Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B390 combination delivers playable frame rates only at 1080p with low settings in Thief, with performance collapsing rapidly as resolution and graphical fidelity increase. The benchmark data indicates a system overwhelmingly constrained by its graphics solution, where the CPU’s substantial headroom is rendered irrelevant by the GPU’s limited throughput. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 19 FPS, making it entirely unsuitable for high-resolution gaming in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 86 FPS, which drops to 59 FPS at 1440p Low (a 31.4% reduction) and further to 35 FPS at 4K Low (a 59.3% reduction from the 1080p baseline). This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at every resolution tested.

The scaling behavior is particularly telling when examining the High settings preset. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 50 FPS; at 1440p High, it falls to 34 FPS; and at 4K High, it bottoms out at 20 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings is a 60% performance loss, which is a larger relative drop than the 59.3% seen at Low settings. This suggests that the graphics card’s fillrate and shading capabilities are being saturated even at lower resolutions, with the additional pixel workload at 4K causing a near-proportional collapse in frame rate.

The Medium settings data, which includes minimum and maximum FPS values, provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS and maximum of 75 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium drops the average to 45 FPS (min 38, max 52), and at 4K Medium the average falls to 26 FPS (min 22, max 30). The tight frame time variance at each resolution suggests a stable but heavily taxed GPU, with no evidence of CPU-related stuttering or frame pacing issues.

What this scaling pattern indicates is that the limiting component is unambiguously the Intel Arc B390. The CPU’s role is minimal in the resolution scaling equation, as the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is far steeper than what would be expected if the processor were the bottleneck. A CPU-bound scenario would show relatively flat FPS across resolutions, whereas this data shows a dramatic decline, confirming that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the ceiling. The 4K results, ranging from 19 FPS at Ultra to 35 FPS at Low, are all below the threshold for comfortable playability, making 4K a non-viable option for this combination in Thief.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, manufactured on TSMC’s 4 nm process. It features a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU’s cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 16 MB L3 cache. This processor supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 8400F demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 20,851, while the single-core score is 2,943. The 3DMark results show a scaling pattern from 1,874 in the 2-thread test to 6,165 in the max-thread test, indicating good thread scaling. The PassMark multi-thread score is 24,389, with a single-thread score of 3,685. These results place the CPU in the 77th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,005.

The nearest rivals for the Ryzen 5 8400F provide context for its performance tier. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F has an average score of 24,964, which is 0.2% lower, making the two effectively tied. The Intel Core i7-11850H scores 24,935 (0.3% lower), and the Intel Core i7-13620H scores 24,911 (0.4% lower). On the higher end, the AMD EPYC 9474F scores 25,103, which is 0.4% higher than the 8400F. This clustering indicates that the 8400F sits in a tightly contested performance band where no single rival holds a significant advantage.

For Thief, a title from 2014, the CPU’s capabilities are more than sufficient. The game’s CPU demands are modest compared to modern titles, and the 8400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample processing power. The boost clock of 4.70 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is often critical for older game engines. The benchmark data supports this assessment: the FPS scaling with resolution is purely GPU-driven, with no indication that the CPU is limiting performance at any resolution or settings combination tested. The 1080p Low result of 86 FPS, while not exceptionally high, is constrained by the GPU rather than the CPU, as evidenced by the steep drop at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. The GPU features 1,536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS of FP16 performance. The memory configuration is System Shared, meaning it uses a portion of the system’s DDR5 memory, with bandwidth described as System Dependent.

The GPU’s benchmark results are limited, with only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482. This places the Arc B390 in the 9th percentile among all tested GPUs, indicating it is a very low-performance part. Its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA GPUs: the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1,463 (1.3% lower), the GeForce 800M scores 1,460 (1.5% lower), the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1,446 (2.5% lower), and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1,443 (2.7% lower). The Arc B390 outperforms these older parts, but the comparison underscores its position at the bottom of the GPU performance spectrum.

In Thief, the GPU’s limitations are the defining factor for the entire system’s performance. The 4K Ultra result of 19 FPS and the 4K High result of 20 FPS are both well below playable thresholds, and even the 4K Low result of 35 FPS is marginal at best. The 1080p results are more viable, with Low achieving 86 FPS, Medium at 66 FPS, and High at 50 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 48 FPS. The system’s shared memory architecture is likely a contributing factor to the performance degradation at higher resolutions, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth.

