Thief

The data for Thief with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER shows a combination that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower settings. The measured frame rates across the four presets and three resolutions reveal a clear performance hierarchy, with the system delivering playable results at 1080p but struggling to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K. This analysis breaks down the scaling behavior, optimal settings, and the specific roles of the processor and GPU in shaping the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic and consistent drop in frame rates across all settings, clearly identifying the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 120 at 1080p to 82 at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 32%, and then further to 48 at 4K, which is 60% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER's pixel throughput is the limiting factor, as the resolution increase demands exponentially more work from the rasterization units.

The scaling pattern at Medium settings follows a similar trajectory: 91 FPS at 1080p drops to 62 FPS at 1440p (a 32% decrease) and then to 37 FPS at 4K (a 59% decrease from 1080p). The High preset shows 69 FPS at 1080p, 47 FPS at 1440p (32% lower), and 28 FPS at 4K (59% lower). Ultra settings exhibit the same relative behavior, with 66 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. The uniformity of these percentage drops across all presets—consistently around 32% from 1080p to 1440p and 59-60% from 1080p to 4K—confirms that resolution scaling is purely GPU-bound, with the CPU's performance not becoming a factor until frame rates reach very high levels.

The fact that the 4K Ultra result (27 FPS) is only slightly lower than the 4K High result (28 FPS) suggests that at this resolution, the GPU is already saturated, and additional graphical complexity has minimal impact on the already low frame rate. Conversely, the larger gap between 1080p Low (120 FPS) and 1080p High (69 FPS) shows that at lower resolutions, the GPU has spare capacity, and the settings load becomes the differentiator. This indicates that for this combo, 1080p is the resolution where the CPU's capabilities can still be leveraged, while 4K is entirely dominated by the GTX 1660 SUPER's limits.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal experience for this combination is found at 1920x1080 with the High preset, which delivers an average of 69 FPS. This provides a smooth gameplay experience while maintaining a significant visual quality upgrade over Low settings. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 91 FPS, which is a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS, and the minimum FPS of 77 recorded at this setting ensures that even demanding scenes remain fluid. However, the jump from Medium to High costs 22 FPS (from 91 to 69), which is a substantial reduction, but the visual fidelity gains are typically worth it for a stealth game where ambient detail matters.

At 1440p, the High preset produces 47 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider ideal, but it remains playable for a slower-paced stealth title. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 62 FPS, making it the better choice for a smoother experience, especially since the minimum FPS of 53 at that setting is still within an acceptable range. For players prioritizing frame rate over visual quality, the Low preset at 1440p provides 82 FPS, which is an excellent result, though it sacrifices significant detail.

The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo, as even the Low preset only achieves 48 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets drop to 28 and 27 FPS respectively. The data clearly shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER is not capable of delivering a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K in Thief, regardless of settings. The most balanced recommendation is 1080p High, which offers a 69 FPS average, or 1440p Medium at 62 FPS for users with a higher-resolution display who are willing to accept a slight reduction in visual settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates, with the Low preset achieving 120 FPS and the High preset achieving 69 FPS. This makes 1080p the recommended resolution for a smooth experience, as the 1440p and 4K results are significantly lower, with 4K High at only 28 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER perform at 4K in this game?

A: The measured results indicate that 4K performance is limited, with the Low preset averaging 48 FPS and the Ultra preset averaging just 27 FPS. The High preset at 4K produces 28 FPS, which is not suitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F a bottleneck at any settings?

A: The benchmark data does not show a CPU bottleneck, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, the 120 FPS result is likely near the GPU's maximum output, but the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game's logic.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Medium and High settings at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p averages 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS, while the High preset averages 69 FPS. This represents a 22 FPS decrease from Medium to High, which is a notable trade-off for increased visual quality.

Q: Does the combo rank well among other tested systems for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2455 out of 2851 tested combos for Thief, placing it in the lower-mid tier of systems. This ranking reflects the GTX 1660 SUPER's age and the demanding nature of the game at higher resolutions.

Q: Should I use the Ultra preset with this hardware?

A: The Ultra preset only produces 66 FPS at 1080p and 45 FPS at 1440p, which is a marginal improvement over High in terms of visual fidelity but comes at a significant frame rate cost. The High preset at 1080p offers a better balance of performance and quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and GTX 1660 SUPER combination ranks 2455 out of 2851 combos tested for Thief, placing it in the 14th percentile of systems. This is a low ranking, indicating that this hardware pairing is notably weaker than the majority of systems in the database for this game. The ranking is primarily dragged down by the GPU, which sits in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This disparity shows that the processor is capable of much more, but the graphics card limits the overall gaming performance.

