Thief

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i3-12100F and Intel Arc B370 run Thief at 1920x1080?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 78 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings at this resolution drop to 59 FPS on average, just below the threshold.

Q: What frame rate does this combo achieve at 2560x1440?

A: No settings preset at 2560x1440 reaches 60 FPS. The best result is 53 FPS on Low settings. High settings produce 31 FPS, Medium produces 41 FPS, and Ultra produces 29 FPS, so this resolution is not playable at any preset.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184. Its closest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186, which is 0.2% higher. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, which is 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, which is 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, which is 1.4% lower.

Q: What is the strongest resolution and settings combination for this system in Thief?

A: The strongest combination that maintains at least 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, delivering 78 FPS on average. This is the only preset across all tested resolutions that meets the playable threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Core i3-12100F rank among all CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F ranks in the 68th percentile among all CPUs tracked in the database. Its average benchmark score is 13494, placing it near the Intel Core 3 N355, which scores 13492, and the Intel Core i5-9500, which scores 13452.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a stronger component than the Intel Arc B370 in this pairing?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the stronger component relative to its peers. The Intel Core i3-12100F sits in the 68th percentile among all CPUs, while the Intel Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile among all GPUs. The GPU's average benchmark score of 1184 is far below the CPU's average benchmark score of 13494.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal which component limits performance in Thief. At 1920x1080, the system produces 78 FPS on Low settings, 59 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 19 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 2 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint at lower settings, where the rendering load is light enough for the CPU to keep up, but the Arc B370's limited compute capability becomes the bottleneck as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, all frame rates drop substantially. Low settings produce 53 FPS, a decline of 25 FPS from the same settings at 1920x1080. Medium settings produce 41 FPS, High produces 31 FPS, and Ultra produces 29 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is steep across every preset, which points to the GPU struggling with the increased pixel count. The Intel Arc B370 has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units, and its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is modest by modern standards. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s further indicate that this is a low-end graphics solution.

At 3840x2160, the situation worsens considerably. Low settings yield only 31 FPS, Medium yields 24 FPS, High yields 18 FPS, and Ultra yields 17 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is just 1 FPS, meaning the GPU is completely saturated and additional settings changes have almost no impact. The fact that the Arc B370 uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth explains part of this behavior, as memory bandwidth at higher resolutions becomes a critical factor.

The CPU's role is best understood through its benchmark results. The Intel Core i3-12100F scores 11860 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1674 in single-core. It scores 7252 in Geekbench multi-core and 1932 in single-core. In Passmark, it reaches 14015 in multithread and 3444 in single-thread. These numbers indicate a capable quad-core processor with 8 threads, and in a 2014 game like Thief, this CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor at any resolution tested. The game's release date of 2014-02-24 means its CPU demands are modest relative to modern hardware.

The verdict is clear: the Intel Arc B370 is the bottleneck in this pairing. The CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1440p or 4K on any preset. The percentile rankings reinforce this conclusion, with the CPU at the 68th percentile and the GPU at the 5th percentile among all tracked components.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i3-12100F provide context for its CPU-level performance. The Intel Core 3 N355 has an average benchmark score of 13492, a 0% difference from the i3-12100F's 13494. This means a system with a Core 3 N355 would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Thief. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, which is 0.3% lower, so it would behave almost the same in CPU-limited scenarios. The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, which is 0.7% higher, offering a marginal improvement. The Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351, which is 1.1% lower, so it would be slightly slower in CPU-bound tasks.

For the Intel Arc B370, the nearest rivals are all older discrete and mobile graphics solutions. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, just 0.2% above the Arc B370's 1184. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, 1.4% lower. These deltas are all within a narrow band, meaning any of these GPUs would produce similar frame rates in Thief at the same settings and resolutions.

A system pairing the Intel Core i3-12100F with any of these rival GPUs would land in roughly the same performance class as the tested configuration. The CPU would remain the stronger component, and the GPU would still limit frame rates at higher resolutions. Conversely, pairing the Arc B370 with one of the CPU rivals, such as the Core i5-9500 or Core 3 N355, would yield nearly identical results because the GPU is the dominant constraint.

