Thief

# FAQ

Q: What is the measured performance of this combination in Thief at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves 144 FPS on Low settings, 130 FPS on Medium, 118 FPS on High, and 116 FPS on Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500X3D has an average benchmark score of 37018. It sits 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (36938), while being 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093) and 0.3% below the Intel Core i9-12900T (37112).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all graphics cards?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER holds an 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43223. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, scores 43262, a 0.1% difference.

Q: Does the game run better at 1440p or 4K with this setup?

A: The data shows higher frame rates at 2560x1440 across all settings compared to 3840x2160. At Medium settings, 1440p delivers 115 FPS average versus 87 FPS at 4K. At High settings, 1440p delivers 104 FPS versus 66 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded in the measured data?

A: The maximum FPS recorded is 149, observed at 1920x1080 on Medium settings. The same settings at 2560x1440 produce a maximum of 132 FPS, and at 3840x2160 the maximum is 100 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Thief?

A: This CPU-GPU combination ranks 918th out of 2851 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the upper third of all tested systems.

---

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary driver of frame rates in Thief, given the game's release era and the GPU's modern architecture. The card features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves adequate for the game's demands, as evidenced by the measured performance scaling across resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds are substantial: a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. Memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective data rate. These clocks, combined with 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation units, produce a peak pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute throughput stands at 35.48 TFLOPS, with FP16 matching at 35.48 TFLOPS.

In Thief, the RTX 4070 SUPER's performance is consistent with its hardware specifications. At 1080p Ultra, the card delivers 116 FPS average, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 63 FPS. This 53 FPS difference across resolution scaling indicates that the GPU remains the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions. The card's ray tracing capabilities, with 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, are present but largely irrelevant for this 2014 title, which predates widespread RT implementation.

The GPU's benchmark results reinforce its position: a PassMark G3D score of 29995 and a PassMark GPU compute score of 17108. Its DirectX 11 score of 273 is particularly relevant for Thief, which utilizes DX11 features. The card's percentile ranking of 83 among all GPUs places it above the majority of graphics hardware, and its nearest rivals show minimal performance deltas—the Quadro M6000 24 GB trails by 0.1%, and the RTX 4090 Mobile leads by 1%.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is never a limiting factor in Thief, as the game's texture requirements are modest by modern standards. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s ensures that even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU processes significantly more pixels, the frame delivery remains consistent. The measured 4K Medium result of 87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum demonstrates adequate memory throughput under load.

---

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, all settings presets deliver playable frame rates. Low settings produce 144 FPS average, Medium 130 FPS, High 118 FPS, and Ultra 116 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal—only 2 FPS—suggesting that Ultra provides nearly equivalent performance to High while offering maximum visual fidelity. For 1080p users, Ultra is the recommended preset, as the 116 FPS average remains well above typical 60 Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance gap widens slightly. Low delivers 127 FPS, Medium 115 FPS, High 104 FPS, and Ultra 102 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 11 FPS, while High to Ultra costs only 2 FPS. For 1440p, High settings provide the best balance, offering 104 FPS average with minimal sacrifice compared to Ultra. The 115 FPS Medium setting is viable for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual improvement from Medium to High justifies the 11 FPS reduction for most users.

At 3840x2160, the choice becomes more constrained. Low yields 106 FPS, Medium 87 FPS, High 66 FPS, and Ultra 63 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 19 FPS, while Medium to High costs another 21 FPS. Ultra provides only 3 FPS less than High, making it a reasonable alternative for those prioritizing maximum quality. For 4K, Medium is recommended as the best experience—87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum and 100 FPS maximum—maintaining smooth gameplay while offering improved visuals over Low. The 66 FPS High setting approaches the 60 FPS threshold, making it suitable for users with standard 60 Hz displays who want enhanced quality.

The measured data shows diminishing returns at the Ultra preset across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra is only 1.7% slower than High; at 1440p, the difference is 1.9%; at 4K, it is 4.5%. This pattern suggests the Ultra preset's additional effects have limited impact on performance in Thief, making it a safe choice for most configurations.

---

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080

At Full HD, the system demonstrates strong performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 144 FPS, establishing the ceiling for this resolution. Medium settings deliver 130 FPS average, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 149 FPS—the highest frame rate recorded in the entire dataset. High settings yield 118 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 116 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a total reduction of 28 FPS, with the most significant single-step drop occurring between Medium and High (12 FPS). The High-to-Ultra transition costs only 2 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset adds minimal rendering overhead at this resolution.

2560x1440

At QHD, the performance remains robust but shows clearer scaling. Low settings average 127 FPS, a 17 FPS reduction from 1080p. Medium settings deliver 115 FPS average, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. High settings produce 104 FPS average, while Ultra settings achieve 102 FPS. The total reduction from Low to Ultra is 25 FPS. The Medium-to-High step costs 11 FPS, and the High-to-Ultra step costs 2 FPS. Compared to 1080p, the 1440p results at each setting are lower by 17 FPS (Low), 15 FPS (Medium), 14 FPS (High), and 14 FPS (Ultra), respectively.

