Thief

Resolution Scaling

The recorded data for Thief with the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER shows a clear pattern of frame rate scaling across the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 148 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same preset drops that figure to 119 FPS, a reduction of 29 frames. At 3840x2160, High settings produce 70 FPS average, which is 78 frames below the 1080p result and 49 frames below the 1440p result.

The scaling behavior across all settings groups tells a consistent story. At Low settings, the average frame rate moves from 181 FPS at 1080p, to 160 FPS at 1440p, down to 121 FPS at 4K. That represents a 21 FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 39 FPS drop when moving from 1440p to 4K. Medium settings show 164 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 92 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce 146 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K.

The percentage deltas reveal where the bottleneck shifts. From 1080p to 1440p, the average loss across all four settings is roughly 16.5%. From 1440p to 4K, the average loss jumps to roughly 40.5%. This steepening curve indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU still has enough headroom to keep the GPU fed, but the frame rates are already high enough that the processor is doing meaningful work. The fact that Low settings at 1080p reach 181 FPS while Ultra at the same resolution only reaches 146 FPS shows that even at 1080p, the GPU is not completely idle; the 35 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p narrows to a 41 FPS spread at 1440p (160 vs 119) and a 54 FPS spread at 4K (121 vs 67).

This data indicates a system that is well balanced for 1440p gaming. The 1440p results sit in a comfortable range where the CPU can still push high frame rates without the GPU becoming a hard ceiling. The 4K results, particularly at Ultra (67 FPS) and High (70 FPS), show the GPU working near its limit. The 1080p results, especially at Low (181 FPS), suggest that the CPU has more headroom, but the game itself is not particularly demanding on modern hardware.

FAQ

Q: What average frame rate does this combo achieve at 1440p with High settings?

A: The recorded data shows 119 FPS average at 2560x1440 with High settings.

Q: How much faster is Low settings compared to Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings average 121 FPS while Ultra averages 67 FPS, a difference of 54 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the spread between Low (181 FPS) and Ultra (146 FPS) is 35 FPS, indicating that the GPU still has a measurable effect even at lower resolution. The CPU is not the sole bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for Medium settings at 1080p?

A: The data shows a minimum of 139 FPS and a maximum of 188 FPS for Medium settings at 1920x1080.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 475th out of 3,720 tested combinations in the database.

Q: Is the GPU's average benchmark score higher or lower than its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 31,087, while the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 scores 31,206, a delta of -0.4%.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear view of how each preset behaves across resolutions. For 1920x1080, the jump from High (148 FPS) to Ultra (146 FPS) costs only 2 FPS, making Ultra the obvious choice for users who want maximum visual quality without meaningful frame rate loss. Medium at 1080p sits at 164 FPS, which is 16 FPS above High, but the visual difference between Medium and High in a stealth game like Thief is usually more noticeable in shadow detail and texture filtering. Since the gap between High and Ultra is negligible, Ultra is the best experience at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. High delivers 119 FPS, while Ultra drops to 113 FPS, a 6 FPS penalty. Medium sits at 144 FPS, which is 25 FPS above High. For a stealth game where smooth motion matters for maintaining situational awareness, the Medium preset's 144 FPS average with a minimum of 123 FPS provides a more consistent experience than High's 119 FPS average. The minimum frame rate at Medium (123 FPS) is actually higher than the average at High (119 FPS), which suggests that Medium avoids the worst frame time spikes. Ultra at 1440p (113 FPS) is still playable, but the 31 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra is substantial for only marginal visual gains.

At 3840x2160, the data points to High as the best compromise. High averages 70 FPS, while Ultra drops to 67 FPS and Medium sits at 92 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS, which is a solid experience for a stealth title. High at 4K is playable but sits close to the 60 FPS comfort threshold. Ultra at 4K (67 FPS) is the worst option because it sacrifices 25 FPS compared to Medium for what is typically a small improvement in shadow resolution and post-processing. The data suggests Medium at 4K is the sweet spot, as it maintains a 14 FPS margin above High while keeping the minimum above 75 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset never provides a compelling reason to use it. At 1080p, Low runs at 181 FPS, but Ultra runs at 146 FPS, and the 35 FPS gain does not justify the visual downgrade in a game that relies on lighting and shadow cues for stealth mechanics. At 1440p, Low (160 FPS) versus Medium (144 FPS) is a 16 FPS difference that again sacrifices too much visual fidelity. At 4K, Low (121 FPS) versus Medium (92 FPS) is a 29 FPS difference, but the Low preset likely disables the ambient occlusion and dynamic shadow features that are central to Thief's atmosphere.

