Thief

Thief is a 2014 stealth title from Eidos-Montréal, and this benchmark pairing uses an AMD Ryzen 7 5700 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The combination ranks 262nd out of 1,642 tested combos for this game, placing it in the top 16% of all configurations. The data shows a system that delivers high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, though the performance scaling reveals a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is a Zen 3 architecture processor built on TSMC's 7 nm process, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache layout includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and the chip connects via PCIe Gen 3 with 20 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU shows strong multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 20,655, while the single-core score is 2,916. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 6,628, which scales down to 5,585 for 8 threads and 3,382 for 4 threads. The single-thread 3DMark score is 901. These results indicate a processor that maintains efficiency across varying thread counts, which is relevant for Thief since its engine benefits from both high single-thread responsiveness and multi-thread scaling.

Compared to its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores, the Ryzen 7 5700 sits within 1.2% of several competitors. It is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i9-9900K, 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-12700H, 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1370P, and 1.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, though the margins over its direct rivals are tight. In Thief specifically, the 8-core/16-thread configuration provides enough headroom to feed the RTX 4090 without becoming a primary bottleneck at lower resolutions, where frame rates are highest.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The base clock is 2,235 MHz with a boost clock of 2,520 MHz, and memory operates at 21 Gbps effective. The GPU has 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores. Its compute capabilities include 82.58 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, and the board is rated at 450 W TDP with a suggested PSU of 850 W.

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 4090 posts a Passmark G3D score of 38,194 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 317,684. The Vulkan score is 270,615, and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 9,223. The GPU ranks in the 91st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473. Its nearest rivals in aggregate scoring are close: it is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4, 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40, 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro P6000. These are workstation-oriented comparisons, but they show the RTX 4090's raw compute position.

For Thief, the 24 GB VRAM is far beyond what this game needs, meaning memory capacity is never a limiting factor. The GPU's high texture and pixel rates, combined with its massive bandwidth, allow it to push high average FPS even at 4K Ultra settings. The RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the measured frame rates confirm that the GPU does the heavy lifting as resolution and settings increase.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Ryzen 7 5700 and RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 262 out of 1,642 tested configurations in Thief. This places it in the 84th percentile of all combos tested for this game, meaning roughly 16% of pairings perform better. The rank reflects the balance between the two components: the RTX 4090 is one of the fastest consumer GPUs available, while the Ryzen 7 5700 is a mid-range CPU from 2022. The gap between the GPU's top-tier capability and the CPU's mid-tier position explains why the combo does not crack the top 200.

The data indicates that combos ranked higher likely use newer or higher-clocked CPUs that can better keep up with the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions. The 262nd rank is still a strong result, but it shows that the CPU holds the combo back from the very top positions. In the context of all 1,642 combos, this pairing delivers performance that is well above the median, making it a capable setup for Thief despite the CPU not being the absolute best match for the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 164.2 FPS, Medium averages 146 FPS, High averages 133.4 FPS, and Ultra averages 132.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 32.1 FPS, which is the largest gap among the three resolutions, showing that settings have a noticeable impact at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop but remain high. Low settings average 140.5 FPS, Medium averages 131.2 FPS, High averages 119.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 114.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 26 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU starts to become more of a factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are lower but still playable. Low settings average 122.1 FPS, Medium averages 109.3 FPS, High averages 85.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 80.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 41.7 FPS, which is the largest absolute difference across all resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the settings have a more pronounced effect on performance, driven primarily by GPU load.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra setting consistently yields the lowest average FPS, while Low yields the highest. The RTX 4090 maintains averages above 80 FPS even in the most demanding configuration tested, which is 4K Ultra at 80.4 FPS.

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

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about which component is the bottleneck. At Low settings, the averages go from 164.2 FPS at 1080p to 140.5 FPS at 1440p and 122.1 FPS at 4K. That is a 25.6% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the averages go from 132.1 FPS at 1080p to 114.5 FPS at 1440p and 80.4 FPS at 4K, a 39.1% drop.

The pattern shows that as resolution increases, the frame rate falls, which is typical when the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the CPU is likely holding the combo back because the GPU could produce more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (164.2 to 140.5 FPS) suggests that the CPU is still relevant at 1440p Low. However, at Ultra settings, the drop from 1440p to 4K is steep (114.5 to 80.4 FPS), which indicates the GPU is being pushed hard at 4K Ultra.

The overall pattern points to a system where the CPU is the limiter at 1080p with lower settings, but the GPU becomes the clear limiter at 4K and at higher settings. The RTX 4090's performance scales with resolution as expected, while the Ryzen 7 5700 maintains enough throughput to avoid severe stutters or drops, but it cannot push frame rates higher at 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves in Thief?

A: The highest average FPS is 164.2 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest average is 80.4 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700 compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i9-9900K?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700 has an average benchmark score of 27,220, which is 0.7% higher than the Intel Core i9-9900K's average score of 27,043.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM sufficient for Thief?

A: Yes, the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is far more than Thief requires, ensuring memory capacity is never a limiting factor in any tested setting.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: This Ryzen 7 5700 and RTX 4090 pairing ranks 262nd out of 1,642 total combos tested in Thief, placing it in the top 16% of all configurations.

Q: How much FPS is lost going from 1080p Low to 4K Low?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 164.2 at 1080p to 122.1 at 4K, a decrease of 42.1 FPS or roughly 25.6%.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 4K Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 80.4, and the steep drop from 1440p Ultra (114.5 FPS) indicates the GPU is the primary limiting component at this resolution and setting combination.