Thief

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a robust 1080p and 1440p experience in Thief, but the data shows a significant performance cliff at 4K Ultra settings. The combo ranks in the 1440th position out of 3720 tested configurations, placing it in the top 39% of all systems. This pairing demonstrates a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, while the 12th-generation processor provides ample headroom at lower settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 115 FPS. This is the lowest average among the 1080p presets but remains highly playable, indicating the GPU is still managing the graphical load effectively.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683. Its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 7643, scores 18697, which is a delta of -0.1%, meaning the two are statistically tied in aggregate performance.

Q: What is the most demanding settings/resolution combination in the data?

A: The most demanding combination is 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, producing an average of 46 FPS. This is the lowest average FPS recorded across all tested configurations, showing a significant strain on the system.

Q: How much faster is the GPU at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The RTX 3070 achieves 170 FPS at 1080p Low, which is 124 FPS higher than the 46 FPS at 4K Ultra. This represents a massive 269% performance uplift when moving from the most demanding to the least demanding tested scenario.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM appear to be a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests that VRAM is not the primary bottleneck at 4K Ultra, as the average FPS drops to 46. While the 8 GB capacity is present, the performance degradation at 4K Ultra aligns more with the GPU's compute limitations rather than a sudden VRAM capacity failure, given that the 4K Medium preset still achieves 64 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 sits in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs. This indicates it outperforms the majority of processors in the database, providing a solid foundation for gaming.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the dominant performance driver in this pairing. Its specifications—including 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines—are substantial for a 30-series card. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1725 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The data shows that in Thief, the GPU's workload scales directly with resolution and settings, as the frame rate drops from a high of 170 FPS at 1080p Low to a low of 46 FPS at 4K Ultra.

This pattern is the classic signature of a GPU-limited system. At 1080p Low, the GPU is under minimal stress, allowing the frame rate to hit 170 FPS. As settings increase to Medium and High at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 154 and 121 FPS respectively, showing the GPU's rendering load increasing. The most telling evidence comes at 4K resolution, where the pixel count quadruples. Here, the GPU's raw throughput becomes the limiting factor, with High settings yielding only 49 FPS and Ultra dropping to 46 FPS. The GPU's 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is being fully taxed at this resolution, and the benchmark data confirms that the RTX 3070 cannot maintain a 60 FPS average at 4K Ultra in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides a strong processing foundation that does not bottleneck the GPU in the tested scenarios. This 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show solid single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257. Multi-threaded performance is equally capable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 8564.

In Thief, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the frame rates at lower graphical settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 170 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires adequate CPU processing power to feed the GPU. The fact that the frame rate scales down smoothly as resolution increases—170 FPS at 1080p Low, 143 FPS at 1440p Low, and 84 FPS at 4K Low—indicates that the CPU is not introducing a hard frame rate cap. If the CPU were the bottleneck, these Low-setting frame rates would remain relatively flat regardless of resolution. Instead, they decline consistently with resolution, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's 65W TDP and 18 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient for this game's engine, and its 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs supports its capability in this role.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1440th out of 3720 tested combinations in Thief. This places the pairing in the upper-middle tier of all systems tested, specifically in the 61st percentile of combinations (calculated from the rank). This ranking reflects a balanced system that performs well but is not at the very top end of the database. The CPU's individual ranking is higher, sitting in the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's percentile is lower at 61. This disparity suggests that the GPU is the component limiting the combo's overall rank in this specific game.

The GPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which scores 17083 (a 0.7% delta from the RTX 3070's 17208 average). This close grouping indicates that the RTX 3070 is competitive with modern mid-range offerings. The combo's rank of 1440 means there are 2280 other configurations that perform better in Thief, likely featuring higher-end GPUs or more recent processors. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo still delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, with the 4K Ultra setting being the only scenario that dips below a 50 FPS average.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, the system is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings but has headroom at lower ones. The average FPS drops from 170 at Low to 115 at Ultra, a decrease of 55 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates shift downward: 143 FPS at Low, 109 FPS at Medium, 83 FPS at High, and 79 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the most significant drop occurs, with frame rates falling to 84 FPS at Low, 64 FPS at Medium, 49 FPS at High, and 46 FPS at Ultra.

The scaling factor from 1080p to 4K is substantial. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 170 FPS to 84 FPS, a 50.6% reduction. At Ultra settings, it drops from 115 FPS to 46 FPS, a 60% reduction. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the frame rate scales inversely with the pixel count. The CPU's performance, which is constant across resolutions, is not the bottleneck. The data shows that the RTX 3070's 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the texture loads at 4K, but the GPU's compute units cannot maintain high frame rates at that resolution. The result is a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p gaming but requires settings reductions to achieve smooth gameplay at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The exact measured frame rates for this combo in Thief are as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average 170 FPS
• Medium: Average 154 FPS, with a minimum of 131 FPS and a maximum of 177 FPS
• High: Average 121 FPS
• Ultra: Average 115 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average 143 FPS
• Medium: Average 109 FPS, with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 125 FPS
• High: Average 83 FPS
• Ultra: Average 79 FPS

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average 84 FPS
• Medium: Average 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS
• High: Average 49 FPS
• Ultra: Average 46 FPS

These numbers show a consistent downgrade in performance as both resolution and graphical fidelity increase. At 1080p, the system is fully playable at all settings, with even the Ultra preset maintaining a 115 FPS average. The 1440p results are also strong, with a 79 FPS average at Ultra, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 4K results are more mixed: Low settings achieve a respectable 84 FPS, but High and Ultra settings fall below 50 FPS, making them challenging for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K, with a 64 FPS average, represents the best balance for 4K gaming with this hardware, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while providing enhanced visual quality over Low settings. The minimum FPS data points, where available, show that frame pacing is generally stable, with the 1080p Medium preset showing a 131 FPS minimum and the 4K Medium preset showing a 54 FPS minimum.