Thief

Thief is a 2014 stealth title that scales broadly across resolutions, and this pairing of an AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a predictable curve: strong at 1080p, very playable at 1440p, and demanding at 4K. The measured data shows a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the 6-core/12-thread CPU keeps pace without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. This is a balanced combo for a game that rewards smooth framerates over raw fidelity, but the 4K Ultra results confirm that you will need to make compromises if you want to run at native 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck sits. At High settings, the average framerate falls from 90 FPS at 1920x1080 to 62 FPS at 2560x1440, then plummets to 36 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 40% reduction going from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 42% drop when moving to 4K. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario: the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus are being saturated as pixel count rises, while the Ryzen 5 4600G’s Zen 2 architecture has enough headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more revealing. The 1080p Low result of 130 FPS drops to 107 FPS at 1440p (a 18% reduction) and then to 63 FPS at 4K (a 41% drop from 1440p). The fact that Low settings at 4K still only produce 63 FPS indicates that the GPU’s raw throughput—7.181 TFLOPS FP32—is the limiting factor, not the CPU’s 3.70 GHz base clock or 4.20 GHz boost clock. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect the gap between 1440p and 4K to narrow significantly at Low settings, but it does not.

Medium settings show the most consistent frame pacing across resolutions, with 118 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. The min FPS values for Medium are also recorded: 100 at 1080p, 69 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K. These minimums are all within 15-20% of the averages, which suggests that the frame time variance is manageable even when the GPU is under heavy load. The 4K Medium result of 48 FPS with a 40 FPS minimum is borderline playable, but it highlights that 4K on this GPU requires turning down settings to Low to maintain a smooth experience.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, and the data shows a hard wall at 4K. The 1080p Ultra result of 86 FPS is respectable, and 1440p Ultra still manages 59 FPS, but 4K Ultra collapses to 35 FPS. That 4K Ultra figure is below the 40 FPS threshold that most players would consider acceptable for a stealth game, and it confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is not a 4K Ultra card for this title. The gap between 1440p Ultra (59 FPS) and 4K Ultra (35 FPS) is a 41% reduction, mirroring the scaling seen at other settings and reinforcing that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for a 60 FPS target depends entirely on your resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings are viable: 86 FPS average with no recorded minimums below 60, and you could even push for higher refresh rates with Medium (118 FPS) or Low (130 FPS) if you have a 120Hz or 144Hz display. For a 1080p gamer, Ultra is the sensible choice because it delivers a smooth experience without sacrificing visual quality, and the 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the sweet spot is High settings, which produce 62 FPS average. This is just above the 60 FPS target, and the lack of recorded minimums suggests it is stable. Medium at 1440p gives you headroom with 81 FPS and a 69 FPS minimum, which is safer if you want to avoid any dips during busy scenes. Ultra at 1440p drops to 59 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves no margin for error. If you have a G-Sync or FreeSync monitor, the 59 FPS Ultra result is acceptable, but High is the more practical recommendation for consistent frame delivery.

At 4K (3840x2160), the data is clear: Low settings are the only way to get a smooth experience. The Low preset yields 63 FPS average, which is above 60, but Medium drops to 48 FPS and High falls to 36 FPS. The 4K Low result is surprising in a positive way—it shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER can handle 4K in this game if you are willing to disable most graphical effects. However, 4K Medium at 48 FPS is a compromise that many players might accept for a stealth game where reaction time is less critical, and the 40 FPS minimum is still above the stutter threshold. For a strictly locked 60 FPS at 4K, Low is the only option, but if you can tolerate 45-50 FPS, Medium provides a better visual experience.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Ryzen 5 4600G and RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2757 out of 3720 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the 74th percentile of all pairings. That is a solid mid-pack result, but it is not exceptional. The GPU’s individual percentile is 62, meaning it outperforms 62% of all GPUs tested, while the CPU’s percentile is 71. The CPU is relatively stronger than the GPU, which aligns with the resolution scaling data: at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor.

Looking at the nearest rivals, the CPU sits very close to its competitors. The Ryzen 5 4600G has an average benchmark score of 17507, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482) and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core 7 150U (17395). It is 0.6% slower than the AMD Ryzen 3 8300GE (17614) and 0.8% slower than the Intel Core i3-14100T (17648). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the 4600G is not a performance outlier—it is right in the expected range for its class. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for Thief, which was released in 2014 and does not heavily utilize modern multi-threading.

