Thief

# Thief with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B370

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B370 combination delivers playable frame rates in Thief only at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, with the data showing a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. This pairing ranks 2634th out of 2851 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations, and the measured results indicate a system that is heavily constrained by the integrated-class GPU rather than the eight-core CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a dramatic drop as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K, with the average frame rate nearly halving at each step. At 1080p Low, the system produces 78 FPS, which falls to 53 FPS at 1440p — a 32% reduction — and further drops to 31 FPS at 4K, representing a 60% loss from the 1080p baseline. This pattern holds across all settings presets, with High settings showing 45 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and just 18 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset follows the same trajectory: 59 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor throughout. When resolution doubles from 1080p to 4K, pixel count quadruples, yet the frame rate does not drop to one-quarter — it falls to roughly 40% of the 1080p value. This non-linear scaling suggests that while the GPU is clearly saturated at higher resolutions, there is some CPU headroom that partially compensates at 4K. However, the absolute numbers at 4K tell a clear story: every preset except Low falls below 25 FPS, with Ultra managing only 17 FPS and High at 18 FPS. Even the best 4K result, Low at 31 FPS, is barely playable and far from smooth.

The 1440p results occupy a middle ground. Low settings achieve 53 FPS, which is acceptable for casual play, and Medium reaches 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, indicating reasonably stable performance. High at 31 FPS and Ultra at 29 FPS are borderline, with the frame pacing likely suffering from GPU saturation. The data shows that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination, and only with reduced settings.

At 1080p, the system shows its best behavior. Low settings produce 78 FPS, which is comfortably smooth, and Medium delivers 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS — a tight range that suggests consistent frame delivery. High at 45 FPS and Ultra at 43 FPS are playable but not ideal for a stealth game where quick reactions matter. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 35 FPS, or about 45%, which is a substantial visual-to-performance tradeoff.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor built on a 4 nm TSMC process, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration, providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The processor supports ECC memory and uses the AMD Socket AM5 platform with PCIe Gen 5 connectivity (24 lanes from the CPU).

In PassMark benchmarks, the 9700F scores 4691 in single-threaded tests and 36470 in multithreaded tests. Its overall average benchmark score is 69996, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals show how tightly grouped this processor is at the top: the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163 (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515 (0.7% higher), and the Intel Core i7-14700K scores 69355 (0.9% higher). These deltas are within 1% of each other, indicating that the 9700F is competitive with top-tier desktop and mobile processors from the previous generation.

For Thief, a game released in 2014, the CPU's capabilities are more than sufficient. The game's engine was designed for the multi-core processors of that era, and the 9700F's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallel processing headroom. The high single-thread score of 4691 is particularly relevant for a stealth game, where AI calculations, pathfinding, and physics simulations often run on a single primary thread. The processor's 5.50 GHz boost clock ensures that these single-threaded workloads are handled with minimal latency.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 78 FPS, which is likely near the engine's practical limit for this scene complexity. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see similar frame rates across all resolutions, but the 4K results are dramatically lower. This indicates that the GPU is saturated well before the CPU reaches its limits. The 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s are also unlikely to be constraining factors in a game of this era, which was designed for systems with far less memory bandwidth.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, using Intel's 3 nm process with a Panther Lake chip. It has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation pipelines, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W. Memory is system shared, meaning the GPU uses a portion of the main system RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, and memory bandwidth is system dependent.

The Arc B370's compute capabilities include a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is 12.29 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, it scores 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs — a very low standing.

The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database highlight just how limited this part is. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4% lower). These are all legacy parts from the early 2010s, indicating that the Arc B370's raw performance is roughly equivalent to a decade-old discrete GPU. The 5th percentile ranking means that 95% of all GPUs in the database perform better.

For Thief, the GPU's limitations are starkly evident in the measured data. At 1080p Low, the 78 FPS result is the best case, but this requires the lowest visual quality settings. The GPU's shared memory architecture means that texture bandwidth and memory latency are system dependent, which can cause stuttering in scenes with large texture loads. Thief, as a 2014 title, has moderate VRAM requirements by modern standards, but the system shared memory approach still introduces overhead compared to dedicated VRAM.

