Thief

The pairing of AMD’s Ryzen 5 7400F with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090 creates an interesting bottleneck dynamic in Thief. The data shows a system where the GPU is overwhelmingly powerful, yet the CPU’s six cores may be the limiting factor at lower resolutions. This analysis examines the measured FPS across three resolutions and four settings presets, using only the provided benchmark data to interpret how this specific combination performs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline is surprisingly shallow. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 180 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 159 FPS, a reduction of 11.7%. The further jump to 4K Low yields 133 FPS, which is another 16.4% decrease from 1440p. This scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is heavily involved—the RTX 4090 is not being fully utilized at 1080p, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS gain over the 1440p result.

The story changes with higher graphical presets. At Ultra settings, the FPS progression is 145 (1080p) → 128 (1440p) → 80 (4K). The drop from 1440p to 4K is a substantial 37.5% reduction, while the 1080p to 1440p decline is only 11.7%. This indicates that at Ultra, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the increased shading and texture work overwhelms the Ada Lovelace architecture’s capabilities. The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is still formidable, but the 4K Ultra workload demands more than the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory bandwidth (1.01 TB/s) can efficiently feed in this title.

Examining the Medium preset provides the clearest picture of the scaling curve. The data shows 163 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 110 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 11.7% (1080p → 1440p) and 23.6% (1440p → 4K). This non-linear decline suggests that Thief’s engine becomes progressively more GPU-intensive as pixel count rises, but the CPU still holds back performance at 1080p Medium. The Ryzen 5 7400F’s 3.70 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost clocks are decent, but the 6-core/12-thread configuration may struggle to feed the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions where FPS targets exceed 160.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on the optimal settings-to-resolution tradeoffs. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 148 FPS, which is only 3 FPS less than Ultra (145 FPS). Given that High also beats Medium (163 FPS) by a significant margin, the data suggests High is the sweet spot for 1080p—it offers near-Ultra visual quality with a negligible FPS penalty. The Low preset’s 180 FPS is technically the highest, but the visual degradation likely isn’t worth the extra 32 FPS over High.

For 1440p, the High preset again proves superior. It achieves 130 FPS, which is within 2 FPS of Ultra (128 FPS) but 14 FPS faster than Medium (144 FPS). The gap between High and Ultra is just 1.5%, making High the clear recommendation for 1440p gaming on this combo. The RTX 4090’s 512 TMUs and 176 ROPs handle the increased texture work efficiently, but the CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache becomes a factor at this resolution.

At 4K, the decision becomes more nuanced. Ultra delivers 80 FPS, which is playable but below the 84 FPS of High. The Medium preset offers 110 FPS, a 31% improvement over Ultra. For a stealth game like Thief, where frame pacing matters more than raw speed, the High preset’s 84 FPS might be preferable to Medium’s 110 FPS if visual fidelity is prioritized. However, the data shows that Low (133 FPS) provides a 58% FPS boost over Ultra, suggesting that players targeting 120+ FPS on 4K displays should consider Low or Medium. The 24 GB VRAM buffer is never stressed, but the GPU’s 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 7400F is a Zen 4 (Raphael) part with 6 cores and 12 threads. Its benchmark scores place it at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 32750. The nearest rivals—Intel Core i5-14600T (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (deltaPct 0.2), and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (deltaPct -0.2)—are all within 0.3% in average score, indicating this is a mid-range performer that trades blows with other 6-to-8 core parts.

In Thief, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the system only achieves 180 FPS. This is 21 FPS higher than the 4K Low result (133 FPS), but notably lower than what an RTX 4090 might produce in a less CPU-bound title. The 12 threads suggest decent multi-threading support, but the game’s 2014 release date (2014-02-24) means it was designed for far simpler processors. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and single-core score of 3072 indicate the CPU is capable, but Thief’s engine may not utilize more than 4-6 threads effectively.

The Passmark physics score of 1660 is particularly telling. In a stealth game with dynamic AI and physics interactions, this score suggests the CPU can handle the game’s computational demands without becoming a severe bottleneck. However, the 1080p results show that the CPU does limit maximum FPS. At 1080p Ultra (145 FPS) vs. 4K Ultra (80 FPS), the gap is only 65 FPS, whereas at Low settings, the 1080p → 4K gap is 47 FPS. This implies the CPU has a firmer ceiling around 180 FPS, while the GPU’s ceiling at 4K Ultra is around 80 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 7400F bottleneck the RTX 4090 in Thief?

A: Yes, but only at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 180 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 133 FPS. The 47 FPS difference suggests the CPU limits performance at 1080p, while the GPU takes over as the bottleneck at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo based on the data?

