Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, places the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER in a revealing light. The measured data shows a combo that handles the game with ease at lower resolutions, but the performance curve from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. The combination achieves a combo rank of 2591 out of 3720 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems for this specific title. This analysis of the measured FPS data across resolutions and settings aims to explore the balance between this quad-core CPU and the 8 GB Turing-based GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is the most telling metric here. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 90 FPS at 1920x1080 to 62 FPS at 2560x1440, and then finally to just 36 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 40% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 42% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, but the pattern is clear: the RTX 2060 SUPER is being overwhelmed by the pixel count at higher resolutions.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution further backs this up. At 4K, the difference between Low (63 FPS) and Ultra (35 FPS) is a dramatic 28 FPS, a 44% drop in average frame rate. This sensitivity to settings at 4K indicates that the GPU's raw shading power is the limiting factor, as each increase in visual fidelity takes a large hit on the frame rate. The RTX 2060 SUPER, with its 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate, is not sufficient for the 8.3 million pixels of 4K. The 1080p results, however, show a different pattern. The difference between Low (155 FPS) and Ultra (86 FPS) is still huge, but the frame rate at Ultra remains playable. The 90 FPS at 1080p High and 86 FPS at 1080p Ultra show that the GPU is still the primary bottleneck, but with far fewer pixels to draw, the workload is manageable.

What is curious is the CPU's role in this scaling. The Intel Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, has a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The benchmark results for the CPU show a strong single-thread performance, with a 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674. This suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p where the frame rates are high, and the GPU is the main constraint. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the frame rates are low and the CPU is not being pushed to its limits. The data indicates that the i3-12100F has headroom to spare in this game, and the performance is almost entirely dictated by the GPU.

The most interesting anomaly is the Medium setting. At each resolution, the Medium settings provide a significant jump in FPS over High, but with a smaller jump over Low. At 1080p, Medium delivers 118 FPS, while High drops to 90 FPS and Low is 155 FPS. This shows that the Medium preset is a solid middle ground, but the jump from High to Ultra is relatively small, suggesting a fairly steep curve in the settings. The data also shows that at 4K, the Ultra settings are only 1 FPS behind the High settings (35 vs 36), which suggests that the GPU is so limited at that resolution that the two settings are practically identical in performance, despite the visual difference.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: The average frame rate at 1080p is 90 FPS, while at 1440p it drops to 62 FPS. This is a 31% reduction in frame rate, indicating a significant performance cost for the higher resolution.

Q: Does the RTX 2060 SUPER maintain 60 FPS at Ultra settings in Thief?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, it averages 86 FPS, at 1440p Ultra it drops to 59 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 35 FPS. Only 1080p Ultra is able to maintain a comfortable 60+ FPS average.

Q: How does the i3-12100F's core count affect performance?

A: The i3-12100F has 4 cores and 8 threads. It is not a bottleneck in Thief, as the game's performance scaling is tied to the GPU. The CPU's high single-thread score of 1932 in Geekbench 5 suggests it can keep up with the demands of the game's engine.

Q: What is the best resolution to play this game with this combo?

A: 1080p is the most reliable resolution, with average FPS ranging from 86 FPS at Ultra to 155 FPS at Low. 1440p is also playable, with High and Ultra settings hovering near 60 FPS, but 4K is not recommended for a smooth experience.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM a limitation in Thief?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, well above the requirements of a 2014 game. The data does not show any VRAM-related stutters, as the game's texture sizes are from that era. The 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the likely performance limiter, not the VRAM capacity.

Q: How does this combo rank in the database?

A: The combo rank is 2591 out of 3720 tested combinations. This places it in the 30th percentile, meaning it outperforms about 30% of all tested combos for Thief.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the central component for rendering in Thief. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is ample for a game from 2014, and the 256-bit bus width provides a 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth. This bandwidth is critical for streaming textures and geometry to the GPU, and the data suggests it is not a bottleneck at any of the tested settings. The GPU's 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs are the core of its rendering power, and the 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate is a key reason why the frame rates scale the way they do. At 4K, the sheer number of pixels exceeds the fill rate, which leads to the low 36 FPS at High and 35 FPS at Ultra.

The RTX 2060 SUPER has a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The boost clock is the performance headroom that allows the card to perform well at 1080p. The GPU's TPU (Texture Processing Units) count of 136 and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s is another factor in the High settings performance, which deliver 90 FPS at 1080p. The GPU's 62nd percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that it is a solid mid-range performer. Its closest rivals, such as the RTX 3060 Mobile, are just 0.4% faster in average score, placing the 2060 SUPER right in the middle of its performance class. In Thief, the GPU is the main driver of the performance, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when the resolution is increased.

