Thief

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a benchmark result that is firmly in the upper echelon for Thief, ranking 195th out of 1,642 tested combinations. This places the combo in the top 12% of all systems evaluated, indicating that the pairing of this 16-core processor with the flagship RTX 40-series card is exceptionally well-suited to the 2014 stealth title. The high percentile ranking is supported by the raw performance of both components, with the CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities and the GPU’s massive memory bandwidth combining to produce frame rates that are consistently above 80 FPS even at maximum settings and 4K resolution. The data suggests that this configuration is not merely playable but is operating at a performance level where the game’s engine, rather than the hardware, is likely the limiting factor in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all tested combinations for Thief, the Ryzen 9 5950X and RTX 4090 achieve a rank of 195 out of 1,642, which is a strong result that underscores the synergy of this high-end pairing. The combo’s position in the 88th percentile of all systems is primarily driven by the GPU’s exceptional throughput, but the CPU’s contribution cannot be understated. The Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, posts an average benchmark score of 49,062, placing it in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs. This score is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, which averages 49,166, a mere 0.2% difference. The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this pairing; its multi-threaded performance (as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 38,607) ensures that the game’s CPU-bound scenes are handled with ample headroom. The combination’s overall rank reflects a balanced system where the GPU’s 91st percentile standing (average benchmark score of 66,473) is complemented by the CPU’s 93rd percentile standing, resulting in no single component dragging down the other in this particular title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the primary driver of the exceptional frame rates observed in Thief. Its architecture, based on the AD102 chip and built on a 5 nm process, provides a substantial foundation for rasterization-heavy titles like Thief. The GPU’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for the game’s texture streaming demands at all tested resolutions, including 3840x2160. The core clocks are set at a base of 2235 MHz with a boost of 2520 MHz, and the memory operates at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These figures translate into a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s, which are the metrics that directly influence how quickly the GPU can fill the screen with detailed environments. In practice, the RTX 4090’s performance in Thief is evidenced by the measured FPS scaling: at 1080p, the average frame rate ranges from 138.1 FPS on Ultra to 169 FPS on Low, while at 4K, it drops to 82.4 FPS on Ultra and rises to 127.4 FPS on Low. The data shows that even at the most demanding settings (4K Ultra), the GPU maintains an average above 80 FPS, indicating that the card’s raw compute power is the deciding factor in this title’s performance ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU-GPU combo in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 195th out of 1,642 tested combinations, placing it in the top 12% of all systems for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in raw benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 9 5950X has an average benchmark score of 49,062, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600K’s score of 49,166. It is also 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600KF (49,367) and 0.7% higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48,698).

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 169 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is the GPU’s memory bandwidth a limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: No, the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is ample. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo still averages 82.4 FPS, and at High settings it reaches 85.5 FPS, indicating the memory subsystem is not a bottleneck.

Q: How does the GPU’s percentile ranking compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4090 is in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, while its closest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4, has a deltaPct of -0.4%, meaning the RTX 4090 is slightly ahead in the synthetic average benchmark score (66,473 vs 66,733 for the T4).

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS on Low is 149.2, while on Ultra it is 118.4, representing a performance gap of 30.8 FPS between the extreme settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are consistently high, starting at 169 FPS on Low and decreasing to 153.8 FPS on Medium, 138.9 FPS on High, and finally 138.1 FPS on Ultra. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is minimal, only 0.8 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual fidelity without a significant performance penalty. Moving up to 2560x1440, the averages remain robust: Low yields 149.2 FPS, Medium drops to 133.5 FPS, High sits at 124.1 FPS, and Ultra is 118.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 30.8 FPS, which is a more pronounced drop than at 1080p, indicating that the resolution increase begins to tax the GPU more heavily. At the demanding 3840x2160 resolution, the performance is still strong but shows a wider spread: Low averages 127.4 FPS, Medium 111.9 FPS, High 85.5 FPS, and Ultra 82.4 FPS. The most significant leap in performance cost occurs between Medium and High at 4K, where the average frame rate falls by 26.4 FPS, demonstrating that the High preset at 4K is a substantial step up in rendering load. Overall, the data indicates that the combo is capable of delivering a smooth experience at 4K Ultra, but users seeking higher refresh rates will find the 1440p and 1080p presets to offer considerably more headroom, with the Low settings at 1080p nearly doubling the frame rate of the 4K Ultra result.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X plays a crucial supporting role in this combo, ensuring that the RTX 4090 is never starved of data. This processor, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process, features 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its multi-threaded capabilities are evident in benchmark scores such as the Cinebench R20 multi-core result of 16,214 and the 3DMark max threads score of 11,597. For a game like Thief, which is not particularly known for heavy multi-threading, the 5950X’s single-thread performance is equally important; it scores 944 in 3DMark single-thread and 2,289 in Cinebench R20 single-core, which are high marks that translate into responsive frame pacing. The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache and support for DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s provide sufficient data throughput for the GPU to maintain its high frame rates. The benchmark results show that the CPU’s average score of 49,062 places it in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, is only 0.2% faster on average. This indicates that the 5950X is not a performance liability; instead, it offers a robust foundation that allows the RTX 4090 to operate at its full potential in Thief. The data suggests that while the GPU is the dominant factor in determining FPS, the CPU’s strong multi-threaded and single-threaded scores ensure that there is no CPU-induced stuttering or frame drops, even in complex stealth scenarios where AI and physics calculations are active.