The database also shows that this combo ranks 3433 out of 3720 tested combinations in Thief. This places the pairing in the bottom 8% of all tested combos, which aligns with the GPU's low percentile ranking. Any alternative GPU from the nearest rivals list would not meaningfully change this ranking, as the performance differences are all under 2%.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 3433 out of 3720 tested combos in Thief. This puts the system in the lower tier of all configurations in the database, reflecting the GPU's limited capabilities. The rank is consistent with the measured frame rates, which fail to reach 60 FPS at 1440p and 4K and only barely succeed at 1080p with Low settings.

The combo's rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU. The CPU's 68th percentile standing suggests it is a mid-range processor, but the GPU's 5th percentile standing drags the overall system down. In a game like Thief, where the CPU has enough headroom, the GPU becomes the deciding factor for playability. The measured data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system hits 78 FPS, but at 1080p Medium it drops to 59 FPS, and at 1440p Low it falls to 53 FPS.

Compared to the 3720 tested combos, a rank of 3433 means only 287 combinations performed worse. This is a low position, but it does not mean the system is unusable. It means the system is suited only for low-demand scenarios, specifically 1080p with reduced settings. For a game released in 2014, this is a disappointing result, as even older hardware can often run such titles at higher settings.

The rank also implies that most other tested configurations, including those with older mid-range GPUs, outperform this pairing in Thief. The nearest GPU rivals, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and AMD Radeon HD 7650M, are all within 1% of the Arc B370's benchmark score, so systems with those GPUs would likely occupy similar ranks. The narrow performance band among these rivals means the Arc B370 is not an outlier; it is simply a low-end part.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Thief? The answer depends on the resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system is playable, but only on Low settings. The measured average frame rate is 78 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings at the same resolution produce 59 FPS on average, which is just below the threshold and therefore not considered playable. High settings produce 45 FPS, and Ultra produces 43 FPS, both well below 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the system cannot maintain 60 FPS on any preset. The best result is 53 FPS on Low settings, followed by 41 FPS on Medium, 31 FPS on High, and 29 FPS on Ultra. None of these meet the playable threshold, so 1440p is not a viable resolution for this game with this hardware.

At 3840x2160, the system is far from playable. Low settings yield 31 FPS, Medium yields 24 FPS, High yields 18 FPS, and Ultra yields 17 FPS. The gap between the best and worst settings at 4K is only 14 FPS, showing that the GPU is overwhelmed regardless of the quality preset.

The verdict by resolution is clear: the only playable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings. The database's verdictByResolution data confirms this, listing Low as the only playable setting at 1080p and no playable settings at 1440p or 4K. The best settings at 1080p are Low, with an average FPS of 78.

For users who want to play Thief with this hardware, the recommendation is to run the game at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This provides a smooth experience above 60 FPS. Attempting higher settings or resolutions will result in frame rates below the playable threshold, with the drop being especially severe at 1440p and 4K.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low. The measured average frame rate is 78 FPS. Medium settings fall to 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold, so Low is the only viable preset at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest option is Low at 53 FPS, but this is still 7 FPS below the playable threshold. Medium produces 41 FPS, High produces 31 FPS, and Ultra produces 29 FPS. There is no best settings recommendation for this resolution because none are playable.

At 3840x2160, no preset comes close to 60 FPS. Low produces 31 FPS, Medium produces 24 FPS, High produces 18 FPS, and Ultra produces 17 FPS. All presets are far below the playable threshold, so this resolution should be avoided entirely with this hardware.

The only recommended configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, delivering 78 FPS on average. This is the sole combination of resolution and preset that meets the playable threshold of 60 FPS in the measured data. Users seeking higher visual quality would need to upgrade the GPU, as the Intel Arc B370 does not have the compute resources or memory bandwidth to handle Thief at higher settings or resolutions.