Thief

# Thief with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The Intel Core i5-10400F pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 to deliver a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Thief, with 4K playable at reduced settings. This combo ranks 956th out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all systems tested. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, combined with the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, produce frame rates that range from 47.4 FPS at 4K High to 122.4 FPS at 1080p Low. The data shows a system that can handle Thief's stealth gameplay smoothly at most settings, though 4K Ultra demands compromises.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Thief at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average FPS is 47.4, while 4K Medium reaches 61.4 FPS and 4K Low hits 85.8 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 4K Medium is the practical ceiling, as 4K Ultra drops to 48.6 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the average FPS is 81.1, and even 1440p Ultra maintains 76.7 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while keeping frame rates well above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, placing it 0.4% above the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115) and 0.8% below the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277). It trails the Intel Core i5-8500 by 1.1% and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 by 1.2%.

Q: Is the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Thief?

A: The data indicates yes. The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth handles the game at all tested resolutions and settings, with the lowest average being 47.4 FPS at 4K High. The 256-bit bus width provides adequate memory throughput for this title.

Q: What is the GPU's relative performance standing?

A: The RTX 3070 scores 28238 on average, ranking in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. It sits 0.9% above the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985), 1% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956), and 0.6% below the AMD FirePro S7150 (28409).

Q: How does the frame rate scale between settings at 1080p?

A: The spread is moderate. From Low (122.4 FPS) to Medium (110.5 FPS) is a 9.7% drop, High (100.9 FPS) is another 8.7% lower, and Ultra (97.7 FPS) barely decreases from High. This suggests diminishing returns at the top end.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, 1440p High is the recommended configuration. At 81.1 FPS average, it clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably while offering a substantial resolution upgrade over 1080p. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs only 4.4 FPS (76.7 vs 81.1), so Ultra is viable if visual fidelity takes priority. At 1080p, Ultra at 97.7 FPS is fully playable and provides the highest fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. For 4K, Medium at 61.4 FPS is the highest setting that stays above 60 FPS average; High at 47.4 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced stealth sections but may feel less fluid during action sequences. Players prioritizing frame rate over resolution should consider 1080p Low at 122.4 FPS, which offers the headroom needed for high-refresh-rate displays. The data shows no configuration drops below playable territory, but the 4K Ultra result of 48.6 FPS is the only setting that approaches the lower limits of comfortable gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 provides the rendering muscle for this combo. Its GA104 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, with 5888 shading units and 96 ROPs. The GPU boosts to 1725 MHz from a 1500 MHz base, delivering 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. Memory consists of 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth — sufficient for Thief's textures and geometry at all tested settings. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present but not directly relevant to this game's rasterized workload. The pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s explain the strong 1080p performance, where the GPU is rarely bottlenecked. At 4K, the 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes more significant, but the data shows the card still manages playable frame rates at Medium settings. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 22214 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with its closest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, which scores 0.9% lower. The RTX 3070's 220 W TDP and dual-slot cooler indicate a power-hungry but manageable card, with a suggested 550 W PSU. Its predecessor is the GeForce 20 series and successor the GeForce 40 series, confirming its position in the Ampere generation.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 956th out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the 58th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects a balanced configuration where neither component dramatically outclasses the other. The i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14168 places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 3070's 28238 average score sits in the 72nd percentile of GPUs. The near-matching percentiles suggest the system is well-balanced for this game. The combo's measured frame rates — from 47.4 FPS at 4K High to 122.4 FPS at 1080p Low — indicate that the 3070 is the primary driver of performance, with the CPU providing sufficient support to avoid significant bottlenecks. The rank of 956 out of 1642 means roughly 58% of tested combos perform better, but this includes systems with newer or more expensive components. In practical terms, the data shows this combo outperforms the 42% of systems ranked below it, and the frame rates achieved are solid for a 2014 stealth title. The 2014 release date of Thief means this modern hardware is significantly overqualified for the game's requirements, which explains why even 4K High remains playable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts up to 4.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 12 MB of shared L3 cache, plus 64 KB L1 and 256 KB L2 per core. Memory support is DDR4 in dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. In Thief, the CPU's role is less demanding than the GPU's, as the game's stealth gameplay and moderate AI workloads don't heavily stress multi-core performance. The i5-10400F's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and single-core score of 1453 indicate strong single-threaded performance, which matters for the game's main simulation thread. Its PassMark single-thread score of 2541 confirms this strength. The CPU ranks in the 73rd percentile of all processors, with its closest rival being the AMD EPYC 7552, which scores 0.4% lower. The 12 threads handle background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems without issue. The PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes provides adequate bandwidth for the RTX 3070, though the GPU is PCIe 4.0 capable. The release date of April 2020 makes this a relatively recent CPU, and its active production status ensures ongoing availability. The CPU's lack of integrated graphics means a discrete GPU is mandatory, which this combo provides.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high across all settings. Low averages 122.4 FPS, Medium drops to 110.5 FPS, High reaches 100.9 FPS, and Ultra sits at 97.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 24.7 FPS, showing that even the highest settings at 1080p remain far above playable thresholds. At 2560x1440, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute values. Low hits 107.6 FPS, Medium achieves 98.8 FPS, High manages 81.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 76.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 30.9 FPS. The 1440p results show that this resolution is where the RTX 3070's strengths are fully utilized, with all settings exceeding 75 FPS. At 3840x2160, the performance drops become more pronounced. Low averages 85.8 FPS, Medium falls to 61.4 FPS, High reaches 47.4 FPS, and Ultra is 48.6 FPS. Interestingly, Ultra (48.6) slightly outperforms High (47.4) at 4K, suggesting measurement variance or that certain Ultra settings are not more demanding than their High counterparts. The 4K results demonstrate that this combo is viable at 4K only for Medium settings or below, with Low providing a comfortable 85.8 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows expected resolution penalties, with the largest relative drops occurring between 1440p and 4K. The data reveals that Thief is moderately demanding, as even the lowest tested settings at 4K produce playable frame rates.