Thief

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a title that scales in a largely predictable manner, though with a notable plateau at lower resolutions that points to a CPU-bound ceiling. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 70.4 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Ultra raises the average to 119.4 FPS, a substantial 49.0 FPS improvement. Moving down to 1080p Ultra yields 134.6 FPS, a further 15.2 FPS gain over the 1440p result. This pattern indicates that the GPU remains the primary scaling driver as resolution drops, but the 1080p to 1440p delta is much smaller than the 1440p to 4K delta.

The data shows a clear trend: the performance headroom available at 1080p is not fully realized. For instance, at High settings, the 4K average is 78.3 FPS, while 1440p High reaches 124.7 FPS, and 1080p High tops out at 140.4 FPS. The jump from 4K to 1440p is a gain of 46.4 FPS, but the subsequent drop to 1080p only adds 15.7 FPS. This compression of gains suggests that the Intel Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, begins to limit the frame rate as pixel count decreases, preventing the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER from fully stretching its legs.

Analyzing the Low preset tells a similar story. At 4K Low, the average is 124.7 FPS. At 1440p Low, it rises to 148.9 FPS, and at 1080p Low, it reaches 167.7 FPS. The relative gains from 4K to 1440p (24.2 FPS) and from 1440p to 1080p (18.8 FPS) are more evenly distributed here than at Ultra, which suggests that when the GPU load is light, the CPU becomes a more significant factor. The fact that 4K Low (124.7 FPS) nearly matches 1440p High (124.7 FPS) is a striking indicator of how much resolution and settings interact in this engine.

The limiting component shifts depend on the configuration. At 4K Ultra, the RTX 4080 SUPER is clearly the bottleneck, working hard to maintain 70.4 FPS. At 1080p Low, the i3-12100F's single-thread and multi-thread performance, as measured by its Cinebench R23 scores of 1681 and 11912 respectively, becomes the more likely constraint, capping the output at 167.7 FPS. The data suggests that for this pairing, the sweet spot for balancing load is around 1440p, where neither component is wholly dominant.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across presets. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 134.6 FPS, which is a strong result for a stealth title where smooth traversal is key. However, the High preset at 1080p yields 140.4 FPS, a modest 5.8 FPS improvement over Ultra, while Medium reaches 154.1 FPS and Low hits 167.7 FPS. The differences between presets are relatively small at this resolution, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom and the user can prioritize visual fidelity without a major performance penalty.

At 1440p, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. Ultra averages 119.4 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. High at 1440p scores 124.7 FPS, only 5.3 FPS higher than Ultra. The Medium preset at 135.4 FPS and Low at 148.9 FPS offer progressively higher frame rates, but the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra frames given that Ultra is already playable. The data indicates that for a balance of image quality and performance, High at 1440p is the most efficient choice, as it captures nearly all of the Ultra fidelity with a slight frame rate advantage.

At 4K, the situation changes. Ultra drops to 70.4 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes. High at 4K offers 78.3 FPS, a 7.9 FPS improvement over Ultra, while Medium reaches 98.6 FPS and Low hits 124.7 FPS. For 4K users, the High preset appears to be the optimal compromise: it provides a significant frame rate boost over Ultra (78.3 vs 70.4) while retaining most of the visual enhancements. The step from High to Medium is larger (78.3 to 98.6), suggesting that High is the last preset that maintains a high level of graphical detail before diminishing returns set in.

The best experience per the measured rows is dependent on the target resolution. At 1080p, Ultra is the clear winner, as the 134.6 FPS average leaves no reason to sacrifice quality. At 1440p, High is recommended for its balance of 124.7 FPS and visual fidelity. At 4K, High is again the sensible pick, as it keeps the average above 75 FPS while avoiding the steep drop to Ultra's 70.4 FPS. The data does not show any benefit to selecting Low or Medium at 1080p or 1440p, as the frame rate gains are marginal compared to the visual cost.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications align with the measured results. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This large memory pool and high bandwidth are likely contributors to the consistent performance across settings at 4K, where memory pressure is highest. The card's base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2550 MHz, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 10240 shading units, drive its 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The benchmark scores for the RTX 4080 SUPER contextualize its role. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 246994, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, has an average benchmark score of 53489, which is only 0.2% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 53610 average. This indicates that the GPU is performing at the top of its class, and the measured frame rates in Thief are consistent with that standing.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for Thief, a 2014 title, even at 4K Ultra. The data shows no evidence of memory-related stuttering or frame drops, as the minimum FPS values are not reported but the averages remain high. The GPU's memory clock of 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective) and the 736.3 GB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming and asset loading do not become a bottleneck, even when the CPU is struggling to keep up at lower resolutions.

