Thief

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers a narrow spread of average frame rates across the four presets. The Low preset averages 119 FPS, which is the fastest result recorded for this combination at any resolution. Medium averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS. High averages 97 FPS, while Ultra averages 96 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is only 1 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset carries minimal additional cost over High when the CPU and GPU are operating under lighter load. The minimum and maximum data points for Low, High, and Ultra are not recorded in the database, but the Medium preset shows a 33 FPS spread between its minimum and maximum, which suggests consistent frame delivery at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates remain comfortably high across all presets. Low averages 105 FPS, Medium averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS, High averages 86 FPS, and Ultra averages 84 FPS. The ordering is strictly monotonic: as visual fidelity increases, average FPS decreases. The gap from Low to Ultra is 21 FPS, which is larger than the 23 FPS gap observed at 1080p between the same endpoints, but the absolute values still leave substantial headroom above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a 28 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, slightly narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance picture changes more dramatically. Low averages 88 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS, High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 54 FPS. This is the only resolution where any preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold. High and Ultra both average below 60 FPS, while Low and Medium remain above it. The Medium preset's minimum of 63 FPS indicates that even in the slowest recorded frames, the combination stays just above the playable threshold. The drop from Medium to High is 18 FPS, which is the largest single-step decline across all resolutions and presets, highlighting the sharp cost of the High preset at 4K.

Across all three resolutions, the scaling pattern shows that the Medium preset consistently provides the only complete minimum and maximum data in the database for each resolution, making it the most thoroughly characterized preset for frame-time stability analysis.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Thief at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 1920x1080?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 96 FPS, which is 36 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at 3840x2160?

A: The Medium preset is the most demanding playable option at 4K, averaging 75 FPS with a recorded minimum of 63 FPS. High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS, averaging 57 FPS and 54 FPS respectively.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 on the Ultra preset?

A: The Ultra preset drops from 84 FPS at 2560x1440 to 54 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 30 FPS. This is the largest absolute drop between adjacent resolutions for any preset in the database.

Q: Is the Medium preset at 2560x1440 smooth enough for consistent frame delivery?

A: Yes. The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS. The minimum remains 21 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Which resolution shows the smallest performance difference between the High and Ultra presets?

A: At 1920x1080, High averages 97 FPS and Ultra averages 96 FPS, a difference of only 1 FPS. At 2560x1440 the difference is 2 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it is 3 FPS.

Q: Does the combination ever drop below 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: No. All four presets at 2560x1440 average above 60 FPS, and the lowest recorded minimum is 81 FPS on the Medium preset. Low, High, and Ultra do not have recorded minimums, but their averages range from 84 FPS to 105 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 96 FPS. All four presets are playable at this resolution, but Ultra delivers the highest visual quality while retaining a 36 FPS margin above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding playable preset is also Ultra, averaging 84 FPS. This gives a 24 FPS margin above 60 FPS. The Low, Medium, and High presets are also playable, but Ultra provides the maximum fidelity without compromising the playable frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, averaging 75 FPS. Low is also playable with an average of 88 FPS, but Medium offers higher visual quality while maintaining a 15 FPS margin above the threshold. High and Ultra are not playable at 4K, as they average 57 FPS and 54 FPS respectively.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-9400 sits near several CPUs with comparable average benchmark scores. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 against the i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254, a difference of 0.2 percent in favor of the rival. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4 percent higher. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3 percent lower, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4 percent lower. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning a system built with any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Thief. The i5-9400 ranks at the 47th percentile among all CPUs in the database, placing it in the lower middle of the field for general processing power.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172 and sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.4 percent of its average score. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23273, 0.4 percent higher, while the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 23276, also 0.4 percent higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, 0.3 percent higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 scores 23250, 0.3 percent higher. Because these deltas are so small, any of these GPUs would deliver frame rates nearly indistinguishable from the RTX 3080 in Thief, assuming no other system bottlenecks. The RTX 3080's percentile ranking of 68 indicates it outperforms roughly two-thirds of all GPUs in the database, which aligns with the strong frame rates observed across most resolutions and presets.

