Thief

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT paired with the Intel Core i5-10400F delivers a playable experience in Thief across most settings, but the data clearly shows that the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo averages between 101.3 FPS on Ultra and 123.2 FPS on Low, indicating a strong CPU-GPU balance, but the frame rate drops sharply at 4K, where the High preset falls to 48.7 FPS and Ultra to 42 FPS. This pattern reveals that while the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, the RX 6750 XT's rendering workload dominates at higher pixel counts, making resolution scaling the deciding factor for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly by settings preset. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average frame rate falls from 102.4 FPS to 79.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 22%. The same resolution step at Ultra settings sees a more modest drop, from 101.3 FPS to 71.5 FPS, which is about a 29% decrease. This suggests that the GPU is already working hard at 1080p on Ultra, leaving less headroom for resolution scaling.

The most telling data point is the 4K results. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 78.9 FPS, while High drops to 48.7 FPS and Ultra to 42 FPS. The gap between 1440p High (79.7 FPS) and 4K High (48.7 FPS) represents a 39% performance loss, confirming that the RX 6750 XT's 12 GB memory buffer and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain fluid frame rates at 4K with higher quality settings. The limiting component at 4K is unambiguously the GPU, as the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are not the bottleneck when the pixel workload quadruples.

At 1080p, the scaling from Low (123.2 FPS) to Ultra (101.3 FPS) shows only an 18% penalty, which is remarkably small for a full settings sweep. This indicates that the CPU is capable of sustaining high frame rates, and the GPU has enough headroom to absorb the extra shading and texture work. The story changes at 1440p, where the gap between Low (107.7 FPS) and Ultra (71.5 FPS) widens to 34%, suggesting the GPU is starting to feel the pressure from increased resolution and settings complexity.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief?*

A: The data indicates 1080p is the sweet spot, with all settings presets averaging above 100 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset exceeds 100 FPS (107.7 FPS), while Medium (96.5 FPS) and High (79.7 FPS) are still playable but show clear GPU limitations.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Thief?*

A: Marginally, at best. The Low preset at 4K averages 78.9 FPS, which is playable, but High (48.7 FPS) and Ultra (42 FPS) fall below 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 61.4 FPS is the only quality setting that hits a conventional 60 FPS target at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F, with 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.30 GHz, is not the limiting factor. At 1080p, frame rates across all settings stay above 100 FPS, indicating the CPU is feeding the GPU adequately. Its percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs supports this, showing it is a competent mid-range processor.

Q: What is the GPU's role in these results?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, with 2560 shading units and a boost clock of 2600 MHz, is the primary performance driver. Its Passmark G3D score of 20700 and percentile rank of 79 place it in the upper tier of GPUs, but the 4K results show its limits. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for this 2014 title, but the bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s is not enough for high-quality 4K rendering.

Q: Are these measured results reliable?

A: The dataIsMeasured field is true, indicating these are empirically collected frame rates rather than estimates. The combo rank of 982 out of 1642 tested combinations places this pairing in the 60th percentile, suggesting it is a solid but not exceptional configuration for Thief.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar systems?

A: The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% faster) and Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% faster), showing the i5-10400F is nearly identical in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU is closely matched by the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (0.2% faster) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (1.3% faster), but those comparisons are on paper, not in Thief specifically.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured frame rates. With 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, the GPU is well-equipped for a 2014 game like Thief, which does not use modern ray tracing or mesh shaders. The RDNA 2.0 architecture operates at a base clock of 2150 MHz and boosts to 2600 MHz, providing substantial compute throughput for rasterization.

