Thief

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a commanding performance profile in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that excels at high framerates, particularly at lower resolutions, while maintaining playable performance at 4K. This analysis breaks down the data from the benchmark database, covering frequently asked questions, resolution scaling, GPU and CPU roles, and the combo ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings for this combo?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 171. This is the highest average FPS recorded in this benchmark set.

Q: What is the average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 75. This is the lowest average FPS recorded in this benchmark set.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings at 2560x1440?

A: For Medium settings at 2560x1440, the minimum FPS is 116 and the maximum FPS is 156, with an average of 136 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset yields the highest average FPS at 1920x1080?

A: The Low preset yields the highest average FPS at 1920x1080 with 171 FPS. Medium is next at 154 FPS, followed by High at 140 FPS and Ultra at 137 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank in Thief compared to all tested combos?

A: This combo ranks 502nd out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the top 13.5% of all combinations tested.

Q: What is the GPU's average benchmark score and its percentile among all GPUs?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 56083 and sits in the 87th percentile among all GPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark data reveals a clear downward trend in average FPS as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 171. Moving to 2560x1440 with the same settings, the average drops to 150, a 12.3% decrease. At 3840x2160, the average FPS falls to 126, representing a 26.3% decrease from the 1080p result. This pattern demonstrates that the system's performance is quite robust at lower resolutions, but becomes more demanding as pixel count rises.

For the High preset, the scaling is less steep but consistent. At 1920x1080, the average is 140 FPS. At 2560x1440, it drops to 123 FPS, a 12.1% decrease. At 3840x2160, the average is 79 FPS, a 43.6% decrease from 1080p. This larger percentage drop at 4K suggests that the GPU is becoming a more significant limiting factor at higher resolutions with more demanding settings.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern. The average FPS at 1920x1080 is 154, at 2560x1440 it is 136, and at 3840x2160 it is 103. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 11.7%, and from 1440p to 4K is 24.3%. The Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute differences between resolutions. At 1080p, the average is 137 FPS, at 1440p it is 121 FPS, and at 4K it is 75 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K is a considerable 45.3%, the largest of all presets, which indicates that the game's most demanding settings, combined with 4K resolution, place a heavy load on the GPU.

The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, especially when high or ultra-quality settings are used. At 1080p, the CPU has more headroom, leading to high frame rates that are less constrained by the graphics card. The overall scaling pattern shows the RTX 5080 can deliver high frame rates at 1440p, but 4K performance, particularly at Ultra, will require compromises for higher refresh rate displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the graphics card in this combo. It has 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 2295 MHz and boost clock is 2617 MHz, with a memory clock of 1875 MHz or 30 Gbps effective. The GPU has 10752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation units. It also features 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. The process node is 5 nm, and it is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture.

In this game, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are more than sufficient for the 2014 title, even at 4K resolution. The measured frame rates show that at 4K with the Low preset, the average FPS is 126, which is still quite high. This indicates that the game does not struggle with memory capacity or bandwidth when using this GPU. The high boost clock of 2617 MHz helps deliver strong frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 137 to 171 depending on the preset, which shows that the GPU can easily handle the game's demands at this resolution.

The GPU's 4K performance reveals its limits. With the High preset, the average FPS is 79, and with Ultra, it drops to 75. These are still playable frame rates, but the scaling from 1080p shows a significant drop, indicating the GPU is becoming the limiting factor. The Medium preset at 4K shows an average of 103 FPS, with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 119. This suggests that the medium preset is a reasonable choice for 4K if a higher frame rate is desired.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 56083. It is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S, 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and 2.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, but it is 2.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE. These are small differences in synthetic benchmarks, but in real-world gaming, the performance can vary.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is ranked 502nd out of 3720 possible combos in Thief. This places it in the top 13.5% of all tested combinations. This rank is a strong indicator that this setup is well-positioned for this title, offering a high level of performance.

