Thief

# How This Combo Ranks

This AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2534th out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations measured. That ranking reflects a severe imbalance: the CPU is a top-tier desktop processor, while the GPU sits near the very bottom of the graphics card hierarchy. In Thief, the measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are consistently low, with the best result being 86 FPS at 1080p Low and the worst being 19 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data shows that this combo is heavily GPU-limited, and the CPU's considerable compute headroom is essentially wasted in this title. The 2534th rank out of 2851 combos means the vast majority of tested systems deliver better playable performance in Thief, and only 317 combinations rank below this pairing.

The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 9, meaning it outperforms only 9% of all graphics cards in the database. That places the Arc B390 in the company of legacy mobile and entry-level desktop parts. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (2.7% faster). These deltas are small, but the direction matters: the Arc B390 is slower than all four of its closest competitors in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where it scores 1482. This is a GPU that competes with parts from over a decade ago, not with modern gaming graphics cards. When paired with a 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 9900X, the result is a system where the GPU becomes the bottleneck in nearly every scenario.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Panther Lake chip and Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on Intel's 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz, which yields a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). The memory configuration is system shared, meaning the GPU uses the host system's DDR5 RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bus width, memory type, and memory size are all listed as "System Shared," and memory bandwidth is "System Dependent." This is a fundamental limitation for gaming: the GPU cannot rely on dedicated high-bandwidth video memory, and its performance will vary with the system's memory configuration.

In Thief, the GPU's impact is immediately visible in the measured frame rates. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 86 FPS, which is the highest recorded across all settings and resolutions. Dropping to 1080p Medium reduces the average to 66 FPS, a 23% decrease from Low. At 1080p High, the average falls to 50 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it reaches 48 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a total drop of 38 FPS, or 44%. At 1440p, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute values: Low yields 59 FPS, Medium 45 FPS, High 34 FPS, and Ultra 33 FPS. At 4K, the numbers become marginal: Low averages 35 FPS, Medium 26 FPS (with min 22 and max 30), High 20 FPS, and Ultra 19 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 19 FPS is barely playable, and even 4K Low at 35 FPS is below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider a minimum for smooth gameplay.

The GPU's 12 ray tracing cores are present, but Thief is a 2014 title that does not use ray tracing, so these cores have no direct impact on the measured results. The DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support means the GPU can handle modern APIs, but the actual performance in this older title is limited by the raw rasterization throughput and memory bandwidth constraints. The GPU's 80 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate it is designed for integrated use in portable devices, not for high-end gaming. The display outputs are "Portable Device Dependent," further confirming that this is not a standalone desktop graphics card but an integrated solution. The benchmark data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which is the only GPU benchmark available, and it places the card in the 9th percentile overall.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It uses a 4 nm process from TSMC, with 16,630 million transistors across a dual-die design of 2x 70.6 mm². The base clock is 4.40 GHz, boosting to 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, and it has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache. The CPU is compatible with AMD Socket AM5 and supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. It includes integrated Radeon Graphics, although the system uses the Intel Arc B390 for display output in this configuration.

The CPU's benchmark results are strong across the board. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32172 in multicore and 2253 in single-core. Geekbench shows 22174 multicore and 3010 single-core. PassMark multithread score is 54643, with PassMark single-thread at 4672. The 3DMark tests show 12552 for 16 threads, 2519 for 2 threads, 4886 for 4 threads, 9114 for 8 threads, 13929 for max threads, and 1286 for single-thread. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 92, meaning it outperforms 92% of all processors in the database. Its average benchmark score is 57498, and its nearest rivals are all server or high-end desktop parts: the AMD EPYC 9015 (0.1% slower), the AMD EPYC 7313 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i9-14900 (1.1% faster), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (1.4% faster). These deltas are all within 1.4%, indicating the Ryzen 9 9900X is squarely in the top tier of CPU performance.

In Thief, however, the CPU's power is not the limiting factor. The measured FPS values are consistent with a GPU-bound scenario: as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, frame rates drop substantially, which is the expected behavior when the GPU is the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 86 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. If the CPU were limiting performance, we would expect the FPS to remain similar across settings at the same resolution, since the CPU workload in Thief is largely independent of graphical settings. Instead, we see a clear decline from 86 FPS at Low to 48 FPS at Ultra at 1080p, which is a 44% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is handling the increasing graphical load, and the CPU has ample headroom. The Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads are far more than Thief can utilize, as the game was released in 2014 and is primarily single-threaded or lightly threaded. The CPU's single-thread performance, as shown by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253 and Geekbench single-core of 3010, is more than sufficient for this title.

FAQ

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

A: The combo ranks 2534th out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems measured in this game.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% faster), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% faster), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (2.7% faster). The Arc B390 is slower than all four.

Q: What is the best measured FPS for this combo in Thief, and at what settings?

A: The best measured average FPS is 86, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 66 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 59 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X a high-performance CPU relative to others in the database?

A: Yes, the Ryzen 9 9900X has a percentile of 92 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57498. Its closest rivals are the AMD EPYC 9015 (-0.1% delta), AMD EPYC 7313 (+0.2%), Intel Core i9-14900 (-1.1%), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (-1.4%).

