Thief

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. The benchmark data shows a clear progression of performance across settings and resolutions, with the combo comfortably handling high refresh rates at lower settings. The measured results indicate that this hardware combination is well-balanced for the game's engine, though 4K Ultra remains a challenge.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combo. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 108 FPS average with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS. This is a 32% uplift over High (82 FPS) while still maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The minimum frame time of 92 FPS ensures there are no noticeable dips into stutter territory, which is important for a stealth game where smooth camera movement is critical.

If you are chasing maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1080p yields 78 FPS average, which is still playable but represents a 28% drop from Medium. The High preset sits between at 82 FPS. The data suggests that the jump from High to Ultra is expensive relative to the visual gains, so High is the better choice for visual quality without sacrificing frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again proves its worth, delivering 74 FPS average with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 85 FPS. This is the highest preset that maintains a 60+ FPS average at this resolution. High drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but still borderline playable. For a stealth game where reaction time matters, the 74 FPS of Medium is the recommended balance at 1440p.

The Low preset at 1080p hits 142 FPS average, which is 32% faster than Medium. While this is excellent for esports-style play, the visual compromise is significant. The data indicates that the game engine scales well with settings, but the visual penalty of Low is not justified when Medium offers such a large margin over 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a locked 60 FPS. Medium averages 44 FPS, High 33 FPS, and Ultra 32 FPS. The Low preset at 4K averages 57 FPS, which is close to 60 but not consistently. For 4K, the recommendation is to stick with Medium if you can tolerate 44 FPS, or drop to Low for 57 FPS. The data shows 4K is the domain of lower presets for this combination.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU's clock speeds are a base of 1626 MHz, boost of 2491 MHz, and a game clock of 2044 MHz. In Thief, these specifications translate to the FPS patterns seen across resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this 2014 title, as even at 4K Ultra the game does not appear to be memory-limited based on the measured performance curve.

The GPU's 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs, combined with a 279.0 GTexel/s texture rate, are the primary drivers of pixel throughput. The 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate explains the 4K performance, where the GPU can only manage 32 FPS at Ultra. The 1080p results, where the GPU's pixel rate is less of a bottleneck, show a much healthier 78 FPS at Ultra. This indicates the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, while the CPU likely has headroom at 1080p.

The boost clock of 2491 MHz is well utilized in Thief, as the game's engine can push the GPU to its limits at lower resolutions. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed, while modest by modern standards, is adequate for the game's texture loads. The data shows that the RX 6600's memory configuration is not a bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, as the scaling from Medium to High is consistent with the GPU's compute performance.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 19036 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 and GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile, have delta percentages of 0% and -0.1% respectively, meaning the RX 6600 is statistically tied with those products in synthetic benchmarks. This context helps explain why the card performs as it does in Thief: it is a mid-range GPU that competes with mobile and older workstation parts.

How This Combo Ranks

In Thief, this combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2892 out of 3720 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 22% of all possible CPU-GPU pairings in this database. The rank is likely dragged down by the CPU's age and the GPU's mid-range positioning, not by any inherent flaw in this specific pairing.

The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 17177, sits in the 71st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, has an average score of 17120 with a deltaPct of 0.3%, making them statistically equal. The Intel Core i5-12450H and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G are 0.4% and 0.6% slower, respectively. This means the CPU is not a weak link; it is a solid mid-tier part.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 19036 is in the 63rd percentile, with nearest rivals within ±0.4%. The combo's rank of 2892/3720 is lower than what one would expect from two parts that are both above the 60th percentile in their respective categories. This discrepancy suggests that Thief's engine is not fully utilizing the hardware, or that the game's performance is more dependent on single-threaded CPU performance than the multi-threaded score suggests.

