Thief

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename), built on TSMC's 7 nm process with 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a 16 MB L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 in dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU posts a single-thread score of 901 in 3DMark, a multi-thread score of 6,628 in the 16-thread test, and a max-thread score of 6,617. Cinebench R23 results show 2,916 single-core and 20,655 multi-core. Geekbench reports 1,907 single-core and 9,959 multi-core. PassMark single-thread is 3,296, while multi-thread is 24,303. These figures place the CPU at the 78th percentile among all tested processors.

The nearest rivals in the database show tight clustering. The Intel Xeon D-2752TER scores 25,530 on average, which is 0.1% below the Ryzen 7 5700's 25,517 average. The AMD Ryzen 5 7640U scores 25,485, 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600H scores 25,550, 0.1% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 5825U scores 25,446, 0.3% higher. This means the Ryzen 7 5700 sits in a performance band where differences of less than one percent separate it from four other processors.

For Thief, a 2014 stealth title, the game's engine does not heavily stress modern multi-core processors. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low reach 152 FPS average, which indicates the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 84 FPS, but this change tracks with GPU workload rather than CPU throughput. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, shown by the 901 3DMark single-thread score and 3,296 PassMark single-thread score, ensures that the game's main thread has ample headroom. The 8-core layout provides excess parallel capacity that Thief's engine likely does not fully utilize, but the high single-thread scores prevent any CPU-bound bottleneck from appearing in the measured data.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT uses the Navi 10 chip with RDNA 1.0 architecture, built on 7 nm TSMC process with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. It has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operations units. The base clock is 1,605 MHz, boost clock is 1,905 MHz, and game clock is 1,755 MHz. Memory consists of 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, running at 1,750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Pixel rate is 121.9 GPixel/s, texture rate is 304.8 GTexel/s, and FP32 throughput is 9.754 TFLOPS. The card draws 225 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU.

In GPU benchmarks, the card scores 2,134 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 74,647 in Geekbench Metal, 68,310 in Geekbench Vulkan, and 16,277 in PassMark G3D. The average benchmark score is 16,361, placing it at the 59th percentile among all tested GPUs. The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with an average score of 16,351 (0.1% higher than the RX 5700 XT), the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell at 16,408 (0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 at 16,415 (0.3% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 at 16,504 (0.9% lower). The RX 5700 XT effectively sits in a cluster where rival deltas range from -0.9% to +0.1%.

For Thief, the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates across all measured configurations. At 1080p Low, the card delivers 152 FPS, but as settings increase to Medium (115 FPS), High (88 FPS), and Ultra (84 FPS), the performance drops consistently. This scaling pattern reflects the GPU's raw fill rate and shading capacity being taxed by higher quality presets. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for Thief's texture loads at all settings, as the game predates the larger VRAM demands of modern titles. The 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth provides ample headroom for the game's asset streaming, and the 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 throughput drives the pixel and texture rates that determine how quickly the game's scenes render.

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

The measured data shows a clear progression across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 152. At 1440p Low, it drops to 104, a decrease of 48 FPS or roughly 31.6%. At 2160p Low, the average is 61, down another 43 FPS from 1440p, or about 41.3% lower. The total drop from 1080p Low to 2160p Low is 91 FPS, representing a 59.9% reduction.

For Medium settings, the pattern continues. 1080p Medium averages 115 FPS, 1440p Medium averages 79 FPS (a 36 FPS drop), and 2160p Medium averages 47 FPS (a 32 FPS drop). The 1080p to 2160p reduction is 68 FPS, or 59.1%. High settings show 1080p at 88 FPS, 1440p at 60 FPS, and 2160p at 35 FPS. The total drop is 53 FPS, or 60.2%. Ultra settings show 1080p at 84 FPS, 1440p at 57 FPS, and 2160p at 34 FPS. The total drop is 50 FPS, or 59.5%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is striking. Every preset loses roughly 59-60% of its 1080p performance when moving to 2160p. This uniform scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions. If the CPU were limiting at lower resolutions, the 1080p to 1440p drop would be smaller than the 1440p to 2160p drop, because the CPU would cap performance regardless of resolution. Instead, the data shows a steady decline proportional to pixel count, which is the signature of GPU-bound rendering.

The 1440p Medium results include min and max values: 67 FPS minimum and 91 FPS maximum, with an average of 79 FPS. The 2160p Medium results show 40 FPS minimum and 54 FPS maximum, averaging 47 FPS. The 1080p Medium results show 98 FPS minimum and 133 FPS maximum, averaging 115 FPS. The frame time variance, measured by the spread between min and max, grows at higher resolutions, consistent with heavier GPU load causing more variable frame pacing.

