Thief

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a performance profile for Thief that is heavily dependent on resolution and graphical preset, with the data showing a clear ceiling at 4K Ultra settings. Across the twelve measured configurations, the combination produces an average frame rate ranging from 54.8 FPS at the most demanding setting to 219.2 FPS at the least demanding, indicating that the system comfortably handles the 2014 stealth title in most scenarios but requires specific settings adjustments at higher resolutions to maintain a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the i7-14700KF and RTX 3080 combination delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 219.2 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo in any configuration. Moving to Medium yields 186.7 FPS, while the High preset produces 142 FPS. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding at this resolution, still maintains an average of 133.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a performance reduction of approximately 39%, but every setting remains far above the 60 FPS playability threshold, demonstrating that the system is never constrained at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains robust but shows a predictable decline compared to 1080p. The Low preset averages 166.2 FPS, which is a drop of about 24% from the same setting at 1080p. Medium settings produce 125 FPS, while High achieves 99.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 93.7 FPS, which represents a 30% decrease from the Ultra result at 1080p. Despite this scaling, all four presets at 1440p clear the 60 FPS threshold with significant headroom, indicating that the RTX 3080 has ample compute for this game at this resolution.

The most demanding configuration tested is 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, where the average frame rate falls to 54.8 FPS, just below the playable threshold. At the same 4K resolution, the High preset also records 54.8 FPS, which is notable because it suggests that the Ultra and High presets impose a similar performance cost at this resolution. The Medium preset at 4K improves the average to 77.5 FPS, while the Low preset achieves 98.2 FPS. The data shows a significant jump from High to Medium at 4K, with a 41% improvement in average frame rate, indicating that the High preset includes a particularly demanding effect or setting that disproportionately impacts performance at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 708th out of 3720 tested combos for Thief, placing it in the top 19% of all configurations in the database. This percentile ranking reflects that the system performs well above the median for this game, though it is not among the absolute top-tier combinations. The rank is influenced by both the CPU and GPU, with the i7-14700KF sitting at the 94th percentile among all CPUs and the RTX 3080 at the 68th percentile among all GPUs. The disparity between these two percentiles suggests that the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing, as the CPU has significantly more headroom relative to other processors than the GPU has relative to other graphics cards.

The combo's rank of 708 out of 3720 is particularly relevant when considering the age of Thief (released in 2014) and the fact that the RTX 3080 is a modern high-end GPU. The data indicates that many other combinations deliver higher average frame rates, likely due to the game's relatively low system requirements and the possibility that newer GPUs with higher raw throughput achieve better results. However, the ranking also shows that the i7-14700KF and RTX 3080 combination is well above the midpoint of all tested configurations, confirming that it is a capable setup for this title even if it does not dominate the top of the leaderboard.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i7-14700KF, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which scores 69996 compared to the i7's 70163, a delta of 0.2%—essentially identical performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX is also very close at 69875 (0.4% slower), as is the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 69515 (0.9% slower). The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is slightly faster at 70879, representing a 1% advantage over the i7-14700KF. For gaming at Thief's resolution and preset combinations, any of these CPUs would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates, as the game is not particularly CPU-intensive at the tested settings.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, the nearest rivals in benchmark scores are the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X, with deltaPct values ranging from -0.3% to -0.4% compared to the RTX 3080's average score of 23172. These results are surprising, as the RX 6600M is a laptop GPU and the R9 M290X is a much older mobile part, yet they all score within 0.4% of the RTX 3080 in the passmark benchmark suite. This suggests that for Thief, the RTX 3080's performance is not uniquely superior to these alternatives in this specific workload, and users with any of these GPUs paired with a similarly performing CPU would see comparable frame rates at the same settings.

The Verdict

The data shows that the Intel Core i7-14700KF with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 can run Thief at all three tested resolutions, but the playable settings vary by resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS threshold, with the Ultra preset averaging 133.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same is true: every preset maintains an average above 60 FPS, with Ultra at 93.7 FPS. The verdict is clear for these two resolutions: the system can handle the most demanding settings without any compromise.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The verdict lists Low and Medium as playable settings, with Medium being the best setting that achieves 77.5 FPS on average. The High and Ultra presets both fall to 54.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. This means that at 4K, the RTX 3080 cannot maintain a smooth experience at the higher presets, likely due to the combined load of resolution and advanced graphical effects. Users targeting 4K will need to select Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS, while those willing to accept lower frame rates can still run High or Ultra but will experience stutter or reduced smoothness.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining Thief's performance at higher settings. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra is 85.5 FPS (219.2 vs 133.7), while at 2560x1440, the same comparison shows a 72.5 FPS difference (166.2 vs 93.7). At 3840x2160, the gap narrows to 43.4 FPS (98.2 vs 54.8). This trend indicates that as resolution increases, the performance drop from higher presets becomes less severe in absolute terms, but the average frame rates also drop closer to the threshold. The fact that the gap between Low and Ultra shrinks at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck, as the pixel count increases and the graphics card's compute resources are saturated.

The CPU's role is more prominent at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom. At 1080p, the i7-14700KF's high single-core performance (628 in Cinebench R15 single-core) allows the system to reach 219.2 FPS at Low settings, which is likely near the game's engine limit. At 4K, however, the CPU's contribution is less visible, as the frame rates are constrained by the RTX 3080's rendering capacity. The data shows that the i7-14700KF is never the limiting factor at any resolution, as even at 4K Ultra (54.8 FPS), the frame rate is well below what the CPU could theoretically support. For this game, the GPU is the critical component for maintaining high frame rates at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU's performance is more than sufficient across all tested settings.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Thief at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 1080p?*

A: Yes, the Intel Core i7-14700KF with RTX 3080 achieves an average of 133.7 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming on this system?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the best playable option, averaging 77.5 FPS. High and Ultra both fall to 54.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest rival in benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080's average benchmark score is 23172, while its closest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23249, a difference of -0.3%. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M is also within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's score.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1440p?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440, the GPU is the primary factor, as the performance difference between Low (166.2 FPS) and Ultra (93.7 FPS) is 72.5 FPS, indicating the graphics card handles most of the workload.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average is 219.2 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that exceeds 200 FPS in the measured data.

Q: Does the High preset at 4K perform better than Ultra at 4K?

A: No, both High and Ultra at 3840x2160 produce the same average frame rate of 54.8 FPS, suggesting that these two presets have a similar performance cost at this resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 133.7 FPS. This provides the best visual quality without any performance concerns, as the frame rate is more than double the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also remains the best choice, averaging 93.7 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and offers the highest visual fidelity at this resolution, with enough headroom to handle occasional scene complexity without dropping below the threshold.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the most demanding setting that maintains 60 FPS, averaging 77.5 FPS. The High and Ultra presets both fall below 60 FPS, so Medium is the recommended configuration for 4K gaming on this system, providing a balance between visual quality and performance.