The CPU itself ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 51947. The GPU also ranks high, in the 87th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 56083. The combo rank is lower than the individual component percentiles, which is typical, as the combination of two high-performing components may not always translate to the absolute top-tier performance in a specific game.

This particular game, Thief, is from 2014, and its performance is likely less demanding than more modern titles. The high frame rates measured at 1080p and the strong performance at 1440p reflect that. The combo's rank of 502 out of 3720 suggests that while it is very good, there are 501 combinations that perform better. These may include newer, more powerful CPUs or GPUs, but the data shows that this combo still delivers excellent performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, code-named Vermeer. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It has 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache. The CPU has a TDP of 105 W and uses the AMD Socket AM4. It supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel interface and has a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s.

In Thief, the CPU's multi-core and single-core performance both play a role. The game was released in 2014 and is likely more dependent on single-threaded performance than multi-threaded scaling. The 5950X's boost clock of 4.90 GHz is high, which should provide excellent single-thread performance. The CPU's benchmark scores show a single-thread score of 944 in 3DMark, a single-core score of 1614 in Cinebench R23, and a Geekbench single-core score of 2083. These are all strong results.

The CPU has a multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 26017, which is a high value, but the game may not utilize all 32 threads. The data from the measured FPS shows that the CPU is not constraining the performance at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the highest average FPS is 171, and the lowest is 137. These numbers demonstrate that the CPU is capable of driving the frame rates high, even with a powerful GPU.

In comparison to its nearest rivals, the 5950X has an average benchmark score of 51947. It is 0.2% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX, 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 8124P, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13900F, and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i7-14700. These close margins indicate that the CPU is in a similar performance class as these other high-end processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a detailed view of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 171 for Low, 154 for Medium, 140 for High, and 137 for Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 131 and a maximum of 177. The Low and High presets do not have recorded minimum or maximum values, but the average scores are high.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 150 for Low, 136 for Medium, 123 for High, and 121 for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 116 and a maximum of 156. The data indicates a smooth progression of lower frame rates as the quality preset increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 126 for Low, 103 for Medium, 79 for High, and 75 for Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 88 and a maximum of 119. The gap between the Low and Medium presets is 23 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS. This suggests that the High and Ultra presets have a similar performance cost, while Low is significantly less demanding.

The data reveals that the system can handle even the most demanding settings at 4K, but with a reduced frame rate. At 1080p, all presets deliver well above 130 FPS, making the game very smooth. At 1440p, the frame rates are still high, with the lowest average being 121 FPS for Ultra. At 4K, the High and Ultra presets are still playable, with averages of 79 and 75 FPS, respectively.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience balances visual quality with a high frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 137 FPS, which is well above the threshold for a very smooth experience. The Medium preset offers 154 FPS, and the Low preset 171 FPS. For 1080p, the Ultra preset is the most visually rich option that still delivers an average FPS of 137, which is excellent for most displays.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset offers an average of 121 FPS. The High preset is very close at 123 FPS. The Medium preset is 136 FPS, providing a slightly higher frame rate. The difference between Ultra and High is only 2 FPS, but the visual difference may be more noticeable. For a balance of quality and performance, the High preset at 1440p is also a good choice, with an average of 123 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the settings choices are more constrained. The High preset delivers an average of 79 FPS, and the Ultra preset is 75 FPS. Both are on the edge of a 60 FPS minimum, but they are playable. The Medium preset provides a more comfortable margin with an average of 103 FPS, and a minimum of 88 FPS. This makes Medium the best choice for 4K if a high frame rate is desired for a smoother experience.

The data shows that the best experience, overall, is at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, which gives an average FPS of 121. This resolution provides a sharp image with a high frame rate. At 4K, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with a minimum FPS of 88 and an average of 103, ensuring a consistent experience. The Ultra preset at 1080p is also a very solid choice, with an average of 137 FPS.

For players with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, the Ultra preset is recommended for the best visual quality. For 4K users, the Medium preset is the best option to maintain a high frame rate, while the High or Ultra presets can be used if a lower frame rate is acceptable.