Thief

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. The system delivers measured performance across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, with settings spanning Low through Ultra. The data confirms this is a measured, real-world configuration, not a synthetic projection.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a desktop processor from the 5000 series, built on Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform and has a 7nm process node fabricated by TSMC. The package integrates 8,300 million transistors across a 2x 74 mm² die size. It runs with 12 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. The thermal design power is 105 W, and it supports DDR4 memory over a dual-channel bus with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth, including ECC support. Expansion comes through PCIe Gen 4. The CPU has a 64 KB L1 cache per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a 64 MB L3 cache. It has no integrated graphics, so a discrete GPU is mandatory. The processor launched on 2020-11-04 with a launch MSRP of $549. The multiplier is unlocked, indicating overclocking capability. In threaded benchmarks, the data shows strong scaling: the 3DMark score for 16 threads is 9075, while the max-threads score reaches 10075, and the single-thread score is 941. Cinebench R23 scores are 16262 multi-core and 1527 single-core. Geekbench reflects a similar pattern: 14118 multi-core and 2083 single-core. PassMark results include a multithread score of 39002, a single-thread score of 3469, and 1994 in physics. The CPU averages 41376 across all tested workloads, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals in average score include the Intel Core i7-14650HX at 41576 with a -0.5% delta, meaning the 5900X trails that chip by half a percent; conversely, the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H scores 41263 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 scores 41208 (0.4% higher). This places the 5900X in a tightly contested band of high-end processors. For Thief, a title from 2014, such a processor is far beyond the original requirements. Physically, the game is likely bound by the GPU more than the CPU at most settings. However, at 1080p Low, where the measured average FPS reaches 170, the CPU's capability ensures no bottleneck from its side; the data shows it can drive high frame rates. The Ryzen 9 5900X provides a substantial foundation for this stealth classic, with 12 dancy cores and a high boost speed ensuring consistent frame delivery even when the GPU is not fully stressed.

How This Combo Ranks

According to the measured dataset, this combination — AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 — achieves a combo rank of 945 out of 3720 total tested combos in Thief. That means it sits in the upper band of all combinations on file. Specifically, the percentile calculation indicates that it outperforms more than half of the combinations recorded. The exact rank of 945 with 3720 total combos implies that the top 25% of combos are above this one; approximately 74.6% of combos rank below it. In context, the combo is clearly high-end but not the absolute peak. The CPU percentile is 87 (of all CPUs, not only in this game), and the GPU percentile is 81 for all GPUs; both are high-tier. The rank of 945 against 3720 combos reflects that both parts are near-top but not the best single components available. Among the nearby rival CPUs, the score deltas range from –0.5% (to the i7-14650HX) to +0.4% (to the Ultra 7 356H), so the Ryzen 9 5900X sits within a 1% deltas from its closest competitors in the aggregate benchmark average. In this specific game, the measured FPS numbers indicate that the combo streamlines.

Since Thief is from 2014, the data reflects a benchmark scenario where the game's engine is not fully utilizing the 12 cores. The CPU's strength in high-threaded tasks (e.g., Cinebench R23 multi-core at 16262) may not translate directly to a game that relies on single-thread performance and a few threads. The high single-thread score of 2380 (Geekbench) and PassMark single-thread 3469 ensure that legacy-game performance is never lacking. The combo rank of 945 is respectable, given that many combos tested in the database include more recent high-end GPUs and CPUs. The result indicates that this config outperforms the median of the test pool and is a valid pairing for Thief, particularly at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data simulates how performance scales with resolution. At 2560x1440, the High preset pulls 101 FPS, which it drops to 139 at 1920x1080 — a 38% lift. At Medium, the same resolution change produces a 154 FPS vs 132 FPS, an increase of about 138 frames per FPS from 154 to 132: that's about 16.7% (actually 154/132=1.166, so 16.7% higher). The resolution scale from 1440p to 1080p for each preset:

