Thief

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals in the database are closely clustered: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 (0.4% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% lower). For pure CPU-bound scenarios, any of these four processors would deliver nearly indistinguishable frame pacing in Thief, with performance deltas well within run-to-run variance.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, ranking at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, has an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37628 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507 (0.4% lower), the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 37157 (1.3% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (1.3% higher). These deltas are all under 1.5%, meaning a system swapping the RTX 4070 for any of these cards would produce nearly identical average frame rates in Thief, assuming no other bottlenecks are introduced.

For the full combo, the practical takeaway is that the CPU is the weaker link relative to the GPU. The i5-9400's six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost up to 4.10 GHz, place it in the middle of the pack, while the RTX 4070 is comfortably in the upper tier of graphics hardware. Users looking for comparable overall behavior could pair a Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 or Core i7-10710U with a Radeon RX Vega 56 or Tesla P4 and expect similar frame rates in Thief, though the RTX 4070's additional modern features, such as DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 support, would be absent.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a clear trend: this combination is GPU-bound at 4K, CPU-bound at 1080p, and balanced at 1440p. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only 19.7 FPS (118.6 down to 98.9 FPS), suggesting that even at Low settings the engine cannot push much beyond roughly 119 FPS, which points to a CPU limitation. The i5-9400's single-core performance, as reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935, is adequate but not exceptional for high-refresh 1080p gaming.

At 2560x1440, the scaling is more linear. Low delivers 106.9 FPS, Medium 98 FPS, High 88.1 FPS, and Ultra 85.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 21.8 FPS, and the GPU is beginning to take on more responsibility, though the CPU still has headroom. At 3840x2160, the GPU dominates: Low hits 85.4 FPS, Medium 78.4 FPS, High 57.7 FPS, and Ultra 57.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 28 FPS, and the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are clearly the determining factors here.

The data indicates that at 1080p, upgrading the CPU would yield larger gains than upgrading the GPU, since the RTX 4070 is already capable of exceeding 118 FPS at Low settings. At 4K, the opposite is true: the GPU is the limiting factor, and the CPU's role diminishes. The 1440p results sit in between, with neither component fully saturated.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database contains 12 measured average FPS data points for this combo, spanning three resolutions and four settings presets. None of the entries include minimum or maximum FPS values, so the analysis relies on average frame rates only.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4070 and i5-9400 combination produces 85.4 FPS at Low settings, 78.4 FPS at Medium, 57.7 FPS at High, and 57.4 FPS at Ultra. The step from Medium to High is the largest single drop in the entire dataset, a 20.7 FPS reduction, which suggests a particularly heavy graphics feature is enabled at the High preset. The Ultra preset barely differs from High, costing only 0.3 FPS, so players who can tolerate High settings will find Ultra nearly identical in cost.

At 2560x1440, the results are 106.9 FPS at Low, 98 FPS at Medium, 88.1 FPS at High, and 85.1 FPS at Ultra. Each settings tier costs roughly 9 to 13 FPS, with the High to Ultra step being the smallest at 3 FPS. The 1440p results show a smooth, predictable degradation as visual quality increases, with no anomalous jumps.

At 1920x1080, the results are 118.6 FPS at Low, 109.5 FPS at Medium, 99.2 FPS at High, and 98.9 FPS at Ultra. The Low to Medium step costs 9.1 FPS, Medium to High costs 10.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs only 0.3 FPS. The near-identical High and Ultra results at 1080p mirror the 4K pattern, indicating that the Ultra preset adds little additional GPU load beyond High in this title.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: the biggest performance hit comes from moving from Medium to High, while High to Ultra is nearly free. The 1080p Low result of 118.6 FPS is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo, and the 4K Ultra result of 57.4 FPS is the lowest.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run Thief, and it clears the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution except 4K High and 4K Ultra. The verdict data shows that at 1920x1080, all four settings presets are playable, with Ultra delivering 98.9 FPS, well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 2560x1440, all four presets are also playable, with Ultra at 85.1 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium are playable, with Medium at 78.4 FPS and Low at 85.4 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 4K fall short at 57.7 FPS and 57.4 FPS respectively, both just under the 60 FPS line.

The practical implication is that a 4K display owner must choose between Medium and Low settings to maintain a smooth experience, while 1440p and 1080p users can max out the game without concern. The margin at 4K High is narrow, only 2.3 FPS below the threshold, so a minor settings tweak or a slightly less demanding scene could push it over 60 FPS, but the recorded data places it firmly below.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Thief at 4K with all settings maxed?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 57.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best playable 4K preset is Medium at 78.4 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, all four presets exceed 60 FPS. The highest playable preset is Ultra, averaging 85.1 FPS.

Q: How much faster is Low compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 118.6 FPS while Ultra averages 98.9 FPS, a difference of 19.7 FPS. The largest single cost comes from moving from Medium to High, a 10.3 FPS drop.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more limiting at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor. The RTX 4070's rendering load scales heavily with resolution, and the CPU has less influence on the final frame rate. The 4K Low result of 85.4 FPS versus 1080p Low of 118.6 FPS indicates a 33.2 FPS loss from resolution alone.

Q: Does the Ultra preset offer any performance benefit over High?

A: No, Ultra is consistently slower than High across all resolutions, but the difference is minor. At 4K, High averages 57.7 FPS and Ultra 57.4 FPS (0.3 FPS difference). At 1080p, High averages 99.2 FPS and Ultra 98.9 FPS (0.3 FPS difference). At 1440p, the gap is slightly larger at 3 FPS.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo averages 98 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and a good middle ground between the 106.9 FPS Low result and the 85.1 FPS Ultra result.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, delivering an average of 78.4 FPS. Low settings are also playable at 85.4 FPS, but Medium offers higher visual quality while still clearing the threshold with a comfortable 18.4 FPS margin.

At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is Ultra, averaging 85.1 FPS. This is 25.1 FPS above the playable threshold, giving substantial headroom for scene complexity fluctuations. All lower presets are also playable, but Ultra is the maximum quality option.

At 1920x1080, the best playable preset is Ultra, averaging 98.9 FPS. The margin above the 60 FPS threshold is 38.9 FPS, the largest of any resolution. This is the recommended configuration for users who prioritize visual fidelity and have a 1080p display.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's ranking for Thief, this Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination places 1967th out of 3720 tested combos. That places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is notable given the RTX 4070's strong 81st percentile GPU ranking. The explanation lies in the CPU: the i5-9400's 47th percentile ranking drags the overall combo position down, since the database ranks complete systems rather than individual components.

The 1967th position out of 3720 combos means roughly 47% of tested systems performed worse in Thief, while 53% performed better. For a game released in 2014, this is a surprisingly competitive field, likely because many newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance achieve better frame rates in the 1080p regime where the CPU is the bottleneck. At 4K, the combo would rank much higher relative to systems with weaker GPUs, but the overall rank reflects all resolutions equally.

Given that the i5-9400's nearest CPU rivals all score within 0.4% of it, swapping in any of those processors would not meaningfully change the combo rank. The GPU, however, has more influence on the rank at higher resolutions. Upgrading to a GPU with a higher average benchmark score would push the combo up the list, particularly for 4K playability, where the RTX 4070 currently falls just short of 60 FPS at High settings.