Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing in Thief produces a combination that sits near the bottom of the tested field, ranked 1473 out of 1642 combos. The data shows a system that is consistently playable at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but one that struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K. This analysis breaks down the specific contributions of the CPU and GPU, how resolution scaling exposes the bottleneck, and answers common questions about this configuration.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, built on a 5 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, which is a substantial frequency range for a mid-range desktop part. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s) provide a solid foundation for feeding a discrete GPU. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor achieves a single-thread score of 974 in 3DMark and a Geekbench single-core score of 2759, indicating strong per-core performance. Its multi-threaded capabilities are demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22799 and a Passmark multithread score of 26825.

In the context of Thief, a game released in 2014, the CPU’s high boost clock and efficient Zen 4 architecture are more than sufficient to avoid being a limiting factor at most settings. The game’s engine is not particularly demanding on modern multi-core processors, and the 7500F’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample headroom. The benchmark data supports this: at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 121.1 FPS, which is a frame rate that suggests the CPU is capable of driving the GPU to its limits. However, the processor’s percentile ranking of 82 against all CPUs indicates it is a strong performer overall, yet its nearest rivals show how close the competition is. The Intel Core i7-11850H is a mere 0.1% ahead in average score, and the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX is 0.4% ahead, while the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 8400F are 0.3% behind. This tight grouping means that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 7500F is competitive but not decisively ahead of its peers. For this specific game, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, and the data indicates it does so effectively until the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is an end-of-life Turing architecture GPU with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Its core clocks are 1530 MHz base and 1785 MHz boost, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The card has 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, delivering a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is rated at 5.027 TFLOPS. In synthetic tests, the GPU scores 12699 in Passmark G3D and 62664 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its percentile ranking of 55 against all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack, and its nearest rivals are extremely close: the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is just 0.2% behind, while the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics is also 0.2% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is 0.7% behind.

In Thief, the GPU is the definitive performance bottleneck, especially as resolution increases. At 1080p High settings, the average FPS is 66.4, which is playable but not high-refresh-rate territory. Moving to 1440p High drops the average to 45.4 FPS, and at 4K High, it falls to 29.8 FPS. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game’s textures, but the raw compute power of the TU116 chip is limited. The benchmark results show that the GPU’s performance scales poorly with resolution, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops. The GPU’s leadership over its nearest rivals is marginal, meaning that any slight advantage it has is quickly erased by demanding settings. The card’s 12 nm process node and 125 W TDP suggest it is a modest performer by modern standards, and the data confirms that it is the component that holds this combo back from achieving higher frame rates at higher resolutions.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p Low settings, the combo averages 121.1 FPS, which is a strong result. As resolution increases to 2560x1440, the average drops to 81.1 FPS, a reduction of 33%. At 4K (3840x2160) Low, the average is 49.1 FPS, which is a 59% drop from the 1080p Low figure. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames, but the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the constraint.

Looking at High settings, the progression is 66.4 FPS at 1080p, 45.4 FPS at 1440p, and 29.8 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31.6%, and from 1080p to 4K is 55.1%. These are significant reductions that indicate the GTX 1660 SUPER cannot handle the increased pixel count without substantial performance loss. At Ultra settings, the pattern is similar: 66.5 FPS at 1080p, 44.4 FPS at 1440p, and 25.5 FPS at 4K. The fact that the FPS at 1080p High and Ultra are nearly identical (66.4 and 66.5) suggests that the GPU is already saturated at 1080p, and additional graphical settings have minimal impact until the resolution is raised.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller FPS delta between resolutions, as the CPU’s workload would not increase proportionally with pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly half when moving from 1080p to 4K, which is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of fill rate and memory bandwidth. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 974) means it can likely maintain frame timing even at low FPS, but it cannot compensate for the GPU’s inability to render more pixels per frame. For users targeting 4K, this combo is not viable at any setting, with the highest average being 49.1 FPS at Low, which is still below the 60 FPS target.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and setting for this combo in Thief?*

A: Based on the data, 1080p with Medium settings offers a solid balance, achieving an average of 91.5 FPS. For a higher visual quality, 1080p High provides 66.4 FPS, which is still playable. At 1440p, Low settings are recommended for smooth gameplay at 81.1 FPS, while Medium drops to 64.5 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. This is evident from the resolution scaling: FPS drops by over 50% when moving from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU’s high boost clock and multi-threaded scores indicate it has sufficient headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested combinations?

A: The combo is ranked 1473 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested for this game. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier performance, as the CPU is a strong contender.

Q: What are the closest competitors to the GTX 1660 SUPER in terms of overall GPU score?

A: The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (0.2% behind), Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (0.2% behind), and AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (0.7% behind). The performance differences are minimal, showing the GTX 1660 SUPER is not decisively faster than its immediate peers.

*Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Thief?*

A: No. The highest average FPS at 4K is 49.1 at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. At High and Ultra settings, the averages are 29.8 and 25.5 FPS, respectively, making 4K gameplay impractical.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500F compare to its nearest CPU rivals in average score?

A: The 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24993. It is 0.1% behind the Intel Core i7-11850H and 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX. It is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and AMD Ryzen 5 8400F. This indicates it is placed in a tightly contested performance segment.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1473 out of 1642 places this system in the lower tier of all tested configurations for Thief. This is a meaningful statistic because it shows that while the CPU is a high-percentile performer (82nd percentile), the GPU’s 55th percentile ranking drags the overall system down. The CPU is not the issue; its nearest rivals are all within a 0.4% performance delta, meaning that swapping to a different high-end CPU would yield negligible gains in this game. The GPU, however, is the limiting factor, and its performance is closely matched by competitors like the RX Vega 11 and Iris Xe MAX, which are integrated or entry-level parts.

The rank of 1473 means that over 89% of tested combos outperform this system in Thief. This is not surprising given the GPU’s age and end-of-life status. The data shows that at 1080p, the system can deliver playable frame rates, but it is not a high-performance setup. The FPS figures at 1440p and 4K confirm that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming or 1440p with reduced settings. In summary, the Ryzen 5 7500F provides a strong foundation, but the GTX 1660 SUPER is the component that defines the system’s overall capability, and that capability is modest for a modern game, even one from 2014. The ranking accurately reflects a system that prioritizes CPU headroom over GPU throughput, resulting in a sub-60 FPS experience at higher resolutions.