Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, shows surprisingly demanding performance characteristics when paired with the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing a solid foundation that never becomes the primary bottleneck. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across all resolution and settings combinations, interprets the ranking data, and provides practical guidance for optimizing the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, clearly identifying the RTX 4060 as the limiting component at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 122.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 111.3 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 9%, before plummeting to 73.7 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 40% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern intensifies at higher quality presets. At High settings, the 1080p result of 100 FPS drops to 71 FPS at 1440p (a 29% decrease) and further to 40.5 FPS at 4K (a 59.5% decrease from 1080p). The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory, with 102.8 FPS at 1080p falling to 68.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 43.9 FPS at 4K.

The scaling pattern between 1440p and 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the transition from 2560x1440 (94.7 FPS) to 3840x2160 (58.7 FPS) represents a 38% performance loss. This significant drop indicates that the 8 GB VRAM buffer and 128-bit memory bus of the RTX 4060 are being saturated at 4K, as the pixel count more than doubles while the available bandwidth remains constant. The data suggests that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combo in Thief if aiming for consistently high frame rates, while 1080p delivers a very comfortable experience at any settings preset. The fact that the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases (a 19.9 FPS difference at 1080p versus a 30.2 FPS difference at 4K) further confirms that pixel throughput, not shader complexity, is the primary constraint at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Thief at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured data shows 73.7 FPS at Low settings and 58.7 FPS at Medium settings for 3840x2160. High and Ultra settings drop to 40.5 FPS and 43.9 FPS respectively, which may be acceptable for a stealth game but fall below typical 60 FPS targets.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60 FPS experience across all settings?

A: At 1920x1080, every settings preset achieves above 100 FPS, with Low at 122.7 FPS, Medium at 113.4 FPS, High at 100 FPS, and Ultra at 102.8 FPS. Even at 2560x1440, only High (71 FPS) and Ultra (68.7 FPS) remain above 60 FPS, while Low (111.3 FPS) and Medium (94.7 FPS) are far above that threshold.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low?

A: The gain varies by resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 19.9 FPS (122.7 versus 102.8). At 1440p, the gap widens to 42.6 FPS (111.3 versus 68.7). At 4K, the difference is the largest at 29.8 FPS (73.7 versus 43.9), showing that settings have a greater relative impact at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a significant CPU bottleneck. The frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4060's output, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p where CPU load is typically highest.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in this game?

A: The combination ranks 1002 out of 1642 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking reflects the RTX 4060's position in the GPU hierarchy (66th percentile) and the i5-10400F's mid-range standing (73rd percentile).

Q: Which settings preset offers the most balanced performance?

A: At 1080p, Medium settings (113.4 FPS) or High settings (100 FPS) provide a strong balance between visual quality and performance. At 1440p, Medium settings (94.7 FPS) are the best choice, as High (71 FPS) and Ultra (68.7 FPS) begin to approach the 60 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 plays the decisive role in Thief's performance profile. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes the limiting factor at 4K resolution. The measured data shows that the frame rate penalty for moving from 1440p to 4K is severe, ranging from a 33.8% drop at Low settings (111.3 to 73.7 FPS) to a 43% drop at High settings (71 to 40.5 FPS). This suggests that the memory subsystem is saturated by the increased pixel fill rate demands.

The GPU's clock speeds are robust, with a base of 1830 MHz and a boost of 2460 MHz, allowing it to maintain high throughput when not memory-limited. The 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs are sufficient for this 2014 title, as evidenced by the strong 1080p performance. However, the 128-bit memory interface is the architectural weakness in this scenario. The GPU's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than adequate for Thief's DirectX 11-era rendering, but the bandwidth constraint prevents the full utilization of that compute power at higher resolutions.