The data shows a clear relationship between the GPU's workload and the settings. The Low settings allow for a 155 FPS average at 1080p, which is 80% higher than the High settings. This indicates that the game's lighting and shadow effects, which are the most expensive at higher settings, have a massive impact on the GPU. The RTX 2060 SUPER's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 means it is well-equipped to handle modern rendering APIs, though a 2014 title like Thief likely uses an older version of DirectX. The card's 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the hard limits that performance at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides a clear hierarchy for settings. At 1080p, the Low settings deliver an average of 155 FPS, which is far above the 144 Hz refresh rate of many gamers. High settings bring that down to 90 FPS, still excellent. Medium is a good middle ground with 118 FPS. Ultra is the most demanding, with 86 FPS. For the best experience at 1080p, the Ultra settings are the way to go, as they deliver a frame rate that is still above 60 FPS and is very playable. There is no reason to lower the settings for a smooth experience, as even the Ultra settings outperform the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1440p, the situation is different. The High settings deliver 62 FPS, which is just barely above 60 FPS. The Ultra settings drop to 59 FPS, which is below that threshold. The Medium settings provide 81 FPS, which is a large improvement over High. For 1440p, the Medium settings are the best recommendation, as they provide a high frame rate and still offer a visual upgrade over Low. The Low settings at 1440p, with 107 FPS, are also a viable option for players who prioritize frame rate over image quality.

At 4K, no settings are ideal. The Low settings average 63 FPS, which is playable, but the High (36 FPS) and Ultra (35 FPS) settings are not smooth. The Medium settings, with 48 FPS, are the limit of playability for this GPU. Players who want to play Thief at 4K will have to stick to the Low settings. The data indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is not a 4K card for this game, and the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is a clear indication of the GPU's limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2591st out of 3720 combinations tested in Thief. This places the system in the 30th percentile, meaning it outperforms only 30% of the tested combos. This is a surprising result, given the GPU's solid benchmark scores and the CPU's respectable performance. The rank is likely dragged down by the CPU's older 4-core/8-thread architecture, which, while sufficient for Thief, is not the optimal pairing for this game. The GPU and CPU are balanced in a way that the game is not CPU-bound, but the overall combo is not at the top of the charts.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the RTX 3060 Mobile, which has a 0.4% higher avg score, and the Radeon Pro 5700, which is 0.5% higher. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Core 3 N355 (0% delta) and the Core i5-9500 (0.3% delta). The data suggests that the i3-12100F and the RTX 2060 SUPER are both mid-pack components. The combo rank reflects this, as it is not a high-end combination but it is not a low-end one either. The performance in Thief is solid, but not exceptional.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the full breakdown of the measured FPS data for the tested resolution and settings.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 155 FPS average
• Medium: 118 FPS average, with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS
• High: 90 FPS average
• Ultra: 86 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 107 FPS average
• Medium: 81 FPS average, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS
• High: 62 FPS average
• Ultra: 59 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 63 FPS average
• Medium: 48 FPS average, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS
• High: 36 FPS average
• Ultra: 35 FPS average

The data clearly shows that the 1080p and 1440p resolutions are the sweet spot for this combo. The 1080p results are all well above 60 FPS, and even the 1440p results are mostly playable. Only the 4K results show a significant drop, with the High and Ultra settings falling below 40 FPS. The Medium setting at 4K is the only one that averages above 40 FPS, at 48 FPS. The data also shows that the minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium settings, but they are still well above the 30 FPS threshold for playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a quad-core processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core are the specifications that are relevant for a game like Thief. The CPU's benchmark scores are interesting. Its single-thread performance is excellent, as shown by a Geekbench 5 single-core score of 1932 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674. Its multi-threaded score in Cinebench R23 is 11860, which is a good result for a quad-core. The CPU's percentile rank among all CPUs is 68, which means it is better than 68% of all CPUs in the database.

In Thief, the CPU's role is to handle the game's logic and physics. The game is from 2014, and the CPU's performance is more than enough. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. The FPS drops are almost entirely due to the GPU's workload. The CPU's performance in 3DMark is also strong, with a 4-thread score of 2859 and an 8-thread score of 4026. The 8-thread score is almost identical to the 16-thread score of 4051, which indicates that the CPU's scaling with threads is not linear, but the game does not use more than 8 threads. The i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock is the key to its performance in single-threaded tasks, which are common in games from 2014.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the Intel Core 3 N355, which has a delta of 0%, and the Intel Core i5-9500, which is 0.3% faster. This means the i3-12100F is a solid performer in its class. In Thief, the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor. The game's performance is dictated by the GPU. The user can enjoy smooth frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K experience will be limited by the GPU. The data shows that the i3-12100F is a capable CPU for this game, providing a solid foundation for the RTX 2060 SUPER to do its work.