Thief

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a formidable performance in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. The benchmark data shows that this combination provides exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, making it an overqualified choice for a game of this era. The 12-core, 24-thread CPU and the 16 GB GDDR6X GPU work together to eliminate most potential bottlenecks, as evidenced by the scaling patterns across the resolution and settings matrix. This analysis breaks down the measured performance data, contextualizes it with benchmark scores, and provides actionable settings recommendations based on the available figures.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 `with` the Ultra preset is 179. This is the lowest average FPS recorded at that resolution, yet it remains highly playable.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combination ranks 101st out of 3,720 tested combos, placing it in the top ~2.7% of all recorded performance results for Thief.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 than its closest rival in average GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER's score of 54,209. It lags behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% but the delta is minimal.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X features 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture. Its base clock is 4.40 GHz, and the boost clock reaches 5.60 GHz.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS is 85, observed at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. All other settings presets at this resolution do not report a minimum FPS figure.

Q: What is the total amount of VRAM on the RTX 4080?

A: The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, paired with a 256-bit memory bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary rendering engine in this configuration. Its architecture is Ada Lovelace, built on a 5 nm process. The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, a 256-bit bus, and a memory bandwidth of **716.8 GB/s`. This substantial memory allocation is well-suited for high-resolution textures and modern game assets, ensuring that the GPU does not become a limiting factor in Thief's performance.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial. It features 9,728 shading units, 112 ROPs, and 304 texture mapping units. The core clock operates at a base of 2,205 MHz and can boost to 2,505 MHz. This clock speed, combined with the large number of cores, allows for high pixel and texture fill rates, which are directly relevant to rendering the game's environments. The GPU's memory clocks are listed at 1,400 MHz with 22.4 Gbps effective speed, which supports the high bandwidth needed for 4K resolutions.

The benchmark results for the GPU, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 and a Passmark G3D score of 34,457, place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. In Thief, the data shows the GPU is capable of delivering an average of 76 FPS at 4K with High settings, which is a smooth frame rate. The GPU's performance relative to its rivals is close: it is 0.1% faster than the RTX 4080 SUPER and 1.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X in average benchmarks. These figures indicate that the RTX 4080's performance is robust and consistent, and the game's frame rates are a direct reflection of this.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear trend in frame rate scaling across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p, the average FPS is extremely high, with the Low settings reaching 230 FPS and Ultra reaching 179 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates decrease: Low drops to 202 FPS, a 12.2% decrease, and High drops to 129 FPS, a 31.4% decrease from the 1080p High result of 188 FPS. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings at 4K yields 131 FPS, which is still very smooth, but is a 43.0% reduction compared to the 1080p Low. The High settings at 4K yield 76 FPS, a 59.6% reduction from 1080p High.

The scaling pattern is not linear. The gap between Low and High settings widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between the Low and Ultra is 51 FPS (230 vs 179). At 1440p, the difference is 79 FPS (202 vs 123). At 4K, the difference is 59 FPS (131 vs 72). This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the demand on the GPU's pixel and texture processing increases.

The data also shows the impact of the settings presets. The Medium settings at 4K has an average FPS of 100, with a minimum of 85 and a maximum of 114. This is a more stable preset than High and Ultra, which have no reported minimum or maximum values. The frame times move from being CPU-bound at lower resolutions to becoming GPU-bound as the resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall ranking for Thief, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is placed 101st out of 3,720 recorded combinations. This is a high-ranking placement, showing that it is a top-tier configuration for this game. The vast majority of tested systems are unable to match its performance.

The CPU's benchmark results reinforce this rank. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32,172 in multi-core and 2,253 in single-core. Its Passmark multithread score is 54,643, and its Geekbench scores are 22,174 (multi) and 3,010 (single). These numbers put the CPU in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs.

The GPU's own rank in the dataset is 86th percentile, and its average score is 54,247. The combination of a top-tier CPU and GPU results in a high overall rank. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 9015, has a score of 57,555 which is only 0.1% higher, while the Intel Core i9`-14900 is 1.1% slower. The GPU is closely matched with the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% difference) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% difference). The data shows that the CPU and GPU are a balanced pair, with neither being a weak link in the system.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a high-end desktop CPU, built on the Zen 5 architecture and the Granite Ridge codename. It has 12 cores and 24 threads`, which is a significant amount of processing power. Its base clock is 4.40 GHz and the boost clock reaches 5.60 GHz**. This high clock speed, combined with the many cores, ensures that CPU is not a bottleneck for the frame rate in most scenarios.

The CPU has a 64 MB L3 cache, and 1 MB L2 cache per core, as well as 80 KB L1 cache per core. The memory support is DDR5, with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s`. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for feeding the GPU, and the CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks reflects its capability. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 32,172, and its Geekbench single-core score is 3,010`, placing it in the 92nd percentile** of all CPUs.

In Thief, the data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is capable of high FPS, but the FPS is not capped by the CPU. If the CPU was a bottleneck, the frame rates at 1080p would be lower, and the performance would not scale as well with the resolution changes. The data shows the FPS drops by 43.0% from 1080p Low to 4K Low, which is a typical GPU-bound behavior. The CPU is more than capable of handling the game's physics and AI, and the game is likely to be limited by the GPU's rendering at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset, with the data being from the measured rows.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |

| 3840x2160 | High | 76 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 131 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 100 | 85 | 114 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 72 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 129 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 202 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 169 | 144 | 195 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 123 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 188 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 230 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 208 | 176 | 239 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 179 | — | — |

The data shows that the `Low` preset provides the highest frame rates at every resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 230 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most standard monitors. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 179 FPS, which is still very high. At 4K, the Low preset yields 131 FPS`, which is a playable frame rate, while the High preset yields 76 FPS`, which is also playable.

The Medium preset provides a balanced measure of frame rate and visual quality, with a 208 FPS at 1080p, 169 FPS at 1440p, and 100 FPS at 4K. The medium preset is the only one that has minimum and maximum FPS values, so the frame times are more consistent for it. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 179 FPS at 1080p, 123 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience depends on the user's target resolution and desired visual quality. The data shows a clear trade-off between the Ultra and High presets.

For 1080p, the Ultra preset is the best choice, providing 179 FPS while maximizing the visual fidelity. The High preset offers 188 FPS, which is a 4.9% increase, but the visual difference may not be worth the drop. The Medium preset is a good middle ground, with 208 FPS and a stable frame time.

For 1440p, the Ultra preset at 123 FPS is still a very smooth experience, and the High preset at 129 FPS is nearly identical. Given the small difference, the Ultra preset is recommended to get the best visual quality. The Medium preset at 169 FPS is also a viable option, but the Ultra is a more balanced choice.

For 4K, the High preset at 76 FPS is the recommended starting point. The Ultra preset drops to 72 FPS, which is a 5.3% decrease and may not be noticeable. The Medium preset at 100 FPS is a superior choice if the user wants a higher frame rate, as it offers a 31.6% increase over the High preset. The Low preset at 131 FPS is the highest, but it sacrifices visual quality.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the best all-around for 4K, as it delivers a smooth 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS, ensuring a consistent experience. At lower resolutions, the Ultra preset is recommended. The combination of the CPU and GPU is powerful enough to run the game at very high settings, and the only limiting factor is the resolution.