Thief

The data for Thief on the Intel Core i5-10400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER shows a system that is firmly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet capable of delivering very high frame rates at 1080p. The measured results provide a clear picture of how the game scales with settings and resolution, offering a methodical look at where this combination of components excels and where it begins to strain.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is significant and reveals the limiting component. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 97.7 FPS at 1080p to 69.6 FPS at 1440p, and then to 37.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 62% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets.

At Low settings, the system achieves 122.5 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 109.9 FPS at 1440p and 68.9 FPS at 4K. Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is only 12.6 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is beginning to play a role at lower resolutions. The i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, but the RTX 2070 SUPER's workload increases dramatically as resolution climbs.

The most telling data point is at Ultra settings. The system manages 92.2 FPS at 1080p, 67.0 FPS at 1440p, and just 35.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is less than half the 1080p Ultra result, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution. The RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, is simply overwhelmed by the combination of 4K resolution and maximum quality settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for maintaining a high frame rate with this setup?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most consistent results, with average FPS ranging from 92.2 at Ultra to 122.5 at Low. At 2560x1440, the system still maintains playable frame rates, with averages between 67.0 and 109.9 FPS. The 3840x2160 results are only suitable for lower settings, with Ultra dipping to 35.6 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score is 22206, which places it between the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307, 0.5% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (22006, 0.9% lower). It is also 2.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile and 2.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5700.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F holding back the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears sufficient, as evidenced by the relatively small gap between Low and Medium settings. However, the i5-10400F's benchmark scores show it is a mid-range processor with a 73rd percentile ranking. The CPU's 12 threads and 4.30 GHz boost clock provide enough headroom for this 2014 game, which likely does not utilize all available threads.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the difference between Low (109.9 FPS) and Ultra (67.0 FPS) is 42.9 FPS. This indicates that Ultra settings impose a substantial load on the GPU, while Low settings allow the system to push frame rates much higher.

Q: How does the game perform at 4K with this hardware?

A: At 3840x2160, the system can only maintain an average above 60 FPS at Low settings (68.9 FPS). Medium settings drop to 55.5 FPS, and High settings fall to 37.3 FPS. Ultra settings are not recommended, as the average dips to 35.6 FPS.

Q: Does this game favor the CPU or GPU more heavily?

A: The data suggests a GPU-heavy workload. The frame rate drops significantly as resolution increases, while the CPU's performance metrics (single-thread score of 1453 in Geekbench) are adequate for the game's age. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 9.062 TFLOPS of compute power is the dominant factor in determining final frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary driver of Thief's performance in this configuration. Its Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process, provides 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units. The GPU's boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with its 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit bus, delivers a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

These specifications translate directly into the measured frame rates. At lower resolutions like 1080p, the GPU's raw compute power is sufficient to push frame rates above 90 FPS even at Ultra settings. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s handle the game's rendering workload efficiently. However, at 4K, the GPU's limits become apparent. The 37.3 FPS average at High settings represents a 62% drop from the 1080p High result, demonstrating the exponential cost of pixel count.

The GPU's benchmark performance places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 22206. Its closest competitor, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores 22307, a difference of just 0.5%. This positioning suggests the RTX 2070 SUPER is a solid mid-to-high-range card, capable of handling modern titles at 1440p but struggling at 4K with demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers strong performance across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 122.5 FPS, which drops to 113.0 FPS at Medium and 97.7 FPS at High. Ultra settings maintain a respectable 92.2 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 30.3 FPS, indicating that even at maximum quality, the GPU can sustain high frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains solid. Low settings produce 109.9 FPS, while Medium and High achieve 89.0 and 69.6 FPS respectively. Ultra settings drop to 67.0 FPS, which is still playable for most users. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 42.9 FPS, showing a more pronounced impact from quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 68.9 FPS, which is the only preset above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings fall to 55.5 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 37.3 and 35.6 FPS respectively. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 33.3 FPS, but the absolute numbers are much lower, emphasizing the GPU's limitations at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides the computational foundation for this system. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it offers solid multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and Geekbench multicore score of 5783. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz ensure responsive single-threaded performance, reflected in a Passmark single-thread score of 2541.

In Thief, a game released in 2014, the CPU's role is less demanding than in modern titles. The game likely utilizes fewer threads, and the i5-10400F's 12 MB of shared L3 cache provides sufficient data for the game's engine. The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, scores 14115, a negligible 0.4% difference.

The CPU's performance becomes relevant at 1080p, where the GPU is not fully saturated. The small difference between Low (122.5 FPS) and Medium (113.0 FPS) at 1080p suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output, but the GPU is still the deciding factor. At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence diminishes, as the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the 2560x1440 High preset offers an average of 69.6 FPS, which is comfortable for most gameplay scenarios. This resolution provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS. The High preset at 1440p outperforms the 4K Medium preset (55.5 FPS) by 14.1 FPS, making it the superior choice for quality-conscious players.

For users prioritizing frame rate above all else, the 1920x1080 Low preset delivers 122.5 FPS, ensuring maximum smoothness. However, the Medium preset at 1080p (113.0 FPS) is a better compromise, offering improved visuals with only a 9.5 FPS penalty. At 4K, only the Low preset is viable for consistent gameplay, with 68.9 FPS, while Medium and above fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

The data suggests that Ultra settings provide diminishing returns. At 1440p, Ultra (67.0 FPS) is only 2.6 FPS lower than High (69.6 FPS), yet the visual difference is often minimal. Similarly, at 1080p, the gap between High (97.7 FPS) and Ultra (92.2 FPS) is just 5.5 FPS. For most users, the High preset offers the best balance, while Ultra is reserved for those with lower frame rate requirements or for screenshot purposes.