The boost clock of 2400 MHz is relatively high for an integrated GPU, and the pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s suggests that fill-rate-bound scenes should perform acceptably at lower resolutions. However, the 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance is modest, and the 20 ROPs are a significant bottleneck at higher resolutions. This is reflected in the 4K results, where even Low settings only manage 31 FPS. The GPU's 25 W TDP also limits sustained performance, as thermal constraints may cause clock throttling during extended gaming sessions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combination in Thief?

A: The measured data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the system consistently exceeds 40 FPS across all settings. At 1440p, only Low and Medium presets stay above 40 FPS, while 4K results are all below 32 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is within 1.4% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). All of these are within a 24-point range.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F a limiting factor in Thief?

A: No. The CPU scores 4691 in single-threaded PassMark tests and 36470 in multithreaded tests, ranking in the 94th percentile. The frame rate drops significantly with resolution, which indicates the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS. This is playable but with occasional dips below 40 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700F compare to the Intel Core i7-14700K?

A: The 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996, while the i7-14700K scores 69355. The 9700F is 0.9% higher, making the two essentially equivalent in overall CPU performance.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 43 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 29 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 17 FPS, both of which are below smooth playability thresholds.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combination. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS. This frame rate range is smooth enough for a stealth game, and the minimum of 50 FPS ensures that there are no prolonged dips into unplayable territory. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 78 FPS, which is smoother, but the visual quality reduction from Medium to Low is substantial and generally not worth the 19 FPS gain.

For players who prioritize frame rate above all else, 1080p Low at 78 FPS is the fastest configuration measured. This preset eliminates most visual effects and reduces texture quality, but it provides the headroom needed for fast-paced gameplay. However, Thief is a game that rewards environmental awareness, and the reduced visibility at Low settings can hinder gameplay.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 41 FPS average with a 35 FPS minimum, which is borderline. Players with 1440p monitors should consider dropping to Low settings for 53 FPS, as the visual difference between Low and Medium is often less noticeable at higher resolutions due to the increased pixel density. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p (31 FPS and 29 FPS respectively) are not recommended, as they fall below the 30 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for playable performance.

The 4K resolution is not viable for this combination. Even at Low settings, the system only achieves 31 FPS, and all other presets fall below 25 FPS. Players with 4K displays should run the game at 1080p or 1440p and rely on display scaling, as the GPU lacks the raw throughput to handle 4K rendering in this title.

The Ultra preset provides no meaningful advantage over High in the measured data. At 1080p, Ultra averages 43 FPS versus 45 FPS for High — a difference of only 2 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra is 29 FPS versus 31 FPS for High. The Ultra preset likely adds expensive effects like higher-quality shadows and ambient occlusion that the GPU cannot render efficiently, given the marginal performance difference.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F with Intel Arc B370 in Thief is as follows:

At 1920x1080 resolution, the system achieves its highest performance. Low settings produce an average of 78 FPS. Medium settings yield an average of 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS. High settings deliver an average of 45 FPS. Ultra settings provide an average of 43 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 35 FPS, with Medium offering the best minimum frame rate of 50 FPS.

At 2560x1440 resolution, performance drops significantly. Low settings average 53 FPS. Medium settings average 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS. High settings average 31 FPS. Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 24 FPS, and the Medium preset's minimum of 35 FPS is the lowest acceptable value in this resolution.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the system is heavily GPU-limited. Low settings average 31 FPS. Medium settings average 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 FPS and maximum of 27 FPS. High settings average 18 FPS. Ultra settings average 17 FPS. The Low preset is the only configuration that approaches playability, while all other presets fall below 25 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier at a given resolution costs approximately 20-30% performance compared to the tier below. At 1080p, the step from Low to Medium costs 19 FPS, Medium to High costs 14 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 2 FPS. At 1440p, Low to Medium costs 12 FPS, Medium to High costs 10 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 2 FPS. At 4K, Low to Medium costs 7 FPS, Medium to High costs 6 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 1 FPS. The diminishing returns at higher resolutions indicate that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are exhausted, making settings changes less impactful.

The Medium preset is the only configuration that has measured minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions, providing insight into frame pacing. At 1080p, the range is 50-68 FPS, a spread of 18 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 35-47 FPS, a spread of 12 FPS. At 4K, the range is 20-27 FPS, a spread of 7 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing variance but also preventing any headroom for complex scenes.