Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, responds to the pairing of AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090 in a way that clearly separates the workload between CPU and GPU. The data shows a 32 GB GDDR7 buffer and a 512-bit memory interface, but the frame rates across resolutions tell a story of diminishing returns as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the combo delivers 163.2 FPS on Low settings, but that figure drops to 133.2 FPS on High, indicating that the processor is still feeding the GPU efficiently even at lower graphical loads. Moving to 1440p, the gap narrows slightly, with Low producing 144.3 FPS and High 121.1 FPS. At 4K, the scaling becomes more pronounced, as the RTX 5090's raw compute is taxed by the higher pixel count, with Low yielding 121.7 FPS and High 86.1 FPS. This progression suggests that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, where the 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is stretched by the resolution demand.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not linear across all settings. At Low settings, the 1080p result of 163.2 FPS falls to 121.7 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 41.5 FPS, or roughly 25%. At High settings, the drop from 133.2 FPS to 86.1 FPS represents a 47.1 FPS decline, or about 35%. This steeper percentage drop at higher settings indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as both resolution and graphical fidelity increase. The 4K Ultra setting, which produces 85.8 FPS, is only 0.3 FPS below the High setting's 86.1 FPS, suggesting that the game's Ultra preset does not impose a significantly heavier load than High at this resolution, likely due to the RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth absorbing the extra texture and shadow data without stuttering. Conversely, at 1080p, the difference between Low (163.2 FPS) and Ultra (134.7 FPS) is 28.5 FPS, which points to the CPU's Zen 3 architecture with 6 cores and 12 threads providing enough headroom to keep the GPU fed, but not so much that it eliminates the impact of settings changes.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Ryzen 5 5600X and RTX 5090 ranks 226th out of 1,642 tested combos in Thief. That places it in the top 14% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing given the game's age and its tendency to favor single-threaded performance. The CPU itself sits at the 78th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20,680. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT, which scores 20,740 (a 0.3% difference), and the Intel Core i7-10700 at 20,746 (also 0.3% off). The Intel Core i5-12490F is 0.5% ahead at 20,794, while the Intel Xeon 6325P trails by 0.7% at 20,538. These sub-1% deltas indicate that the 5600X is evenly matched with its immediate competitors, meaning the rank in Thief is largely driven by the GPU's performance. The RTX 5090, ranking at the 94th percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 84,306, is the dominant factor here. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, scores 84,241 (0.1% lower), while the RTX 5050 Mobile is 0.2% off at 84,171. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 lags by 1.3% at 83,209, and the NVIDIA CMP 40HX is 1.6% behind at 85,637. This suggests that the combo's rank is less about CPU variance and more about the GPU's top-tier placement.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090's specifications align with the measured results in Thief. The GPU's base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with 21,760 shading units, provide the raw throughput needed for high frame rates. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Thief's 2014-era textures, even at 4K Ultra settings where the game might otherwise suffer from memory pressure on lesser cards. The 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this title, as Thief does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, but they do not hinder performance either. The 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs handle the pixel and texture work efficiently, as evidenced by the 4K High result of 86.1 FPS. The GPU's 575 W TDP and dual-slot design are consistent with a flagship part, but the data shows that in this game, the RTX 5090 is not fully maxed out at 1080p, where the CPU's 3.70 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost clocks are more likely to be the constraint. At 4K, the GPU's FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS is the deciding factor, and the frame rates reflect that workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 163.2 FPS on Low, 151 FPS on Medium, 133.2 FPS on High, and 134.7 FPS on Ultra. The near-identical results between High and Ultra (a 1.5 FPS difference) suggest that the Ultra preset adds minimal extra load, possibly due to the GPU's ample VRAM. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 144.3 FPS on Low, 134.9 FPS on Medium, 121.1 FPS on High, and 115.2 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 29.1 FPS, which is similar to the 28.5 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the CPU is still keeping pace at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 121.7 FPS on Low, 111.6 FPS on Medium, 86.1 FPS on High, and 85.8 FPS on Ultra. Here, the Low to Ultra gap shrinks to 35.9 FPS, but the absolute numbers are lower. The most striking observation is the 4K High to 4K Ultra delta of just 0.3 FPS, reinforcing that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, and the game's settings have diminishing returns once the RTX 5090's resources are fully engaged. Across all resolutions, the Low settings consistently provide the highest frame rates, but the margin over Medium is not uniform, ranging from 12.2 FPS at 1080p to 10.1 FPS at 4K, which shows that the Medium preset is a reasonable middle ground.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Thief?

A: The highest average FPS is 163.2, recorded at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its closest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 84,306, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D scores 84,241, a difference of 0.1%. The RTX 5050 Mobile is 0.2% behind at 84,171.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 134.7, while at 4K Ultra, it is 85.8, a drop of 48.9 FPS.

Q: Which component is more likely to limit performance at 4K High settings?

A: The GPU is the limiting component, as the 4K High result of 86.1 FPS is only slightly above the 4K Ultra result of 85.8 FPS, indicating the RTX 5090 is the bottleneck.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600X's benchmark score compare to the Intel Core i7-10700?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600X has an average score of 20,680, while the Intel Core i7-10700 scores 20,746, placing the 5600X 0.3% behind.

Q: What is the combo's rank out of all tested systems in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 226th out of 1,642 tested combinations, placing it in the upper tier of systems for this game.