Thief

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the Intel Arc B370 lands at rank 2634 out of 2851 tested combinations in Thief. That places this build in the bottom percentile of all combos measured for this title, sitting roughly 92% down the leaderboard. The data shows a system that is functional but far from competitive, with the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all graphics cards being the primary anchor on overall placement.

The CPU itself is a mid-pack performer, holding the 75th percentile against all processors. Its average benchmark score of 21,484 places it within 0.2% of the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (21,440) and 0.5% of the Intel Core i9-11900H (21,367), while trailing the Intel Xeon D-1746TER by 0.7% (21,635) and leading the AMD EPYC 9454 by 1.2% (21,223). These are tight margins, indicating the Ryzen 5 2600 is a balanced, if unremarkable, processor in synthetic workloads.

However, the combination rank tells a different story than the CPU's individual standing. The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,184 puts it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1,186, a 0.2% deficit), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1,190, a 0.5% deficit), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1,192, a 0.7% deficit). The only card it beats among its closest peers is the AMD FirePro M2000 (1,168, a 1.4% lead). This is a GPU that is dramatically outclassed by modern standards, and in a 2014 stealth title like Thief, that limitation becomes the defining characteristic of the entire build.

The measured frame rates corroborate this ranking. Across all resolutions and settings, the combo never reaches 60 FPS at 4K, and only touches that threshold at 1080p Low. The gap between the CPU's respectable standing and the GPU's poor one creates a lopsided system where the graphics card is unequivocally the bottleneck. For a game that relies on smooth traversal and precise timing, this rank suggests a suboptimal experience.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. Its base clock runs at 300 MHz, boosting up to 2400 MHz, but the defining feature here is the memory configuration: the card uses System Shared memory, meaning it draws from the main system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The bus width and bandwidth are likewise listed as System Shared and System Dependent, respectively, which ties performance directly to the host platform's memory subsystem.

The GPU's compute resources include 1,280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, alongside 10 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 6.144 TFLOPS and FP16 at 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1). The TDP is a modest 25 W, and it occupies an IGP slot with no power connectors required. The bus interface is IGP, reinforcing that this is not a discrete card but an integrated part of the platform.

In Thief, the shared memory architecture becomes a critical constraint. The game's environments are dense with geometry and shadow detail, and the lack of dedicated VRAM means the Arc B370 must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth. The measured results show this clearly: at 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 59, but the minimum drops to 50 and the maximum reaches 68, indicating frame time variability that likely stems from memory contention. At 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 17 FPS, a figure that underscores the GPU's inability to handle high-resolution textures and effects.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,184 is the only synthetic benchmark available for this GPU, and it aligns with the in-game results. The 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs is not a statistical outlier; it is a reflection of a chip designed for basic graphical output, not demanding gaming workloads. For Thief, which was released in 2014 and has modest requirements by today's standards, the Arc B370 still struggles, suggesting that the shared memory and integrated nature fundamentally limit its throughput in real-time rendering scenarios.

# Resolution Scaling

The scaling behavior across resolutions reveals a GPU that is heavily taxed even at 1080p, with the CPU playing a minimal role in the bottlenecks observed. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on Low settings, the average FPS drops from 78 to 53, a 32% reduction. From 1440p to 3840x2160 on the same settings, the average falls from 53 to 31, another 41.5% reduction. The cumulative drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is from 78 to 31 FPS, a 60.3% decrease. These are steep declines that point squarely at the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth limitations.

At High settings, the scaling is similarly aggressive: 45 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p (a 31.1% drop), and 18 FPS at 4K (a 41.9% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows the same pattern: 43 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p (a 32.6% drop), and 17 FPS at 4K (a 41.4% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that resolution is the dominant factor, not the complexity of the scene or the preset's effects.

The data indicates that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between resolutions, as the CPU's workload would remain roughly constant while the GPU's render load increases. Instead, the FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The Ryzen 5 2600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads at a 3.90 GHz boost clock, has enough headroom to feed the Arc B370 at these frame rates, but the GPU simply cannot push more pixels.

The Medium preset's min and max FPS data further illustrate this. At 1080p Medium, the range is 50 to 68 FPS around a 59 average; at 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 35 to 47 around a 41 average; and at 4K Medium, the range tightens to 20 to 27 around a 24 average. As resolution increases, the variance shrinks because the GPU is saturated and frame times become more uniform under full load. This is a textbook GPU-bound behavior pattern, confirming that the Arc B370's shared memory and limited compute resources are the primary constraints.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p): The best-case scenario for this combo is at 1080p Low, where the average FPS reaches 78. This is the only setting where the system approaches a smooth experience, though it still falls short of high refresh rate territory. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 68, indicating playable but not perfectly stable performance. The High preset averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 14 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 2 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the higher presets where the GPU is already struggling to maintain frame pacing.