Q: Does the GPU have dedicated video memory?

A: No, the Intel Arc B390 uses system shared memory. The memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," and the bandwidth is "System Dependent," meaning it relies on the host system's DDR5 memory.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded at 4K resolution for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 35, achieved with Low settings. At Medium settings, the average is 26 FPS (min 22, max 30). High settings yield 20 FPS, and Ultra yields 19 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multicore performance?

A: The CPU scores 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 32172 in multicore, giving a multicore-to-single-core ratio of about 14.3x. In Geekbench, the scores are 3010 single-core and 22174 multicore, a ratio of about 7.4x. The PassMark single-thread score is 4672, while the multithread score is 54643, a ratio of about 11.7x.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and steep decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound system. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 86 at 1080p to 59 at 1440p, a 31% reduction, and then to 35 at 4K, a further 41% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 51 FPS, or 59%. At Medium settings, the averages are 66 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p (a 32% drop), and 26 FPS at 4K (a 42% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p Medium to 4K Medium is 40 FPS, or 61%. At High settings, the averages are 50 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p (32% drop), and 20 FPS at 4K (41% drop from 1440p). The total drop is 30 FPS, or 60%. At Ultra settings, the averages are 48 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p (31% drop), and 19 FPS at 4K (42% drop from 1440p). The total drop is 29 FPS, or 60%.

The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly 31-32% from 1080p to 1440p, and 41-42% from 1440p to 4K—across all four settings presets strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not scale so predictably with resolution. The Arc B390's system shared memory and "System Dependent" bandwidth mean that at higher resolutions, the GPU must access more data from system memory, and the available bandwidth becomes a critical constraint. The 4K results, which range from 35 FPS at Low to 19 FPS at Ultra, are all below the 60 FPS target that most players expect, and even the 1440p Low result of 59 FPS barely touches that threshold. At 1080p, the combo can reach 86 FPS at Low, but the more demanding settings at the same resolution fall to 48-66 FPS, which is playable but far from smooth by modern standards.

The resolution scaling data also reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens slightly at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (86 FPS) and Ultra (48 FPS) is 38 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 26 FPS (59 vs 33). At 4K, the difference is 16 FPS (35 vs 19). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions is typical of a GPU that is already saturated: when the GPU is fully utilized at 4K, changing settings has less absolute impact because the baseline performance is so low. The data suggests that the Arc B390 is overwhelmed by the demands of Thief at 1440p and 4K, and even at 1080p, it can only deliver high frame rates at the lowest settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, the optimal configuration for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution and the player's tolerance for frame rate fluctuations. For a standard 1080p display, the Low preset delivers the best average FPS at 86, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 66 FPS average, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS, which is also playable and offers better visual fidelity than Low. The High preset at 1080p drops to 50 FPS average, which is still acceptable for a stealth game like Thief, but it may feel less fluid during fast movements. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 48 FPS, which is marginally playable but risks noticeable stutter in busy scenes.

At 1440p, the Low preset averages 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target but generally acceptable. The Medium preset averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS, which is in the lower range of playability. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p average 34 FPS and 33 FPS respectively, which are below the 40 FPS minimum that most players consider necessary for smooth gameplay. At 4K, none of the presets achieve acceptable frame rates: Low averages 35 FPS, Medium 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), High 20 FPS, and Ultra 19 FPS. These are all in the unplayable range for a game that requires quick reactions and precise movement.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p is the recommended choice. It provides an average FPS of 66, which is 23% higher than the 50 FPS at High, and it offers a significant visual upgrade over Low while remaining comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The minimum FPS of 56 at Medium ensures that frame drops are not severe enough to disrupt gameplay. For players who prioritize maximum smoothness over visuals, the Low preset at 1080p is the safest option, with an 86 FPS average that leaves ample headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only acceptable option, with a 59 FPS average that is near the playable threshold, while Medium at 1440p drops to 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, which may cause noticeable hitches. The data clearly shows that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Thief, as even the lowest settings produce an average of 35 FPS, which is below the minimum playable threshold for most users.

The measured rows also indicate that the Ultra preset offers almost no benefit over High at any resolution. At 1080p, High averages 50 FPS and Ultra averages 48 FPS, a difference of only 2 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 1 FPS (34 vs 33), and at 4K, the difference is 1 FPS (20 vs 19). Given the negligible performance cost, if a player can tolerate the lower frame rates of High, they may as well use Ultra for the marginal visual improvement, since the frame rate penalty is minimal. However, the more important takeaway is that the GPU's performance ceiling is low enough that even the most aggressive settings reductions at 1440p and 4K cannot bring the game into a smooth, playable range. The 1080p Medium preset represents the sweet spot: it delivers 66 FPS average, has a minimum of 56 FPS, and provides a reasonable balance of fidelity and performance. Players with a 1440p monitor should stick to Low settings and accept a 59 FPS average, while 4K users will need to consider a different GPU entirely, as no preset in the measured data achieves even 40 FPS at that resolution.