Thief

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B390 combination delivers playable frame rates at 1080p in Thief, but the experience deteriorates rapidly at higher resolutions. The data shows a processor with substantial headroom and a graphics solution that becomes the primary constraint as pixel count increases. This pairing ranks in the bottom 11% of tested configurations, highlighting a significant imbalance between the CPU and GPU components.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, built on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor features a 32 MB shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core, alongside 64 KB of L1 cache per core. Memory support includes dual-channel DDR5 with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and the CPU provides Gen 5 PCIe with 24 lanes.

In the context of Thief, a 2014 stealth title, the Ryzen 7 7700's specifications are far beyond what the game requires. Benchmark results show strong synthetic performance: the Cinebench R23 multicore score is 18760, the single-core score is 1930, and Geekbench results are 15371 multicore and 2525 single-core. The Passmark multithread score is 34470, with a single-thread score of 4063. These numbers indicate that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration.

The game's engine, released in 2014, typically relies on a few fast cores rather than many threads. The Ryzen 7 7700's 5.30 GHz boost clock and its 1049 single-thread score in 3DMark underscore its capability in this regard. The CPU's percentile ranking against all processors is 87, meaning it outperforms most alternatives on the market. However, the measured FPS in Thief shows that despite this processing power, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates.

At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 86, which is respectable but not exceptional given the CPU's capabilities. The gap between the CPU's synthetic scores and the game's actual performance suggests that the GPU is holding back the system. The Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores and 16 threads are effectively idle while the Intel Arc B390 works to render each frame.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 with the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2534 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the bottom 11.1% of all configurations, which is a poor result for a system built around a high-end desktop processor. The data indicates that the GPU is severely limiting overall performance.

The Intel Arc B390's individual GPU ranking is 9th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463 (a 1.3% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, which scores 1443 (a 2.7% delta). These are entry-level or older mobile/desktop parts, and the Arc B390 only narrowly outperforms them.

The CPU's own ranking is much higher, at the 87th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 40081. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048, 0.1% delta), the Intel Core 5 221E (40144, -0.2% delta), the AMD Ryzen 9 270 (40246, -0.4% delta), and the Intel Core i9-13905H (40313, -0.6% delta). These deltas are all within 0.6%, indicating that the Ryzen 7 7700 performs on par with these other processors.

The stark contrast between the CPU's 87th percentile ranking and the GPU's 9th percentile ranking explains the combo's low position. In Thief, the frame rate is almost entirely dictated by the GPU, and the Arc B390 is simply not powerful enough to leverage the Ryzen 7 7700's capabilities. The combo rank of 2534 out of 2851 reflects this bottleneck, placing the system in the lower tier of tested configurations.

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

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable trend across resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 50. Moving to 1440p drops this to 34 FPS, a 32% reduction. At 4K, the average FPS falls to 20, which is a 60% drop from the 1080p High result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

For Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 86. At 1440p Low, it drops to 59 FPS, a 31.4% decrease. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 35, which represents a 59.3% drop from the 1080p result. The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as its workload scales directly with pixel count.

The Medium settings tell a similar story. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 66. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 45 FPS (a 31.8% decrease), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 26 FPS (a 60.6% decrease from 1080p). The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 22, and the maximum is 30, showing significant frame time variance at high resolutions.

This scaling behavior reveals that the CPU is not the bottleneck. If the Ryzen 7 7700 were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not increase with pixel count. Instead, the FPS decreases nearly proportionally with the number of pixels, confirming that the Intel Arc B390 is the component that cannot keep up.

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

At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results. With Low settings, the average FPS is 86, which is the highest recorded value across all configurations. Medium settings yield an average of 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 and a maximum of 75. High settings result in an average of 50 FPS, and Ultra settings drop further to an average of 48 FPS. These numbers show that while 1080p is playable, even the lowest settings cannot push the frame rate above 90 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings produce an average of 59 FPS, which is still playable but significantly lower than the 1080p result. Medium settings yield 45 FPS on average, with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 52. High settings drop to 34 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 33 FPS. At this resolution, only Low settings maintain a frame rate above 60 FPS, and even that is marginal.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain smooth gameplay. Low settings produce an average of 35 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target. Medium settings yield 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 and a maximum of 30. High settings drop to 20 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 19 FPS. None of the 4K configurations reach playable frame rates, with the highest average being 35 FPS at Low settings.

The data shows that the Intel Arc B390 is only capable of delivering playable performance at 1080p with lower settings. At 1440p, the frame rates are borderline, and at 4K, the system is effectively unusable for gaming. The CPU's performance remains consistent across all tests, further confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor.

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

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process by Intel. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W.

Memory is system shared, meaning the GPU uses the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bus width and bandwidth are listed as "System Dependent," which means performance can vary based on the system configuration. In this case, the Ryzen 7 7700 provides dual-channel DDR5 memory with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is the theoretical maximum available to the GPU.

The Arc B390's compute capabilities include 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. These specifications place the GPU in the entry-level segment, as evidenced by its 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In Thief, the GPU's performance is directly reflected in the measured FPS. The game is not particularly demanding by modern standards, but the Arc B390 still struggles. At 1080p with Low settings, the 86 FPS average shows that the GPU can handle the game at its most basic level. However, as settings and resolution increase, the GPU's limited resources become apparent. The game's textures and shaders require more memory bandwidth and compute power than the Arc B390 can provide, leading to the sharp FPS drops observed.

The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GT 625 OEM, are similarly low-end parts. The Arc B390 outperforms them by only 1.3% to 2.7%, indicating that it is not a significant step up from these older components. This explains why the system's overall ranking is so low, as the GPU is the primary determinant of gaming performance.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings produces the highest average FPS at 86. Medium settings at 1080p yield 66 FPS, which is also playable. At 1440p, only Low settings (59 FPS) remain above 60 FPS, while 4K is not playable at any settings.

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

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% higher). The Arc B390 outperforms all of these by small margins.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The Ryzen 7 7700 ranks in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40081. The CPU's performance is far above what the GPU can utilize. The FPS drops across resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound behavior, not CPU limitations.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded at Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum FPS is 56 and the maximum is 75, with an average of 66. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 38 and the maximum is 52, with an average of 45. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 22 and the maximum is 30, with an average of 26.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested combinations?

A: This pairing ranks 2534 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the bottom 11.1% of all configurations, which is a poor result primarily due to the GPU's limited performance.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The Intel Arc B390 uses system shared memory, with the bus width and bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." The CPU provides dual-channel DDR5 memory with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. This shared memory setup means the GPU competes with the CPU for bandwidth, which can impact performance in memory-intensive scenes.