Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a challenging performance profile in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. The data shows that this combination, while capable of delivering playable frame rates at lower settings and resolutions, hits a clear performance ceiling when settings and resolution are increased, particularly the latter. This analysis breaks down the measured results to explain exactly where this combo excels and where it stumbles.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Thief with this combo?

A: According to the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where this combo achieves consistently playable frame rates across most settings. At this resolution, the Low preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, Medium at 59 FPS, and High at 45 FPS. The other tested resolutions (2560x1440 and 3840x2160) either dip below 60 FPS entirely or become unplayable at higher settings.

Q: What is the highest quality setting that still maintains a 60 FPS average at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only setting that achieves an average above 60 FPS at 78 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, the Low preset reaches 53 FPS, but no setting at 4K manages to hit even 40 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to the Ultra preset at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 78 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 43 FPS. This represents an 81% increase in frame rate when using Low settings. The gap widens at higher resolutions: at 1440p, Low averages 53 FPS versus 29 FPS for Ultra, a 83% increase, and at 4K, Low averages 31 FPS versus 17 FPS for Ultra, which is an 82% increase.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded for Medium settings across resolutions?

A: The measured data only includes min and max FPS for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the min is 50 FPS and max is 68 FPS. At 1440p, min is 35 FPS and max is 47 FPS. At 4K, min is 20 FPS and max is 27 FPS. This data shows that Medium settings at 1080p are the most stable, with a 18 FPS range, while at 4K the range narrows to 7 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark percentile reflect its performance in Thief?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has a percentile score of 5 when compared to all GPUs, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1184. In Thief, the data shows this GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU's low percentile is consistent with the fact that the combo only achieves playable frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium settings.

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

A: The combo ranks 3433 out of 3720 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations. The ranking indicates that this combination is not well-suited for running Thief at high settings or higher resolutions, as most other tested combos perform better.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear performance hierarchy for the four settings presets across the three resolutions tested. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, which is the only preset that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 59 FPS, which is essentially at the standard for playability, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. The High preset at 1080p averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 43 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS target but still playable in a stealth game where pace is slower.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 53 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches a playable frame rate at this resolution. Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. None of these settings at 1440p are ideal for a smooth experience, but the Low preset could be used if a resolution increase is more important than visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 31 FPS, which is the only setting that reaches 30 FPS. Medium averages 24 FPS, High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. All settings at 4K are effectively not playable for a smooth experience, given that even the best setting is below 40 FPS.

The data suggests that the best experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. While the Low preset offers a higher average FPS, the Medium preset provides a better visual quality for a stealth game where texture detail and shadows can be important. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 50 is still above 30 FPS, so it avoids the worst frame drops. The High and Ultra presets at 1080p are not recommended for a consistently smooth experience, as they fall below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p and 4K, the Low preset is the only option for a somewhat playable experience, but even then, the frame rates are below the ideal standard.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. The CPU has a TDP of 65 watts and uses the AMD Socket AM4. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a maximum memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. It uses PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes and does not have integrated graphics.

In the PassMark benchmark suite, the CPU scores are notable for its multi-threaded performance. It achieves a multi-thread score of 19236 and a single-thread score of 2872. The CPU's average benchmark score is 36945, and it has a percentile of 85 when compared to all CPUs. The nearest rivals in terms of average score are the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, with a score of 36938 and a delta of 0, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, with a score of 37018 and a delta of -0.2. These benchmarks indicate a strong mid-range CPU that is well capable of handling the computing requirements of Thief at any of the tested settings.

In Thief, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and the physics calculations. The 12 threads offer good parallel processing, and the high single-thread score of 2872 ensures that the main game loop runs efficiently. Even at 4K resolution, where the GPU is heavily loaded, the CPU should not be a bottleneck because the game is not particularly CPU intensive. The data supports this, as the frame rates at 1080p are not limited by the CPU, but rather the frame rates drop when the settings and resolution are increased, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's performance in Thief is more than sufficient to keep up with the GPU, as evidenced by the fact that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 78 FPS, which is a strong result for a CPU with a 65-watt TDP.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark data are all within a very small margin of each other, with the largest delta being -0.5% for the Intel Core i9-12900T. This suggests that the Ryzen 5 5600F is a competitive processor for its class, and in Thief, it would not be the component that holds back performance. The CPU's high single-thread score and multi-thread score are sufficient for the game's demands, and the measured data confirms that the GPU is the primary performer at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this CPU and GPU combination in Thief is 3433 out of 3720 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations. This is a very low ranking, indicating that the majority of the tested combos perform better in Thief. The low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's performance, which is severely limiting at higher resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores are the main reason for this low ranking. The Intel Arc B370 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 and a percentile of 5. This means it performs better than only 5% of all GPUs. In Thief, this translates to the GPU being a bottleneck at 4K, and even at 1440p, the frame rates are not high enough for a smooth experience. The CPU, however, is capable, with a percentile of 85 among CPUs. The mismatch between a high-performing CPU and a low-performing GPU is what drags the combo rank down.

