Thief

# Thief Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a robust Thief experience across all tested resolutions, with the combination ranking 679th out of 2,851 tested combos for this title. The data shows strong 1080p performance exceeding 128 FPS at every preset, while 4K Ultra remains playable at 52 FPS average. This pairing of a 16-core Zen 5 mobile processor with a 16 GB Ada Lovelace GPU demonstrates that Thief, a 2014 stealth title, scales predictably with hardware capabilities, favoring higher settings at lower resolutions while requiring careful preset selection for 4K displays.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking for Thief?

A: The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 679th out of 2,851 tested combos for Thief, placing it in the top 24% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60 FPS experience?

A: At 2560x1440, every preset from Low to Ultra exceeds 88 FPS, while 3840x2160 requires Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS with an average of 71 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, Medium is the highest preset that maintains headroom.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has an average benchmark score of 77,740, sitting 1.6% above the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (76,513) and AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76,492), while trailing the Intel Core i9-14900K by 1.7% (79,097) and leading the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX by 2% (76,212).

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

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, which is 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209), 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828), 2.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698), and 2.7% behind the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757).

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and how does it affect Thief?

A: The RTX 4080 features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth. For Thief, this capacity is more than sufficient at all tested settings, as even 4K Ultra maintains 52 FPS without hitting memory limitations.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Strix Halo), with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz, along with 64 MB of shared L3 cache.

Q: Does the game favor higher resolutions or higher settings with this combo?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, the combo delivers 128 FPS at Ultra and 204 FPS at Low, while at 3840x2160, the spread narrows to 52 FPS at Ultra and 94 FPS at Low. This suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, while the CPU and GPU combination excels at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a combo rank of 679 out of 2,851 tested configurations for Thief. This places the pairing in the upper quartile of all tested combos, indicating strong performance for this title. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's 95th percentile standing among all CPUs and the GPU's 86th percentile among all GPUs, with the combination performing slightly below what each component's individual percentile might suggest.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 77,740 places it near the top of the tested field, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i9-14900K (79,097) and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (76,513) showing comparable aggregate performance. The 1.6% delta versus the Threadripper and 2% delta versus the Ryzen 9 8945HX are within run-to-run variance, but the 1.7% deficit to the i9-14900K suggests the Intel part holds a slight edge in aggregate benchmarks. For Thief specifically, the measured FPS data shows the combination performing consistently across resolutions, with the 1080p Ultra result of 128 FPS indicating no CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 54,247 places it just behind the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698), while matching the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) within 0.1%. The 2.7% deficit to the Radeon 8060S is notable because that GPU is the integrated graphics solution on the same CPU, yet the discrete RTX 4080 still delivers superior real-world gaming performance in this title. The combo rank of 679 out of 2,851 suggests that while both components are individually strong, the pairing for Thief is not among the absolute top configurations, likely due to the game's age and its ability to run well on less powerful hardware.

The data indicates that the combo's ranking is more favorable at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the minimum average FPS across all presets is 128 (Ultra), which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers 88 FPS, still comfortably above 60. Only at 3840x2160 does the combo dip below 60 FPS on High (54 FPS) and Ultra (52 FPS), though Medium maintains 71 FPS. This pattern suggests the combo's rank would improve if the database weighted lower resolutions more heavily, as the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads provide ample headroom for Thief's AI and physics calculations at 1080p and 1440p.

Settings Recommendations

For a 3840x2160 display, the Medium preset provides the best measured experience, delivering an average of 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the safest choice for consistent gameplay. The High preset at 4K drops to 54 FPS average, which is playable but risks dips below the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 52 FPS is borderline for action sequences. Low at 4K yields 94 FPS, but the visual quality reduction is substantial, making Medium the optimal balance between fidelity and performance.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset delivers 88 FPS average, providing the best visual quality while staying well above 60 FPS. The High preset at 93 FPS offers a slight performance boost with minimal visual difference, but Ultra is the recommended choice for users who prioritize image quality. The Medium preset at 122 FPS (minimum 103 FPS) is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors, while Low at 160 FPS is excessive for most displays unless chasing maximum frame rates.