The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the data shows the GPU maintains high frame rates, but at 4K, the memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor. The measured 4K results, with Ultra dropping to 42 FPS, suggest the GPU is starved for memory throughput when rendering at 3840x2160. The FP32 compute of 13.31 TFLOPS is more than enough for this game's shader complexity, but the pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s is tested at 4K, where it can only produce 42 FPS at Ultra settings.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 20700 places it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, which is a strong showing. However, the nearest rival data shows the RX 6750 XT is only 0.2% faster than the RX 5600M and 1.3% slower than the RTX 3080 in average benchmark scores. These margins are negligible, meaning the GPU's performance in Thief is representative of its class rather than exceptional. The 4K Medium result of 61.4 FPS is the key takeaway: the GPU can handle 4K, but only with reduced settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers excellent results across all settings. The Low preset averages 123.2 FPS, Medium drops to 112.5 FPS, High to 102.4 FPS, and Ultra to 101.3 FPS. The small spread between settings, just 21.9 FPS from Low to Ultra, indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck and the GPU has ample headroom. These numbers suggest a smooth experience even on 144Hz monitors, though the 1% lows are not recorded in the data.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but show more variance. Low averages 107.7 FPS, Medium 96.5 FPS, High 79.7 FPS, and Ultra 71.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 36.2 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. The High preset at 79.7 FPS is still above 60 FPS, making 1440p viable for most users, but the Ultra preset at 71.5 FPS is close to the threshold where frame drops become noticeable.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls off sharply. Low averages 78.9 FPS, Medium 61.4 FPS, High 48.7 FPS, and Ultra 42 FPS. The drop from 1440p Low (107.7 FPS) to 4K Low (78.9 FPS) is 27%, while the 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra drop is 41%. This non-linear scaling confirms the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are strained at 4K. The Medium preset at 61.4 FPS is the only 4K option that stays above 60 FPS, and even that is marginal.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing ranks 982 out of 1642 total combos for Thief. This places it in the upper 40% of all tested systems, which is a solid result for a mid-range CPU paired with a mainstream GPU. The rank reflects the overall balance: the CPU is not holding back the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU is not powerful enough to push the combo into the top tier at 4K.

The CPU's percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs indicates it outperforms nearly three-quarters of processors in synthetic benchmarks. Its average benchmark score of 14168 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, which scores 14115 (0.4% lower). This suggests the i5-10400F is a reliable performer, but not a standout. The GPU's percentile rank of 79 is slightly higher, showing the RX 6750 XT is a stronger component relative to its peers.

The combination of a 73rd percentile CPU and 79th percentile GPU results in a 60th percentile ranking for the full system in Thief. This gap between component percentiles and combo rank suggests the game is not perfectly optimized for this hardware, or that the GPU's strengths are not fully utilized at lower resolutions. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p, the combo produces high frame rates, but the 4K results drag down the overall ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts to 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications are more than adequate for Thief, a game released in 2014 that was designed for older multi-core CPUs. The processor's 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and multi-thread score of 4748 indicate solid per-core performance.

The CPU's role in this game is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, and the data suggests it does so effectively. At 1080p, the frame rates are consistently above 100 FPS across all settings, which means the CPU is not a bottleneck. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and single-core score of 1453 show the processor is competitive with modern mid-range chips, though its nearest rivals, such as the Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% faster) and i5-8500 (1.1% faster), are all within a 1.2% margin.

The 65W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are typical for this class of processor. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 2541 and multithread score of 12115 confirm its balanced performance. In Thief, the CPU never becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 1080p Low preset achieving 123.2 FPS, which is close to the maximum refresh rate of many monitors. The 4.30 GHz boost clock is particularly beneficial for this game's single-threaded rendering tasks.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gameplay, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, as it delivers 101.3 FPS while providing the best visual quality. The difference between Ultra and High at 1080p is only 1.1 FPS (101.3 vs 102.4), so there is no reason to sacrifice visual fidelity. The Low preset at 123.2 FPS offers a 22 FPS advantage, but for a stealth game where visual clarity matters, the Ultra preset's 101.3 FPS is more than sufficient.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 96.5 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset drops to 79.7 FPS, which is still playable but may show stutter on high-refresh displays. The Ultra preset at 71.5 FPS is borderline, and the Low preset at 107.7 FPS sacrifices too much visual detail for a marginal frame rate gain. Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 61.4 FPS is the only viable option for a smooth experience. The High preset at 48.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and will result in noticeable judder. The Low preset at 78.9 FPS is playable but severely compromises the game's atmosphere, which is critical for a stealth title. The Ultra preset at 42 FPS is not recommended. Users with 4K displays should stick to Medium settings to maintain a consistent 60 FPS experience.