Thief

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 lands at rank 2375 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. That places this configuration in the bottom 16% of the database, a result that reflects the age and tier of the graphics card rather than the potential of the processor. The GTX 1070 is an end-of-life product that sits at the 47th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 9780 puts it in direct competition with professional workstation cards like the AMD FirePro W5000 and NVIDIA Quadro M2000M. The CPU, by contrast, is a modern 8-core Zen 5 part that ranks in the 94th percentile of all processors, with an average score of 69996 that places it just 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.2% below the Intel Core i7-14700KF. The data suggests a severely imbalanced pairing: the Ryzen 7 9700F is capable of far more than this GPU can deliver, and the combination's low rank is almost entirely a function of graphics throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2375 out of 2851 is a sobering data point. It indicates that this system performs worse than roughly 83% of all CPU-GPU combinations tested in Thief, regardless of component generation. The root cause is clear from the individual component stats: the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 47 means it is below average even for a standalone graphics card, while the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 94 signals a top-tier processor. In Thief, a stealth title that relies heavily on draw calls and shadow rendering, this mismatch produces a bottleneck that limits the entire system. The measured FPS data confirms this, showing that even at 1080p Low, the combo only reaches 128 FPS — a respectable number, but one that leaves the Ryzen 7 9700F's multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 largely untapped.

When compared to other combos in the database, this pairing is held back by the GTX 1070's age. The GPU's nearest rivals — the AMD FirePro W5000 (0.2% slower), NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (0.5% slower), and NVIDIA Tesla M10 (0.6% faster) — are all older or lower-tier products, underscoring that the 1070 is not just old but was never a high-end part even in its own generation. The CPU, however, is a different story. The Ryzen 7 9700F's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% faster) and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% faster), both of which are flagship or near-flagship parts from their respective lineups. In Thief, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at every resolution above 1080p, and even at 1080p the frame rates suggest the graphics card is working near its limits while the CPU idles. The rank of 2375 is therefore a reflection of the GPU's 47th percentile standing, not the CPU's 94th percentile.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 brings 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 1506 MHz with a boost of 1683 MHz, and memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). These specs, while modest by modern standards, are sufficient for Thief's 2014 engine, which does not demand the massive memory pools or bandwidth of contemporary titles. The GPU's 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS. In the context of Thief, this hardware is adequate for 1080p gaming but struggles as resolution climbs.

The data shows a clear pattern: at 4K Ultra, the GTX 1070 produces just 28 FPS average, which is borderline unplayable. At 4K High, it improves to 30 FPS, still below the 60 FPS target most players expect. Even at 4K Low, the card only manages 51 FPS. This performance degradation is a direct consequence of the GPU's limited bandwidth and pixel throughput. The 256.3 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions, where the memory system must feed more pixels per frame. The GPU's 47th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9780, places it just below the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832) and above the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803). In Thief, this translates to a card that can handle 1080p and 1440p with reasonable settings, but cannot sustain smooth frame rates at 4K regardless of quality preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1080p with Medium settings. This yields an average of 97 FPS with minimums of 82 FPS and maximums of 111 FPS, providing a smooth and responsive experience that stays well above the 60 FPS threshold. The 1080p High preset delivers 74 FPS average, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The 1080p Ultra preset drops to 70 FPS, which is acceptable but begins to approach the lower limit of comfort for fast-moving stealth sequences. The 1080p Low preset produces 128 FPS, which is excellent but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that relies on atmospheric lighting and shadow detail.

At 1440p, the situation changes. The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields 66 FPS average with minimums of 56 FPS, which is just barely playable but risks dipping into the 50s during intense scenes. The High preset at 1440p drops to 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and not recommended for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 1440p offers 88 FPS, which is playable but again sacrifices visual quality. For 4K, none of the presets deliver a consistently playable experience: Medium at 4K averages 39 FPS (with minimums of 33 FPS), High at 4K averages 30 FPS, Low at 4K averages 51 FPS, and Ultra at 4K averages 28 FPS. The best 4K option is Low at 51 FPS, but this is a significant visual downgrade. For most players, 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, balancing frame rate and fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent scaling pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 128 FPS on Low, 97 FPS on Medium (min 82, max 111), 74 FPS on High, and 70 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that the GTX 1070 has enough headroom at 1080p to handle even the most demanding preset, with only a 45% drop from Low to Ultra. The minimum FPS of 82 on Medium is particularly strong, indicating that the card maintains stable performance even under load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 88 FPS, Medium averages 66 FPS (min 56, max 76), High averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 48 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 45%, suggesting that the GPU is becoming resolution-bound rather than settings-bound. The minimum FPS of 56 on Medium at 1440p is a warning sign, as it means the system can dip below 60 FPS during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. The Low preset averages 51 FPS, Medium averages 39 FPS (min 33, max 45), High averages 30 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low (128 FPS) to 4K Low (51 FPS) represents a 60% reduction, while the drop from 1080p Ultra (70 FPS) to 4K Ultra (28 FPS) is a 60% reduction as well. This consistent 60% penalty across all settings indicates that the resolution increase is the dominant factor, not the quality preset. The 4K Medium minimum of 33 FPS is particularly troubling, as it shows the GPU struggling to maintain even 35 FPS in the worst cases.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 128 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 88 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 4K Low, it falls to 51 FPS, a 60% reduction from 1080p. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the frame rate drops roughly in proportion to the increase in pixel count. A CPU-bound system would show a much smaller drop because the processor would be the bottleneck regardless of resolution.

The data for Medium settings reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p Medium, the average is 97 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 66 FPS (a 32% reduction), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 39 FPS (a 60% reduction). The consistent 30-60% scaling across different quality presets indicates that the GTX 1070's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads at a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, has ample headroom to process the game's logic and draw calls. The Ryzen 7 9700F's Passmark single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 are far beyond what Thief requires, even at 4K. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor built on TSMC's 4 nm process, with a die size of 70.6 mm² and 8,315 million transistors. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3. This is a powerful modern CPU that ranks in the 94th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 69996. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% slower), Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% faster), and Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% faster).

In Thief, the CPU's role is minimal because the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p. Even at 1080p, the frame rates are limited by the GTX 1070's capability. The CPU's Passmark physics score of 2122 and floating point math score of 77955 indicate strong computational ability, but Thief's engine does not stress these resources. The game's stealth mechanics and AI routines are not particularly CPU-intensive, especially compared to modern open-world titles. The Ryzen 7 9700F's 16 threads provide ample parallel processing headroom, but the GPU simply cannot feed frames fast enough to utilize it. At 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely idle for most of the frame time, waiting for the GPU to finish rendering. This is a classic case of a high-end CPU paired with a mid-range GPU, resulting in a system that is GPU-bound in virtually every scenario. The measured FPS data, with its steep resolution scaling, confirms that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this configuration.