Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT combined with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a revealing performance profile in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that remains demanding at high resolutions. This pairing demonstrates how a modern six-core processor with strong single-thread performance interacts with a mid-range GPU across a range of presets, with results that vary surprisingly little from 1080p to 4K when settings are adjusted appropriately.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on a 7 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz, and it boosts to 4.60 GHz. The CPU has a 65 W TDP and fits the AMD Socket AM4, with 16 MB of L3 cache distributed across the six cores. The processor’s structure suggests it is well-suited to the threaded workloads of modern game engines, yet Thief was released in 2014, a time when most titles relied heavily on a few fast threads rather than many slower ones.

Benchmark results for the 5600GT show a single-thread score of 913 in 3DMark and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2438. These figures place the CPU in the 74th percentile of all tested processors, indicating solid but not elite single-core performance. In a game like Thief, which is not known for extreme CPU parallelism, this level of single-thread speed is likely the deciding factor for how well the CPU can feed the GPU. The multi-core results are stronger: the CPU scores 17272 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 20325 in Passmark multithread, but these numbers matter less for a stealth game that often operates at lower frame rates.

The nearest rivals to the 5600GT, based on average benchmark score, are the Intel Core i5-12490F with a score of 20802 (a 0.3% difference), the Intel Xeon 6325P at 20821 (0.4% behind), the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U at 20826 (0.4% behind), and the AMD EPYC 7J13 at 20845 (0.5% behind). The 5600GT’s average benchmark score of 20733 is nearly identical to these competitors, meaning the CPU is squarely in a performance tier where slight differences in architecture matter less than the game’s own engine limitations. This suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck in most scenarios, but the results reveal that at lower resolution and settings, the CPU can occasionally be a limiting factor, as evidenced by the frame rates climbing to 150 FPS at 1080p Low.

Given Thief’s release date in 2014, the CPU’s 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost are more than sufficient for the game’s logical thread, which typically relies on a single core. The 12 threads available can help with background tasks and some engine threads, but the game’s frame rate is more likely to be governed by the GPU’s ability to render the scene. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a serious constraint, as even at the highest frame rate measured (150 FPS at 1080p Low), the CPU is not reported as a bottleneck, and the performance scales consistently across settings.

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

The Intel Arc B580 is a GPU built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, using a 5nm process at TSMC. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The B580 includes 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation units, along with 20 dedicated ray tracing cores. Its theoretical performance reaches 13.67 TFLOPS in single precision and 27.34 TFLOPS in half precision, with pixel and texture rates of 213.6 GPixel/s and 427.2 GTexel/s, respectively.

The GPU’s 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Thief, even at 4K with Ultra settings, as the game is from 2014 and does not require a large memory footprint. The 456 GB/s bandwidth also ensures that textures and geometry can be streamed quickly enough to avoid stutter. The GPU’s percentile rank is 68th among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 23021 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, a 0.2% difference), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, 0.7% lower), and the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, 1% lower). These rivals are from different eras, but the B580’s score is comparable, indicating that the GPU is a solid mid-range performer.

The GPU’s performance in Thief is more interesting when looking at the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 33, which is nearly identical to the 1080p Ultra score of 83 FPS. This suggests a GPU limitation at 4K, as the frame rate drops by about 60% from 1080p to 4K. The GPU’s 12 GB VRAM is not the issue, as a game from 2014 likely uses less than 4 GB. The clock speed and architecture determine the render throughput, and the B580’s 13.67 TFLOPS is adequate for 1440p High but struggles at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate falls below 30 FPS, making the experience less fluid. The data shows the GPU is the primary limiting component at 4K, as lowering settings from Ultra to Low nearly doubles the frame rate from 33 to 61 FPS.

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

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset provides the best safety margin between visual quality and performance. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 114, with a minimum of 97 and a maximum of 131. This is a strong result, keeping the frame rate above 90 FPS consistently. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 78 FPS, with a min of 66 and max of 90, which is still playable for a stealth game where frame pacing matters less than in fast action titles.

The High preset at 1080p yields an average of 87 FPS, which is acceptable, but the Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 83 FPS, a small difference. The significant jump occurs at 1440p, where High falls to 60 FPS and Ultra to 57 FPS, a drop that may be more noticeable in scenes with many dynamic lights or shadows. At 4K, Ultra becomes a slideshow at 33 FPS, while Medium is 46 FPS and High is 35 FPS, all below the 60 FPS target.

For the best experience, the data suggests Medium at 1080p or 1440p, as it offers the highest frame rate without the visual extremes of Low. The Low preset at 1080p hits 150 FPS, but the visual quality is likely too reduced for a stealth game where lighting and shadow are critical for gameplay. The Medium preset balances the frame rate and fidelity, with the 1440p Medium providing 78 FPS, which is smooth and within the GPU’s capability. At 4K, the only somewhat reasonable option is Low (61 FPS), but the visual degradation may be unacceptable for an immersive stealth experience. Therefore, the data suggests sticking to 1440p Medium or 1080p Medium for the best balance of smoothness and quality.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS is 83 at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor at 1440p?

