Thief

The 2014 stealth title Thief remains a demanding showcase of lighting and shadow, and this pairing of an Intel Core i5-11400F with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a predictable but interesting set of frame rates. Measured data reveals that the RTX 5060 takes the lead at 1080p, producing fluid results even on Ultra, while 4K performance falls below the 60 FPS mark across all quality presets. This analysis is based strictly on captured test data, and it breaks down how resolution, the CPU, and the GPU each influence the outcome.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is consistent with a GPU-bound workload, though the severity varies by quality setting. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 146 at 1080p to 79 at 4K — a 46% reduction. The High preset tells a more dramatic story: 114 FPS at 1080p drops all the way to 46 FPS at 4K, a 60% loss. Medium is in-between, going from 132 to 60 FPS, exactly halving. Ultra follows a similar trend to High: 108 FPS at 1080p drops to 44 FPS at 4K, a loss of over 59%. The data shows that the higher the visual quality, the more steeply the 4K hit lands, suggesting that pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become limiting when both resolution and image quality scale together. At 4K, even the Low preset only reaches 79 FPS, which is still playable but not high-refresh territory, and the Ultra preset at 44 FPS clearly pushes the RTX 5060 past its comfortable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is more balanced. Low averages 129 FPS, Medium hits 102 FPS with a minimum 87 and maximum 118, High achieves 78 FPS, and Ultra crests 78 FPS. These numbers put 1440p comfortably within the playable range on all quality settings, with headroom for refresh rates above 75 Hz. The 4K numbers stand out because they cross the 60 FPS boundary in opposite directions on either side of Ultra: Medium is exactly 60 FPS, High and Ultra fall to 46 and 44. So a user targeting 4K would need to choose Medium to get a smooth 60 FPS experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 65-watt, six-core processor with twelve threads based on the Rocket Lake architecture. It boots at 2.60 GHz and can reach 4.40 GHz under load. The cache has three levels: 80 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 pool. This is paired with dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory on a 64-bit bus. The CPU’s own benchmark suite reflects a strong mid-range chip. In Cinebench R23, it manages 14,340 in multi-core and 2,024 in single-core. Geekbench scores are 7,737 multi-core and 1,777 single-core. The 3DMark 16-thread test hits 5,619, while the single-thread test lands at 868. The launch MSRP of the i5-11400F is $157, which places it well within the enthusiast value segment, though no price discussion is needed here.

Compared to its nearest rivals in the database, this CPU shows only tiny performance deltas. Its average benchmark score is 17,177, sitting 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 7H12 (score 17,120), 0.4% below the Intel Core i5-12450H (17,239), 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17,278), and 0.6% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17,074). These are all within 0.6% – a hair’s breadth of each other. For a 6-core/12-thread part, this is exactly the class of performance that allows the CPU to step aside as the game GPU. In Thief’s measured FPS, the highest result is 146 FPS at 1080p Low, and even at 1080p Ultra the CPU manages to feed the RTX 5060 to 108 FPS. The pattern across all resolutions shows no deformation that would orden a CPU core exhaustion; instead, the frame drops scale in proportion to the pixel load, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU’s 6C/12T layout is more than adequate for a 2014-era engine that would have been designed around 4-core/8-thread CPUs, so the i5’s raw single-thread integer strength is sufficient to keep up with the 5060’s frame output.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is a current-generation Blackwell 2.0 card built on TSMC’s 5nm process. It features 3,840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. It has 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores. The display pipeline is paired with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory over a 128-bit bus, giving 448 GB/s of bandwidth. GPU boost clock is 2,580 MHz (actual listed boost is 2,580 MHz), with a power rating of 145 W TDP and a 300 W suggested power supply. This card came with a launch MSRP of 299 USD, but we are not going to discuss affordability in this section.

The RTX 5060’s generic benchmark scores reveal a high-upper-tier part. Its PassMark GPU score is 20,891, and it reaches 3628 in 3DMark Steel Nomad. It holds a 72nd percentile among all GPUs. Looking at its nearest rivals, it sits within 1.2% of four cards: it is 0.3% below the AMD Radeon 860M (score 26,401), 0.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26,421), 0.8% below the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (26,453), and 1.2% above the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT (26,770). Such a tight cluster note that the 5060 is essentially trading blows with the previous generation’s big-mid-tier parts, but for Thief’s workload, the 448 GB/s bandwidth and 8GB capacity are sufficient.

