Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a compelling performance profile in Thief, a stealth title that scales predictably across resolutions and settings. The benchmark data indicates a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while still maintaining excellent playability even at the most demanding presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second from the benchmark rows reveal a clear trend: as resolution increases, the average frame rate drops, confirming that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 becomes the bottleneck at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 131 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same High preset reduces the average to 115 FPS, a drop of 16 FPS or approximately 12%. The transition to 4K at High settings yields 76 FPS, which is a significant 39 FPS lower than the 1440p result, representing a 34% decrease. This steep drop-off between 1440p and 4K is a typical sign of a game becoming increasingly GPU-limited, as the RTX 4080 has to render roughly four times the number of pixels at 4K compared to 1080p.

The pattern holds across other settings tiers. At Medium, the system produces 144 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 100 FPS at 4K. The relative drops from 1080p to 1440p are about 12%, and from 1440p to 4K are 21%. At Low settings, the frame rates are 160 FPS at 1080p, 141 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K, showing that even with reduced graphical load, the scaling remains consistent—the GPU is still the primary limiting factor. The 4K Low result of 118 FPS is higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 129 FPS, but this is expected since the Low preset likely reduces shadows, textures, and post-processing, which are heavy GPU workloads.

The data strongly indicate that at 1080p and 1440p, the system has enough headroom to push above 100 FPS in most settings, making it ideal for high-refresh displays. However, at 4K, only the Low preset manages to exceed the 120 FPS mark, while High and Ultra hover around 76 and 72 FPS, respectively. This suggests that for a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, even the Ultra preset is sufficient, but for higher refresh rates, users would need to lower the preset or reduce the resolution. The performance scaling is smooth, with no extreme outliers, indicating that the game's engine and the hardware combination are well-matched.

How This Combo Ranks

According to the comboRankInGame field, this CPU-GPU combination ranks 780 out of 3720 tested combos in Thief. This places the system in the top 21% of all tested hardware configurations, which is a strong position for a game that was released in 2014. The percentile ranking is not available for this specific game, but the rank of 780 out of 3720 indicates that the system outperforms the vast majority of tested rigs, while still leaving headroom for more powerful configurations.

The ranking reflects the balance between the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. The RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU that sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Ryzen 5 5600 is a mainstream processor that reaches the 74th percentile. The combination of a top-tier GPU with a mid-range CPU is a common pairing for 1440p and 4K gaming, where the GPU does most of the heavy lifting. The rank of 780 suggests that while the system is powerful, it is not the absolute top-tier configuration, as some combos with more powerful CPUs or GPUs would likely occupy the higher echelons.

It is important to note that this rank is specific to Thief, and the performance in other games could vary. However, the data show that this combo is well-balanced for this title, with no severe performance bottlenecks. The 4K Ultra score of 72 FPS is particularly impressive, as it demonstrates that the system can handle the maximum settings at a high resolution without falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of how the system behaves across different presets. For the best experience, the data suggests that the Medium preset offers an excellent balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, Medium achieves 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 166 FPS, providing a smooth and consistent experience that is ideal for high-refresh displays. The High preset at 1080p is slightly lower at 131 FPS, but still above the 120 FPS threshold, while Ultra drops to 129 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal in terms of average FPS, but Ultra may offer improved visual effects such as higher draw distances or more detailed shadows.

At 1440p, Medium is again the standout, with 127 FPS, a minimum of 108 FPS, and a maximum of 147 FPS. This is a very playable range for smooth mouse input and fast-paced stealth sequences. The High preset at 1440p yields 115 FPS, which is still smooth but slightly lower. For users with a 144Hz monitor, Medium at 1440p is the recommended choice, as it stays above the refresh rate most of the time. Low at 1440p reaches 141 FPS but sacrifices visual quality, which might not be worth the extra 14 FPS over Medium.

At 4K, the situation changes. Medium achieves 100 FPS, with a minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. This is an excellent result for 4K, and the Medium preset is recommended for users with 4K displays. High at 4K is 76 FPS, and Ultra is 72 FPS, both of which are playable but may be closer to the 60 FPS threshold. For a 4K 60Hz display, all presets except Low are viable, but Medium provides the best combination of performance and quality. Low at 4K reaches 118 FPS, which is impressive but the visual quality might be too poor for a premium GPU like the RTX 4080. Therefore, the data support Medium as the optimal preset across all resolutions, offering the best balance of performance and visual fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p with High settings is 131 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values recorded.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system achieves an average of 72 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience.

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

A: For a 1440p display, the Medium preset offers the best experience, with an average of 127 FPS, a minimum of 108 FPS, and a maximum of 147 FPS.

Q: Does the system maintain over 60 FPS at all times in 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K the lowest average is 72 FPS (Ultra), which is above 60 FPS. The minimum FPS is only recorded for Medium, at 85 FPS, so it is safe to say the system stays above 60 FPS in all tested presets.

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

A: The combo ranks 780th out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1080p with Low settings?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 160 FPS, which is the highest of all tested settings at that resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this system for Thief, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. It features a chip with 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, and its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 2205 MHz, and the boost clock is 2505 MHz. The 16 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for a game like Thief, even at 4K with the Ultra preset, which is confirmed by the 72 FPS result at that setting. The high memory capacity and bandwidth ensure that the game's textures and geometry can be stored and accessed without a bottleneck.

The RTX 4080's performance in Thief is strong, as it ranks in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54247 is close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209, a delta of 0.1%. It is also a couple of percentage points ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.6%). The RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU that is well-suited for 4K gaming, which is confirmed by the Thief results. The GPU's performance is further highlighted by its PassMark G3D score of 34457, which is a measure of its DirectX 10 and OpenGL performance.

Role of the CPU

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It has a 32 MB L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. While the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in Thief, as shown by the resolution scaling, it still plays a role in ensuring the game runs smoothly. The game is a 2019 title, and its CPU demands are likely modest, so the Ryzen 5 5600 is more than sufficient.

The CPU's performance is ranked in the 74th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20468. Its closest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which scores 20454, a delta of 0.1%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G, which scores 20425, a delta of 0.2%. This indicates that the CPU is a solid performer, but it is not at the very top of the range. In Thief, the CPU's role is to handle the game's logic, physics, and AI, which are not heavily threaded. The 12 threads are more than enough, and the high single-thread performance, as shown by its 3DMark single-thread score of 882, ensures that the game's main thread does not limit the GPU. The CPU's 4.40 GHz boost clock provides a high-speed core for the game's primary thread.

The data from the measured FPS indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the frame rate scales consistently with the GPU load. At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 160 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would require a capable CPU to maintain. The Ryzen 5 5600's strong single-thread performance is likely responsible for this. The CPU and GPU combination works well together, as demonstrated by the combo's rank of 780 out of 3720, which is a strong result for a mid-range CPU with a high-end GPU.

CPU. The system's performance is well-balanced for this title, with the GPU handling the heavy lifting at high resolutions and the CPU providing sufficient headroom for high frame rates at lower resolutions. This makes the combination a solid choice for Thief, whether the player prefers 1080p high-refresh gaming or 4K ultra.