Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a solid, capable experience in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that responds well to modern hardware. The data shows this combination ranks 959th out of 1642 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher quality presets, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower settings and resolutions.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and can boost up to 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This CPU sits in the 78th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 20680. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT (average score 20740, delta -0.3%), the Intel Core i7-10700 (average score 20746, delta -0.3%), and the Intel Core i5-12490F (average score 20794, delta -0.5%), all of which are within a fraction of a percent of the 5600X. Only the Intel Xeon 6325P (20538) trails it by 0.7%.

In Thief, the CPU's role is most apparent when the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 164.9 FPS, a figure that far exceeds typical display refresh rates and indicates the 5600X can feed the RTX 2070 SUPER effectively at lower graphical loads. The single-thread performance, reflected in a 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2622, is strong for a game from 2014, which often relies on fewer threads. The multi-threaded capability, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18578, ensures that any background tasks or game engine overhead are handled without issue. The data suggests the processor is never the limiting factor in this pairing, as frame rates scale consistently with GPU workload rather than CPU constraints.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with the TU104 chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz and boosts to 1770 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). It houses 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, delivering a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s. The card's FP32 performance is 9.062 TFLOPS.

This GPU ranks in the 65th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307, delta -0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006, delta 0.9%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, delta -2.3%). The AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670) is 2.5% behind. In Thief, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient, as the game is not known for excessive memory demands. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: higher settings and resolutions put increasing pressure on the GPU, which is expected given the architecture's focus on rasterization performance rather than ray tracing, a feature not relevant to this title.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable scaling pattern that identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 101.3 FPS to 70.3 FPS, a reduction of about 30%. Scaling further to 3840x2160, the frame rate falls to 40.4 FPS, which is a 60% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is struggling to maintain performance as pixel count increases.

At Low settings, the scaling is less severe but still pronounced. The system achieves 164.9 FPS at 1080p, drops to 118.5 FPS at 1440p, and reaches 71.2 FPS at 4K. The fact that even at Low settings the 4K frame rate is less than half of the 1080p result confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component, not the CPU. If the Ryzen 5 5600X were the constraint, we would expect frame rates to plateau at high values regardless of resolution. Instead, the data shows a consistent decline with increasing resolution, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU provides enough headroom to push higher frame rates, but the GPU cannot keep pace at higher pixel densities.

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

The dataset provides average FPS values for four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 164.9 FPS on Low, 129.8 FPS on Medium, 101.3 FPS on High, and 93.1 FPS on Ultra. This represents a 43.5% drop from Low to Ultra, showing that the settings have a significant impact on performance at this resolution, but the lowest preset still delivers excellent frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the figures are 118.5 FPS on Low, 90.7 FPS on Medium, 70.3 FPS on High, and 63.1 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 46.8%, slightly steeper than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more sensitive to settings changes as resolution increases. The 1440p results are still playable at all presets, with even Ultra maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance diminishes considerably. The system produces 71.2 FPS on Low, 54.7 FPS on Medium, 40.4 FPS on High, and 40.6 FPS on Ultra. Notably, the High and Ultra presets yield nearly identical results (40.4 vs 40.6 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling at these settings. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 43%, but the absolute values are low enough that only the Low preset approaches a smooth experience, and even then, it is marginal.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 959th out of 1642 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the 58th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 42% of combinations perform better. Given that the CPU is in the 78th percentile and the GPU is in the 65th percentile, the combo rank is lower than either component's individual standing. This is likely due to the age of the game and the fact that many newer, more powerful GPUs can handle it with ease.

The rank suggests that this pairing is not top-tier for Thief, but it is far from inadequate. The system delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, and even at 4K, the Low preset is playable. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's performance is well above what the game requires. Users with this combo can expect a smooth experience at lower resolutions, but 4K gaming will require compromising on settings to maintain playable frame rates.

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

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset (101.3 FPS) offers a balanced experience, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium (129.8 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset (93.1 FPS) is also viable, and the 8 FPS difference between High and Ultra is minor compared to the visual gains. For players with high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset (129.8 FPS) is the best choice, as it delivers a frame rate that can keep up with 144 Hz displays.

At 2560x1440, the High preset (70.3 FPS) is the sweet spot, offering a solid frame rate that is just above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset (63.1 FPS) is also acceptable, but the 7 FPS drop from High may not justify the additional visual fidelity. The Medium preset (90.7 FPS) provides a comfortable margin for smoother gameplay, making it the recommended choice for those who prioritize frame rate over visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the options are more limited. The Low preset (71.2 FPS) is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS, and it is the recommended choice for 4K gaming. The Medium preset (54.7 FPS) is playable but will be noticeable to sensitive eyes, while the High (40.4 FPS) and Ultra (40.6 FPS) presets are too choppy for a smooth experience. Given the minimal difference between High and Ultra at this resolution, there is no benefit to selecting Ultra over High, and both should be avoided in favor of Low or Medium. The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, and lowering settings is the only way to achieve a playable frame rate.