Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, is often used as a legacy benchmark due to its unique rendering style. For the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination, the measured data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but shows signs of CPU limitation at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, comparing them against the nearest rivals in the database and contextualizing the role of each component.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the bottleneck lies for this configuration. At 1080p with High settings, the combination produces 164 FPS. Moving to 1440p, that figure drops to 112 FPS, a 31.7% decrease. At 4K, the average FPS falls to 66, which is a further 41.1% drop from the 1440p result. This steep decline as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario; the render resolution is demanding more from the graphics card than the CPU can effectively feed it.

The trend holds across all settings presets. For instance, on Medium settings, the frame rate goes from 209 FPS at 1080p, to 147 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 87 FPS at 4K. The pattern is consistent: the GPU's workload scales nearly linearly with pixel count, and the frame rate follows suit. This indicates that for users targeting high refresh rates at 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting factor, while the Ryzen 7 9700F has ample headroom.

However, the scaling behavior suggests a shift in the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The jump from 1080p to 1440p on High settings is a 31.7% drop, while the jump from 1440p to 4K is a 41.1% drop. The fact that the percentage drop is not perfectly uniform hints that while the GPU is still the primary constraint at 1440p, the CPU is beginning to play a more significant role at 1080p. At 1080p, the CPU is tasked with preparing more frames per second, and the data suggests it is nearing its limit, preventing the GPU from achieving its full potential. The 1080p Low setting result of 231 FPS is a clear indicator of this, as it is a high but not exceptionally high number for a modern flagship CPU, suggesting a ceiling is being approached.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + RTX 4070 SUPER combo capable of running Thief at 4K 60 FPS?

A: Yes, benchmark results show it averages 66 FPS on High settings and 63 FPS on Ultra at 3840x2160. This puts it comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay at 4K with high visual fidelity.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming with this combo?

A: For 144Hz or higher monitors, 1440p is the sweet spot. The data shows an average of 112 FPS on High settings and 107 FPS on Ultra at 2560x1440, which is well-suited for a high-refresh-rate experience. At 1080p, the average of 164 FPS on High settings exceeds 144Hz, but the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor.

Q: How much performance is gained by dropping from Ultra to Low settings at 1440p?

A: Dropping from Ultra to Low at 2560x1440 yields a significant performance gain. The average FPS increases from 107 to 194, which is an 81.3% improvement. This is a substantial jump that can be leveraged for competitive play or if a higher refresh rate is desired.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests a partial CPU bottleneck at 1080p. While the GPU is the main limiting factor at 1440p and 4K, the 1080p results, particularly the 231 FPS average on Low settings, indicate that the CPU is nearing its performance ceiling. The GPU could likely produce even higher frame rates if the CPU could keep up.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER's VRAM capacity affect 4K performance in Thief?

A: The 12 GB of VRAM appears to be sufficient for this title at 4K. The game runs at an average of 66 FPS on High settings, suggesting that the memory capacity is not causing a performance bottleneck. However, the data does not specify VRAM usage, so this is inferred from the solid performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Ryzen 7 9700F and the Intel Core i7-14700KF in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In the database's average benchmark score, the Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996, while the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70163. This puts the AMD chip 0.2% behind the Intel chip, indicating near-identical synthetic performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Thief, especially as resolution scales up. Its architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with the memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications translate to a substantial amount of compute power, with 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. In Thief, this configuration proves to be more than adequate. At 4K Ultra, the combo still manages an average of 63 FPS, and on High settings, it reaches 66 FPS. This indicates that the memory subsystem and the GPU's shading units are well-balanced for the demands of this game. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs handle the pixel and texture processing efficiently.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 83rd among all GPUs in the database places it in the upper echelon of graphics cards. Its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile, with the 4070 SUPER trailing the M6000 24 GB by a negligible 0.1%. This context shows that while it is a high-end card, it is not at the absolute top of the performance stack. In the context of Thief, its performance is clearly sufficient to deliver a smooth experience at 4K, but the scaling data shows it is the component that dictates the frame rate limits at resolutions above 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. The results are as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 231 FPS average
• Medium: 209 FPS average (min 177, max 240)
• High: 164 FPS average
• Ultra: 156 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 194 FPS average
• Medium: 147 FPS average (min 125, max 169)
• High: 112 FPS average
• Ultra: 107 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 114 FPS average
• Medium: 87 FPS average (min 74, max 100)
• High: 66 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

These numbers show a clear and predictable pattern. At 1080p, even on Ultra settings, the system is capable of exceeding 150 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 75 FPS, or a 48% difference. At 1440p, the system remains highly capable, with all settings offering playable frame rates, and Ultra still hitting 107 FPS. The 4K results are the most demanding, with only Low and Medium settings providing averages above 87 FPS, while High and Ultra settle in the mid-60s, which is still perfectly smooth for a single-player stealth game.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 204th out of 2851 total combos in the database for Thief. This places it in the top 7.2% of all tested systems, a strong showing that aligns with the high-end nature of its components. The CPU itself holds a 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU holds an 83rd percentile ranking.

This ranking is understandable given the game's age and the power of the components. While the CPU is a top-tier part, its performance in this title is slightly below the very best, which is reflected in the synthetic benchmarks. The GPU, while powerful, is not the absolute fastest, and its performance is the primary limiter at 4K. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a high-end GPU results in a system that is well above average, but not at the absolute pinnacle of the database's rankings. The rank of 204 suggests that there are 203 other combinations that deliver higher average FPS in this specific title, likely featuring more powerful GPUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F plays a crucial, albeit secondary, role in Thief's performance. This processor is part of the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture (codenamed Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process from TSMC. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This high boost clock is particularly relevant for gaming, as it provides the single-thread performance that older titles like Thief often rely on. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB of L3 cache.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU is a powerhouse. It scores 4691 in the Passmark single-thread test and 36470 in the Passmark multithread test, with an average benchmark score of 69996. This places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and the Intel Core i7-14700KF, with the 9700F coming within 0.2% of the latter's average score. This indicates it is a top-tier part that should not bottleneck modern games.

In Thief, the CPU's role becomes evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are high, but the scaling suggests the CPU is nearing its limit. For example, the 1080p Low setting produces 231 FPS, but this is not as high as some other high-end CPUs might achieve in a less demanding scenario. This implies that the Ryzen 7 9700F is providing a solid, high-performance foundation, but the GPU is the component that ultimately determines the frame rate at 1440p and 4K. The CPU ensures that the GPU is fed with data, but the GPU's rendering speed is the deciding factor for maximum FPS. The 65W TDP and unlocked multiplier also make it a practical and flexible choice for builders.