The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s provide theoretical limits that align with the observed performance. At 4K (3840x2160), the pixel count is approximately 8.3 million per frame, and at 60 GPixel/s, the theoretical maximum is around 7.2 frames per millisecond of pixel processing, which is far below what is needed for high frame rates. This explains why the 4K results are consistently in the 19-35 FPS range, regardless of settings, as the GPU’s rasterization throughput is the hard ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Thief?

A: The measured data shows that 1080p Low delivers the highest average FPS at 86, followed by 1080p Medium at 66 FPS and 1080p High at 50 FPS. The 1080p Ultra preset achieves 48 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and performance, 1080p Medium is the recommended choice, as it provides a 66 FPS average with a minimum of 56 FPS and maximum of 75 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1,482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1,463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1,460), 2.5% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1,446), and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710 (1,443). It is ranked in the 9th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The FPS drops substantially from 1080p to 4K, with the 4K Ultra result at 19 FPS versus 1080p Ultra at 48 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively constant across resolutions, but the observed scaling pattern shows the GPU’s throughput is the primary constraint.

Q: Can this system run Thief at 4K?

A: The data indicates 4K is not playable. The best 4K result is 35 FPS at Low settings, with Medium at 26 FPS, High at 20 FPS, and Ultra at 19 FPS. All of these are below the 60 FPS threshold and most are below 30 FPS, making 4K unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F perform in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20,851 and a single-core score of 2,943. In PassMark, it scores 24,389 in multi-thread tests and 3,685 in single-thread tests. Its 3DMark max-thread score is 6,165, and it is ranked in the 77th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 45, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. This represents a variance of 14 FPS between minimum and maximum, indicating moderate frame time fluctuations that may be noticeable during gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B390 combination is ranked 2,534 out of 2,851 tested combos for Thief, placing it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems. This rank reflects the GPU’s position in the 9th percentile, which drags the overall combo performance down despite the CPU’s more respectable 77th percentile ranking.

The rank of 2,534 out of 2,851 means that only 317 combos perform worse than this system in Thief. This is a very low ranking, consistent with the GPU’s benchmark results that place it among the weakest graphics solutions tested. The CPU’s strong synthetic performance does little to boost the combo’s standing, as the game’s frame rates are dictated by the GPU’s limited capabilities.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU performance tiers is stark. The Ryzen 5 8400F is competitive with processors like the Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% difference) and outperforms the Core i7-13620H by 0.4%, while the Arc B390 only marginally beats legacy GPUs like the GT 710 by 2.7%. This mismatch means the system is severely imbalanced for gaming, with the CPU’s potential largely wasted in GPU-bound scenarios like Thief.

In practical terms, this ranking indicates that the combo is only suitable for low-resolution, low-detail gaming. The 1080p Low result of 86 FPS is the only clearly playable configuration, and even that is modest by modern standards. For Thief specifically, the combo’s 4K results are all below 35 FPS, and the 1440p results range from 33 to 59 FPS, making 1440p only viable at Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: Average 86 FPS
• Medium: Average 66 FPS, minimum 56 FPS, maximum 75 FPS
• High: Average 50 FPS
• Ultra: Average 48 FPS

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: Average 59 FPS
• Medium: Average 45 FPS, minimum 38 FPS, maximum 52 FPS
• High: Average 34 FPS
• Ultra: Average 33 FPS

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: Average 35 FPS
• Medium: Average 26 FPS, minimum 22 FPS, maximum 30 FPS
• High: Average 20 FPS
• Ultra: Average 19 FPS

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the only resolution where the combo achieves consistently playable frame rates across all settings, with the Low preset exceeding 60 FPS. The 1440p results are borderline, with only Low settings reaching near-60 FPS, while Medium drops to 45 FPS and High/Ultra fall below 35 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with no settings combination reaching even 40 FPS.

The Medium settings data, which includes minimum and maximum FPS, shows that frame consistency degrades with resolution. At 1080p Medium, the spread between min and max is 19 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it narrows to 14 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it narrows further to 8 FPS. This tightening suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that frame rates become more uniform but at a much lower level, with the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (22 FPS) being below the minimum at 1440p Medium (38 FPS) and 1080p Medium (56 FPS).