Thief

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Thief with the Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B570 covers three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 125 FPS on Low, 101 FPS on Medium, 77 FPS on High, and 73 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution is the only configuration with full min/max data, showing 86 FPS minimum and 116 FPS maximum.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop across the board: 91 FPS on Low, 69 FPS on Medium, 53 FPS on High, and 50 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again includes min/max readings, with 59 FPS minimum and 79 FPS maximum. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 41 FPS, which shows the rendering cost of the higher quality settings.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal for smooth play. The Low preset averages 54 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K records a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold by a wide margin, while even Low cannot sustain a consistent 60 FPS average at this resolution.

The data shows a clear pattern: every preset loses roughly 40% of its 1080p average when scaled to 1440p, and another 40% when scaled to 4K. For example, Medium goes from 101 FPS at 1080p to 69 FPS at 1440p to 41 FPS at 4K. High goes from 77 FPS at 1080p to 53 FPS at 1440p to 31 FPS at 4K. The scaling is consistent enough that the relative ordering of presets never changes at any resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread Comet Lake processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows a single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and a max-thread score of 4735, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10283. This CPU sits at the 68th percentile among all tested processors, putting it in the upper-middle range for gaming workloads.

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage generation GPU with 2304 shading units, 144 texture units, and 80 raster output units. It has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's PassMark G3D score is 14195, and it ranks at the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which aligns with Thief's rendering requirements.

Thief is a title that scales heavily with GPU load as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the CPU can feed the GPU well enough that the Arc B570 reaches 125 FPS on Low and 101 FPS on Medium. The fact that Ultra still holds 73 FPS at 1080p suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. When resolution jumps to 2560x1440, the frame rate drops by roughly 30% at every preset, which is a classic GPU-bound signature. At 3840x2160, the further drop confirms that the GPU is carrying the load almost entirely.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent in the min/max frame time stability. At 1080p Medium, the spread from 86 FPS minimum to 116 FPS maximum is 30 FPS, which is substantial but not disruptive. At 1440p Medium, the spread narrows to 20 FPS (59 to 79), indicating that the GPU is smoothing out frame delivery as it becomes the bottleneck. The CPU's 12 threads and 12 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient for Thief's stealth gameplay systems, which do not appear to create any CPU-side stutter based on the recorded data.

Comparing the two components, the database shows the CPU at the 68th percentile and the GPU at the 65th percentile. They are closely matched in relative standing, which explains why the system behaves predictably across resolutions. Neither component is drastically stronger or weaker than the other, so the bottleneck shifts cleanly from CPU at 1080p Low to GPU at 4K Ultra without any anomalous frame pacing issues.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 73 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold with headroom, and it is the most demanding preset available. The High preset also works at 77 FPS, but Ultra provides the maximum visual quality while staying above the playable mark.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 69 FPS and a minimum of 59 FPS. The average clears the threshold, but the minimum dips just below it, so players who are sensitive to frame drops may want to note that the recorded minimum is 59 FPS. High and Ultra fall to 53 FPS and 50 FPS respectively, so they are not viable for a locked 60 FPS experience.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The best available option is Low at 54 FPS, which is below playable. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The verdict data confirms this: the playable settings list is empty for 4K, and no best settings are recorded.

The pattern is straightforward: 1080p can run any preset, 1440p is limited to Medium or lower, and 4K cannot sustain 60 FPS at any quality level. For users who prioritize frame rate over visuals, the Low preset at 1440p offers 91 FPS, which is the highest frame rate available at that resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals in the database, the Intel Xeon 6756E has an average score of 14163, which is 0.2% below the i5-10400F. The Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14232, putting it 0.3% above. The AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115, 0.5% below, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277, 0.6% above. These four processors are all within a 1% band of the i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14185, so any of them would produce nearly identical CPU-side behavior in Thief.

For the GPU, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with an average score of 20534, which is 0.1% above the Arc B570. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, 0.1% above. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480, 0.4% below, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662, 0.5% above. These GPUs are all within a half percent of the Arc B570's average score of 20556, so they would deliver virtually identical frame rates in this game.

A system pairing any of the rival CPUs with any of the rival GPUs would land in the same performance neighborhood as the i5-10400F plus Arc B570 combination. The delta percentages are small enough that the measured FPS values would shift by only a frame or two at most. The Arc A750 is particularly notable as a direct Intel alternative, and the RTX 3070 Mobile shows that the B570's performance level is comparable to a previous-generation laptop GPU.

The Verdict

The Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B570 can run Thief at 1920x1080 with every preset, including Ultra at 73 FPS. This is the resolution where the system is most comfortable, with a 52 FPS margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold at Ultra and 65 FPS of margin at Low.

At 2560x1440, the system can run the game at Medium with 69 FPS average, which clears the threshold, but the minimum of 59 FPS means occasional dips below 60. Low runs at 91 FPS with no issues. High and Ultra are not playable at a consistent 60 FPS, with averages of 53 FPS and 50 FPS respectively.

At 3840x2160, the system cannot run the game at 60 FPS on any preset. The best case is Low at 54 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. The verdict data confirms that no settings are playable at this resolution.

The overall answer is yes, this PC can run Thief, but only at 1080p and 1440p. Users targeting 4K will need to accept sub-60 FPS performance or lower the resolution. The system is well matched to the game's 2014-era rendering workload, and the 65th percentile GPU ranking aligns with the measured results.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and Intel Arc B570 ranks 3054 out of 3720 tested combos in the database for Thief. This places the system in the lower 18% of all tested combinations. The rank reflects the fact that Thief is an older title from 2014, and many newer and higher-end combinations naturally score better.

However, the rank does not tell the whole story. The 1080p results are strong, with Ultra at 73 FPS and Low at 125 FPS. The system only falls short at 4K, where no preset reaches 60 FPS. The rank of 3054 is influenced by the fact that many tested combos include much more powerful GPUs that can handle 4K, while this combination is clearly aimed at 1080p and 1440p gaming.

In the context of the database, this combo sits close to the boundary between mid-range and entry-level performance for modern titles, but for Thief specifically, the measured data shows it is fully capable at the two most common gaming resolutions. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking and the GPU's 65th percentile ranking are both respectable, and the combination performs as expected given those relative standings.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Thief at 1080p with max settings?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 73 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 2560x1440?

A: Medium is the best setting that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 69 FPS and a minimum of 59 FPS.

Q: Does this system reach 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. The best result at 3840x2160 is the Low preset at 54 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to the Intel Arc A750?

A: The Arc A750 has an average benchmark score of 20582, which is 0.1% higher than the Arc B570's 20556. The difference is negligible in practice.

Q: What is the frame rate on Low settings at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 averages 125 FPS, the highest recorded frame rate in the entire dataset.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. Frame rates drop by roughly 30% from 1080p to 1440p at every preset, which is a GPU-bound scaling pattern.