Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 produces a distinct performance profile in Thief, characterized by strong 1080p throughput that degrades predictably as resolution increases. The measured FPS data reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary scaling factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured results across resolutions, settings, and component roles to provide a complete picture of the combo’s capabilities in this stealth title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 90 at 1080p to 68 at 1440p, a reduction of 22 frames, and then further to 40 at 4K, representing a total drop of 50 frames from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced in absolute terms. The average FPS at 1080p is 110, dropping to 97 at 1440p (a 13-frame decrease) and then to 69 at 4K (a 28-frame decrease from 1440p). The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is approximately 37%, whereas at High settings the drop is approximately 56%. This differential suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is less stressed, allowing other factors to play a larger role, but the overall trend still points to the RX 9060 as the limiting component as resolution climbs.

The Medium settings row provides the only min and max FPS data points across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average is 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 114. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 88 FPS with a range of 74 to 101. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 52 FPS with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 60. The min FPS values at each resolution show that frame pacing remains relatively stable, with the gap between min and average widening slightly at 4K, indicating increased frame time variance under heavier load.

The scaling behavior suggests that the RX 9060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show a significant performance cliff. The jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings costs 28 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs only 22 FPS. This non-linear scaling is consistent with the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s becoming a constraint at 4K, where the pixel fill rate requirements outpace the available bandwidth.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 2000 series, built on the Zen architecture with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate a solid mid-range performer: a Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 1248 and a single-core score of 157.3, a Geekbench multi-core score of 5648 and single-core score of 1154, and a Passmark multi-thread score of 13160. The processor sits at the 75th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21484.

In Thief, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU across most measured configurations. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS of 110 suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently, as the frame rate is not limited by processing power. However, the single-core performance, as indicated by the Geekbench single-core score of 1154, is modest by modern standards, which could explain why the 1080p Low result does not exceed 110 FPS despite the GPU being capable of higher output.

The nearest rivals to the Ryzen 5 2600 in average benchmark score include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V at 21440 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-11900H at 21367 (0.5% higher), and the Intel Xeon D-1746TER at 21635 (0.7% lower). These deltas are all within 1.2%, indicating that the Ryzen 5 2600 performs competitively with these alternatives in general compute tasks. For Thief specifically, the 12 threads provide ample parallelism for game logic and physics, but the game’s reliance on single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 1080p scaling, means the boost clock of 3.90 GHz is the more critical factor.

The CPU’s 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 46.9 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GPU at 1080p, but the data shows that at 4K, the GPU’s limitations dominate, making the CPU’s role largely irrelevant to the final FPS numbers. The measured results indicate that the Ryzen 5 2600 is not the bottleneck in this pairing, as the FPS drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior rather than CPU stalls.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for this combo. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—deliver average FPS above 88, which is smooth for a stealth title. The difference between Low (110 FPS) and Ultra (88 FPS) is 22 FPS, meaning players can choose Ultra for maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing playability.

At 2560x1440, the situation remains favorable. Low settings yield 97 FPS, Medium 88 FPS, High 68 FPS, and Ultra 65 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 20 FPS, which is noticeable, but all presets remain above 60 FPS, making 1440p viable across the board. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, Medium at 1440p, with an average of 88 FPS and a minimum of 74 FPS, is the recommended sweet spot, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while providing better visuals than Low.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a more constrained picture. Low settings produce an average of 69 FPS, Medium 52 FPS, High 40 FPS, and Ultra 38 FPS. Only Low settings maintain an average above 60 FPS, while Medium dips below that threshold, and High and Ultra fall well below. For 4K gaming, the recommendation is to use Low settings if frame rate is the priority, as it is the only preset that avoids sub-60 FPS averages. However, the 52 FPS average at Medium might be acceptable for players who prefer visual quality over absolute smoothness, given that the minimum FPS at Medium is 45, which is still playable.

The data suggests that the best overall experience is at 1440p Medium, where the average FPS of 88 and minimum of 74 provide a robust margin, and the visual upgrade over Low is significant. At 1080p, Ultra is the recommended preset, as the 88 FPS average does not compromise playability. For 4K, the choice is between Low for performance and Medium for visuals, with the understanding that High and Ultra are not practical given the sub-45 FPS averages.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 90, with no min or max values recorded in the data.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium preset compare to 1080p Medium in terms of minimum FPS?

A: At 1440p Medium, the minimum FPS is 74, while at 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 84. This represents a 10 FPS reduction in the minimum frame rate when moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve its highest average FPS?