Compared to its closest rivals, the GTX 1660 SUPER's average benchmark score of 12986 is only 0.4% higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940) and 0.4% higher than the RX 580 (12928), making them essentially performance equals. The GPU is also 0.7% slower than the Tesla M2090 (13075) and 0.9% faster than the Radeon 740M (12870). This tight grouping means that any of these graphics cards would produce nearly identical results in Thief, and the combo's ranking would not change meaningfully with a swap to one of these rivals.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a similar level of performance clustering, with the Ryzen 7 9700F's average score of 69996 being 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875) and 0.2% lower than the Core i7-14700KF (70163). The Ryzen 9 7950X (69515) is 0.7% slower, and the Core i7-14700K (69355) is 0.9% slower. Given that the CPU is not the limiting factor in Thief at the resolutions tested, these small differences would not translate into noticeable FPS changes. The overall ranking of 2455 is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance ceiling, which caps the system's ability to run the game at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a high-end desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture and manufactured on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a passmark single-thread score of 4691 and a passmark multithread score of 36470, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This strong performance indicates that the processor is more than capable of handling the game's simulation and AI logic, and it is unlikely to be the cause of any frame rate drops in Thief.

The game's measured FPS data supports this assessment. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 120 FPS, which is a high frame rate that could potentially stress the CPU, but the consistent scaling of FPS with resolution suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU would cap the frame rate regardless of resolution. Instead, the 32% drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (120 to 82 FPS) indicates that the GPU is being pushed harder as pixel count increases, while the CPU has spare capacity.

The Ryzen 7 9700F's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput for the game's assets. The processor's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, alongside its nearest rivals like the Ryzen 9 7950X and Core i7-14700K, which are within 0.9% of its average score, confirms that it is not a weak link in this combo. For a game like Thief that was released in 2014, the CPU's modern architecture and high boost clock are more than sufficient to maintain high frame rates, even in complex stealth scenarios with multiple AI agents.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 120 FPS, which is the highest recorded result for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 91 FPS, with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS, indicating a stable experience. The High preset at 1080p drops to 69 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 66 FPS, showing only a small difference of 3 FPS between High and Ultra at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 82 FPS, which is still a good result, but the Medium preset falls to 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS. The High preset at 1440p averages 47 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 45 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 2 FPS at 1440p, suggesting that the GPU is starting to hit its limits. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 48 FPS, the Medium preset averages 37 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS, the High preset averages 28 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 27 FPS.

The data reveals that the frame rate differences between adjacent settings are not uniform. At 1080p, the drop from Low to Medium is 29 FPS (120 to 91), from Medium to High is 22 FPS (91 to 69), and from High to Ultra is just 3 FPS (69 to 66). This pattern indicates that the High to Ultra transition offers diminishing returns, while the Low to Medium transition is the most significant jump in performance cost. At 4K, the differences between settings become smaller, with only a 21 FPS difference between Low (48) and Ultra (27), showing that the GPU is fully saturated and additional settings have a reduced impact.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary performance limiter for this combo in Thief. The GPU has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. Its 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs give it a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s, with a fp32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS. The GPU's passmark G3D score is 12699, and its average benchmark score is 12986, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

The benchmark data shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER's performance is closely matched with several rivals, including the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% faster), the RX 580 (0.4% faster), and the Radeon 740M (0.9% slower). This indicates that it is a mid-range graphics card that can handle 1080p gaming well but struggles at higher resolutions. In Thief, the GPU's 6 GB of VRAM is likely sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p, but at 4K, the memory capacity and bandwidth become limiting factors, contributing to the low frame rates observed.

The GPU's performance at 1080p Low (120 FPS) shows that it can deliver high frame rates when the graphical load is light, but the steep decline to 48 FPS at 4K Low highlights its pixel throughput limitations. The fact that the Ultra preset at 4K (27 FPS) is barely lower than the High preset (28 FPS) suggests that the GPU is completely bound by its fill rate at this resolution, and the settings have little effect. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 12 nm process and Turing architecture, while capable for 1080p gaming, are not designed for 4K workloads, and the measured results confirm this. For this combo, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, and any upgrade path would need to focus on the graphics card to improve high-resolution performance.