Thief

Thief, a stealth title from 2014, remains a demanding benchmark even for modern hardware. The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT produces a complex performance profile that shifts dramatically based on resolution and quality settings. The measured data reveals a system that is capable of high refresh rate gameplay at 1080p but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with maximum quality, indicating a clear bottleneck that moves between the CPU and GPU depending on the workload.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate scaling across resolutions tells a compelling story about where the performance ceiling lies. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces 91.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 60.1 FPS, a reduction of 34.1%. The jump to 4K Ultra yields just 34.8 FPS, which is a further 42.1% decline from 1440p. This steep drop-off pattern strongly suggests the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

However, the scaling is far less dramatic at lower quality presets. At Low settings, the system achieves 127.2 FPS at 1080p, 111.1 FPS at 1440p, and 67.1 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p transition only costs 12.7% performance, while the 1440p to 4K jump costs 39.6%. This non-linear scaling indicates that at 1080p Low, the CPU may be holding back the GPU, preventing it from reaching even higher frame rates. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests the i5-10400F is near its limit around 127 FPS, while the GPU has headroom to handle more pixels.

The data implies that for this game, the RX 7600 XT's capabilities are best utilized at 1440p and 4K, where it becomes the dominant bottleneck. At 1080p with lighter settings, the six-core processor's single-thread performance, reflected in its 3dmark_single_thread score of 688 and passmark_single_thread score of 2541, appears to cap the frame rate. The result is a system that behaves as GPU-bound at higher resolutions but becomes increasingly CPU-bound as resolution drops and settings are lowered.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Thief?

A: The best measured result is 127.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only setting combination that breaks the 120 FPS mark.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware in Thief?

A: At 4K with Ultra settings, the combo averages 34.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. Lowering to High settings improves this to 36.3 FPS, while Medium reaches 50.1 FPS and Low achieves 67.1 FPS, making 4K playable only with significant quality reductions.

Q: How does the GPU's 16 GB of VRAM influence performance?

A: The RX 7600 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. While VRAM capacity is generous, the measured frame rates suggest that memory bandwidth and compute throughput, not capacity, are the limiting factors in this title.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: Yes, evidence suggests a CPU limitation at 1080p with Low settings. The frame rate of 127.2 FPS is only 14.5% higher than the 111.1 FPS seen at 1440p Low, indicating the processor is nearing its maximum output around that level.

Q: What is the most balanced resolution for this combo?

A: 2560x1440 appears to offer the best balance. At High settings it produces 64.1 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 82.6 FPS, both of which are smooth while still benefiting from the GPU's full performance.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for Thief?

A: The combo ranks 1235 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This percentile position reflects the measured frame rates, which are moderate for a 2024 GPU paired with a 2020 CPU.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using the Navi 33 chip, manufactured on a 6 nm process at TSMC. Its boost clock reaches 2755 MHz, with a game clock of 2470 MHz and a base clock of 1980 MHz. The GPU contains 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, translating to a pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute rating is 22.57 TFLOPS.

In Thief, the GPU's clock speeds and compute resources directly correlate with the observed scaling. At 4K Ultra, the system delivers 34.8 FPS, which is only 38.1% of the 91.2 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra. This 4K performance deficit aligns with the GPU needing to process four times the pixels, and the 176.3 GPixel/s pixel rate appears insufficient for maintaining higher frame rates at that resolution with maximum effects.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not the constraint here, as Thief from 2014 would not exceed even a fraction of that allocation. Instead, the 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and the 128-bit bus width are more likely contributors to the performance ceiling. The GPU's 3dmark steel nomad dx12 score of 2348 and passmark g3d score of 17132 place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the RX 7600, is only 0.6% faster in average benchmark score, confirming this is a mid-range part.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo ranks 1235 out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the 75th percentile from the bottom. This means roughly three-quarters of tested systems outperform it in this specific title. The ranking reflects the measured average frame rates, which are respectable at 1080p but fall behind at higher resolutions. The i5-10400F's CPU percentile of 73 and the RX 7600 XT's GPU percentile of 63 both sit below the 50th percentile mark, and their combined performance in Thief aligns with these individual standings.

When comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals, the RX 7600 XT has an average benchmark score of 20146, which is 0.6% lower than the RX 7600's 20258 and 1.9% higher than the RTX 2060 SUPER's 19774. The CPU's average score of 14168 is 1.1% lower than the Core i5-8500's 14332 and 0.4% higher than the EPYC 7552's 14115. These small deltas suggest the combo's ranking is not due to a single weak component but rather the combination of two mid-tier parts that together cannot match higher-end systems in Thief's engine.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce 127.2 FPS, Medium produces 114 FPS, High produces 94.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 91.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 36 FPS, or 28.3% slower at maximum quality. Interestingly, the difference between High and Ultra is minimal at just 3.5 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop consistently. Low achieves 111.1 FPS, Medium reaches 82.6 FPS, High delivers 64.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 60.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution is a 45.9% reduction, which is steeper than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more stressed.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls significantly. Low produces 67.1 FPS, Medium achieves 50.1 FPS, High reaches 36.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 32.3 FPS, a 48.1% reduction. The High to Ultra gap narrows to just 1.5 FPS, showing that the GPU is heavily saturated at this resolution regardless of the final quality step.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For 1080p displays, the High preset at 94.7 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. The jump from Medium to High costs 19.3 FPS but the visual improvements in a stealth game are substantial for spotting enemies in shadows. Ultra provides only 3.5 FPS more than High, making it an inefficient choice.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 82.6 FPS is the recommended starting point. This maintains a frame rate well above 60 FPS while still offering enhanced detail. High at 64.1 FPS is also viable for users who prioritize visuals over headroom, but the 18.5 FPS penalty from Medium is significant.

For 4K, only Low at 67.1 FPS provides a consistently smooth experience. Medium at 50.1 FPS is borderline playable but may feel sluggish during fast movements, and High at 36.3 FPS or Ultra at 34.8 FPS are best avoided for serious gameplay. The data suggests this combo is not intended for 4K Ultra in Thief.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides six cores and twelve threads based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The processor includes 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 256 KB of L2 cache per core. Memory support is DDR4 with a dual-channel configuration and 42.7 GB/s bandwidth.

In Thief, the CPU's single-thread performance appears critical. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 688 and cinebench r20 single-core score of 610 indicate moderate per-core capability. At 1080p Low, the system hits 127.2 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit given the minimal improvement to 111.1 FPS at 1440p Low. The 14.5% difference between these resolutions suggests the processor is the limiting factor at lower graphical loads.

The multi-threaded scores, including a cinebench r23 multicore score of 10297 and passmark multithread score of 12115, show the six-core design is adequate for the game's engine. Thief, being a 2014 title, does not heavily utilize many threads, so the i5-10400F's twelve threads provide ample headroom. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all processors, with nearest rivals like the Core i5-8500 (1.1% slower) and Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% faster), confirms it is a solid but not exceptional performer for this workload.