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset runs at 128 FPS average, which is the recommended choice for the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 135 FPS provides nearly identical performance, while Medium at 177 FPS (minimum 151 FPS) and Low at 204 FPS are better suited for 240 Hz displays or competitive play. Given that Thief is a stealth game requiring careful observation, the visual fidelity of Ultra at 1080p outweighs the marginal FPS gains from lower presets.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the combo can handle Ultra settings at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K requires Medium for a locked 60 FPS experience. The measured rows indicate that the scaling from Medium to High at 4K costs 17 FPS (71 to 54), while High to Ultra costs only 2 FPS (54 to 52), suggesting diminishing returns at the highest preset. For the best experience per the measured rows, Medium at 4K or Ultra at 1440p and 1080p are the optimal choices.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured FPS data shows a clear hierarchy across presets. Low delivers the highest average at 94 FPS, followed by Medium at 71 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS. High drops to 54 FPS average, while Ultra sits at 52 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 23 FPS, while Medium to High costs 17 FPS, and High to Ultra only 2 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that Medium is the efficiency sweet spot at 4K, offering 71 FPS for a moderate visual upgrade over Low, while the jump to High yields minimal FPS gains relative to the quality increase.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve is steeper. Low runs at 160 FPS, Medium at 122 FPS (minimum 103 FPS, maximum 140 FPS), High at 93 FPS, and Ultra at 88 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs 38 FPS, Medium to High costs 29 FPS, and High to Ultra only 5 FPS. This pattern indicates that the Ultra preset at 1440p is nearly as efficient as High, making it the preferred choice for users with 1440p displays. The minimum FPS of 103 at Medium ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes, while the 88 FPS at Ultra remains well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low achieves 204 FPS, Medium 177 FPS (minimum 151 FPS, maximum 204 FPS), High 135 FPS, and Ultra 128 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium costs 27 FPS, Medium to High costs 42 FPS, and High to Ultra only 7 FPS. With the lowest preset still delivering over 200 FPS, this resolution is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at Ultra. The 128 FPS at Ultra is more than sufficient for any display, and the 7 FPS difference between High and Ultra makes Ultra the obvious choice for maximum visual quality.

Comparing resolutions at the same preset, the scaling is consistent. At Ultra, 1080p delivers 128 FPS, 1440p 88 FPS (31% lower), and 4K 52 FPS (59% lower than 1080p). At Medium, 1080p runs at 177 FPS, 1440p at 122 FPS (31% lower), and 4K at 71 FPS (60% lower). This consistent ~30% drop from 1080p to 1440p and another ~40% drop from 1440p to 4K indicates that the RTX 4080's 16 GB memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Thief, with the GPU's compute throughput being the primary scaling factor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 plays a central role in this combo's performance. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for Thief at all tested resolutions. The 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines provide the raw compute power needed to drive 4K Ultra at 52 FPS, while the 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized by this 2014 title.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with the Ada Lovelace architecture's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance, explain the observed FPS scaling. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as evidenced by the 71 FPS at Medium versus 94 FPS at Low—a 32% increase in performance from dropping settings. The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS suggests the GPU is near its limit for this title at maximum settings.

The RTX 4080's benchmark results reinforce its position relative to rivals. With a PassMark G3D score of 34,457 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567, the GPU sits at the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 average—just 0.1% higher—indicating that the SUPER variant offers negligible real-world gains. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698) outscore the RTX 4080 in aggregate benchmarks, yet the measured Thief FPS data shows no evidence of these rivals outperforming the RTX 4080 in actual gameplay.

The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is never fully utilized in Thief, as the game's 2014-era assets and textures fit comfortably within 8 GB even at 4K Ultra. This headroom means the GPU's performance in Thief is limited by its compute capabilities rather than memory capacity. The 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are idle in this non-ray-traced title, further indicating that raw rasterization performance—the 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate—drives the observed results.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 provides the computational foundation for this combo. With 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Strix Halo), the CPU has substantial multi-threaded capability. The base clock of 3.00 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz, combined with 64 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB L1 per core, ensure that Thief's AI, physics, and game logic never become a bottleneck at any tested resolution.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its position among the top processors. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,314 and single-core score of 2,044 indicate strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded workloads. The Geekbench multi-core score of 20,992 and single-core score of 2,464 further validate this. The PassMark multi-thread score of 54,934 places the CPU at the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,740.

In Thief, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo delivers 204 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game's engine. The fact that 1080p Ultra (128 FPS) is only 37% lower than 1080p Low (204 FPS) suggests that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes further, as the GPU-bound workloads dominate the FPS results.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The Intel Core i9-14900K scores 79,097 average—1.7% higher—but the Ryzen AI Max+ 395's 16 cores at 55 W TDP make it more power-efficient. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (76,513) and AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76,492) are both 1.6% behind, while the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX (76,212) trails by 2%. These deltas are within the margin of error for synthetic benchmarks, and the measured Thief FPS data shows no scenario where any of these rivals would meaningfully outperform the Ryzen AI Max+ 395.

The CPU's memory support for LPDDR5X with quad-channel 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and ECC support provides ample bandwidth for the GPU to access system memory, though the RTX 4080's 716.8 GB/s dedicated bandwidth makes this less critical for gaming. The PCIe Gen 4 with 16 lanes ensures the GPU has full bandwidth for data transfer, though Thief's modest asset streaming requirements are unlikely to saturate even a Gen 3 connection. Overall, the CPU's 95th percentile ranking and robust core configuration ensure it never limits the RTX 4080 in this title, with the measured FPS data showing GPU-bound behavior at 4K and a balanced workload at 1080p.