• Low: 150 FPS to 170 FPS (13.3% increase)
• High: 101 FPS to 139 FPS (37.6% increase)
• Medium: 132 FPS to 154 FPS (16.7% increase)
• Ultra: 96 FPS to 137 FPS (42.7% increase)

Thus the largest relative jump from 1440p to 1080p occurs at Ultra (a 42.7% gain), showing that the decrease in pixel count substantially relieves the GPU at higher quality. From 1440p to 4K, the drops are more dramatic:

• Low: 150 to 103 (31.3% decrease)
• High: 101 to 59 (41.6% decrease)
• Medium: 132 to 78 (40.9% decrease)
• Ultra: 96 to 56 (41.7% decrease)

The consistency of the drop (roughly 40%) across the higher presets (High, Medium, Ultra) when moving to 4K suggests that the GPU is the limiting component at these settings. The RTX 4070's 12GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth become the deciding factor, as the pixel throughput increases. The fact that the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 170 vs 137 (a difference of 33 FPS) is less pronounced than the gap at 4K (103 vs 56, a difference of 47 FPS) further deepens the GPU-bound nature at high resolutions. Meanwhile, the CPU's 12-thread performance is not stress tested; Thief simply cannot utilize it fully. The data indicates that at 1080p the CPU is not a bottleneck—any present the combo can produce high frame rates, including 154 FPS at Medium and 139 at High, meaning a 60Hz or 100Hz+ display can be fully satisfied. Moving to 2560 he, the FPS is still very high (150 at Low, 132 at Medium, 101 at High, 96 at Ultra), indicating both CPU and GPU headroom.

The continuity of the FPS data shows that this pairing can easily handle a 144Hz or higher display at 1080p and 1440p with any preset except Ultra at 4K, the system average FPS of 56 just meets 60Hz threshold but does not exceed it. This pattern strongly indicates the GPU as the limiting component, particularly at 4K. The CPU's 12 cores are mostly idle for this 2014 title.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS of this combo in Thief at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average is 170 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: At which resolution and preset does the system fail to reach 60 FPS on average?

A: At 3840x2160 (4K) with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 56, which is below 60 FPS. At 4K with High settings, it is 59 FPS, also below.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark?

A: Based on the average benchmark, the Ryzen 9 5900X scores 41376. The nearest rival Intel Core i7-14650HX has a score of 41576, which is 0.5% higher. The Intel Core Ultra 7 366H, Core Ultra 7 356H, and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO all score lower (41263, 41215, 41208 respectively), with the 5900X being 0.3% to 0.4% higher than those.

Q: What GPU is in this combo and how much VRAM does it have?

A: The GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s.

Q: Is the GPU or the CPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: Based on the resolution scaling data, the FPS drops roughly 41% when moving from 1440p to 4K on the higher presets, while the CPU shows no such scaling. This indicates the GPU is the limiting component, particularly at 4K, where the system falls to 59 FPS at High and 56 at Ultra, whereas at 1080p the CPU can easily deliver up to 170 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5nm process from TSMC. It is part of the GeForce 40 series, with a generation of GeForce 40. The GPU integrates 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.8 M / mm². It has 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It includes 46 RT cores for ray tracing and 184 tensor cores for AI workloads. The pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 and FP16 compute are both at 29.15 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio. The thermal design power is 200 W, with a dual-slot design and a single 16-pin connector, and a suggested PSU of 550 W. It sits on a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The GPU was released on 2023-04-11 and has a launch MSRP of 599 USD. Its predecessor is the GeForce 30 series and its successor is the GeForce 50 series; the RTX 4070 is marked as end-of-life. The GPU's boost clock is 2475 MHz with a base of 1920 MHz, and the memory is clocked at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective, giving 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. In GPU benchmarks, its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3854. Geekbench Vulkan yields 174152, and OpenCL 154858. Passmarks include a G3D score of 26927 and a GPU Compute score of 14720, with DirectX scores for version 9, 10, 11, and 12 of 320, 139, 244, and 103, respectively. It has G2D at 1164. The GPU averages 37648 across all tested workloads, placing it at the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the aggregate benchmarks: NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, with a delta of 0.1%, making the RTX slightly faster), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.4% higher than the rival), which means the RTX is essentially equivalent, and the RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, 1.3% higher than the 4070? Actually the delta for the RTX 4080 Mobile is -1.3% relative to the 4070, so 4080 Mobile is faster by 1.3%, memory at lower. Also an lary nearby: AMD Radeon PRO W6400 with 37157 (1.3% lower than the RTX).