A: The data shows that at 1440p, the GPU is the primary limiter. The CPU’s single-thread performance is sufficient to drive the game, as the frame rate drops from 103 FPS at 1440p Low to 78 FPS at 1440p Medium, which is a 25% reduction that correlates with GPU load. The CPU is not a bottleneck at 1440p, as the frame rates are still high, but the GPU is what causes lower performance at higher settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The minimum FPS is 33, which occurs at 4K Ultra settings. The other minimum values are 39 at 4K Medium, 66 at 1440p Medium, and 97 at 1080p Medium.

Q: How much VRAM does the Intel Arc B580 have?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s.

Q: What are the single-thread and multi-thread benchmark scores for the Ryzen 5 5600GT?

A: The CPU scores 913 in 3DMark single-thread and 5554 in 3DMark 16-threads tests. In Cinebench R23, the single-core score is 2438 and multi-core is 17272.

Q: Does the combo exceed 60 FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 35, which is below 60. To reach near 60 FPS at 4K, you must lower settings to Medium (46 FPS) or Low (61 FPS), with Low being the only setting that averages above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the performance bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 150 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 103 FPS, a 31% decrease. At 4K Low, the frame rate is 61 FPS, a further 41% decrease from 1440p. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the main constraint at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s frame rate ceiling is high enough to not be a limitation at 1080p Low.

At Medium settings, the scaling shows a similar trend: 1080p Medium is 114 FPS, 1440p Medium is 78 FPS (a 32% drop), and 4K Medium is 46 FPS (a 41% decrease from 1440p). The High preset follows the same trend: 1080p High is 87 FPS, 1440p High is 60 FPS (31% drop), and 4K High is 35 FPS (42% decrease). The Ultra preset is the most demanding: 1080p Ultra is 83 FPS, 1440p Ultra is 57 FPS (31% drop), and 4K Ultra is 33 FPS (42% decrease).

These percentages show that the relative FPS loss from 1080p to 4K is consistent across settings, ranging from 31% to 42% per resolution step, which is typical for a game that is GPU-bound. The consistency implies that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU, because the frame rate scales proportionally with the pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the differences between resolutions would be less consistent, but here they are uniform. Therefore, the data indicates that the Intel Arc B580 is the component that determines performance at higher resolutions, while the CPU has enough headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS for the Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Arc B580 across all combinations is as follows:

1920x1080

• Low: 150 FPS average
• Medium: 114 FPS average (min 97, max 131)
• High: 87 FPS average
• Ultra: 83 FPS average

2560x1440

• Low: 103 FPS average
• Medium: 78 FPS average (min 66, max 90)
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 57 FPS average

3840x2160

• Low: 61 FPS average
• Medium: 46 FPS average (min 39, max 53)
• High: 35 FPS average
• Ultra: 33 FPS average

The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops, but the relative difference between settings remains. For example, at 1080p, Medium is 114 FPS, which is 32% higher than High (87 FPS) and 37% higher than Ultra (83 FPS). At 1440p, Medium is 78 FPS, which is 30% higher than High (60 FPS) and 37% higher than Ultra (57 FPS). At 4Kp, Medium is 46 FPS, which is 31% higher than High (35 FPS) and 39% higher than Ultra (33 FPS). This consistency suggests that the GPU’s performance scales uniformly with the load, and the settings have an identical relative impact across rescalings.

The minimum FPS values are only provided for Medium at each resolution: 97 at 1080p, 66 at 1440p, and 39 at 4K. These are the only min/max data points, and they show that the game can dip 15% below average at 1080p Medium, 15% at 1440p, and 15% at 4K. The 4K Medium minimum of 39 FPS is close to the average 46 FPS, indicating that the game’s frame time variance is modest at this setting.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and Intel Arc B580 in Thief is ranked 2779th out of 3720 tested combinations. This places the combo in the lower half of tested configurations, specifically in the 74th percentile for the CPU and 68th percentile for the GPU. The rank of 2779 out of 3720 indicates that a a significant number of combinations outperform this setup, but it is not at the very bottom, leaving 25% of combos below it.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12490F (avg score 20802, 0.3% lower), the Intel Xeon 6325P (20821, 0.4% lower), the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U (20826, 0.4% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20845, 0.5% lower). These differences are minuscule, indicating that the CPU’s performance is well-matched to its competitors, and the ranking is more influenced by the GPU and its combination with the CPU in this specific game.

The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080, have average benchmark scores that are within 0.7% of the B580’s, but in a game like Thief, the measured FPS shows that the GPU’s performance is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at Medium to High settings, but falls short at 4K Ultra. The combo’s rank of 2779 suggests that while the hardware is capable, it is not a top-tier pairing for this title, particularly because the GPU does not sustain a high frame rate at 4K Ultra (33 FPS) and the CPU is not a limiting factor. The data indicates that a stronger GPU would boost the combo’s rank, while the CPU is sufficient for most gameplay. Overall, the combination offers a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p on Medium settings, but for 4K, only Low settings meet the 60 FPS threshold, and even then, the visual quality may not be acceptable to all players.