When considering the combination as a whole, the CPU and GPU both sit in the middle-to-upper portion of their respective distributions. The CPU's 47th percentile and the GPU's 68th percentile suggest that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing, and the measured FPS data supports that interpretation, as frame rates remain high even at demanding resolutions until the 4K High and Ultra presets push beyond what the GPU can sustain.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 becomes visible when comparing scaling across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 96 FPS, while at 2560x1440 it averages 84 FPS, a drop of 12 FPS. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops from 84 FPS to 54 FPS, a reduction of 30 FPS. This accelerating decline as resolution increases is a classic sign that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher pixel counts. The GPU must process progressively more fragments at 4K, and its performance ceiling becomes the binding constraint.

The Low preset tells a similar story. At 1920x1080, Low averages 119 FPS. At 2560x1440, it averages 105 FPS, a drop of 14 FPS. At 3840x2160, it averages 88 FPS, a further drop of 17 FPS. The consistent decline across resolutions, even at the lowest settings, indicates that the GPU workload is scaling with pixel count rather than with preset complexity. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the Low preset at 1080p would show frame rates capped by the CPU's processing limits, and lowering resolution further would not yield higher FPS. The fact that Low reaches 119 FPS at 1080p and still climbs when resolution drops suggests the CPU is not the primary constraint at these settings.

The Medium preset provides the only complete minimum and maximum data across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS. At 2560x1440, it averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS. At 3840x2160, it averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS. The minimum FPS declines steadily from 91 to 81 to 63 as resolution increases, showing that even the slowest frames degrade predictably with pixel count. The margin above the 60 FPS threshold shrinks from 31 FPS at 1080p to 21 FPS at 1440p to 3 FPS at 4K, indicating that the GPU is gradually exhausting its headroom as resolution rises.

Preset scaling at a fixed resolution also points to the GPU as the dominant factor. At 3840x2160, the spread from Low to Ultra is 34 FPS (88 FPS down to 54 FPS), which is the largest preset spread in the database for this combination. At 2560x1440, the spread is 21 FPS (105 FPS down to 84 FPS), and at 1920x1080 it is 23 FPS (119 FPS down to 96 FPS). The fact that the preset spread is largest at 4K further confirms that the GPU is the component that determines how much visual quality can be extracted at higher resolutions. The CPU's role is more pronounced at lower resolutions, where it must feed frames quickly enough to keep up with the GPU, but the recorded data shows no evidence of a CPU-imposed cap at any resolution tested.

The Verdict

The recorded measurements indicate that this combination can run Thief at or above 60 FPS across the majority of tested configurations. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra averaging 96 FPS and Low averaging 119 FPS. The verdict by resolution for 1080p lists High, Low, Medium, and Ultra as playable, with Ultra as the best settings at 96 FPS.

At 2560x1440, all four presets are also playable. Ultra averages 84 FPS, which is the best playable settings at this resolution. The minimum recorded frame rate across all presets at 1440p is 81 FPS on Medium, leaving a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the playable settings are limited to Low and Medium. Medium is the best playable option, averaging 75 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS. High and Ultra fall below the threshold, averaging 57 FPS and 54 FPS respectively. The verdict for 4K therefore recommends Medium as the highest quality preset that maintains playability.

The overall assessment is that this PC can run Thief smoothly at 1080p and 1440p with maximum settings, and at 4K with Medium settings. The 4K High and Ultra presets are the only configurations that fail to reach the 60 FPS playable threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 2002 out of 3720 tested combinations in the database for Thief. This places the combo in the 54th percentile overall, meaning it outperforms roughly 54 percent of all tested system pairings in this game. The rank reflects the combination's ability to maintain high frame rates at common resolutions while falling short at the most demanding 4K presets.

Given that the GPU sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs and the CPU sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, the combo's overall rank of 2002 out of 3720 is consistent with the GPU being the stronger contributor to game performance. The measured FPS data supports this: the system delivers playable frame rates at every resolution up to 4K Medium, and only the 4K High and Ultra presets push it below 60 FPS. The combination ranks in the upper half of all tested systems, which is a reasonable outcome for a pairing where the GPU is substantially stronger than the CPU relative to their respective distributions.