering capabilities are the main constraint. The 8 GB of VRAM appears sufficient for this game, as the performance drops are more likely tied to the GPU's compute units and memory bandwidth (256.0 GB/s) being overwhelmed by higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's 32 ray accelerators are present, but The Technomancer, being a 2016 title, does not appear to leverage them, as the performance scaling is consistent with a traditional rasterization workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of this combo's performance across a matrix of settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. The Low preset delivers an average of 143.5 FPS, making for an exceptionally smooth experience. Medium follows at 112.5 FPS, High at 90.8 FPS, and Ultra at 74.6 FPS. All presets at this resolution are above 60 FPS, indicating a highly playable experience regardless of settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance begins to drop more noticeably. Low still provides a high average of 92.6 FPS. Medium is also strong at 72.3 FPS. The High preset achieves 61.2 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. Ultra, however, falls to 44.4 FPS, indicating a challenging load for the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low is the only preset to achieve an average above 40 FPS, with a score of 49.3. Medium drops to 38.5 FPS, High to 34.3 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 23.9 FPS. This breakdown highlights the GPU's limitations at 4K resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination holds a rank of 1230 out of 1656 tested combos in The Technomancer. This places it in the lower-mid tier of all tested systems. Given that the GPU is a strong performer relative to its peers (71st percentile), this ranking suggests that the system is held back by the CPU in comparison to other potential pairings.

The data implies that while the RX 6600 XT is capable of delivering high frame rates, the i5-9400 may prevent the system from achieving the highest possible scores when paired with more powerful CPUs in the benchmark database. The combo's rank of 1230 indicates that a significant number of other hardware combinations deliver better performance in this specific game. This is likely due to the CPU's mid-range standing, which can limit performance in CPU-bound scenarios, even if the GPU is not the sole bottleneck in this particular title. The ranking reinforces that for this game, the GPU is the dominant factor, but the overall system performance is still defined by the balance between the two components.