Thief

# Thief Performance Analysis: Intel Core i5-11400F + AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT

The benchmark data for Thief reveals a combination that sits comfortably in the mid-upper tier of tested systems, ranking 855th out of 1642 combos. This pairing of a 6-core Rocket Lake processor with a 12 GB RDNA 2 graphics card produces a predictable scaling pattern across resolutions, but the specific numbers tell a more nuanced story about where the bottleneck shifts as pixel count rises. The game, released in 2014, shows remarkably high frame rates at 1080p, yet the drop-off to 4K reveals a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions while remaining surprisingly capable at lower ones.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep but consistent decline as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 145.2 FPS, but at 1440p that number falls to 127.6 FPS (a 12.1% drop), and at 4K it plummets to 77.4 FPS (a 46.7% drop from 1080p). This pattern intensifies at higher settings: with Ultra settings, the system goes from 105.6 FPS at 1080p to 75.5 FPS at 1440p (a 28.5% drop) and then to 44.0 FPS at 4K (a 58.3% drop from 1080p).

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the CPU still has headroom to feed the GPU, but the RX 6750 XT's 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs. The gap between Low and Ultra settings grows from 39.6 FPS at 1080p to 33.4 FPS at 4K, indicating that the GPU's texture and shading units are increasingly saturated. Interestingly, the 4K Ultra result of 44.0 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS reading in the entire dataset, making 4K Ultra the sole configuration where the combo fails to maintain smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 855 out of 1642 tested combinations, this system sits in the 48th percentile of all pairings evaluated in Thief. This places it squarely in the middle of the pack, which is somewhat surprising given the GPU's strong individual standing. The RX 6750 XT ranks in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, while the Core i5-11400F ranks in the 75th percentile among all CPUs. The combination of two above-average components resulting in a median system ranking suggests that Thief's engine has specific bottlenecks that prevent the sum from exceeding its parts.

The nearest GPU rivals to the RX 6750 XT include the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (0.2% higher average score), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon 880M (0.9% lower). These tiny deltas indicate that the RX 6750 XT is extremely competitive with its peers, yet the combo ranking doesn't reflect this tight grouping. For the CPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta), Intel Core i7-1260P (0.2% lower), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.2% lower), all of which are mobile parts that the desktop i5-11400F edges out in average benchmark score.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are typical for a mid-range desktop part from the Rocket Lake generation. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, with a Passmark multithread score of 16908.

In Thief, the CPU's role appears to be sufficient but not dominant. The 1080p Low result of 145.2 FPS indicates that the processor can drive high frame rates when the GPU isn't stressed, but the relatively modest 7.4% improvement from Medium (133.9 FPS) to Low (145.2 FPS) at 1080p suggests diminishing returns. The 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and 2-thread score of 1691 show that the CPU's per-core performance is respectable, which matters for a game like Thief that may not fully utilize all 12 threads. The fact that the 4K Ultra result (44.0 FPS) is only 58.3% of the 1080p Ultra result (105.6 FPS) indicates that the CPU is not the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance: Low settings produce 145.2 FPS, Medium hits 133.9 FPS, High reaches 115.3 FPS, and Ultra achieves 105.6 FPS. This represents a 27.3% performance penalty from Low to Ultra, which is a moderate range that suggests the GPU has enough headroom to handle the game's visual features without collapsing.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 127.6 FPS on Low, 101.5 FPS on Medium, 76.7 FPS on High, and 75.5 FPS on Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra narrows dramatically at this resolution (only 1.2 FPS difference), which suggests that the GPU is hitting a compute ceiling that additional settings cannot overcome. The 1440p Low result still clears 120 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits: Low settings yield 77.4 FPS, Medium drops to 61.3 FPS, High falls to 48.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 44.0 FPS. Only the Low and Medium presets maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The 4K Medium result of 61.3 FPS is notably close to the 60 FPS threshold, while High and Ultra fall below it. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings (75.5 to 44.0 FPS) represents a 41.7% reduction, highlighting the GPU's bandwidth constraints at higher pixel counts.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 22 chip manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, with 40 ray tracing cores. The GPU's clock speeds are notably high: a base clock of 2150 MHz, a game clock of 2495 MHz, and a boost clock of 2600 MHz. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Thief, the GPU's 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 166.4 GPixel/s pixel rate directly influence the resolution scaling observed. The 4K results, which range from 44.0 to 77.4 FPS depending on settings, align with the GPU's Passmark G3D score of 20700 and its 79th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for a 2014 title, even at 4K with Ultra settings, which explains why the frame rates don't collapse due to memory limitations. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 3080 with a 1.3% higher average score, would likely produce similar Thief performance, suggesting that the RX 6750 XT is well-positioned in its class.

FAQ

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

A: Only at Low (77.4 FPS) or Medium (61.3 FPS) settings. High (48.7 FPS) and Ultra (44.0 FPS) both fall below 60 FPS, making them less suitable for smooth gameplay at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rates?

A: At 1080p, all settings exceed 105 FPS, with Low reaching 145.2 FPS. At 1440p, Low (127.6 FPS) and Medium (101.5 FPS) also clear 100 FPS, making these viable for 120 Hz displays.

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

A: The Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is equal to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta), 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-1260P, and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The data suggests yes. The 1080p to 4K scaling shows a 46.7% frame rate drop at Low settings and a 58.3% drop at Ultra, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: What settings provide the best experience at 1440p?

A: High settings (76.7 FPS) or Ultra (75.5 FPS) both provide smooth gameplay, with only a 1.2 FPS difference between them. Medium (101.5 FPS) offers a significant boost if visual fidelity is less important.

Q: How does the GPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 35327, which is 0.2% higher than the RX 5600M, 0.3% lower than the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile, and 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon 880M.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the data points to 1080p Ultra as the optimal configuration. At 105.6 FPS, it delivers frame rates that are 34.8% higher than the 4K High result (48.7 FPS) and maintains visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. Players with 1440p monitors should consider High settings (76.7 FPS) as the sweet spot, since Ultra (75.5 FPS) offers negligible gains while Medium (101.5 FPS) sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a relatively small performance boost.

For 4K displays, Medium settings (61.3 FPS) represent the only preset that balances visual quality with playability, as Low (77.4 FPS) looks noticeably worse while High (48.7 FPS) and Ultra (44.0 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The narrow gap between High and Ultra at both 1440p and 4K suggests that Ultra's additional effects tax the GPU heavily for minimal visual benefit, making High the more efficient choice at those resolutions. At 1080p, however, the 9.7 FPS difference between High (115.3 FPS) and Ultra (105.6 FPS) is minor enough that players should select Ultra for the best image quality without meaningful performance consequences.