Thief

The pairing of Intel's Core i5-12600KF with the Arc B580 faces an unusual test in Thief, a 2014 stealth title whose engine demands more sustained GPU throughput than its age might suggest. The data shows this combination lands in the upper-middle of all tested configurations for this specific game, with strong results at 1920x1080, a workable but preset-limited experience at 2560x1440, and a clear failure to reach the 60 FPS threshold at 3840x2160. Every figure below is drawn from measured runs — this is recorded data, not extrapolated projection.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1920x1080, the results are uniformly strong across the entire preset ladder. Low returns an average of 150 FPS, Medium climbs the visual quality scale while still delivering 115.3 FPS, High drops to 89 FPS, and Ultra — the most demanding option — still averages 83.8 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is only about 66 FPS, which indicates the Arc B580 has substantial headroom at this resolution; even the heaviest preset leaves a 23.8 FPS margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 2560x1440 the picture tightens considerably. Low averages 104.7 FPS and Medium holds 80.8 FPS, both comfortably above 60. High, however, lands at 57.8 FPS — 2.2 frames short of the threshold — and Ultra manages only 56.4 FPS. Notably, High and Ultra are separated by just 1.4 FPS, meaning the resolution itself, not the preset difference between those two tiers, is the binding constraint at 1440p.

At 3840x2160 the combination falls below the playable line at every preset. Low averages 58.1 FPS — tantalizingly close, but still under the mark by 1.9 FPS. Medium records 48.8 FPS, High 32.6 FPS, and Ultra 34.2 FPS. The High result being lower than Ultra is an anomaly in the measured data and worth flagging: at 4K the run-to-run variance and scene composition appear to outweigh the preset difference at those frame rates, or the High profile hit a heavier sequence during its capture. Either way, no 4K preset clears 60 FPS.

Minimum and maximum frame rates were not captured for these runs; the dataset records average FPS only, so conclusions here rest on the averages.

Similar Performance Alternatives

On the CPU side, the Core i5-12600KF's average benchmark score of 27799 places it in the 79th percentile of all tracked processors, and its nearest rivals cluster within a fraction of a percent. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872, a delta of -0.3 percent, meaning the i5-12600KF effectively matches it. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D sits at 27896, also -0.3 percent, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U and Ryzen 5 8500GE land at 27887 and 27712 respectively — deltas of -0.3 and +0.3 percent. Anyone running one of these four processors alongside a comparable GPU would expect near-identical Thief behavior from the CPU's contribution.

On the GPU side, the Arc B580's average score of 23021 puts it in the 68th percentile of tracked GPUs. Its closest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP at 23061 (-0.2 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22895 (+0.6 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23172 (-0.7 percent), and the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23249 (-1 percent). By the database's aggregate scoring, the B580 slots between the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080 in overall standing, so systems built around those cards with a similar-class CPU should produce broadly comparable frame rates in Thief.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data points clearly to a GPU-bound profile at every resolution tested. From 1080p to 1440p at Ultra, average FPS falls from 83.8 to 56.4 — a drop of roughly a third — and from 1440p to 4K it falls further to 34.2. If the Core i5-12600KF were the limiting factor, raising resolution would produce far smaller declines, since CPU load is largely resolution-independent. Instead, each pixel-count increase costs substantial frame rate across every preset, which is the signature of the GPU as the bottleneck.

The preset scaling reinforces this. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 66.2 FPS; at 1440p the same drop costs 48.3 FPS; at 4K it costs only 23.9 FPS. The shrinking gap as resolution rises shows the Arc B580 progressively saturating, leaving less and less headroom for settings adjustments to matter.

Meanwhile, the processor is clearly not the constraint. With 10 cores and 16 threads, a single-thread score of 1016 in 3DMark and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391, the i5-12600KF sits in the 79th percentile of all CPUs and matches or trails its rivals by no more than 0.3 percent. For a 2014 stealth title, that is far more CPU than the engine can engage, and the benchmark data indicates frame delivery is governed almost entirely by the Arc B580's 12 GB of GDDR6 and 456 GB/s of memory bandwidth running into the resolution being requested.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Thief at 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. Every 4K preset falls short: Low averages 58.1 FPS, Medium 48.8 FPS, High 32.6 FPS, and Ultra 34.2 FPS. None reach the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Medium, averaging 80.8 FPS. High falls to 57.8 FPS and Ultra to 56.4 FPS, both under the line.

Q: Does Thief run well at 1080p on this hardware?

A: Yes, at every preset. Even Ultra averages 83.8 FPS, with Low reaching 150 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the weak point in this pairing?

A: The GPU. Frame rates drop sharply as resolution rises — 83.8 to 56.4 FPS at Ultra between 1080p and 1440p alone — which indicates the Arc B580 is the limiting component. The i5-12600KF ranks in the 79th percentile of all CPUs and is within 0.3 percent of rivals like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to other GPUs overall?

A: Its average benchmark score of 23021 places it in the 68th percentile, essentially tied with the Radeon RX 580 2048SP (-0.2 percent) and sitting between the RTX 2080 (+0.6 percent) and RTX 3080 (-0.7 percent).

Q: What threshold does the database use for "playable"?

A: 60 FPS average, and all figures in this analysis are measured results rather than estimates.

How This Combo Ranks

Across the full database, the Core i5-12600KF plus Arc B580 combination ranks 2768th out of 3720 tested configurations in Thief. That places it in the bottom portion of the ranking despite individually respectable hardware — a reflection of how demanding Thief proves relative to this GPU tier rather than any flaw in the pairing. The ranking is consistent with the measured data: strong at 1080p, marginal at 1440p's upper presets, and below threshold entirely at 4K.

Context matters here. The Arc B580's 68th-percentile GPU standing and the i5-12600KF's 79th-percentile CPU standing describe general compute capability, but Thief's ranking is game-specific. Many of the higher-ranked combinations evidently pair this class of GPU with more frame-rate headroom at higher resolutions, while this configuration's advantage at 1080p — where it clears every preset — does not fully offset its 4K shortfall in the game-weighted ranking.

Best Settings per Resolution

• 1920x1080 — Ultra, 83.8 FPS average. The most demanding preset still clears 60 FPS with a 23.8 FPS margin, so there is no reason to step down.
• 2560x1440 — Medium, 80.8 FPS average. Medium holds a 20.8 FPS margin; High at 57.8 FPS misses the threshold, making Medium the highest playable preset.
• 3840x2160 — none. No preset averages 60 FPS or better. Low is the closest at 58.1 FPS but remains below the line.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run Thief — with clear resolution conditions. At 1920x1080, the verdict is unqualified: all four presets are playable, and Ultra at 83.8 FPS is the recommended setting. At 2560x1440, the game is playable at Low and Medium, with Medium at 80.8 FPS as the best option; High and Ultra both miss 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, the answer is no — no preset reaches the playable threshold, with Low's 58.1 FPS the closest attempt. The data indicates the Arc B580 governs performance throughout, while the 79th-percentile Core i5-12600KF operates well within its capabilities at every setting tested. Players targeting 4K in Thief will need more GPU; everyone else can play it comfortably.