Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination delivers playable performance in Thief, though its ranking is surprisingly low. The data shows a strong pairing for 1080p gaming, with a significant drop-off at 4K that highlights the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions. The measured results indicate a system where the CPU provides ample headroom, leaving the RTX 2060 as the primary determinant of frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combo in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 1383 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the lower percentile of systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 77.7 FPS, which is a smooth experience for the stealth genre.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there when moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 84.5 FPS at 1080p to 59.2 FPS at 1440p, a substantial decrease of roughly 30%.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 able to maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: No, at 3840x2160, the average frame rate is 31 FPS on High settings. Even on the lowest settings, it only reaches 55 FPS, which falls short of a consistent 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the RX 7600S's score of 15996, indicating nearly identical performance.

Q: What is the CPU's single-core performance score?

A: In Cinebench R23, the Ryzen 5 2600 scores 1579 points in the single-core test, while its multi-core score is 11186 points.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the central component for rendering Thief’s environments. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 1365 MHz, which can boost up to 1680 MHz. This configuration, with 1920 shading units, is the defining factor in the measured frame rates.

The data shows a clear pattern: the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 110.7 FPS, but at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 35.1. This 75% performance drop is a direct consequence of the GPU having to render over four times as many pixels. The RTX 2060’s 6 GB frame buffer is sufficient for Thief at these settings, as the game is from 2014, but the raw processing power of the TU106 chip is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is far more capable at 1080p, where it can push frame rates well above 60 FPS on all settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 holds a rank of 1383 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the lower 16th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking is surprising given the individual components’ benchmark scores. The CPU has a percentile rank of 77 against all CPUs, and the GPU has a percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs. Their average benchmark scores are 19616 and 16074, respectively.

The low combo rank suggests that while the components are individually competent, the pairing does not excel in this specific game’s engine. The data implies that other factors, such as game optimization or a potential bottleneck, are at play. The RTX 2060’s closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5700, has a slightly higher average score of 16351, which is 1.7% better. The Ryzen 5 2600’s closest rival, the Intel Core i5-1345U, scores 19691, a mere 0.4% higher. These small differences in synthetic benchmarks do not translate to a high ranking in real-world Thief gameplay, where the system falls behind many other configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system is consistently strong. The average frame rates are 110.7 FPS on Low, 97.2 FPS on Medium, 84.5 FPS on High, and 77.7 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that the system can handle any setting at 1080p, with even the most demanding preset providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but manageable. The average frame rates are 97.3 FPS on Low, 76 FPS on Medium, 59.2 FPS on High, and 52.9 FPS on Ultra. This shows a clear trend: the system begins to struggle with the higher pixel count, particularly on High and Ultra settings. At 3840x2160, the system is heavily taxed. The average frame rates fall to 55 FPS on Low, 43.7 FPS on Medium, 31 FPS on High, and 35.1 FPS on Ultra. These results clearly indicate that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo if a smooth experience is desired, as even Low settings cannot consistently hit 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis reveals a steep performance curve. The most telling comparison is the progression at High settings: the average FPS goes from 84.5 at 1080p, to 59.2 at 1440p, and finally to 31 at 4K. This represents a 30% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48% drop from 1440p to 4K. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the game’s rendering load scales heavily with resolution.

This scaling behavior points directly to the GPU as the limiting factor. The CPU’s performance, as measured by its multi-core score of 11186 in Cinebench R23, is likely sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. However, as the resolution increases, the GPU’s workload grows exponentially, and it becomes the bottleneck. The fact that the FPS nearly halves at each resolution step-up, rather than degrading gradually, is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 2060’s pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are simply not enough to keep up with the demands of 4K rendering in Thief.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 serves as a solid foundation for this system. It is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. Its architecture is based on Zen (Pinnacle Ridge), which is a 12 nm design from GlobalFoundries. The CPU has a 16 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s.

In Thief, the CPU’s role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The benchmark results show that at 1080p, the frame rates are high, but they do not scale perfectly with the CPU’s capabilities. For instance, the CPU’s Cinebench R20 multi-core score is 4698, and its single-core score is 663. These are respectable numbers, but they do not translate into a top-tier gaming rank. The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration. The frame rates are more heavily influenced by the GPU, as evidenced by the significant performance drop at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 5 2600 provides enough processing power to avoid holding back the RTX 2060 at lower resolutions, but it is not a component that will maximize frame rates in a highly CPU-bound scenario. Its average benchmark score of 19616 places it just 0.7% behind the Intel Core i7-10700F, which shows it is a competitive processor for its class.