Thief

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a performance profile that is heavily dictated by resolution. In Thief, a 2014 stealth title, the combination moves from being entirely CPU-bound at lower resolutions to becoming progressively GPU-limited at 4K. The measured frame rates reveal a steep scaling curve, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening as pixel count increases, indicating where the bottleneck shifts.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, but the pattern is not linear. At 1080p Low, the system produces 156.9 FPS, which is an exceptionally high figure that suggests the CPU and GPU are both operating well within their limits, with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s strong single-core performance likely keeping the frame pipeline fed. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 109 FPS, a reduction of roughly 30%. At 4K Low, the average tumbles further to 64.2 FPS, another 41% decline. This steepness at Low settings indicates that even with minimal graphical loads, the RTX 2060 SUPER’s compute capabilities become the primary constraint as resolution scales.

The trend is more pronounced at higher settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 88.3 FPS, which is only 6.9% slower than 1080p High (90.2 FPS). However, at 1440p Ultra, the average falls to 56.3 FPS, a 36% drop from 1080p Ultra. At 4K Ultra, the system manages just 36.8 FPS, which is a 58% decline from 1440p Ultra. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU and GPU are balanced enough to mask some of the Ultra preset’s overhead, but by 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are saturated, making each step in resolution increasingly costly.

The data implies that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combo with demanding settings, as the 4K results dip below playable thresholds for most presets. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, but the 1440p to 4K jump is disproportionately large, especially at Medium and High, hinting that the GPU’s 8 GB memory buffer and 256-bit bus are also contributing to the bottleneck beyond raw shader performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, featuring 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz are modest by modern standards, but the card’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is critical in Thief, as the game’s texture-heavy environments and lighting effects can quickly fill the frame buffer at higher resolutions.

Looking at the benchmark scores, the GPU posts a Passmark G3D score of 16462 and a Passmark DirectX 11 score of 130. These figures place it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with its closest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (0.3% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (0.5% ahead). The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a mid-range part that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its 4K performance is limited. In Thief specifically, the GPU’s FP32 throughput of 7.181 TFLOPS appears insufficient to sustain high frame rates at 4K Ultra, where it drops to 36.8 FPS.

The VRAM allocation is also a factor. At 1080p and 1440p, the 8 GB buffer is likely sufficient, but at 4K with High or Ultra settings, memory pressure can cause performance degradation. This is reflected in the 4K High result of 33.4 FPS, which is lower than the 4K Medium result of 49.4 FPS, suggesting that the higher preset’s additional memory and shader demands push the card past its comfort zone. The GPU’s 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but likely underutilized in this DirectX 11-era title, as Thief predates widespread ray tracing adoption.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Thief, this pairing ranks 1103 out of 1642 total combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, which is expected given the RTX 2060 SUPER’s age and mid-range positioning. The rank indicates that while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a top-tier processor, the GPU holds the combo back significantly.

The CPU itself is a powerhouse, ranking in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (-0.1% delta), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (-0.1% delta), and Intel Core i9-13900HK (-0.6% delta). However, the GPU’s 63rd percentile standing means the overall combo performance is dragged down. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the frame rates at 4K are comparable to what a much older GPU might produce, despite the CPU’s ability to push over 150 FPS at 1080p Low.

The combo’s rank relative to other pairings suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios. For users with this CPU, upgrading the GPU would yield substantial gains in Thief, particularly at 1440p and 4K. The rank also implies that the CPU is not being fully utilized in this game, as evidenced by the large FPS jumps when lowering settings at 1080p, which is a sign of GPU-bound operation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are strong across all presets. Low settings produce 156.9 FPS, Medium drops to 120.2 FPS, High comes in at 90.2 FPS, and Ultra yields 88.3 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal at 1.9 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s extra effects are not heavily taxing the GPU at this resolution. The 1080p numbers indicate a smooth experience, with even Ultra remaining well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 109 FPS on Low, 83.4 FPS on Medium, 64.4 FPS on High, and 56.3 FPS on Ultra. The step from High to Ultra is more pronounced here, a drop of 8.1 FPS, which points to the GPU starting to struggle with the higher pixel count. The 1440p Low result of 109 FPS is still excellent, but the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. Low settings yield 64.2 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 49.4 FPS, High plummets to 33.4 FPS, and Ultra manages only 36.8 FPS. The 4K High result is worse than 4K Ultra, which is unusual and likely reflects a specific combination of settings that disproportionately affect memory bandwidth or shader load. The 4K results demonstrate that this combo is not suitable for high-fidelity 4K gaming in Thief, as even Medium settings barely hold 50 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it delivers 88.3 FPS while providing the maximum visual fidelity. The gap between High and Ultra is negligible, so there is no reason to sacrifice quality. At 1440p, the High preset is recommended, offering 64.4 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The Ultra preset at 56.3 FPS is borderline and may cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced scenes.

For 1440p users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, the Medium preset at 83.4 FPS is a strong alternative. At 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, producing 64.2 FPS. The Medium preset at 49.4 FPS is technically playable but will feel less smooth, while High and Ultra are not recommended. The data suggests that this combo is best utilized at 1080p with Ultra settings, or at 1440p with High settings, as these configurations balance visual quality and performance effectively. The 4K results are too inconsistent to justify using this resolution with this hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 1440p for this combo?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers 64.4 FPS, which is the highest setting that remains above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 56.3 FPS, making High the recommended choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra result compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra average is 36.8 FPS, which is 58.3% lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 88.3 FPS. This large drop indicates that the GPU is severely bottlenecked at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Thief?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 156.9 FPS, showing the CPU’s strength. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 33.4 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as resolution increases.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1103 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the lower third of all systems in the database.

Q: Does the Ultra preset offer significant gains over High at 1080p?

A: No, the difference is only 1.9 FPS (88.3 vs 90.2). The Ultra preset is still recommended because the performance cost is minimal.

Q: What is the GPU’s average benchmark score compared to its closest rival?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is 0.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN’s score of 19706, making them nearly identical in synthetic tests.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with a 4 nm process. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The CPU’s 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a defining feature, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800, placing it in the 90th percentile among all CPUs.

In Thief, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The game’s stealth mechanics and AI routines are typically single-threaded, which means the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s high single-core performance is advantageous. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 and Passmark single-thread score of 4430 indicate strong per-core performance. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the system reaches 156.9 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU limits performance to 36.8 FPS, leaving CPU headroom unused.

The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for a 2014 title like Thief, which was designed for older quad-core processors. The benchmark results show that the CPU excels in multithreaded workloads, with a 3DMark 16-thread score of 10081 and a Passmark multithread score of 40009. However, this power is effectively wasted in Thief at higher resolutions, as the GPU cannot keep pace. The data implies that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D would pair better with a more modern GPU to unlock its full potential in this game, especially at 1440p and 4K where the current GPU is the clear limiting factor.