Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers a playable experience in Thief, but the data reveals a system that is heavily dependent on resolution and settings choices to maintain smooth frame rates. The measured results show a clear progression from a very capable 1080p performer to a system that struggles at 4K Ultra, making settings selection critical for the best experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience balances visual fidelity with a stable frame rate. For a 60 FPS target at 1080p, the "Medium" preset is the clear choice, delivering an average of 97 FPS with a minimum of 82 FPS. This provides a substantial performance headroom, ensuring the frame rate rarely drops below the refresh rate of a standard 60 Hz monitor.

The "High" preset at 1080p also remains viable, with an average of 74 FPS, but it offers less of a safety margin against dips in demanding scenes. The "Ultra" preset at 1080p yields an average of 70 FPS, which is still playable, but the "Medium" setting's higher minimum frame rate suggests a more consistent experience. The "Low" preset at 1080p produces an average of 128 FPS, which could be useful for competitive play or for users with high refresh-rate displays, though it comes at the cost of visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the performance landscape changes. The "Medium" preset again appears to be the optimal setting, averaging 66 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that achieves an average above 60 FPS. The "High" preset at 1440p averages 51 FPS, which is still playable but will require some compromise on the part of the user. The "Low" preset at 1440p averages 88 FPS, making it a strong candidate for a smoother experience, though it sacrifices the graphical improvements of higher settings.

The "Ultra" preset at 1440p drops to an average of 48 FPS, which is a significant step down and may be too low for users who prefer a steady 60 FPS. For 4K, the data shows that only the "Low" preset, with an average of 51 FPS, is close to a playable frame rate. The "Medium" preset at 4K averages 39 FPS, while "High" and "Ultra" fall to 30 FPS and 28 FPS respectively, which are not suitable for a smooth gameplay experience. Given the data, the most effective strategy is to prioritize the "Medium" preset for the best balance.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Thief at 4K resolution?*

A: The data shows that 4K is only marginally playable at the "Low" preset with an average of 51 FPS. The "Medium" preset at 4K averages 39 FPS, while "High" and "Ultra" average 30 FPS and 28 FPS, respectively, which are below the commonly accepted 60 FPS threshold but are still technically playable.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 128, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Which settings preset gives the most stable frame rate at 1080p?

A: The "Medium" preset at 1920x1080 provides a minimum FPS of 82 and a maximum FPS of 111, with an average of 97 FPS. This shows better frame pacing stability compared to other presets, which lack min/max data.

Q: How much of a difference is there between "Medium" and "Ultra" at 1440p?

A: The "Medium" preset at 2560x1440 averages 66 FPS, while the "Ultra" preset averages 48 FPS. This represents a significant drop of 18 FPS for the higher visual settings.

Q: Is the GTX 1070's VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory. At the highest settings and resolution tested (4K Ultra), the average frame rate is 28 FPS, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing power are the limiting factors at this level.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the "Low" and "Ultra" presets at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the "Low" preset averages 128 FPS, while "Ultra" averages 70 FPS. This shows a performance hit of 58 FPS, or roughly a 45% reduction in frame rate when moving to the highest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination is ranked 3079 out of 3720 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, indicating that while it can handle the game, it is not a top-tier performer. The percentile ranking suggests that there are many more powerful combinations available.

This ranking is a function of both the CPU and GPU. The CPU, ranking in the 71st percentile against all processors, is a solid performer. However, its performance is paired with a GPU that ranks in the 47th percentile of all graphics cards. The GPU's 47th percentile is a more limiting factor in this game's overall performance than the CPU's 71st percentile. The combo's rank in Thief highlights that the graphics card is the primary constraint preventing this system from achieving a higher placement.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS is detailed across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the "Low" preset leads with an average of 128 FPS. The "Medium" preset provides an average of 97 FPS, with a minimum of 82 and a maximum of 111 FPS. "High" settings produce an average of 74 FPS, while "Ultra" settings fall to an average of 70 FPS. The frame rate difference between "High" and "Ultra" is minimal, just 4 FPS, which might make "Ultra" a worthwhile visual investment for those with a 60 Hz monitor.

At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset averages 88 FPS, a 40 FPS drop from its 1080p counterpart. The "Medium" preset averages 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. "High" settings average 51 FPS, and "Ultra" settings average 48 FPS. The data shows a clear and consistent drop in performance as resolution increases, with a 22 FPS difference between "Low" and "Ultra" at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance ceiling is significantly lower. The "Low" preset averages 51 FPS, which is the only playable option. "Medium" settings average 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS. "High" settings average 30 FPS, and "Ultra" settings average 28 FPS. The gap between "Low" and "Ultra" at 4K is 23 FPS, similar to the gap at 1440p, which illustrates the GPU's inability to handle the higher pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the "Medium" preset results in a frame rate drop from 97 FPS to 66 FPS, a reduction of 31 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K is even more severe, with the average FPS falling from 66 FPS to 39 FPS, a drop of 27 FPS. This indicates that the system is heavily resolution-bound.

The "Low" preset shows a similar trend, dropping from 128 FPS at 1080p to 88 FPS at 1440p, and then to 51 FPS at 4K. This is a 77 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K, or a 60% loss in performance. This severe scaling strongly suggests that the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070's 8 GB of VRAM and 256.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 2 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The data shows that this CPU is a capable partner for this game. Its performance in Cinebench R23 is 13593 points in multi-core and 1919 points in single-core, which are solid scores. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as the 3dmark_max_threads score of 4889, suggest it has enough multi-threaded power to feed the GPU.

The CPU's performance is further corroborated by its ranking in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, which shows a strong processor. This is further evidenced by its performance in games, where, at 1080p "Low" settings, the system achieves a high average of 128 FPS. This suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the frame rate is high. However, as the resolution increases and the GPU load rises, the CPU's role becomes less prominent. The frame rate drops at higher resolutions are not a result of CPU limitations, but rather the GPU's ability to render the image. The data shows that the CPU is a stable platform that can keep up with the GPU at all tested settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal architecture GPU with a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz. It has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. The GPU's performance in the 47th percentile of all GPUs shows it is a mid-range card. Its benchmark scores, such as the Passmark G3D score of 13498, reflect its capability.

The GPU is clearly the main limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The frame rate drops as the rendering load increases, showing the GPU's inability to maintain high FPS. For example, at 4K with "Ultra" settings, the average FPS is 28. This is because the GTX 1070's memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s and its 64 ROPs are insufficient to process the large pixel count.

The data indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint on the system's performance in Thief. At 1080p, the system can produce high frame rates, but at 4K, it falls below the playable threshold. The GTX 1070's performance is a critical factor in the combo's overall ranking of 3079 out of 3720. The GPU's 47th percentile ranking aligns with the system's overall performance in this game, confirming that the GPU is the component that needs to be upgraded to improve frame rates at higher resolutions.