Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that remains demanding at modern resolutions. The CPU contributes six cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Built on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer codename) using a 7 nm process, it features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP. While the game is nearly a decade old, benchmark data indicates that this processor still holds its own, with a percentile rank of 74 among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 20468 places it in close competition with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which scores 20454 (0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G at 20425 (0.2% delta). The multi-threaded performance is strong, as shown by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18309 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 9158, while single-thread performance remains respectable at 2584 and 1936 respectively.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 5 5600’s configuration is a critical factor in how Thief performs, especially at lower resolutions. With six cores and twelve threads, the processor can distribute the game’s workload effectively, though Thief’s engine is not known for heavy multi-threading. The 3.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clocks are relevant because the game’s frame pacing at 1080p suggests a reliance on single-thread speed. The 3DMark single-thread score of 882 and the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 260 indicate that this CPU’s per-core performance is adequate for the game’s logic and physics calculations. At 1920x1080, the measured FPS ranges from 160 at Low settings to 129 at Ultra, a difference of 31 FPS that points to the GPU handling increasing visual load, but the CPU still has headroom to spare.

The Zen 3 architecture’s efficiency is evident in the 32 MB shared L3 cache, which reduces memory latency for frequently accessed data. This is particularly beneficial in a stealth game where AI routines and environmental interactions may require rapid cache hits. The processor’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR4 interface is sufficient for the game’s demands, as the measured frame times do not show signs of memory bottlenecking. The 7 nm process node and TSMC foundry contribute to a lower 65 W TDP, which means thermal throttling is unlikely to limit sustained performance during extended play sessions. In the context of the combo’s overall rank of 921 out of 3720 tested combinations, the CPU is a competent partner, though not the strongest available.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5600 is nearly identical in average score to the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, with a delta of just 0.1%. This suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, Thief would perform similarly on either platform. The AMD EPYC 9454P and EPYC 7713, despite being server-class parts, show deltas of 0.2% and 0.5% respectively, indicating that the desktop Ryzen 5’s clock speed advantage compensates for fewer cores in this workload. This is a key insight: for Thief, raw clock speed and cache efficiency matter more than core count, and the 5600’s design aligns well with that requirement.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 compare to its nearest rival in overall CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 20468, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20454) and 0.2% higher than both the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G and AMD EPYC 9454P (20425 and 20422 respectively). The closest competitor in score is the AMD EPYC 7713 at 20363, a 0.5% delta.

Q: What is the best measured FPS result for this combo in Thief?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 160, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The next best is 144 FPS at the same resolution with Medium settings, followed by 141 FPS at 2560x1440 on Low.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 SUPER bottleneck the Ryzen 5 5600 at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the FPS spread from 160 (Low) to 129 (Ultra) suggests the GPU is the limiting factor as settings increase. However, the CPU’s 3DMark 2-thread score of 1737 and the fact that the Low preset hits 160 FPS indicates the processor can feed the GPU adequately, but the GPU’s workload scales with settings, reducing FPS.

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

A: The combination of Ryzen 5 5600 and RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 921 out of 3720 tested combos. This places it in the top 24.7% of all pairings, though it does not reach the top tier for this specific game.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the RTX 4070 SUPER, and does it matter for Thief?

A: The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This is ample for Thief, which is a 2014 title, and the bandwidth supports high texture loads at 4K without exceeding the VRAM capacity.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600’s single-thread performance a concern for Thief?

A: No. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584 and Passmark single-thread score of 3256 show strong per-core performance. Given that Thief’s engine benefits from high clock speeds, the 4.40 GHz boost is sufficient to avoid CPU limitations at the tested settings.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 131. Moving to 2560x1440, that figure drops to 112, a reduction of 19 FPS or approximately 14.5%. At 3840x2160, the average further declines to 66 FPS, a 46 FPS drop from 1080p, representing a 35.1% decrease. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the RTX 4070 SUPER’s rendering load increases with pixel count.

The Low settings preset shows a similar trend but with higher absolute values: 160 FPS at 1080p, 141 FPS at 1440p (an 11.9% drop), and 114 FPS at 4K (a 28.8% drop from 1080p). The smaller percentage drop at lower settings suggests that the CPU is more involved in determining the frame rate when the GPU is less stressed. For instance, the 1080p Low score of 160 FPS may be near the CPU’s maximum output for the game’s logic, as the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls. However, at Medium settings, the 4K result drops to 87 FPS from 144 FPS at 1080p, a 39.6% reduction, which is a more pronounced GPU effect.