3840x2160

At 4K UHD, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings average 106 FPS, representing a 21 FPS drop from 1440p. Medium settings deliver 87 FPS average, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. High settings produce 66 FPS average, while Ultra settings yield 63 FPS. The cumulative reduction from Low to Ultra is 43 FPS, with the Low-to-Medium step costing 19 FPS and the Medium-to-High step costing 21 FPS. The High-to-Ultra step costs only 3 FPS. Compared to 1440p, the 4K results are lower by 21 FPS (Low), 28 FPS (Medium), 38 FPS (High), and 39 FPS (Ultra), illustrating the increasing pixel-count penalty at higher settings.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the most complete dataset with both minimum and maximum FPS values, offering the clearest picture of frame time consistency. The 1080p Medium minimum of 110 FPS and the 1440p Medium minimum of 97 FPS both indicate stable performance, while the 4K Medium minimum of 74 FPS still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold comfortably.

---

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals distinct scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the progression is 144 FPS (1080p) → 127 FPS (1440p) → 106 FPS (4K). This represents an 11.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 16.5% drop from 1440p to 4K, for a total reduction of 26.4% across the full range.

At Medium settings, the progression is 130 FPS → 115 FPS → 87 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 11.5%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 24.3%, totaling 33.1% overall. At High settings, the progression is 118 FPS → 104 FPS → 66 FPS, with drops of 11.9% and 36.5%, respectively, totaling 44.1%. At Ultra settings, the progression is 116 FPS → 102 FPS → 63 FPS, showing drops of 12.1% and 38.2%, totaling 45.7%.

These scaling patterns indicate that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution rises. The relatively modest 11-12% drops from 1080p to 1440p across all settings suggest that the RTX 4070 SUPER has ample headroom at lower resolutions, where the CPU may be contributing to frame delivery. However, the substantial 16.5% to 38.2% drops from 1440p to 4K—particularly at High and Ultra settings—point to the GPU's pixel-processing throughput becoming the limiting factor at 4K.

The widening gap between Low and Ultra settings at higher resolutions further confirms this interpretation. At 1080p, the Low-to-Ultra difference is 28 FPS; at 1440p, it is 25 FPS; at 4K, it is 43 FPS. The larger absolute difference at 4K indicates that the GPU is spending more time on pixel shading and memory bandwidth operations as resolution increases, with the Ultra preset's additional effects exacerbating this load.

The data suggests that for a game like Thief, which was released in 2014 and has relatively modest geometric complexity, the RTX 4070 SUPER's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key determinants of 4K performance. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's contribution is more significant, as evidenced by the smaller performance gaps between presets.

---

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename), manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a substantial 96 MB shared L3 cache—a defining characteristic of the X3D variant that benefits games with large working sets.

In Thief, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is not fully saturated. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 144 FPS, which likely approaches the game's engine-level frame rate ceiling or the CPU's single-thread limit. The PassMark single-thread score of 2941 and the multithread score of 20363 provide context: the processor's single-thread capability is moderate, while its multithread performance is strong for a 6-core part.

The CPU's PassMark physics score of 2282 is relevant for game physics calculations, and the floating-point math score of 34511 suggests adequate computational throughput for Thief's simulation logic. The integer math score of 60033 and extended instructions score of 15925 indicate robust general-purpose processing. The data compression score of 230392 and random string sorting score of 23675 reflect the cache and memory subsystem efficiency, which the 96 MB L3 cache enhances.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5500X3D's average benchmark score of 37018 places it in a tight cluster. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112 (0.3% higher). These minimal deltas suggest that for Thief, the CPU is unlikely to be a differentiating factor among these processors—the game's performance is more dependent on GPU capabilities.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with its memory support for DDR4 at 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, indicates that it can feed the RTX 4070 SUPER adequately at 1080p and 1440p. However, the 4K results, where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, show that the CPU's influence diminishes as resolution increases. The measured FPS differences between 1440p and 4K at each setting are substantial, confirming the GPU's dominance in this configuration.

---

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 918th out of 2851 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the 67.8th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the overall capability of the pairing across the measured resolutions and settings.

Given the CPU's 85th percentile and GPU's 83rd percentile individual rankings, the combo's 67.8th percentile game-specific rank is slightly lower than either component's standalone percentile. This discrepancy suggests that Thief's engine does not fully leverage the strengths of both components simultaneously—the game's 2014 vintage means it cannot utilize modern multi-threading or GPU features to their fullest extent.

The combo's rank is consistent with its measured performance. At 1080p, the system achieves 116-144 FPS across settings, which is strong but not exceptional for a modern mid-high-end GPU. At 4K, the 63-106 FPS range is respectable, but the GPU's 83rd percentile ranking implies that higher-ranked GPUs would deliver proportionally better frame rates at this resolution.

The nearest GPU rivals provide context for the combo's positioning. The RTX 4070 SUPER's average score of 43223 is within 1% of the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262), RTX 5050 Mobile (43268), Quadro M6000 (43301), and RTX 4090 Mobile (43667). These small deltas mean that systems using these GPUs would likely achieve similar Thief performance, assuming comparable CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals—all within 0.3% of its average score—similarly indicate that alternative processors in this performance class would produce nearly identical results. This clustering suggests that the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU's capability, with the CPU providing sufficient support without becoming a bottleneck at any tested resolution.

Overall, the 918th rank out of 2851 combos positions this system in the upper third of all tested configurations for Thief. The data indicates that this pairing delivers smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, and at 4K with Medium settings or lower. For users seeking higher 4K performance, the GPU would need to be upgraded, as the CPU's contribution to frame rates at 4K is minimal.