Thief

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is a mid-range desktop combination that delivers playable frame rates in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. Measured data shows the combo achieving 100 FPS at 1080p High, 70.1 FPS at 1440p High, and 38.3 FPS at 4K High, with a combo rank of 961 out of 1642 tested configurations. The following analysis breaks down how resolution scaling, component roles, and settings choices affect the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all presets, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 100 FPS at 1920x1080 to 70.1 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 29.9% reduction), then to 38.3 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 45.4% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 61.7%. Low settings show a similar pattern: 169.4 FPS at 1080p, 116.5 FPS at 1440p (31.2% drop), and 69.6 FPS at 4K (40.3% drop from 1440p). Medium settings drop from 129.5 to 91.8 (29.1%) and then to 53.1 (42.2%). Ultra settings go from 96.5 to 63.3 (34.4%) and then to 39.3 (37.9%).

The scaling behavior reveals that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p for every preset, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. Notably, at 4K, High and Ultra produce nearly identical results: 38.3 FPS vs 39.3 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is saturated and additional settings have little impact. At 1080p, the difference between High and Ultra is also small (100 vs 96.5), but the absolute frame rates are high enough that the CPU is not a constraint. The data shows that the combo can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease, but 4K requires a significant settings reduction to maintain playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 961st out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the lower half of the field. This is surprising given that the CPU and GPU individually sit above average: the i3-12100F has a percentile of 72 among all CPUs, and the RTX 2070 SUPER has a percentile of 65 among all GPUs. The lower combo rank suggests that Thief is particularly demanding on the combination, or that the pairing is not optimized for this specific title. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 13516, which is within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% above the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). The GPU’s average score is 22206, which is 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307) and 0.9% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006). These component-level scores are respectable, but the combo’s rank of 961 means it outperforms only 681 other combinations. In practical terms, this combo is not a top-tier performer for Thief, but it is far from the bottom.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost of 1770 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a peak FP32 throughput of 9.062 TFLOPS. These specifications are more than sufficient for a 2014 game like Thief, which was designed for hardware of that era. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (169.4) and 1440p Low (116.5) show that the GPU is not stressed at lower resolutions. At 4K, however, the GPU becomes the limiting factor: even Low settings only reach 69.6 FPS, and High/Ultra fall to 38-39 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is ample for Thief’s textures, and the memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck. The GPU’s nearest rivals in average score are the RTX A400 (0.5% higher) and the GTX TITAN Z (0.9% lower), indicating that the 2070 SUPER sits in a competitive mid-range tier. For Thief, the GPU’s role is clear: it drives frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K it cannot maintain 60 FPS on any preset above Low.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, every preset exceeds 60 FPS: Low 169.4, Medium 129.5, High 100, and Ultra 96.5. Ultra is the obvious choice for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. At 2560x1440, all presets also stay above 60 FPS: Low 116.5, Medium 91.8, High 70.1, and Ultra 63.3. Ultra remains playable, though it dips close to the 60 FPS threshold. For a locked 60 FPS experience, High is a safer option, but Ultra is acceptable. At 3840x2160, only Low reaches 60 FPS (69.6). Medium drops to 53.1, and High/Ultra fall to 38-39 FPS. For 4K, Low is the only preset that maintains a smooth frame rate. If visual fidelity is more important than frame rate, Medium at 53.1 FPS is a compromise, but High and Ultra offer no meaningful advantage over each other (38.3 vs 39.3). The data suggests that the combo is best used at 1080p or 1440p with Ultra settings, while 4K should be reserved for Low settings or a lower resolution.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with this combo?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 169.4 FPS on Low, 129.5 on Medium, 100 on High, and 96.5 on Ultra. All presets are well above 60 FPS.

Q: Is 4K playable with this setup?

A: At 3840x2160, only Low settings reach 60 FPS (69.6). Medium averages 53.1 FPS, while High and Ultra are 38.3 and 39.3 FPS respectively, which are below the typical smoothness threshold.

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

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). It also outperforms the Intel Core i3-10105 by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-7700K by 1.8%.

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

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average score of 22206, which is 0.5% below the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307) and 0.9% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006). It is 2.3% lower than the RTX 4060 Mobile (22729) and 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670).

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 63.3 FPS, which is above 60. If you prefer a higher frame rate, High at 70.1 FPS is a good alternative. Low and Medium are also above 60, but they reduce visual quality unnecessarily.

Q: Why are High and Ultra nearly identical at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High averages 38.3 FPS and Ultra averages 39.3 FPS, a difference of 1 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is fully saturated and the extra settings in Ultra do not meaningfully affect performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. It has 12 MB of shared L3 cache and a TDP of 58 W. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 11912 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1681 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 7413 and single-core of 2224. Its average benchmark score of 13516 places it in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals in average score are the Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534, -0.1%), i7-1250U (13462, +0.4%), i3-10105 (13430, +0.6%), and i7-7700K (13280, +1.8%). For Thief, a game from 2014, the CPU’s single-thread performance is likely more important than multi-core. The i3-12100F’s single-core Cinebench R23 score of 1681 is strong, and its 4 cores are sufficient for a title of that era. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (169.4) suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the frame rate is high. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the steep FPS drop and the negligible difference between High and Ultra. The CPU’s percentile of 72 is higher than the combo’s rank of 961/1642, indicating that the CPU is not the weak link in this pairing. The i3-12100F provides ample processing power for Thief, and the performance ceiling is set by the RTX 2070 SUPER, especially at higher resolutions.