A: The 1440p High preset offers the best balance, delivering 130 FPS with a 2 FPS penalty versus Ultra. It avoids the CPU bottleneck seen at 1080p while not pushing the GPU as hard as 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 4090’s memory bandwidth affect 4K performance?

A: The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is substantial, but the 4K Ultra result of 80 FPS indicates the 384-bit bus and 24 GB GDDR6X buffer are still challenged by the game’s high-resolution textures and effects.

Q: Is the 6-core/12-thread configuration sufficient for Thief?

A: Based on the 1080p results (148 FPS High, 145 FPS Ultra), the CPU does not cause severe stuttering or frame drops. However, the 180 FPS ceiling at Low settings hints that a higher-core-count CPU might unlock more FPS.

Q: What makes the High preset better than Ultra?

A: Across all three resolutions, High either matches or beats Ultra within 2-4 FPS: 148 vs 145 (1080p), 130 vs 128 (1440p), and 84 vs 80 (4K). The visual difference is likely minimal, making High the more efficient choice.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth, with 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Its 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are among the highest in the database. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, which is crucial for 4K gaming. The GPU’s 88th percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60347, confirms its top-tier status.

In Thief, the GPU’s dominance is clear at 4K, where it still manages 80 FPS at Ultra settings. The 4K Medium result of 110 FPS shows the GPU has headroom when settings are reduced. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and Passmark G3D score of 38194 indicate strong synthetic performance, but the game’s real-world results are more telling. The RTX 4090’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are not directly relevant to Thief (a non-ray-traced title), but the raw rasterization power drives the high FPS.

The GPU’s clock speeds—2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost—are moderate for a flagship, but the Ada Lovelace architecture’s efficiency compensates. The 450W TDP and triple-slot design suggest this is a power-hungry part, but the measured FPS justify the thermal output. The 21 Gbps effective memory clock is notable, as it allows the 24 GB buffer to feed the GPU’s 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate without stalling at 1440p and below.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset reveals consistent behavior across all twelve measured configurations. At 1080p, the FPS ranges from 145 (Ultra) to 180 (Low), with Medium and High falling in between at 163 and 148 respectively. The Medium preset includes min/max values of 139/188, indicating some frame variability, but the average of 163 is solid. The Low preset’s 180 FPS is the highest recorded for this combo, while Ultra’s 145 FPS is the lowest at 1080p.

At 1440p, the spread narrows: Low (159), Medium (144, with min/max of 122/166), High (130), and Ultra (128). The Medium preset’s min FPS of 122 is notably lower than the High preset’s average, suggesting that Medium’s variable workload can cause brief dips. The Ultra preset’s 128 FPS is only 2 FPS less than High, making the visual upgrade essentially free in performance terms.

At 4K, the results become more stratified: Low (133), Medium (110, with min/max of 94/127), High (84), and Ultra (80). The Medium preset’s min FPS of 94 is concerning for players with 60Hz displays, but the average of 110 is playable. The Ultra preset’s 80 FPS is the lowest recorded, and the gap between Medium and High (26 FPS) is more than double the gap between High and Ultra (4 FPS). This suggests that Medium at 4K offers the best FPS-per-visual-cost ratio for this GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 5 7400F + RTX 4090 combination ranks 257th out of 2,851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 9% of all configurations. This is a strong showing, but the rank reflects the CPU’s relative weakness compared to other RTX 4090 pairings. The CPU’s 83rd percentile rank (vs. the GPU’s 88th) means the processor is the weaker link in this pairing.

The combo’s rank is likely held back by the 1080p results. If the CPU could push higher FPS at 1080p, the overall rank would improve. However, the 4K results are competitive with other high-end systems, as the RTX 4090 dominates at that resolution. The deltaPct values for the CPU’s nearest rivals (all within 0.3%) suggest that swapping to a similarly-scored CPU (like the Intel Core i5-14600T) would yield nearly identical performance. Conversely, the GPU’s nearest rivals (Intel Arc Pro A60 with 0% delta, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 0.3%) are far weaker, meaning the RTX 4090 is the primary driver of this combo’s high rank.

The 257th position out of 2,851 indicates that while this combo is not the absolute fastest (which would require a higher-end CPU like a Ryzen 7 or Core i7), it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems. For a stealth game like Thief, where consistent frame times are more important than raw FPS, this combo’s ability to maintain 80+ FPS at 4K Ultra and 128+ FPS at 1440p Ultra makes it a formidable choice. The data suggests that players with 1440p 144Hz monitors will be fully satisfied, while 4K 120Hz OLED owners may need to drop to High or Medium settings to hit their display’s refresh rate.