Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a robust performance profile in Thief, with the data indicating a system that scales predictably across resolutions and settings. This analysis examines the measured frame rates, the combo’s standing among tested configurations, and the specific roles the CPU and GPU play in shaping the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 132.8 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Ultra, the average drops to 107.5 FPS, a reduction of 25.3 FPS, or approximately 19%. The most significant decline occurs when stepping up to 3840x2160 Ultra, where the average falls to 62.6 FPS — a 44.9 FPS drop from the 1440p figure, representing a 41.8% decrease. This steep decline at 4K strongly indicates that the rendering load is overwhelming the GPU, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 135.4 FPS at 1080p to 112.4 FPS at 1440p (a 17% drop), then to 67.4 FPS at 4K (a 40% drop from 1440p). The Low settings tell a similar story, with 162.7 FPS at 1080p, 144.8 FPS at 1440p, and 112.2 FPS at 4K. The fact that even Low settings at 4K cannot reach 120 FPS, while Low at 1080p exceeds 160 FPS, underscores that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s demands, but the sheer pixel throughput at 4K caps performance.

Interestingly, the gap between settings narrows at 4K. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 29.9 FPS (162.7 vs 132.8). At 4K, that spread shrinks to 49.6 FPS (112.2 vs 62.6). This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU’s compute resources are saturated regardless of quality preset, making the resolution the dominant variable. The data suggests that for smooth 60 FPS gameplay at 4K, Ultra settings are borderline (62.6 FPS), while High settings provide a more comfortable margin (67.4 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s performance in Thief places it at rank 391 out of 1642 tested combinations. This positions it in the top 23.8% of all configurations in the database for this specific game. While not a top-tier result, it indicates that the pairing of the Ryzen 5 5600X and RTX 4070 SUPER delivers above-average performance for the title.

The individual components’ benchmark scores provide context for this ranking. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 20680, placing it in the 78th percentile among all processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT (avg score 20740, delta -0.3%), Intel Core i7-10700 (avg score 20746, delta -0.3%), and Intel Core i5-12490F (avg score 20794, delta -0.5%). These minuscule deltas — all within 0.5% — mean the 5600X is effectively performance-equivalent to these alternatives in general compute tasks, but the game’s specific engine may favor one architecture over another.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 42576, ranking in the 84th percentile among all graphics cards. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (avg score 42653, delta -0.2%), AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (avg score 42723, delta -0.3%), and AMD Radeon Pro 580X (avg score 41991, delta 1.4%). The RTX 4070 SUPER sits within 1.5% of these peers, confirming its position as a high-midrange to upper-midrange card.

Given that the CPU ranks in the 78th percentile and the GPU in the 84th, the combo’s 391st place out of 1642 suggests that Thief is not particularly demanding on either component, allowing the system to perform closer to its theoretical peak. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component bottlenecks the other severely, which is consistent with the resolution scaling data showing GPU-bound behavior at 4K and a more CPU-influenced regime at 1080p.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief to maintain 100+ FPS?*

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo achieves 112.4 FPS. For 100+ FPS at 1440p, High (112.4 FPS) and Medium (129.3 FPS) presets both work, while Ultra (107.5 FPS) also clears the threshold.

*Q: Can this system run Thief at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, at 3840x2160, the combo produces 67.4 FPS at High settings and 62.6 FPS at Ultra. Both are above the 60 FPS playability mark, though Low (112.2 FPS) and Medium (88.4 FPS) provide higher headroom.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance affect the game?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600X scores 2622 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 917 in 3DMark single-thread. These scores indicate strong single-thread capability, which is relevant for a 2014 stealth title that likely relies on fewer threads for game logic.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration and does it matter?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. For Thief, this is ample, as even 4K Ultra settings do not show signs of memory capacity limits, with the GPU compute being the bottleneck instead.

Q: How does this combo compare to its nearest CPU rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600X (avg score 20680) is within 0.5% of the Ryzen 5 5600GT (20740), Core i7-10700 (20746), and Core i5-12490F (20794). This sub-1% variance means the CPU choice has minimal impact on the Thief results.

Q: What is the combo’s rank in the database and what does it signify?

A: The combo ranks 391 out of 1642 tested configurations for Thief. This top 24% placement indicates solid performance, though not exceptional, suggesting the game does not fully stress the hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 162.7 FPS at Low, 146.8 FPS at Medium, 135.4 FPS at High, and 132.8 FPS at Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 29.9 FPS, showing that even the highest settings only reduce performance by 18.4% compared to the lowest.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 144.8 FPS at Low, 129.3 FPS at Medium, 112.4 FPS at High, and 107.5 FPS at Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: Low falls by 17.9 FPS, Medium by 17.5 FPS, High by 23.0 FPS, and Ultra by 25.3 FPS. These reductions are roughly proportional, indicating a stable scaling curve.

At 3840x2160, the performance declines more sharply. Low yields 112.2 FPS, Medium 88.4 FPS, High 67.4 FPS, and Ultra 62.6 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K is substantial: Low drops by 32.6 FPS, Medium by 40.9 FPS, High by 45.0 FPS, and Ultra by 44.9 FPS. The 4K results show that Low settings are the only preset that comfortably exceeds 100 FPS, while Medium hovers near 90 FPS, and High/Ultra sit in the 60-70 FPS range.

The data reveals that the RTX 4070 SUPER can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease, even at Ultra settings, but 4K requires settings management to maintain high refresh rates. The 62.6 FPS at 4K Ultra is right at the edge of smoothness, while High at 4K (67.4 FPS) offers a more stable experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant factor in Thief’s performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game’s texture and geometry loads at all tested settings. The GPU’s 7168 shading units and 224 texture mapping units handle the game’s rendering work, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz enabling high throughput.

The GPU’s benchmark data shows a PassMark G3D score of 29995 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627. These figures place it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs, confirming its upper-midrange positioning. In Thief, the GPU’s role becomes apparent when comparing settings at a fixed resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 29.9 FPS, which is relatively modest, suggesting the CPU can keep up. However, at 4K, the same comparison yields a 49.6 FPS difference, showing that the GPU’s compute resources are stretched thin at that resolution.

The RTX 4070 SUPER’s 220 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU indicate a power-hungry part, but the performance data shows it delivers consistent results. The GPU’s 84th percentile ranking aligns with the combo’s overall position in the database. Interestingly, the GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (avg score 42723, delta -0.3%), is essentially tied, yet the combo’s Thief performance may differ due to driver optimizations and game-specific engine preferences.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X plays a supporting role in Thief, with its 6 cores and 12 threads providing adequate processing power for the game’s logic. The CPU’s base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with 32 MB of L3 cache, ensure that the GPU is fed with data without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. This is evident from the 1080p results, where the frame rate differences between settings are smaller than at 4K, indicating that the CPU can maintain high throughput.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reveal its capability. A Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18578 and single-core score of 2622 show strong multithreaded and single-threaded performance. The 3DMark single-thread score of 917 is particularly relevant for a 2014 game like Thief, which was designed before the era of heavy multithreading. This suggests that the CPU’s single-core strength is sufficient for the game’s main thread, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential.

The Ryzen 5 5600X’s 78th percentile ranking among CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20680, places it slightly below the GPU in relative terms. However, the deltaPct values against its nearest rivals are all within 0.7%, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical Thief performance. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node (TSMC) make it an efficient choice, but its role in this game is clearly secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the CPU likely keeps pace, but at 4K, the GPU’s rendering workload dominates the performance profile.