2560x1440 (1440p): At this resolution, the combo begins to show significant strain. Low settings average 53 FPS, which is playable but requires a compromise on visual quality. Medium averages 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47, putting it on the edge of acceptable smoothness. High drops to 31 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 24 FPS, a substantial gap that forces users to choose between fluidity and fidelity. The data shows that 1440p is only viable on Low or Medium settings, and even then, the experience is marginal.

3840x2160 (4K): The 4K results are uniformly poor. Low settings average 31 FPS, which is technically playable but below the threshold for a smooth stealth game experience. Medium averages 24 FPS, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27, indicating stutter-prone performance. High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. At these frame rates, the game becomes essentially unplayable, with the GPU's pixel rate and shared memory bandwidth proving insufficient for 4K rendering. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 14 FPS, highlighting that even the lowest settings cannot salvage a playable experience at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the only data with min and max FPS values, allowing for a closer look at frame consistency. At 1080p, the variance is 18 FPS (50 to 68); at 1440p, it narrows to 12 FPS (35 to 47); and at 4K, it narrows to 7 FPS (20 to 27). This tightening variance with resolution confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, as it becomes increasingly saturated and unable to deliver higher peak frames.

# FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for the Intel Arc B370 in Thief?

A: No. The CPU holds the 75th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 21,484, while the GPU sits at the 5th percentile with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,184. The FPS scaling across resolutions shows the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU has ample headroom at the measured frame rates.

Q: Can this combo run Thief at 60 FPS?

A: Only at 1080p Low, where the average FPS is 78. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. All other resolutions and settings fall short, with 1440p Low averaging 53 FPS and 4K Low averaging 31 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief?

A: 1080p is the only resolution where any settings produce a playable experience. The data shows 1080p Low at 78 FPS and 1080p Medium at 59 FPS as the viable options. 1440p and 4K are not recommended, as even Low settings at 1440p only reach 53 FPS, and 4K results are all below 32 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,184 is within 1.4% of its closest competitors. It trails the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 by 0.2%, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 by 0.5%, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M by 0.7%, while leading the AMD FirePro M2000 by 1.4%.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 2600's memory bandwidth affect the Arc B370's performance?

A: The GPU uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth, meaning the CPU's dual-channel DDR4 support at 46.9 GB/s directly impacts GPU performance. However, the measured FPS data shows the GPU's compute and fill rate limits are the primary constraints, not the memory subsystem.

Q: What is the frame consistency like at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the FPS ranges from 50 to 68 around a 59 average. At 1440p Medium, the range is 35 to 47 around a 41 average. At 4K Medium, the range narrows to 20 to 27 around a 24 average. The variance decreases as resolution increases, indicating a fully saturated GPU at higher pixel counts.

# Settings Recommendations

The data strongly suggests that 1080p is the only resolution worth considering for this combo in Thief. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 78 provides a smooth, responsive experience that suits the stealth genre's need for precise movement and quick reaction times. This is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS bar, and it does so with enough margin to absorb occasional frame drops without dipping into stutter territory.

For users who prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, 1080p Medium is a reasonable compromise. The average of 59 FPS is technically below 60, but the minimum of 50 and maximum of 68 suggest that the experience is mostly stable, with only occasional dips. The jump from Low to Medium improves texture detail and shadow quality, which are important in Thief's dimly lit environments. However, the 19 FPS drop from Low to Medium is significant, and users should be prepared for a less consistent frame pacing.

The High and Ultra presets at 1080p are not recommended. High averages 45 FPS and Ultra averages 43 FPS, both of which fall into a range where fast camera movements can produce noticeable judder. The 2 FPS difference between High and Ultra indicates that the GPU is already at its limit, and the visual gains from Ultra are unlikely to justify the performance cost. At 1440p, even Low settings only reach 53 FPS, making this resolution a poor choice for a game that rewards smoothness. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35, which will feel sluggish in action sequences.

4K should be avoided entirely. The best 4K result is 31 FPS on Low, and the Ultra preset averages 17 FPS. These frame rates are below the playability threshold for a stealth game where timing and situational awareness are critical. The GPU's shared memory and 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance simply cannot handle the pixel throughput required at 3840x2160.

The optimal configuration, based on the measured data, is 1080p Low for maximum smoothness or 1080p Medium for a balance of visuals and performance. Users who insist on higher resolutions should accept that the experience will be compromised, with 1440p Low being the only marginally playable option outside of 1080p. The Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU ranking and the combo's 2634th place out of 2851 tested combinations make it clear that this system is built for basic tasks, not high-end gaming. Thief, despite being a 2014 title, exposes the GPU's limitations, and the settings recommendations reflect a hardware reality that cannot be overcome through in-game tweaks alone.