The RTX 4060's position relative to its rivals clarifies its standing. It sits just 0.7% below the Intel Arc B580 in average benchmark score and 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M. This indicates that in synthetic benchmarks, the card is competitive with those alternatives, but the measured in-game results for Thief show how real-world performance can diverge based on specific workload characteristics. The 4K results, in particular, demonstrate that raw compute potential does not translate directly to high-resolution gaming performance when memory bandwidth is constrained.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1002 out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the 61st percentile of all combos. This is a mid-pack result that reflects the balanced but not exceptional nature of this pairing. The CPU's average benchmark score of 14168 places it in the 73rd percentile among all processors, while the GPU's average score of 23181 puts it in the 66th percentile among all graphics cards. The combined ranking suggests that neither component is dragging the other down significantly, but neither is improving the system to the upper echelons of performance.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals provides context for its contribution. The i5-10400F scores 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552, 0.8% lower than the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, and 1.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-8500. These small deltas indicate that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class, with no unusual bottlenecks or advantages in this game. The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern, with the RTX 4060 scoring 0.6% below the RX 6600M, 0.7% below the GTX 780 Ti, and 0.7% above the Arc B580. This tight clustering around the 23181 average score confirms that the RTX 4060 is a well-positioned mid-range card.

The rank of 1002 out of 1642 is influenced by the fact that Thief is an older title that may not fully utilize the RTX 4060's modern features like ray tracing cores or DLSS. The game's 2014 release date means it was designed for hardware from that era, and the performance data reflects that the RTX 4060 is running the game in a compatibility mode rather than fully exploiting its architectural advantages. The result is a combo that performs adequately but does not stand out in the rankings.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the measured data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 113.4 FPS, which is only 9.3 FPS below Low but offers substantially better visual quality. At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 94.7 FPS, maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while still delivering enhanced visuals compared to Low. The step up to High at 1440p costs 23.7 FPS (71 FPS total), which is a significant sacrifice for incremental visual improvements in a stealth game where smoothness is often more important than maximum detail.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts to Low settings if playability is the priority, as 73.7 FPS at Low is the only preset that approaches a smooth experience. Medium at 4K drops to 58.7 FPS, which is borderline playable but may feel less responsive. High and Ultra at 4K are not recommended for consistent gameplay, as they fall to 40.5 FPS and 43.9 FPS respectively. For players who prefer higher visual fidelity over frame rate, Medium at 1440p represents the best compromise, offering 94.7 FPS with the improved textures and effects that the Medium preset provides.

The data also suggests that the Ultra preset is not worth the performance cost. At 1080p, Ultra (102.8 FPS) is actually slightly faster than High (100 FPS), which is an anomaly in the data, but at 1440p and 4K, Ultra is slower than High by 2.3 FPS and 3.4 FPS respectively. This indicates that Ultra may be enabling effects that are poorly optimized for this hardware combination, making High the better choice for maximum visual quality at playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The lowest resolution tested shows the strongest performance across all settings. Low settings deliver 122.7 FPS, which is the highest average frame rate in the entire data set. Medium settings follow at 113.4 FPS, then High at 100 FPS, and Ultra at 102.8 FPS. The small difference between High and Ultra (2.8 FPS) suggests that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not heavily taxing the GPU at this resolution. All presets comfortably exceed 100 FPS, making 1080p the ideal resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors.

2560x1440: Performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's limitations. Low settings achieve 111.3 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium settings drop to 94.7 FPS, maintaining a smooth experience. High settings fall to 71 FPS, which is above 60 FPS but noticeably lower than the lower presets. Ultra settings produce 68.7 FPS, the lowest result at this resolution but still playable. The 42.6 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p demonstrates how much headroom exists for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity.

3840x2160: The 4K results reveal the memory bandwidth constraint. Low settings deliver 73.7 FPS, which is the only preset that remains above 60 FPS. Medium settings drop to 58.7 FPS, which is borderline playable. High settings fall to 40.5 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 43.9 FPS. Interestingly, Ultra is slightly faster than High at 4K, which mirrors the anomaly seen at 1080p. The performance cliff between Medium and High at 4K (a 18.2 FPS drop) indicates that High settings enable effects that disproportionately strain the memory subsystem. Overall, the 4K data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for lower settings or less demanding scenes.