The CPU's single-threaded benchmark scores, such as 3dmark_single_thread at 868 and geekbench_singlecore at 1777, are more relevant to Thief's performance. The game, being from 2014, likely has a single-threaded bottleneck that the CPU handles fine, but the combo rank still reflects the overall system balance. The 28th percentile ranking in this game indicates that there are many faster combinations, but for a 1080p gaming setup, this is a reasonable mid-range pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear FPS hierarchy across settings. The Low preset averages 142 FPS, which is the highest measured in this test. Medium drops to 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS, providing a solid 60+ FPS experience. High averages 82 FPS, and Ultra 78 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 26 FPS. This indicates diminishing returns from Medium to High, and a negligible gain from High to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds. Low averages 98 FPS, Medium 74 FPS (min 63, max 85), High 56 FPS, and Ultra 54 FPS. The minimum of 63 FPS at Medium is just above the 60 FPS target, making it the only preset that is consistently smooth at 1440p. High and Ultra are both below 60, with High offering 56 FPS and Ultra 54 FPS, so the data suggests that 1440p users should prioritize Medium for a stable experience.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops off sharply. Low averages 57 FPS, Medium 44 FPS (min 37, max 50), High 33 FPS, and Ultra 32 FPS. The 4K results show the GPU's limits, as even the Low preset cannot achieve a locked 60 FPS. The 32 FPS at Ultra is playable but not ideal for a stealth game where quick camera movements are needed. The data shows that 4K is only viable at Low, and even then it's a marginal 57 FPS.

The measured FPS data also reveals that the game is less demanding at lower resolutions, but the scaling is not linear. For example, at 1080p Medium the average is 108 FPS, at 1440p Medium 74 FPS, and at 4K Medium 44 FPS. This is a 31% drop from 1080 to 1440, and a 40% drop from 1440 to 4K. The min and max FPS are only provided for Medium (and High at 1440p), so the data indicates that Medium is the only preset with enough variance to warrant a reported range.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 142 at 1080p to 98 at 1440p (a 31% drop) and then to 57 at 4K (a 42% drop from 1440p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as it must render more pixels.

At Medium, the 1080p to 1440p drop is 31%, from 108 to 74 FPS, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 40%, from 74 to 44 FPS. The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU has the same load at all resolutions. The CPU's performance, with a 6-core 12-thread design and a 4.40 GHz boost clock, is more than sufficient for Thief's engine, which is from 2014 and likely single-threaded.

The 1080p to 1440p drop of 31% for Medium is noticeably smaller than the 1440p to 4K drop of 40%. This is because the GPU's fill rate and pixel rate are being strained more at 4K. The texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s is likely a secondary bottleneck, as higher resolutions require more texture fetching. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p, while at 1080p the CPU might have a slight influence, as the 142 FPS at Low is far from the GPU's maximum.

The scaling also shows that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor, as the performance drops are consistent across settings. If VRAM were the issue, we would see a more pronounced drop at Ultra 4K, but the 4K Ultra performance is 32 FPS, which is in line with the expected scaling from the GPU's compute performance. The data indicates that the RX 6600 is a 1080p-class GPU that can handle 1440p with settings compromises, but 4K is out of its comfort zone.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for a 60+ FPS experience at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS, making it the highest setting that maintains a 60+ FPS floor. The High preset drops to 82 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium achieves an average of 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS, which is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS. High and Ultra average 56 FPS and 54 FPS respectively, so Medium is acceptable for 1440p.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 57 FPS, which is close to 60 but not locked. Medium averages 44 FPS, High 33 FPS, and Ultra 32 FPS. No preset achieves a locked 60 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the GPU compare in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 19036 in the 63rd percentile, with nearest rivals being the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (0% delta) and the RTX 4050 Mobile (-0.1% delta). This places it as a mid-range GPU.

Q: What is the combo's rank in Thief?

A: This CPU-GPU combination ranks 2892 out of 3720 tested combos in Thief, which is in the bottom 22% of systems. This rank is lower than the individual component percentiles suggest.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177 in the 71st percentile, with a single-thread score of 868 in 3dmark_single_thread. The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU has sufficient headroom at 1080p.