How This Combo Ranks

The database places this combination at rank 475 out of 3,720 tested combos for Thief. That puts it in the top 13% of all recorded configurations. The ranking reflects the overall average frame rate across the measured settings and resolutions, and the data shows a system that is consistently above the median performance tier.

The CPU's percentile ranking among all processors is 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of recorded CPUs in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU's percentile ranking is 76 among all GPUs. Both components sit in a similar percentile band, which explains why the combo does not exhibit a severe bottleneck in either direction. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25,005 is remarkably close to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which scores 24,964, a delta of only 0.2%. The GPU's average score of 31,087 is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31,206) and 1.9% below the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31,676).

The rank of 475 out of 3,720 is influenced by the fact that Thief is a 2014 title with modest system requirements. Many lower-end combos can achieve high frame rates in this game, compressing the performance field. The fact that this high-end pairing still lands in the top 13% indicates that the game's engine responds well to both CPU and GPU improvements, but the absolute frame rates are already so high that diminishing returns set in quickly.

CPU Role

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

In synthetic benchmarks, the chip scores 951 in single-thread 3DMark, 1,874 in 2-thread, 3,563 in 4-thread, 5,275 in 8-thread, and 6,165 in max-thread tests. The Cinebench R23 results show 2,943 for single-core and 20,851 for multi-core. The Passmark multi-thread score is 24,389, and the single-thread score is 3,685.

For Thief, the CPU's role is primarily about maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully saturated. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 181 FPS, which is a frame rate that requires solid single-thread performance. The 8400F's single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark and 2,943 in Cinebench R23 puts it in a strong position for older games that rely on one or two main threads. Thief's engine, released in 2014, typically scales up to four cores, and the 4-thread 3DMark score of 3,563 indicates the processor has ample headroom for that workload.

The 6-core, 12-thread configuration also ensures that background tasks and streaming overhead do not interfere with game performance. The CPU's percentile rank of 77 versus the 76 percentile of the GPU means neither component is dramatically stronger than the other, which is why the frame rates scale predictably with resolution. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiter, as evidenced by the 54 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at that resolution. At 1080p, the spread narrows to 35 FPS, showing the CPU can still push high frame rates but the GPU is starting to matter more.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s is adequate for a game of Thief's era, and the 16 MB of shared L3 cache is sufficient for the game's working set. The 8400F's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, has an average score nearly identical (24,964 vs 25,005, a 0.2% delta), which confirms that the 8400F is not an outlier in its performance class.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured data set for this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080, Low settings average 181 FPS. Medium settings average 164 FPS, with a minimum of 139 FPS and a maximum of 188 FPS. High settings average 148 FPS. Ultra settings average 146 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings average 160 FPS. Medium settings average 144 FPS, with a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 166 FPS. High settings average 119 FPS. Ultra settings average 113 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 121 FPS. Medium settings average 92 FPS, with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. High settings average 70 FPS. Ultra settings average 67 FPS.

Interpreting these numbers, the Medium preset at every resolution provides the only complete frame time data (minimum and maximum values). At 1080p, Medium's 139 FPS minimum is still far above the 60 FPS threshold, and the 49 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates some variation but nothing problematic. At 1440p, Medium's minimum of 123 FPS and maximum of 166 FPS creates a 43 FPS spread, which is tighter than the 1080p spread and suggests the GPU is becoming more consistent. At 4K, Medium's minimum of 78 FPS and maximum of 106 FPS produces a 28 FPS spread, the smallest of the three resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor and frame pacing is more uniform.

The delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution is instructive: 35 FPS at 1080p (181 to 146), 47 FPS at 1440p (160 to 113), and 54 FPS at 4K (121 to 67). This widening gap shows that visual settings have a larger absolute impact at higher resolutions because the GPU is already working harder. The High to Ultra gap is minimal at every resolution: 2 FPS at 1080p (148 to 146), 6 FPS at 1440p (119 to 113), and 3 FPS at 4K (70 to 67). This indicates that Ultra settings add very little GPU load over High in this game, making High a safe choice when frame rates are borderline.

For users targeting 60 FPS as a minimum, the data shows that all settings at 1440p and below meet that requirement, with the lowest recorded value being 113 FPS average at Ultra 1440p. At 4K, only Low (121 FPS) and Medium (92 FPS, min 78 FPS) comfortably exceed 60 FPS; High (70 FPS) and Ultra (67 FPS) sit close enough that any scene complexity could push them below that threshold. The minimum frame rate for Medium at 4K (78 FPS) provides a safety margin of 18 FPS over 60, which is why Medium appears to be the most reliable 4K preset in this dataset.