Thief

# Thief with AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among all tested CPU-GPU combinations in Thief?

A: This pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 1387 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 posts an average benchmark score of 18129, sitting 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150), 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18101), 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18158), and 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 9274F (18189).

Q: What is the GTX 1070's standing relative to its closest GPU competitors?

A: The GTX 1070 averages 12331 in GPU benchmarks, placing it 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241), 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M (12490), 1.4% behind the GTX 1650 SUPER (12504), and 1.7% behind the Tesla K20Xm (12547).

Q: Does the combo achieve playable frame rates at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 the combination delivers 67.6 FPS at Ultra settings, 76.2 FPS at High, 96.2 FPS at Medium, and 128 FPS at Low, meaning all settings produce at least 60 FPS.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between settings at a given resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the difference between Low (51.3 FPS) and Ultra (30.3 FPS) is 21 FPS, while at 1080p the gap from Low to Ultra is 60.4 FPS (128 vs 67.6).

Q: Is the GTX 1070's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Thief's Ultra settings?

A: Based on the measured data, the 8 GB GDDR5 memory with 256.3 GB/s bandwidth supports all tested settings, though frame rates at 4K Ultra drop to 30.3 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor rather than memory capacity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 operates with a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, built on the Pascal architecture with 1920 shading units. Its memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications directly influence Thief's performance, as the game's rendering demands scale with both pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

At 1080p, the GTX 1070's capabilities are more than adequate. The data shows the GPU maintains 67.6 FPS at Ultra, which is the most demanding preset tested. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is substantial, indicating that the GPU has headroom to handle increased visual complexity. The 1070's 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate provide the raw throughput needed for the game's environments and lighting effects.

Moving to 1440p, the GPU's workload increases significantly. The measured 48.6 FPS at Ultra and 50.9 FPS at High show a noticeable drop from 1080p, but the card still manages playable frame rates. At 4K, however, the GTX 1070 begins to struggle with the highest settings. The 29 FPS at High and 30.3 FPS at Ultra indicate that the GPU is saturated, even with 8 GB of VRAM available. The memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s becomes a constraint at this resolution, as the game requires more data movement per frame.

The 1070's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance is sufficient for Thief's DirectX 12 (12_1) rendering path, but the data suggests that higher resolutions push the card past its comfortable operating envelope. The GPU's 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs underscores that it sits near the middle of the performance distribution, which aligns with the observed frame rates in Thief.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo achieves 128 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 51.3 FPS at 4K on the same preset — a 60% reduction. For Ultra settings, the drop from 67.6 FPS at 1080p to 30.3 FPS at 4K represents a 55% decrease. These ratios highlight how the GTX 1070's fixed pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior differs across settings. At Low, the 1080p to 1440p drop is from 128 to 86.9 FPS, a 32% reduction, while the 1440p to 4K drop is from 86.9 to 51.3 FPS, a 41% reduction. This accelerating decline suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are increasingly strained. At Ultra, the 1080p to 1440p drop is from 67.6 to 48.6 FPS (28%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is from 48.6 to 30.3 FPS (38%), showing a similar pattern.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. The Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides sufficient single-thread performance (as indicated by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2124) to keep the GPU fed at 1080p. However, at 4K, the GPU's limitations dominate, and the CPU's contribution to frame rate differences diminishes. The data shows that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, particularly at higher settings where the rendering load increases.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all settings produce at least 67.6 FPS, so Ultra is the clear choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The 128 FPS at Low demonstrates headroom, but the 60 FPS margin between Low and Ultra favors the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 50.9 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS threshold but slightly below. Medium at 68.8 FPS provides a smoother experience while maintaining decent visual quality. Ultra at 48.6 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced stealth gameplay, but Medium or High offers a better balance. The data suggests Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it stays comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, none of the settings reach 60 FPS. Low at 51.3 FPS is the only preset above 50 FPS, while Medium drops to 42 FPS and High/Ultra fall below 31 FPS. For 4K play, Low is the only viable option, and even then, the experience will not be consistently smooth. Players prioritizing frame rate over resolution should consider 1440p with Medium, while those preferring visual quality might accept the 30.3 FPS at Ultra.

The measured data shows that the GTX 1070's sweet spot in Thief is 1080p Ultra, where it delivers 67.6 FPS. At 1440p, Medium provides the best compromise, and at 4K, only Low settings are playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1387 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the 84th percentile from the bottom. This low ranking reflects the age of the components — the Ryzen 5 3600 released in 2019 and the GTX 1070 in 2016 — relative to newer hardware in the database. The CPU's 76th percentile ranking among all CPUs shows it remains competitive, but the GPU's 51st percentile drags the overall combo down.

The nearest CPU rivals provide context for the processor's contribution. The Ryzen 5 3600's average score of 18129 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150), with a delta of -0.1%. This means the CPU is not the primary factor holding the combo back in Thief. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the Quadro K4200 and GTX 880M, are all within 1.7% of the 1070's score, indicating that the GPU sits in a dense performance cluster.

Thief's age (released in 2014) means it may not fully utilize the Ryzen 5 3600's multi-threading capabilities, as evidenced by the CPU's PassMark multithread score of 17700 versus its single-thread score of 2562. The game likely benefits more from the CPU's single-core performance, which is adequate but not exceptional. The combo's rank suggests that while individual components perform at their expected levels, the pairing does not overcome the GPU's limitations in this specific title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 128, Medium 96.2, High 76.2, and Ultra 67.6. The progression from Low to Medium is a 24.8% reduction, from Medium to High is a 20.8% reduction, and from High to Ultra is an 11.3% reduction. This diminishing impact of higher settings at 1080p indicates that the GPU has sufficient headroom to handle increased visual complexity.

At 2560x1440, the values are: Low 86.9, Medium 68.8, High 50.9, and Ultra 48.6. The Low to Medium drop is 20.8%, Medium to High is 26.0%, and High to Ultra is 4.5%. The small difference between High and Ultra (2.3 FPS) suggests that Ultra's additional effects have minimal impact at this resolution, making High a nearly equivalent alternative.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low 51.3, Medium 42, High 29, and Ultra 30.3. Notably, High and Ultra are nearly identical, with Ultra actually 1.3 FPS higher than High. This anomaly may reflect measurement variance or specific scene characteristics, but it underscores that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K. The Low to Medium drop is 18.1%, Medium to High is 31.0%, and High to Ultra is essentially flat.

The data reveals that the GTX 1070's performance ceiling in Thief is reached at 4K Ultra with 30.3 FPS, while its best performance is at 1080p Low with 128 FPS. The combo's overall rank of 1387 out of 1642 indicates that while the hardware is functional, it does not deliver competitive frame rates in this game at higher resolutions. Players using this combination should target 1080p for the best experience, with 1440p Medium as a viable alternative for higher resolution without major frame rate sacrifices.