Thief

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 yields fully playable performance in Thief, with average frame rates between 169 and 75 across all tested resolutions and presets. This measured dataset shows sharp scaling from 1080p to 4K and a stable frame MRP curve, placing the combination at rank 540 out of 3,720 validated combos, or the 85.4th percentile of participating configurations.

Resolution Scaling

Scaling from 1080p to 4K exposes the exact load pattern of the CPU and GPU pair. At every preset, the average frame count drops as the resolution increases, but not proportionally per pixel load. For instance, at High preset, the average FPS series runs 138 (1920x1080) → 122 (2560x1440) → 79 (3840x2160). That is a 59 FPS collapse from 1080p to 4K, a 43% reduction from the mean (relative to the 1440p value). For Low preset, the series is 169 → 149 → 125, a 44 FPS decline over the same resolution jump, or a 26% drop. Medium settings slide from 153 → 135 → 103, and Ultra from 130 → 120 → 75. The scaling behaviour plainly flags the RTX 5080 as the limiting factor at 4K: the GPU's shading units, texture fill rate, and memory bandwidth—measured at 56.28 padd FP32, 879.3 GTexel/s, and 960.0 GB/s, respectively—become the primary budget for each frame at 3840x2160. The i3-12100F’s 4 physical cores / 8 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are evidently sufficient to feed the GPU up to 169 FPS at 1080p Low; none of the measured sequences show a stalls or FPS ceilings typical of a CPU-bound configuration.

At 1080p High, the 139 → 122 drop between 1080p and 1440p is only 11% of the nominal resolution step, while the 1440p → 2160p transition costs 35% of the average. This shows the scaling becomes more GPU‑dependent posts mid resolution. No single measurement in the data indicates a CPU bottleneck: even at 2560x1440, the 2400p Low preset still delivers 149 avg. Therefore, the resolution scaling characteristic is monotonic and GPU‑driven at all tested levels, with the 5080 doing the heavy lifting when the pixel area triples form 1080p to 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The dataset measured four presets per resolution, and the results are consistent: lowering the preset yields strictly higher avg FPS. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low (169) and Ultra (136) is 33 FPS, which is 24% of the low‑click value. At 2560x1440, Low runs at 149 FPS, Medium at 135, High at 122, and Ultra at 120, all above 118 average. At 3840x2160, the order is: Low 125, Medium 103, High 79, Ultra 75. Middle and Low still stay above 60, but High and Ultra fall to 79 and 75 respectively.

Given the measured rows, the best balance of quality plus sustained frame rate is Medium for 4K: it yields 103 average FPS, plus the only reported min/max among this dataset (min 88, max 119) for the 3840 row. That min value of 88 remains above the 60 FPS threshold. At QHD and 1080p, Medium (135) and (High 138) provide a 52–57% advantage over the Ultra counterparts, yet both are fully enjoyable beyond 120 FPS. If the goal is maximum frame rate regardless of preset, then Low always wins, but that constitutes a one‑click lower preset depleting taste and only gives 169 FPS at 1080p. A more stable experience with higher detail is achieved by selecting Medium at 4K and Ultra at 1440p and 1080p, given that Ultra at 2160p still provides 75 FPS average and may become the limiting factor for 60‑Hz displays. For competitive use, the Low preset at 2560x1440 (149 FPS) is the highest avg, but the trade‑off is visual fidelity; the data does not reveal any artefacts, only frame counts.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS ever measured for this CPU+GPU in the dataset?

A: 169 FPS, obtained at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: At 4K with Ultra preset, what is the minimum/min FPS reported?

A: The data does not report a min or max for Ultra at 3840x2160; only the average of 75 FPS is given. The only resolution with min/max provided is the 151 span at Medium 136 observed at all three resolutions.

Q: Does the i3-12100F bottleneck the RTX 5080 in Thief?

A: No. The dataset shows a maximum average of 169 FPS at 1080p Low and 75 FPS at 4K Ultra, all under the GPU's reported capability. With a 4‑thread/8‑thread boost clock of 4.30 GHz, the CPU’s single‑thread score of 1674 in Cinebench R23, and its PassMark integer score of 40,978, there is no evidence of CPU limitation; FPS conver quickly with resolution rises, which is a classic sign of grid GPU‑bound load.

Q: You present no min/max for most presets. Which preset has the full min/max data?

A: Only the Medium preset at each resolution provides min/max frames: at 1080p min 130 – max 175, 1440p min 146 – max 155, and 2160p min 88 – max 119. All other presets have only an average value.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium compare to the 2160p High in terms of frame count?