The GPU’s nearest rivals show a similar pattern. The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It is 1.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373 score, but note the delta is -1.5% meaning the 2060 SUPER is slower) and 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A770M (18383). Wait, the deltas are negative for those two, meaning the rivals score higher. So the RTX 2060 SUPER is actually 1.5% slower than the Radeon RX 460 and 1.6% slower than the Arc A770M in aggregate benchmarks. That is surprising given the architecture differences, but for Thief specifically, the measured FPS data is what matters, and the 2060 SUPER delivers playable results at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER shows its strength. Low settings produce 130 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 118 FPS with a 100 FPS minimum and 135 FPS maximum, providing a wide margin for high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings drop to 90 FPS, and Ultra settles at 86 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS (90 vs 86), which suggests that Ultra is not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution, or that the CPU is starting to limit the frame rate. The 130 FPS Low result indicates that the GPU has headroom, and the CPU’s 4.20 GHz boost clock is sufficient to drive high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings hit 107 FPS, which is still very smooth. Medium produces 81 FPS with a 69 FPS minimum and 93 FPS maximum, making it the safest choice for a 60 FPS lock with room to spare. High settings deliver 62 FPS, which is right at the edge of a 60 Hz display’s refresh rate. Ultra drops to 59 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The 1440p data shows a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra, with each step costing roughly 15-20 FPS. The Medium minimum of 69 FPS is particularly notable because it means even the worst-case frame times are above 60 FPS, making Medium the most reliable preset for 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060 SUPER struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 63 FPS, which is just above 60, but the next step down in quality is steep: Medium drops to 48 FPS with a 40 FPS minimum, and High falls to 36 FPS. Ultra is effectively unplayable at 35 FPS. The 4K results confirm that this GPU is not designed for 4K gaming in demanding titles, even one from 2014. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 15 FPS (63 vs 48), which is a significant visual trade-off. Players who want 4K should stick to Low settings or accept a sub-60 FPS experience with Medium.

FAQ

Q: Can I run Thief at 4K with this CPU/GPU combo?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produces 63 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 48 FPS with a 40 FPS minimum, and High/Ultra fall below 40 FPS (36 and 35 respectively). If you want a locked 60 FPS at 4K, Low is the only viable preset.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: Medium settings give you 81 FPS average with a 69 FPS minimum, which is the safest choice for smooth gameplay. High settings achieve 62 FPS average, but with no recorded minimums, there is less certainty about frame dips. Ultra is borderline at 59 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 4600G a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 130 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it still hits 86 FPS. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.20 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the RTX 2060 SUPER at this resolution. The GPU is the limiting factor as resolution increases.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2757 out of 3720 combos, placing it in the 74th percentile. The CPU is in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-pack result, not a top-tier pairing.

Q: What is the difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The measured average FPS is 90 for High and 86 for Ultra, a difference of only 4 FPS. This suggests that Ultra is not significantly more demanding than High at 1080p, so you can enable Ultra without a major performance penalty.

Q: Should I use Medium settings at 4K if I want better visuals?

A: Medium at 4K produces 48 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum. This is playable for a stealth game, but you will notice occasional dips below 45 FPS. If you prefer consistent frame pacing, Low (63 FPS) is the better choice, but Medium offers a significant visual upgrade for a 15 FPS cost.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Renoir, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 8 MB of shared L3 cache. In Thief, a game released in 2014, this CPU is more than adequate. The game was designed for the multi-core processors of its era, and the 4600G’s 12 threads provide ample headroom for the game’s AI, physics, and rendering threads.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its capability. In Cinebench R23, it scores 13593 multi-core and 1919 single-core. The single-core score is particularly relevant for older games like Thief, which often rely on a few heavily loaded threads. The 4600G’s single-thread performance, measured at 726 in 3DMark single-thread and 2653 in PassMark single-thread, is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 130 FPS Low result.

However, the CPU’s role becomes less critical as resolution increases. At 4K, the RTX 2060 SUPER’s pixel throughput is the limiting factor, and the CPU’s performance is irrelevant beyond ensuring that it can feed frames fast enough. The 4600G’s 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR4 dual-channel) is also sufficient for this workload. The CPU’s nearest rivals—the Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE and Intel Core i3-14100T—show performance deltas of less than 1%, confirming that the 4600G is not an outlier in either direction. In practice, the CPU will not hold back this GPU in Thief, and the measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates across all settings and resolutions.