The data implies that at 1080p, the combo is balanced, but the CPU provides a ceiling around 160 FPS. At 1440p, the GPU becomes the primary limiter, as evidenced by the 141 FPS Low result, which is only 19 FPS lower than the 1080p Low. At 4K, the GPU is definitively the bottleneck, with the Ultra preset hitting 63 FPS and High at 66 FPS, showing that the RTX 4070 SUPER’s compute resources are saturated. This scaling behavior is typical for a high-refresh-rate CPU paired with a mid-to-high-end GPU, where the balance shifts based on resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 160 FPS. Medium settings yield 144 FPS, with a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 166 FPS. High settings average 131 FPS, and Ultra settings average 129 FPS. The narrow gap between High and Ultra (only 2 FPS) suggests that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not fully taxing the GPU, or that the CPU is limiting the frame rate at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 141, Medium at 127 (with a minimum of 108 and maximum of 147), High at 112, and Ultra at 107. The drop from Low to Ultra is 34 FPS, which is a more substantial scaling than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the resolution load. The Medium preset’s minimum of 108 FPS shows that frame times remain consistent, with no severe stutters.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 114, Medium at 87 (minimum 74, maximum 100), High at 66, and Ultra at 63. The Low result of 114 FPS is impressive for 4K, but the High and Ultra results plummet to 66 and 63 FPS respectively. This dramatic falloff from Low to High (48 FPS difference) highlights the GPU’s struggle with the higher preset’s graphical features, such as increased shadow quality and texture filtering, at 4K. The Medium setting’s 87 FPS is a middle ground, but the minimum of 74 FPS suggests occasional dips that could affect gameplay smoothness.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 921 out of 3720 tested combinations in Thief. This places it in the 75th percentile of all combos, meaning it outperforms three-quarters of the tested pairings. However, it does not crack the top 500, which likely consists of newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance or more powerful GPUs. The rank is influenced by the CPU’s overall benchmark percentile of 74, which is solid but not elite, and the GPU’s percentile of 83, which is stronger.

Relative to the CPU’s nearest rivals, the rank reflects the balance between the 5600 and the RTX 4070 SUPER. For instance, if paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (which has a delta of 0.1%), the rank might shift slightly, but not dramatically, as the CPU scores are nearly identical. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, has an average score that is 0.1% lower, suggesting that the RTX 4070 SUPER is at the top of its performance band. This means the combo’s rank is more likely limited by the CPU’s position than the GPU’s. The data indicates that for Thief, a CPU with higher boost clocks, such as a Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7, could push this combo higher in the ranks, but the 5600’s 4.40 GHz is sufficient for a respectable standing.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, particularly at 1440p and 4K. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 144 FPS, which is high enough for any refresh rate, and it does so with a minimum of 123 FPS, ensuring consistent frame pacing. The jump to High only reduces the average by 13 FPS, but the visual gains may not justify the drop for competitive play. At 2560x1440, Medium’s 127 FPS is excellent, with a minimum of 108 FPS that stays above the 100 FPS threshold for smoothness. The Ultra preset at 107 FPS is close, but Medium offers a safer margin.

At 3840x2160, Medium’s 87 FPS is the best compromise between the Low’s 114 FPS and High’s 66 FPS. The minimum of 74 FPS is acceptable, though players with high-refresh 4K displays may prefer Low to maintain a higher average. For a superior visual experience without sacrificing playability, High at 1080p (131 FPS) and Medium at 1440p (127 FPS) are the sweet spots. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it provides only marginal FPS gains (129 at 1080p vs. 131 for High) and the largest drop at 4K (63 FPS). The data suggests that Medium is the default choice, with Low reserved for maximising frame rates on 144Hz+ monitors at 4K.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, given its 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 43223. Its architecture is Ada Lovelace, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU has a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These clocks directly influence the frame rates observed, particularly at 4K where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for Thief’s textures, even at Ultra settings.

The shading units (7168) and texture mapping units (224) are critical for the game’s rendering pipeline. The FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS indicates that the GPU can handle the mathematical load of the game’s effects, but the 4K Ultra result of 63 FPS suggests that the ROPs (80) are the limiting factor in pixel output. The texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s is high, but the pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s is what constrains 4K performance. This is why the FPS drops from 114 (Low) to 66 (High) at 4K: the High preset increases the number of pixels rendered with complex shaders, reducing the effective pixel rate.

The GPU’s power draw of 220 W and the suggested 550 W PSU indicate a mid-range power profile, which aligns with its performance. The 16-pin power connector and dual-slot design are standard for this class. The RTX 4070 SUPER’s predecessor is the GeForce 30 series, and its successor is the GeForce 50 series, but for Thief, its 12 GB VRAM ensures no texture swapping occurs, which would cause stutters. The benchmark data shows the GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 29995, which is 0.1% lower than the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262 vs 43223), but the RTX 4070 SUPER’s modern architecture provides better driver optimization for DirectX 12, which Thief supports. In summary, the GPU is the primary driver of FPS at 1440p and 4K, and its clock speeds and memory bandwidth are well-matched to the game’s demands.