A: 1440p Medium averaged 135 FPS, while 2160p High averaged 79 FPS, a difference of 56 FPS in favour of the lower resolution/mid‑quality setting.

Q: What is the rank of this specific GPU+CPU combined dataset out of all tested combos?

A: It ranks 540th out of 3,720 combinations (rank 540 of 3,720), placing it in the 85th percentile.

How This Combo Ranks

This exact pairing—Intel Core i3-12100F with GeForce RTX 5080—and this game stands at rank 540 out of 3,720 tested combinations. That position means about 8% of configurations have a higher average frame rate in Thief, while the remaining 3,180 combos fall below. The rank sits far above the 2,000‑mid mark, but it also indicates that more than eight hundred tested air groups surpass it, with the RTX 5080 being the dominant draw.

The CPU's baseline average benchmark score is 13,494 (avgBenchmarkScore), while the GPU score is 56,083. Compared to nearest rivals reported for the CPU: Intel Core 3 N355 (avg score 13492, delta 0 %), Intel Core i5-9500 (13452, 0.3 %), Intel Core 5 120UL (13594, -0.7 %), and Intel Core i7-1250U (13351, 1.1 %). The i3‑12100F sits at the 68th percentile of all CPUs, so while it is 4‑core/8‑thread chip, its three‑digit rank derives largely from the massive priority of the RTX 5080. For context, the GPU has a 87th percentile standing among all GPUs. The combined position at 540th out of 3,720 (a 14.5% distance from the top) is dominated mainly by whether the GPU can push beyond the 5080's throughput.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4‑core, 8‑thread desktop processor designed in Alder Lake‑S at 10 nm, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a maximum boost of 4.30 GHz. It has an L2 cache per core of 1.25 MB and a 12 MB shared L3, with a 58 TDP. The measured Cinebench R23 multicore score is 11,860, and single‑core 1,674; Geekbench multicore 7,252, single 1,932. For a 2014 stealth title like Thief, which predominantly relies on one to a few threads, these single‑thread metrics are crucial. The 3DMark single‑thread score of 893 and passmark single‑thread of 3,444 indicate that this CPU can drive a high‑end GPU without raising a synthetic limit, given that the game’s average frame counts—as high as the 5080’s 75 FPS at 4K Ultra main frame—stay under the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU.

Observing the FPS table, the maximum recorder frame on any preset is 169 FPS at 1080p Low; to test, we compare that to the 3DMark 4‑thread score 2,859 and 8‑score 4,925. Even at 1080p (the least GPU‑bound case), the CPU does not bottleneck because no data present stall at the average frame: the values stand monotonically. If a 4‑core/8‑thread part had a stronger bottleneck, we would predict lower FPS at 1080p without subsequent relief at higher resolutions; in this dataset, the trend is a relentless decline, confirming the CPU is never the principal bottleneck. The 4.30 GHz boost helps sustain GeForce‑friendly schedules, and the fairly large L3 (12 MB) reduces traffic on older game logic that includes asset traversal. In short, the Intel Core i3-12100F provides just enough parallel bandwidth for this stealth title, while the Alder‑Lake architecture’s per‑thread IPC—evident from its R23 single‑score of 1,674—matches with the quality of the Gold 5080’s draw‑call submission.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Below, the exact average (`avgFps`) and min/max where available, for every measured row:

| Resolution | Preset | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1080p (1920x1080) | Low | 169 | – | – |

| 1080p | Medium | 153 | 130 | 175 |

| 1080p | High | 138 | – | – |

| 1080p | Ultra | 130 | – | – |

| 1440p (2560x1440) | Low | 149 | – | – |

| 1440p | Medium | 135 | 114 | 155 |

| 1440p | High | 122 | – | – |

| 1440p | Ultra | 120 | – | – |

| 2160p (3840x2160) | Low | 125 | – | – |

| 2160p | Medium | 103 | 88 | 119 |

| 2160p | High | 79 | – | – |

| 2160p | Ultra | 75 | – | – |

Across all 12 measurements, the lowest average frame recorded is 75 FPS (4K Ultra), still above the common 60 fps barrier. The fastest single run is at 1080p Low: 169 FPS. Medium appears to be the only preset where the engine reported min/max values, which shows ‑clally 130–175 at 1080p. A per‑preset average show Cataset: Low raises the headroom at every resolution, High and Ultra cost the most GPU at 4K (79 and 70). The recorded data proves the RTX 5080 can push meaningful framerates even with a mainstream Core i3, claiming numbers well above that saturated refresh of most displays, and the decisive factor is the resolution.