Thief

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination delivers a playable, if not consistently smooth, experience in Thief, with performance heavily dictated by resolution and preset. The data shows a clear hierarchy where lower resolutions and settings unlock high frame rates, while 4K pushes the system to its limits. This analysis breaks down the measured results, placing them in context against the hardware's broader capabilities and rival components.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which provides a solid foundation for gaming workloads. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a multi-thread score of 5652, indicating robust single-core performance that is often critical for older game titles like Thief.

Given that Thief was released in 2014, its engine is likely more sensitive to single-thread performance than to the high core counts found in modern CPUs. The i5-11400F's single-core capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029, ensure that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, the game's frame rate scaling across settings suggests that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as graphical load increases. The CPU's 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GTX 1660 SUPER, but the measured FPS data indicates that the graphics card is the dominant constraint in most scenarios.

The CPU ranks in the 75th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 17181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores nearly identically at 17189, and the Intel Core i7-1260P at 17212, showing a delta of -0.2%. This means the i5-11400F sits in a competitive performance tier, though its desktop-oriented design with a 4.40 GHz boost clock gives it an edge in latency-sensitive tasks typical of gaming. In this specific game, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, which it does effectively at 1080p and 1440p, but the GPU's workload limits overall output.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest average frame rates across all settings, with a range from 67.1 FPS at Ultra to 122.3 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to between 43.7 and 80, while 3840x2160 yields only 26.9 to 45.8 FPS, making 1080p the most playable option.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, scores 14314, which is a delta of -0.2%, meaning the GTX 1660 SUPER is essentially on par with that integrated solution in average performance, though the measured game FPS tells a different story.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 29.3 on High settings and 26.9 on Ultra, indicating that the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU's performance, which is sufficient for 1080p at 122.3 FPS on Low, is not the constraint; rather, the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the pixel workload at 4K.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1474 out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the lower half of all systems. This reflects that while the hardware is capable of playable frame rates at 1080p, it struggles at higher resolutions compared to more powerful setups.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance affect gameplay?

A: The i5-11400F scores 6036 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 1448 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, which shows strong multi-threading for a 6-core part. In Thief, this translates to no visible CPU-related frame drops in the measured data, as even at 1080p Low with 122.3 FPS, the CPU maintains a consistent output, shifting the bottleneck entirely to the GPU.

Q: What settings provide the highest FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers an average of 80 FPS, which is the highest among the four tested settings. Medium follows at 60.6 FPS, High at 47 FPS, and Ultra at 43.7 FPS, showing a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance decline as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound system. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 122.3 FPS, but this drops by roughly 35% to 80 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 45.8 FPS at 3840x2160 — a 63% reduction from 1080p. This scaling pattern is consistent across all presets: for High settings, the average FPS goes from 69.4 at 1080p to 47 at 1440p and 29.3 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly sharp, with a 38% decrease on High settings, which aligns with the GTX 1660 SUPER's limited memory bandwidth and compute power.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting component in this scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the same number of draw calls would be processed. Instead, the FPS scales inversely with pixel count, which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. The i5-11400F's single-thread score of 868 in 3DMark and a PassMark single-thread score of 2981 suggest it has ample headroom to drive the game's logic at any resolution, but the GTX 1660 SUPER's pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are exhausted at higher resolutions.

This resolution scaling also highlights the GPU's 6 GB VRAM capacity. At 1080p, the card can manage textures without overflow, but at 4K, the memory requirements likely exceed what is available, causing the frame rate to crater to 26.9 FPS on Ultra. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p, but the 4K workload demands more data throughput than the memory bus can provide, leading to the observed performance collapse.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. The Low preset produces an average of 122.3 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all configurations. Medium settings yield 90 FPS, High settings produce 69.4 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 67.1 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is small, at just 2.3 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a minimal impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops across all presets. Low settings deliver 80 FPS, which remains playable, while Medium averages 60.6 FPS. High settings fall to 47 FPS, and Ultra drops to 43.7 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is 13.6 FPS, indicating a more significant performance cost for the higher preset at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain smooth frame rates. Low settings average 45.8 FPS, Medium averages 39.8 FPS, High averages 29.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 26.9 FPS. None of these values reach the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K a challenging target for this hardware.

The data shows a consistent pattern where the FPS penalty from Low to Ultra increases with resolution. At 1080p, the delta between Low and Ultra is 55.2 FPS, while at 1440p it is 36.3 FPS, and at 4K it is 18.9 FPS. This suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes so saturated that even lowering settings has diminishing returns, further confirming the GPU as the primary bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1474 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the bottom 10% of all systems. This ranking reflects the hardware's age, as the CPU was released in 2021 and the GPU in 2019, both now end-of-life products. The GPU's percentile of 55 among all GPUs and the CPU's percentile of 75 among all CPUs do not translate to a high ranking in this specific game, likely due to Thief's older engine and the GPU's mid-range positioning.

In comparison to its nearest GPU rivals, the GTX 1660 SUPER's average benchmark score of 14286 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 at 14314, a delta of -0.2%. However, the measured FPS in Thief shows the GTX 1660 SUPER outperforming what an integrated Vega 11 would likely achieve, given that the GTX 1660 SUPER has dedicated 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 1408 shading units. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1260P, score slightly higher in synthetic tests, but the i5-11400F's 12 threads and 4.40 GHz boost clock provide a solid foundation for gaming.

The low combo rank of 1474 suggests that most other tested systems have either more powerful GPUs or newer CPUs that handle Thief's engine more efficiently. The data does not provide direct comparisons with other combos, but the rank implies that a significant majority of configurations achieve higher frame rates. This is consistent with the GPU being a mid-range part that was not designed for high-refresh-rate gaming at 4K, and the CPU, while capable, does not compensate for the GPU's limitations in this title.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For a smooth gaming experience, the 1920x1080 resolution is the clear choice, as all presets deliver average frame rates above 67 FPS. The High preset at 1080p, with an average of 69.4 FPS, offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, providing a stable frame rate that is suitable for a stealth game where responsiveness matters. The Ultra preset, at 67.1 FPS, is nearly identical in performance to High, with only a 2.3 FPS difference, so players can enable Ultra without a significant penalty, assuming the visual upgrades are desired.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the best option, averaging 60.6 FPS, which is the only preset that maintains a consistent 60 FPS at this resolution. The Low preset at 80 FPS is even smoother, but Medium offers a better visual experience while staying above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 47 FPS and Ultra at 43.7 FPS are playable but may feel less fluid, especially in action sequences.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests that this combo is not well-suited for 4K gaming, as even the Low preset averages only 45.8 FPS. The Medium preset at 39.8 FPS is the highest quality option that remains somewhat playable, but the Low preset is recommended for the best frame rate at this resolution. Given that all 4K values fall below 60 FPS, players should prioritize 1080p or 1440p for a more responsive experience. The optimal configuration is 1080p with High settings, which delivers 69.4 FPS and balances visual fidelity with the GPU's capabilities, avoiding the unnecessary load of Ultra settings that offer marginal gains.