The combo rank of 3433 out of 3720 is a clear indicator that this setup is not ideal for Thief. The game is a 2014 title that is not particularly demanding by modern standards, but the GPU is a low-end part that struggles with the game's requirements at higher resolutions. The CPU's strong performance is not enough to compensate for the GPU's limitations. For a playable experience, the user must stick to 1080p and Low or Medium settings, and even then, the frame rates will not be as high as what other combos might achieve.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is a GPU from the Arc Graphics-M generation, based on the Panther Lake chip and the Xe3-LPG architecture. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. The GPU's memory is system shared, meaning it uses the system's main memory and does not have its own dedicated VRAM. Its memory bandwidth is system dependent. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 render output units. It also has 10 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 6.144 TFLOPS and FP16 is 12.29 TFLOPS. The TDP is 25 W and it is an integrated graphics processor (IGP), which means it shares the system's power and cooling.

In terms of benchmarks, the GPU has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, which is very low, as indicated by its 5th percentile ranking. The nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with a score of 1186 and a delta of -0.2, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with a score of 1190 and a delta of -0.5. This indicates that the GPU's performance is comparable to that of older discrete GPUs, but it is an integrated part. The low performance is the primary reason for the low frame rates in Thief.

In Thief, the GPU is the main bottleneck. The measured frame rates drop significantly as the resolution and settings increase. At 1080p Low, the average is 78 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 17 FPS. This pattern shows that the GPU is unable to handle the high resolution and graphical load, as the frame rates fall in a linear fashion with the increase in resolution. The GPU's low shading units and texture rate are not enough for the game's visual effects. The system shared memory also limits performance, as the GPU has to share memory bandwidth with the CPU. The frame rates at 4K are so low that the game is effectively unplayable, with the highest setting averaging 18 FPS.

The GPU's performance is also reflected in its low percentile rank of 5, which indicates that it is one of the weakest GPUs in the database. This is why the combo rank is so low, and why the recommended settings are limited to 1080p and Low or Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Thief is provided for three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, the Medium preset an average of 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 68, the High preset an average of 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset an average of 43 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 53 FPS, the Medium preset an average of 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47, the High preset an average of 31 FPS, and the Ultra preset an average of 29 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers an average of 31 FPS, the Medium preset an average of 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 27, the High preset an average of 18 FPS, and the Ultra preset an average of 17 FPS.

These numbers show a clear trend. The frame rate is highest at 1080p and lowest at 4K. The frame rate also decreases as the settings are increased from Low to Ultra. The data also shows that the Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data, which allows for a better understanding of the frame pacing. At 1080p, the Medium preset has a minimum of 50 FPS, which is still playable, and a maximum of 68 FPS, which is a 18 FPS range. At 1440p, the medium preset has a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS, which is a 12 FPS range. At 4K, the medium preset has a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS, a 7 FPS range. This indicates that the frame rate is more stable at lower resolutions, and the range narrows as the resolution increases, which suggests that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of the GPU's performance limit. At 1080p, the Low preset averages 78 FPS, and at 1440p, the same preset averages 53 FPS, which is a 32% drop. At 4K, the Low preset averages 31 FPS, which is a 60% drop from the 1080p result. This is a typical pattern when the GPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rate drops in proportion to the increase in pixel count.

The scaling is even more pronounced at higher settings. For the Medium preset, the 1080p average is 59 FPS, the 1440p average is 41 FPS, which is a 30% drop, and the 4K average is 24 FPS, which is a 59% drop from the 1080p. The High preset at 1080p is 45 FPS, at 1440p is 31 FPS, a 31% drop, and at 4K is 18 FPS, a 60% drop. The Ultra preset at 1080p is 43 FPS, at 1440p is 29 FPS, a 33% drop, and at 4K is 17 FPS, a 60% drop from the 1080p.

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 1440p are relatively small, around 30%, while the drops from 1440p to 4K are much larger, around 40-45%. This indicates that the GPU is able to handle the linear increase in resolution, but the 4K resolution is too much for it. The GPU's limited shader and texture processing power, as well as the system-shared memory, are the cause of this drop. The CPU is not the bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistently lower at higher resolutions, which indicates the GPU's inability to keep up.

Ultimately, the resolution scaling shows that this combo is only suitable for 1080p gaming, and even then, only at Low or Medium settings. The 1440p and 4K resolutions are not practical for this game, as the frame rates are too low for a smooth experience. The data clearly shows that the GPU is the weak point in this combination, and for a better experience in Thief, a more powerful GPU would be required.