Thief

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Thief, but the data reveals that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 3080 Ti’s performance dominates the Ryzen 5 8400F’s output in this title, with the CPU proving more than capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p but losing ground as resolution scales. This pairing ranks in the 79th percentile of all tested combinations, indicating strong overall performance, though the specific bottleneck shifts depending on the preset and resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming that the RTX 3080 Ti is the limiting component at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 148.2 at 1920x1080 to 101.2 at 2560x1440, a 31.7% reduction, and then to 62 at 3840x2160, a further 38.7% drop. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the pixel throughput requirement outpaces the graphics card’s capabilities as resolution increases.

At Low settings, the scaling curve flattens somewhat, with 178.4 FPS at 1080p, 162.2 at 1440p, and 103.7 at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p delta here is only 9.1%, suggesting that at lower presets, the CPU begins to exert more influence at 1080p, capping the maximum frame rate. However, the 1440p to 4K drop of 36.1% still shows the GPU taking over as the primary constraint. The Ultra preset tells a similar story: 140.2 FPS at 1080p, 98.9 at 1440p, and 59 at 4K, with the 4K result falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at High settings is 31.7%, which is larger than the CPU-bound behavior one would expect if the processor were the bottleneck. Instead, the RTX 3080 Ti’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 912.4 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated as resolution climbs, making the GPU the clear performance ceiling for this combination in Thief.

Settings Recommendations

The best experience per the measured rows is the High preset at 2560x1440. It delivers 101.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while maintaining higher visual fidelity than Medium or Low. Moving to Ultra at the same resolution yields only 98.9 FPS, a marginal 2.3% improvement in visual quality for a 2.3% reduction in frame rate, making High the more efficient choice.

At 4K, High is again the recommended preset, offering 62 FPS. This is just above the 60 FPS target, but Ultra drops to 59 FPS, which is below it. Medium at 4K provides 77.4 FPS, which is smoother but sacrifices visual detail. For players prioritizing frame rate at 4K, Medium is a safer option, but High offers the best balance of fidelity and performance for this combination.

At 1080p, all presets exceed 140 FPS, so the choice is purely about visual preference. Ultra at 140.2 FPS is playable and delivers the highest quality, while Low at 178.4 FPS offers the maximum responsiveness for competitive play. The data suggests that High at 1080p (148.2 FPS) is a strong middle ground, but for this pairing, the higher resolutions are where the settings decisions matter most.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 344th out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 21% of all systems. This is a strong showing, but it is not at the very top tier, which is expected given the RTX 3080 Ti’s position in the GPU hierarchy. The GPU itself sits in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 82nd percentile, indicating that both components are well above average but not flagship-level.

The RTX 3080 Ti’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the RTX 3090, which scores 41441 versus the 3080 Ti’s 41224, a delta of -0.5%. This means the RTX 3080 Ti is essentially on par with the RTX 3090 in raw benchmark terms, trailing by less than a single percentage point. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 and RTX 5070 are also within 1.1% of the 3080 Ti’s score, highlighting that this GPU is competitive with newer and higher-tier cards.

For the CPU, the Ryzen 5 8400F’s nearest rivals include the Ryzen 7 2700X, which scores 25057 against the 8400F’s 25064, a 0% delta. This means the 8400F matches the older Ryzen 7 2700X in average benchmark score, but it does so with fewer cores and threads. The Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 and EPYC 9474F are within 0.2% of the 8400F, showing that this processor is well-positioned in its performance class despite its mid-range designation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 3080 Ti and Ryzen 5 8400F produce 178.4 FPS on Low, 163.9 FPS on Medium, 148.2 FPS on High, and 140.2 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a 21.4% difference between Low and Ultra, which is modest and indicates that the game is not heavily GPU-limited at this resolution. The CPU’s single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark and 296 in Cinebench R15 suggests it has ample headroom to drive these frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 162.2 FPS on Low, 132 FPS on Medium, 101.2 FPS on High, and 98.9 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 39%, reflecting the increased GPU load. The 4K results are 103.7 FPS on Low, 77.4 FPS on Medium, 62 FPS on High, and 59 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 43%, showing that the GPU is now the dominant factor, with the 12 GB memory buffer being pushed to its limits at the highest settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080 Ti is the driving force behind this combination’s performance in Thief. With 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, it has the raw compute power to handle the game’s stealth-based rendering demands. Its boost clock of 1665 MHz and base clock of 1365 MHz are standard for the Ampere architecture, but the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory running at 19 Gbps effective provides 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 34.10 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 186.5 GPixel/s directly correlate with the frame rates observed. At 4K Ultra, the 59 FPS result is a clear sign that the GPU is fully saturated, as the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed by the 3840x2160 resolution. The RTX 3080 Ti’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores do not significantly impact Thief, which is not a ray-tracing title, but they contribute to the overall benchmark score.

The GPU’s 350 W TDP and suggested 750 W PSU indicate a high-power component, but the measured FPS data shows that this power is being used effectively. The 83rd percentile ranking versus all GPUs confirms that the RTX 3080 Ti is a top-tier card, and its performance in Thief aligns with that status, though the 4K results show it is not overkill for this game at maximum settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 148.2.

Q: Does this combination maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at High settings the average FPS at 3840x2160 is 62, but at Ultra it drops to 59.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to the RTX 3090 in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti scores 41224, while the RTX 3090 scores 41441, a delta of -0.5%.

Q: What is the CPU’s multi-core benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 20851 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 8757 in Cinebench R20 multi-core.

Q: Which preset offers the best frame rate at 1440p?

A: Low settings yield the highest average FPS at 2560x1440 with 162.2 FPS, but High at 101.2 FPS is the best balance of quality and performance.

Q: How many threads does the Ryzen 5 8400F have?

A: The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a capable partner for the RTX 3080 Ti in Thief, but it is not the performance driver. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, the CPU has a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and a base clock of 4.20 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943 and multi-core score of 20851 indicate strong gaming performance, but the game’s frame rates are more closely tied to the GPU’s capabilities.

At 1080p, the CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and 2-thread score of 1874 show it can handle the game’s thread scheduling, as evidenced by the 178.4 FPS on Low settings. However, the 9.1% drop from 1080p to 1440p on Low suggests that the CPU’s influence diminishes as resolution increases. The 65 W TDP and 16 MB of shared L3 cache are modest, but they are sufficient for this title.

The CPU’s nearest rival, the Ryzen 7 2700X, scores 25057 in average benchmarks versus the 8400F’s 25064, a 0% delta. This means the 8400F matches an older, higher-core-count CPU in overall performance, but in Thief the GPU is the bottleneck. The 4 nm process node and 4.70 GHz boost clock ensure that the CPU does not hold back the RTX 3080 Ti at any resolution, making it a good match for this GPU in this game.