Thief

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Thief with the Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B390 covers three resolutions and four settings tiers. The database shows a clear pattern: this combination is heavily constrained at higher resolutions, with only 1920x1080 offering a reliable path to playable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. With Low settings, the average FPS is 35. Medium settings drop the average to 26, with a recorded minimum of 22 and a maximum of 30. High settings produce an average of 20 FPS, and Ultra falls to 19 FPS. No resolution entry at 4K reaches even half of the 60 FPS playable threshold, and the gap between Low and Ultra is only 16 FPS, suggesting the GPU is saturated regardless of the workload.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves but remains below the playable threshold. Low settings deliver an average of 59 FPS, just one frame short of 60. Medium settings average 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 52. High settings average 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The 1440p data shows a steep drop from Low to Medium, a 14 FPS decline, which indicates that the jump in rendering complexity is significant for this hardware.

At 1920x1080, the combination finally reaches playable territory. Low settings average 86 FPS. Medium settings average 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 and a maximum of 75. High settings average 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 48 FPS. The 1080p results show that the GPU can handle the game at lower presets, but the step from Medium to High costs 16 FPS, pushing the average below 60.

The database only provides min and max values for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 3840x2160 Medium, the min is 22 and the max is 30. At 2560x1440 Medium, the min is 38 and the max is 52. At 1920x1080 Medium, the min is 56 and the max is 75. These ranges indicate that even at the same settings tier, frame pacing becomes more erratic as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Thief at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: Yes. The recorded average FPS is 66, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. The minimum recorded is 56 FPS, so occasional dips below 60 are possible, but the average is comfortably above the threshold.

Q: Is 2560x1440 playable with this hardware?

A: No. The best average at 1440p is 59 FPS on Low settings, which is one frame short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra all average below 45 FPS. The verdict data lists no playable settings at this resolution.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1920x1080?

A: Medium is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, with an average of 66 FPS. Low settings are also playable at 86 FPS, but Medium offers higher visual quality while still meeting the threshold.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. It sits 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M, 2.5% ahead of the GeForce GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% ahead of the GeForce GT 710. These are very small margins, placing the B390 in the same performance class as those older NVIDIA parts.

Q: How does the Core i5-12400 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683. It is 0.1% behind the AMD EPYC 7643, 0.3% behind the Intel Core i7-1355U, 0.7% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330, and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i3-14100F. All four rivals are within 1% of the i5-12400's score.

Q: What is the combo rank for this pairing in Thief?

A: The combination ranks 3307 out of 3720 tested combos in the database. This places it in the lower percentile of all tested configurations for this game.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals that the Intel Arc B390 is the dominant bottleneck in this pairing, and the GPU's limitations become more obvious as the resolution increases. The GPU has a 9th percentile ranking among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rivals are all low-end NVIDIA parts from previous generations. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 72nd percentile with an average score of 18683, placing it far above the GPU in relative performance.

The scaling between resolutions confirms this imbalance. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 19 to 35 depending on the preset. At 2560x1440, the range is 33 to 59. At 1920x1080, the range is 48 to 86. The jump from 1080p Low to 1440p Low costs 27 FPS, and the jump from 1440p Low to 4K Low costs 24 FPS. This consistent drop as resolution increases is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the render target size directly dictates the frame rate.

The settings scaling also points to the GPU as the limiting factor. At 1080p, Low averages 86 FPS and Ultra averages 48 FPS, a 38 FPS spread. At 1440p, Low averages 59 FPS and Ultra averages 33 FPS, a 26 FPS spread. At 4K, Low averages 35 FPS and Ultra averages 19 FPS, a 16 FPS spread. The shrinking spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is already operating near its ceiling, so reducing settings has diminishing returns.

The CPU, with 6 cores and 12 threads, has enough compute headroom for a game from 2014. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and single-core score of 2257 are strong for a desktop part. The recorded frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium suggest the CPU can feed the GPU well enough at lower resolutions, but once the GPU becomes the constraint, additional CPU headroom does not translate into higher FPS. The database does not record CPU utilization, but the pattern of FPS dropping sharply with resolution is consistent with a GPU-bound configuration.

The Verdict

This PC can run Thief, but only at 1920x1080 and only with specific settings. The verdict data lists Low and Medium as playable at 1080p, with Medium being the best playable preset at an average of 66 FPS. Low settings average 86 FPS, which is smoother but visually less demanding. High and Ultra at 1080p average 50 and 48 FPS respectively, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, no settings are playable. The closest is Low at 59 FPS, which misses the threshold by one frame. Medium, High, and Ultra all average below 45 FPS. At 3840x2160, the results are far below playable, with even Low settings averaging only 35 FPS.

The practical takeaway is straightforward: if the goal is 60 FPS or higher, this combination is limited to 1080p with Medium or Low presets. The game will run, and the Medium preset at 1080p offers a reasonable balance of visual quality and performance, but higher resolutions are out of reach for this hardware.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-12400 are all within 1% of its average benchmark score. The AMD EPYC 7643 is 0.1% slower, the Intel Core i7-1355U is 0.3% slower, the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 is 0.7% slower, and the Intel Core i3-14100F is 0.9% faster. Any of these CPUs paired with the same GPU would produce nearly identical frame rates in Thief, since the GPU is the limiting factor in this configuration.

The nearest rivals for the Intel Arc B390 are all older NVIDIA parts with very similar benchmark scores. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% slower, the GeForce 800M is 1.5% slower, the GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% slower, and the GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% slower. The margins are tiny, so a system with the i5-12400 and any of these GPUs would deliver essentially the same performance in Thief. The reverse pairing, a different CPU with the Arc B390, would also behave similarly as long as the CPU is not significantly weaker than the i5-12400.

For users considering alternatives, the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield far larger gains than swapping the CPU. The i5-12400 has substantial headroom relative to the Arc B390, and the FPS results are almost entirely dictated by the GPU's 9th percentile ranking.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the Intel Arc B390 ranks 3307 out of 3720 tested combos in Thief. This places the combination in the bottom 11% of all tested configurations. The low rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU, which sits in the 9th percentile among all tested GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, sits in the 72nd percentile, so the pairing represents a significant mismatch between CPU capability and GPU capability.

In practical terms, this rank means that most tested combinations will outperform this setup in Thief. The only configurations that would rank lower are those with even weaker GPUs or CPUs that cannot feed the GPU. The recorded frame rates at 1080p Medium, 66 FPS on average, are acceptable for a 2014 stealth game, but the inability to reach 60 FPS at 1440p on any preset keeps the combo near the bottom of the database rankings.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The best average is 35 FPS on Low settings, which is far below the playable threshold. The verdict data confirms that no settings are playable at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The best average is 59 FPS on Low settings, missing the threshold by one frame. Medium, High, and Ultra are all below 45 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the best playable preset is Medium, with an average of 66 FPS and a minimum of 56 FPS. Low settings also clear the threshold at 86 FPS, but Medium is the highest preset that maintains an average at or above 60 FPS. High and Ultra average 50 and 48 FPS respectively, so they are not recommended for a 60 FPS target.

The data shows a single viable configuration for this hardware: 1920x1080 with Medium settings. That preset delivers an average of 66 FPS, which is above the playable threshold, and the minimum of 56 FPS means the experience remains mostly smooth even during demanding scenes.