Thief

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a robust 1080p experience in Thief, but the data indicates that the Ultra preset is the only setting that fails to maintain a comfortable margin above 60 frames per second. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves an average of 88.8 FPS, while Medium reaches 117.8 FPS and Low hits 157.3 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 86.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents a negligible gain over High—only a 2.4% difference—while demanding significantly more from the hardware. The most effective choice for a balance of visual fidelity and performance is the High preset, as it provides a 2.1 FPS advantage over Ultra and remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 157.3 FPS, nearly doubling the High preset’s output, though it sacrifices visual quality. Given that the GPU’s percentile ranking sits at 63, indicating it is a mid-range performer, the High preset is the recommended default for this combo.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary driver of frame rates in this configuration, as evidenced by its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz, combined with 2176 shading units, allow it to handle Thief’s DirectX 12 workload effectively, as shown by its PassMark DirectX 12 score of 61. The card’s 272 tensor cores and 34 RT cores are present but are not heavily utilized in this title, which is a 2014 release. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 19774 places it just 0.5% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, indicating it sits at the upper edge of its performance class. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game’s texture demands, as even at 4K Ultra the frame rate remains above 30 FPS, suggesting the memory buffer is not the limiting factor. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 16462 reinforces its position as a capable 1440p card, where it maintains an average of 64 FPS at High settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU’s scaling limitations and the growing influence of resolution on frame rates. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 88.8 FPS, which falls to 64 FPS at 1440p High—a 27.9% reduction—and further to 37.6 FPS at 4K High, a 57.7% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER becomes the bottleneck as pixel count increases, with the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads providing ample headroom. The scaling is more severe at higher settings: moving from 1080p Ultra (86.7 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (61.6 FPS) results in a 28.9% drop, while the 4K Ultra figure of 33.4 FPS represents a 61.5% decline. Interestingly, the Low preset scales better, with 157.3 FPS at 1080p dropping to 105.5 FPS at 1440p (a 32.9% reduction) and 62.6 FPS at 4K (a 60.2% reduction). The data suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is insufficient to maintain smooth gameplay above 40 FPS at any setting except Low, where it reaches 62.6 FPS. For 1440p gaming, the High preset’s 64 FPS is the sweet spot, while 1080p users can comfortably push to Ultra without sacrificing playability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60+ FPS?

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, all presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) exceed 60 FPS, with averages ranging from 86.7 to 157.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves exactly 64 FPS, while Ultra drops slightly to 61.6 FPS, both remaining above the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (62.6 FPS) maintains 60 FPS, while Medium (50.2 FPS) and High (37.6 FPS) fall below.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 2070?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER’s average benchmark score is 19774, which is 0.5% lower than the RTX 2070’s average score of 19680. This places the two cards within a negligible performance margin, meaning the 2060 SUPER delivers nearly identical frame rates in Thief despite its lower position in the product stack.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using over High?

A: At 1080p, Ultra (86.7 FPS) is only 2.1 FPS slower than High (88.8 FPS), a 2.4% difference. At 1440p, Ultra (61.6 FPS) is 2.4 FPS slower than High (64 FPS), a 3.8% difference. The data indicates that High provides nearly identical performance with a lower rendering load, making it the more efficient choice.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400’s average benchmark score is 19850, which is 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K’s score of 19771. With a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, the processor is not the limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU’s performance scaling from Low (157.3 FPS) to Ultra (86.7 FPS) shows consistent GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1156 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the 70.4th percentile. This mid-tier ranking reflects the RTX 2060 SUPER’s position as a 63rd percentile GPU, paired with a 77th percentile CPU, resulting in a balanced but not top-tier system for Thief.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming at any setting?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 62.6 FPS. At Medium, the frame rate drops to 50.2 FPS, and at High it falls to 37.6 FPS, making these settings less suitable for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K produces 33.4 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 1156 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, positioning it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits at the 77th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is at the 63rd percentile among all graphics cards. The CPU’s performance is closely matched by its nearest rivals, with the Intel Core i7-9700 scoring 0.1% higher and the Intel Core i7-8700 scoring 0.2% lower, indicating that the i5-12400 holds its own against older i7 parts. On the GPU side, the RTX 2060 SUPER is 0.5% slower than the RTX 2070 and 0.3% faster than the GTX TITAN, showing that it sits at a performance plateau where small differences in synthetic benchmarks translate to minimal real-world FPS changes. In Thief, this translates to a system that can comfortably handle 1080p and 1440p gaming at High settings, but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K beyond Low presets. The combo’s ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is severely bottlenecked, but the GPU’s mid-range status limits high-resolution performance. For users seeking higher rankings, the data suggests that a GPU with a higher percentile would yield more significant gains than a CPU upgrade, given the processor’s already strong standing.