The measure in Thief concrete: the RTX 4070 has a clear ceiling at 4K Ultra with 56 FPS. At 1440, it can handle Ultra at 96 FPS, showing it can deliver thoria on a 1440p high-refresh monitor. About the 12GB VRAM, with a game like Thief set from 2014, 12GB is ample; at 4K it does not cause stutter, as the min FPS in the 4K Medium preset is 66 FPS, min High 89 (but note max for Medium at 4K is 89), so the memory and bandwidth are sufficient. The limited part is the GPU’s computing power at the highest pixels. The 200W TDP and capable cooler allow for sustained frames. In sum, this GPU is the strength of this combo at lower resolutions, where it easily pushes above 100 FPS in all but Ultra at 1440p, but the architecture on 7nm and the core clock become the decisive factor down at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the best experience depends on the target display resolution (whether you play on a standard 60 Hz monitor or a 144 Hz). For 1080p displays, every tested setting is playable, but the data shows that Ultra at 1080p yields an average of 137 FPS, while itself does not go extremely higher——Medium hits 154 FPS, and Low 170 FPS. Since Thief is a stealth game with dark environments, the visual qualities of the Ultra preset typically add stealth and visual cues. The minimum FPS recorded for 1080p Medium is 131 FPS, which is still well above 60 Hz, so there is no risk of stutter. Thus, for 1080p, Ultra is recommended: the average of 137 FPS is well above 100 Hz on a 144Hz monitor, and the added visual fidelity helps in seeing distant AI guards.

For 2560x1440, the Medium setting provides 132 FPS average and a minimum of 113 FPS, which is still high above common refresh rates. However, Ultra also delivers 96 FPS, which is still sufficient for 60Hz and even to drive a 100Hz refresh display. The choice is between Ultra (96) and Medium (also 96)? The data shows Medium at 132, High 101, and Ultra 96. To maximize fluidity, Medium is the most robust: 132 average with ; 113 min. At 1440p, any of the presets are reasonable. For the best balance between frame and visual acuity, the Ultra preset is a strong match for a 60 Hz display, as the 96 FPS gives headroom above 60. But for a high-refresh grade, Medium is the sweet spot, with 132 FPS and the minimum FPS of 113.

For 4K (3840x2160), the result is borderline: Ultra yields only 56 FPS, which is below 60 FPS, and this could cause noticeable frame pacing issues on a standard 60Hz monitor. High yields 59 FPS, still 1 FPS below 60; both are uncomfortable if you require 60 exactly. Only the Medium and Low settings exceed 60 at 4K: the medium yields 78 FPS at 78 average (66 min, 89 max) and Low gives 103 FPS. For the best experience at 4K, Medium is the optimal setting—it achieves 78 FPS average with a min of 66 FPS, keeping above 60, while High and Ultra average below the 60 threshold. Given the stealth gameplay, the visual richness of Medium is likely acceptable, with detail that is still good and does not compromise visibility. So the data indicates that on 1080p, Ultra is the best choice; on 2560x1440, Medium offers a better margin for high refresh, but Ultra is also adequate for 60 Hz; and on 4K, Medium is the only way for a full 60+FPS experience—the min frame rate of 66 isolates the worst-case scenario as still smooth.