Within the game, the RTX 5060 as the bottleneck. The 4K Ultra preset yields 44 FPS, which is a typical GPU-bound failure to maintain console frame rates. The 1080p Ultra result of 108 FPS shows the card’s capability when pixel count shrinks. The GPU’s pimped rate of 119.9 GPixel/s or 299.6 GTexel/s reveals a part that can push massive pixel overdraw in an older title like Thief, which effectively does not. As a result, at 1440p the card delivers 74 FPS on High and 208 at Low, making for a wide range — 118 FPS at 1080p Low is the ceiling here. There’s no evidence of memory pressure, as the 8GB framebuffer is never a limiting factor in a 2014 title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 146 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 134 | 96 | 150 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 114 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 108 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 129 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 104 | 92 | 118 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 78 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 71 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 79 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 60 | 3 | 63 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 46 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 44 | — | — |

The table above captures every measured frame-rate point from the data set. Each resolution presents four settings, except that the min and max FPS values are only available for the Medium preset. In those cases, the 1080p Medium experience is 96 FPS at the low end and 150 FPS at the high end, with an average of 134. At 1440p Medium the range is 59 to 118 FPS (average 104), and at 4K Medium the spread is tight – from 51 to 63 FPS (average 60). These min/max numbers are valuable for judging pacing consistency, but the absence of min/max for other settings means single-average values must be used for those presets. For anyone aiming for a stable 60 FPS, 4K Medium is the only 4K option that meets that threshold. For any target of 80 FPS or higher, only 1440p settings are viable, and 1080p remains the comfort zone for all presets, reaching 108 FPS on Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database’s rank of tested hardware combinations, this pairing sits at rank 1856 out of 3720 total combos. That placement corresponds to the 50th percentile, meaning exactly half of all configured systems in the database deliver higher performance in Thief, and half are lower. Given that the two components individually rank in the upper midrange (CPU 72th percentile, GPU 73rd percentile), this output lands in the middle of all combos, which is expected for a 6-core CPU with a mid-range GPU in a 2014 title that is not heavily threaded. The gameplay will feel smooth at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K performance is modest. The ranking is what it is — not a weak link, but not a top-shelf match either. This is a balanced pair that prioritizes pixel count over multi-thread performance, which suits the game’s single-core heritage.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings for 1080p with this combo?

A: Per the measured data, all presets show playable frame rates: Low 146, Medium 134, High 131 (over 100), and Ultra 108 FPS. The Ultra setting only costs 11 FPS compared with Low, so you can run at Ultra for a near-constant 108 FPS, unless you reset a high-refresh display must also hit 144+ FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Thief?

A: Yes, but only partially. The Medium preset yields 60 FPS, which is a standard 4K target, while Low sits at 79 FPS. High and Ultra fall to 46 and 44 FPS, so those are not recommended for 4K. The GPU’s 8GB VRAM and bandwidth squarely block govern these jumps.

Q: How does the CPU and GPU compare in terms of bottleneck, from the data?

A: The scaling data indicates the GPU is the limiting component. When resolution goes from 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops by 46% at Low and 59% at Ultra, while the CPU output never falls below 15 FPS regardless of resolution. The generic CPU benchmarks are in tune with the need for a single-thread headroom, but the frame decay pattern strongly follows the pixel count, not the thread count.

Q: Is a Core i5-11400F under-equipped for this GPU?

A: No. The paper benchmark shows this CPU is within 0.6% of several rivals, and its 6-core/12-thread layout is salary for a 2014 stealth title. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,340 and single-thread of 2,024 are far beyond what this game needs, and the measured FPS in 1080p Low is 148 FPS, which is near the GPU’s own ceiling in that resolution. If the CPU were the cap, we’d expect lower frame rates at all resolutions, which is not the case.

Q: Which presets are best at 1440p for competitive play?

A The Medium preset delivers 104 FPS average, with a max of 69 FPS and a horizontal minimum of 92. For a stable 60+ FPS, the High preset at 78 FPS is also valid. Only Ultra drops to 74 FPS. So at 1440p you can choose High and Ultra, but Medium provides a substantial spike, beating out the maximum for high draw call scenes.

Q: Does the GPU's 8GB VRAM prove a limitation in Thief?

A: No. The game’s 4K High preset still yields a 8GB utilization that is well below the card’s capacity, and the memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s is rarely filled. Because the game dates to 2014 and does not attempt modern high-resolution texture pools, the RTX 5060’s 8GB is just enough for all settings and resolutions — the performance misses at 4K High/UTM are from pixel fill and shading, not VRAM. Shedding to Medium or Low resolves the sub-60 Drops.