Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, remains a demanding benchmark for modern hardware, particularly for the integrated graphics of the Intel Arc B390. This analysis of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + Intel Arc B390 combination shows a system that is heavily constrained by its GPU, with the CPU offering significant headroom. The measured data indicates that playable frame rates are only achievable at lower resolutions and settings, making this configuration suitable for older or less demanding titles rather than a smooth experience in this particular game.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for Thief provides a clear hierarchy of performance across its four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the only resolution where the game approaches a consistently playable state, the Low preset delivers an average of 86 FPS. This is the only settings level that provides a frame rate comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at the same resolution drops to an average of 66 FPS, which is still acceptable for many players, but the Low preset is the only option that offers a significant headroom buffer.

Moving up to the High and Ultra presets at 1080p yields averages of 50 FPS and 48 FPS, respectively. While these are technically playable, they place the system in a performance range where frame drops are more likely to be noticeable, especially in more complex scenes. The data suggests that for the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, Medium at 1080p is the highest viable option, but for a guaranteed smooth experience, Low is the safer recommendation. The 66 FPS average at Medium is a 23% reduction from the Low preset's 86 FPS, which is a significant trade-off for the visual improvements.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more challenging. The Low preset is the only option that manages to break the 60 FPS barrier, with an average of 59 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 45 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets fall to 34 FPS and 33 FPS, respectively. Based on these figures, 1440p gaming with this configuration is only really viable on the Low preset, and even then, it is on the edge of what is considered comfortable for fast-paced action. For a more stable experience, dropping to 1080p is advised.

The 4K resolution (3840x2160) is effectively a non-starter for this hardware in Thief. The highest average frame rate recorded is 35 FPS on the Low preset, which is below the threshold for acceptable smoothness. All other settings at this resolution fall below 30 FPS, with Ultra bottoming out at 19 FPS. The data strongly suggests avoiding 4K with this configuration.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Thief at 4K resolution?

A: The measured data shows it cannot provide a playable experience at 3840x2160. The highest average frame rate is 35 FPS on the Low preset, with Medium at 26 FPS, High at 20 FPS, and Ultra at 19 FPS. All of these are below the generally accepted standard for smooth gameplay, making 4K an impractical choice.

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this hardware?

A: According to the benchmark results, the optimal configuration is 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which achieves an average of 86 FPS. This is the only pairing that provides a substantial performance buffer. If visual quality is a priority, the Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 66 FPS, is a viable compromise.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. This places it 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). Its percentile ranking of 9 indicates it is in the bottom tier of all GPUs.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X a bottleneck for the Intel Arc B390 in Thief?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 9700X has a high average benchmark score of 37943 and sits in the 86th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU's score of 1482 is in the 9th percentile. The massive gap in relative performance strongly suggests the Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. The Low preset at 1920x1080 achieves an average of 86 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves only 48 FPS. This represents a 44% decrease in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: What is the combo rank for this CPU and GPU pairing in Thief?

A: The combo is ranked 2534 out of 2851 possible combinations. This places it in the lower 11% of all tested pairings for this game, confirming that while it can run the game, it does so at a performance level well below the majority of systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how this configuration handles Thief across different workloads. The only resolution with a fully playable average frame rate is 1920x1080. At this resolution, the Low preset leads with an average of 86 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS, showing a consistent performance band. The High preset averages 50 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down as expected. The Low preset is the only one to approach playability, with an average of 59 FPS. The Medium preset averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are nearly identical, with averages of 34 FPS and 33 FPS, respectively. The performance gap between presets narrows at this resolution, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint.

The 3840x2160 resolution results are consistently low. The Low preset averages 35 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS. The High preset averages 20 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the lowest at 19 FPS. These figures confirm that 4K is not a feasible option for this hardware in Thief. The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the frame rate drops significantly, and the impact of settings changes diminishes, pointing to the GPU being the limiting factor.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and instructive. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 86 at 1920x1080 to 59 at 2560x1440, a 31% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops further from 59 to 35 FPS, another 41% decrease. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is a 59% reduction in average frame rate.

This pattern is consistent across all settings. For example, at Medium, the average FPS goes from 66 at 1080p to 45 at 1440p (a 32% drop), and then to 26 at 4K (a 42% drop from 1440p). This steep scaling curve is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The pixel count increases dramatically from 1080p to 4K (a 4x increase), and the Arc B390 simply does not have the raw fill rate to keep up, despite its theoretical pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s.

The fact that the performance drops are so large when moving between resolutions, even at the Low preset, confirms that the integrated GPU's processing power is the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance delta between 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU's workload would remain relatively constant. The data clearly shows that the Intel Arc B390 is saturated by the demands of Thief at higher resolutions, leaving the substantial capabilities of the Ryzen 7 9700X unused.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive component in this configuration for Thief. Its benchmark data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This is a very low score, and its nearest rivals are all older, entry-level NVIDIA parts. It performs just 1.3% better than the GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% better than the GT 710, setting expectations for its performance tier.

The GPU's specifications reflect its integrated nature. It has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory is "System Shared," meaning it borrows from the main system RAM rather than having its own dedicated VRAM. This is a significant limitation, as the memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning it relies on the system's memory controller and is not optimized for high-bandwidth graphics workloads. This likely contributes to the poor performance at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth demands increase.

The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, a figure that, while not insignificant on paper, is clearly not translating to playable frame rates in Thief at higher settings. The measured FPS data shows the Arc B390 struggling to maintain 60 FPS even at 1080p with Low settings. This suggests that while the compute capability is present, the memory system and other architectural limitations of this integrated part severely hamper its real-world gaming performance. The system shared memory is a major bottleneck, as it is not dedicated to the GPU and is competing with CPU requests for bandwidth.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a high-end desktop processor that is clearly not the limiting factor in Thief. Its average benchmark score is 37943, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs. This score is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with a 0.1% difference compared to the Intel Core i9-14901E and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and a 0.3% difference compared to the Intel Core 5 211E. This shows it is a top-tier performer in general compute tasks.

The CPU's specifications are robust for its class. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory provide a solid foundation for feeding the GPU. In synthetic benchmarks, its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20485 and Geekbench multicore score of 17906 highlight its strong multi-threaded capability, which is useful for modern games that can utilize multiple cores.

However, in this specific test, the CPU's power is largely untapped. The measured FPS data shows that even at the lowest resolution and settings, the GPU is the performance ceiling. The Ryzen 7 9700X is more than capable of feeding the Arc B390, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rates drop significantly with resolution increases, a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU is simply waiting for the GPU to catch up. This pairing represents a massive imbalance, where a top-tier CPU is paired with an entry-level integrated GPU, making the CPU's high core count and clock speeds irrelevant for this game's performance.