FAQ

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

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 84 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 16,361. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M is 0.1% higher at 16,351, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is 0.3% lower at 16,408, the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 is 0.3% lower at 16,415, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 is 0.9% lower at 16,504.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 152 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 34 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 5700 show any sign of CPU bottlenecking in Thief?

A: The data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 152, and the performance scaling from 1080p to 2160p is consistent across all settings, with each preset losing approximately 59-60% of performance at 4K. This uniform drop is characteristic of GPU limitation.

Q: At 1440p Medium, what are the minimum and maximum FPS values?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 67 and the maximum FPS is 91, with an average of 79 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 2,731 out of 3,720 tested combos in Thief. This places the combo in the lower third of all tested configurations, at roughly the 73rd percentile of combos (calculated as 1 - 2731/3720, or approximately 26.5% of combos rank below it, meaning about 73.5% rank above it).

This ranking position reflects the GPU's mid-tier standing. The RX 5700 XT sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 16,361 is only slightly above its nearest rivals. The CPU's 78th percentile standing does not compensate enough to push the combo higher, because Thief's frame rates are GPU-bound across all measured settings and resolutions. The consistent 59-60% performance drop from 1080p to 2160p confirms that the GPU dictates the frame rate ceiling.

The ranking also indicates that many combos with newer or higher-tier GPUs outperform this pairing. The 2,731 rank out of 3,720 means that 989 combos rank below this one. The combo's performance in Thief is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 2160p, only Low settings achieve an average above 60 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 34 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of what each preset delivers at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all settings achieve playable frame rates. Low averages 152 FPS, Medium averages 115 FPS, High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 84 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 27 FPS. This suggests that Ultra at 1080p offers minimal frame rate penalty over High while providing the maximum visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the options narrow. Low averages 104 FPS, Medium averages 79 FPS, High averages 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 57 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is again small (3 FPS), while Medium to High shows a 19 FPS drop. For smooth gameplay above 60 FPS, Medium is the highest preset that consistently stays above that threshold, with an average of 79 FPS and a minimum of 67 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. Low averages 61 FPS, Medium averages 47 FPS, High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. Only Low achieves an average above 60 FPS. The Medium preset, with a minimum of 40 FPS and maximum of 54 FPS, shows that even middle-ground settings struggle at 4K.

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 84 FPS with the highest visual fidelity, and the 4 FPS penalty over High is negligible. At 1440p, Medium provides the best balance with a 79 FPS average and a 67 FPS minimum, staying comfortably above 60 FPS. At 2160p, Low is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, though users accepting lower frame rates could consider Medium at 47 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, for a total of twelve configurations. All measurements come from the database's recorded results.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: average 152 FPS
• Medium: average 115 FPS, minimum 98 FPS, maximum 133 FPS
• High: average 88 FPS
• Ultra: average 84 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: average 104 FPS
• Medium: average 79 FPS, minimum 67 FPS, maximum 91 FPS
• High: average 60 FPS
• Ultra: average 57 FPS

3840x2160 (2160p):

• Low: average 61 FPS
• Medium: average 47 FPS, minimum 40 FPS, maximum 54 FPS
• High: average 35 FPS
• Ultra: average 34 FPS

The data shows a few notable patterns. First, the High and Ultra presets produce nearly identical performance at every resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 4 FPS (88 vs 84). At 1440p, the difference is 3 FPS (60 vs 57). At 2160p, the difference is 1 FPS (35 vs 34). This convergence indicates that the Ultra preset adds visual features that are not significantly more demanding than High in Thief's engine, or that the GPU is already saturated at High and the extra settings have minimal incremental cost.

Second, the Low to Medium gap is substantial at every resolution. At 1080p, Low to Medium drops 37 FPS (152 to 115). At 1440p, the drop is 25 FPS (104 to 79). At 2160p, the drop is 14 FPS (61 to 47). The Medium to High gap is also significant: 27 FPS at 1080p (115 to 88), 19 FPS at 1440p (79 to 60), and 12 FPS at 2160p (47 to 35).

Third, the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values. This suggests the database captured frame variance for this configuration, showing that the spread between minimum and maximum grows with resolution. At 1080p, the spread is 35 FPS (98 to 133). At 1440p, the spread is 24 FPS (67 to 91). At 2160p, the spread is 14 FPS (40 to 54). The relative spread, as a percentage of average FPS, is 30.4% at 1080p, 30.4% at 1440p, and 29.8% at 2160p, showing consistent frame pacing variance relative to the average.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are not taxed by Thief at any resolution, given the game's 2014 release and the fact that even the highest preset at 2160p does not show signs of memory-related stutter in the recorded minimum FPS values. The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by the 901 3DMark single-thread score and 3,296 PassMark single-thread score, provides sufficient headroom for the game's main thread at all measured configurations. The bottleneck is squarely on the GPU, as evidenced by the uniform resolution scaling across all settings.