The GPU's role is most evident in the 4K results. At 4K Ultra, the average of 70.4 FPS is a solid result for a demanding resolution, and the fact that it drops to 78.3 FPS at High shows that the card is sensitive to settings changes. The 4K Low result of 124.7 FPS demonstrates that the GPU has significant headroom when the CPU is not the limiting factor. The RTX 4080 SUPER's end-of-life production status and its predecessor/successor relationship to the GeForce 30 and 50 series respectively do not detract from its current capability in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a rank of 236 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the top 15% of all pairings, which is a strong showing given the CPU's relatively modest specifications. The i3-12100F has a percentile rank of 72 among all CPUs, while the RTX 4080 SUPER sits at the 88th percentile among GPUs. The combined rank of 236 suggests that the GPU's high performance compensates for the CPU's lower standing, but the pairing is not without its limitations.

The rank of 236 out of 1642 means that there are 235 combos that perform better, likely featuring higher-end CPUs alongside comparable or superior GPUs. The data indicates that the i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, may be holding back the RTX 4080 SUPER in CPU-bound scenarios, such as the 1080p Low preset where the frame rate is capped at 167.7 FPS. However, the overall rank is respectable, and the combo outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX has an average benchmark score of 13534, which is only 0.1% higher than the i3-12100F's 13516 average. This is a remarkable result for a quad-core part against a high-end workstation CPU, and it underscores the i3-12100F's strong single-thread performance. Similarly, the Intel Core i7-7700K scores 13280, which is 1.8% lower, showing that the i3-12100F holds its own against older flagship parts.

In terms of the game-specific ranking, the combo's position at 236 suggests that it is well-suited for Thief's engine, which appears to favor the GPU's raw power. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (70.4) and 1440p Ultra (119.4) are strong indicators that the pairing can handle the game's highest settings at mainstream resolutions. The rank also implies that the i3-12100F's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 4.30 GHz boost clock are sufficient for this title, even if they might not be for more CPU-intensive modern games.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 10 nm process node are key characteristics that influence its gaming performance. The CPU's benchmark results show a balanced profile: its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and single-core score of 1681 indicate strong single-thread capability, which is often more important for gaming than raw multi-thread performance.

In Thief, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the frame rate is 167.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game. The fact that 4K Low (124.7 FPS) is significantly lower than 1080p Low (167.7 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU is still the primary driver at 4K, but the CPU begins to cap performance as resolution drops. The 1440p High result of 124.7 FPS, which matches the 4K Low result exactly, is a clear sign that the CPU is becoming a limiting factor when the GPU load is reduced.

The i3-12100F's passmark single-thread score of 3444 and multithread score of 14015 provide a baseline for its capability. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10105, has an average benchmark score of 13430, which is 0.6% lower, indicating that the i3-12100F is a marginal upgrade over its predecessor. The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs means it is in the upper-middle range, but its 4-core/8-thread configuration is becoming a potential bottleneck in modern titles.

The CPU's impact on Thief's frame rates is nuanced. At 1080p Ultra, the average of 134.6 FPS is 33.1 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result, which suggests that the CPU is not the sole limiter; the GPU is still doing significant work at Ultra settings. However, the difference between 1080p and 1440p at the same preset is smaller than the difference between 1440p and 4K, which points to the CPU's influence. The i3-12100F's 8 threads are sufficient for Thief's engine, but the data implies that a higher-core-count CPU would allow the RTX 4080 SUPER to achieve even higher frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, along with its dual-channel memory bus, does not appear to be a limiting factor in this title based on the measured FPS. The 4.30 GHz boost clock is likely a key reason why the i3-12100F performs as well as it does, as Thief appears to favor higher single-thread performance. The CPU's TDP of 58 W and 163 mm² die size are not directly relevant to the game's performance, but they do indicate that this is a low-power, efficient part that can sustain its boost clocks without thermal throttling.