A: The highest average FPS of 110 is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 110 FPS.

Q: What is the average FPS drop from 1440p High to 4K High?

A: The average FPS drops from 68 at 1440p High to 40 at 4K High, a reduction of 28 FPS. This represents a 41% decrease in average frame rate.

Q: Does the 4K Medium preset maintain a minimum FPS above 60?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 45, which is below 60. The average FPS at this setting is 52.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-core performance relate to the 1080p Low result?

A: The Geekbench single-core score of 1154 and the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 157.3 indicate modest single-thread performance. The 110 FPS average at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s output at this setting, but the frame rate is not exceptionally high, which could be attributed to the CPU’s single-core limits.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, with 28 ray tracing cores. The GPU’s clock speeds are a base of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. Its memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 59th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with an average score of 16129 (0.7% higher), the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 15862 (1.0% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 at 15852 (1.0% lower). The RX 9060’s performance is thus closely matched to these cards, with all deltas within 2.1%.

In Thief, the GPU’s role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The 1080p results, ranging from 88 to 110 FPS across settings, show that the GPU is capable of high frame rates at this resolution. The 4K results, which fall to 38 FPS at Ultra and 40 FPS at High, indicate that the GPU’s 8 GB memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay at high visual fidelity. The pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 21.43 TFLOPS and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 suggest a mid-range graphics card that excels at lower resolutions. The measured FPS at 1440p Medium (88 average) and 1080p Ultra (88 average) are both strong results, indicating the RX 9060 is well-suited for these configurations. The GPU’s 59th percentile ranking means it outperforms roughly 59% of all GPUs in synthetic benchmarks, which aligns with its in-game performance at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data for Thief with the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 88 to 110 depending on settings. Low settings produce an average of 110 FPS, Medium produces 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 114, High produces 90 FPS, and Ultra produces 88 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 22 FPS, with the min FPS at Medium (84) being the only recorded minimum at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 65 to 97. Low settings produce an average of 97 FPS, Medium produces 88 FPS with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 101, High produces 68 FPS, and Ultra produces 65 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 32 FPS, which is wider than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU’s load is increasing with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 38 to 69. Low settings produce an average of 69 FPS, Medium produces 52 FPS with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 60, High produces 40 FPS, and Ultra produces 38 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 31 FPS, but the absolute values are much lower, with only Low settings achieving an average above 60 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the FPS drops for every settings preset. The largest absolute drop occurs from 1080p Low (110 FPS) to 4K Low (69 FPS), a total of 41 FPS. The smallest absolute drop occurs from 1080p Ultra (88 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (65 FPS), a total of 23 FPS, but the drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 27 FPS, showing that the 4K penalty is steep across all settings.

The min and max FPS data, available only for Medium settings, shows that frame pacing is consistent. At 1080p Medium, the min is 84 and max is 114, giving a range of 30 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min is 74 and max is 101, a range of 27 FPS. At 4K Medium, the min is 45 and max is 60, a range of 15 FPS. The narrowing range at 4K suggests that the GPU is more consistently stressed, reducing the variability in frame times.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 2154 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places the combo in the 75.5th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 75.5% of all tested combinations in this game. The rank of 2154 is relatively low in absolute terms, indicating that while this combo is above average, it is not positioned near the top of the performance hierarchy.

The combo’s ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the RX 9060’s 59th percentile against all GPUs suggests that many other graphics cards are capable of higher frame rates in Thief. The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking is higher, but the game is GPU-bound, so the GPU’s limitations drive the combo’s overall rank. The difference between the CPU and GPU percentiles highlights that the RX 9060 is the primary constraint on performance.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking. At 1080p, the combo achieves competitive frame rates that would likely place it in the top half of results, but the 4K performance, with averages below 70 FPS at all settings, drags the overall rank down. The combo’s rank of 2154 out of 2851 means that 697 tested combos perform worse, while 2153 perform better. This places the combo in the lower half of the performance distribution, despite its respectable 1080p and 1440p results.

Given the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 9060 is closely matched to the RTX 3060 Ti, R9 370X, and RX 7700 in average benchmark score. In Thief, the combo’s rank would likely be similar to what these rival GPUs would achieve with the same CPU, as the game is predominantly GPU-limited. The CPU’s nearest rivals, including the Core Ultra 5 228V and Core i9-11900H, have similar average scores, suggesting that swapping the CPU would have minimal impact on the combo’s rank in this game.