Thief

Resolution Scaling

The performance curve from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU headroom becoming apparent only at 1080p. At 1080p High, the combo produces 140.2 FPS, but at 4K High, it drops to 74.3 FPS. That is a 47% reduction in frame rate, which is a substantial hit that points directly at the graphics card as the limiting factor. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p (124.1 FPS) to 4K (74.3 FPS) is a 40% loss, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p is only an 11% loss. This pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior—the gap widens as pixel count increases.

Looking at the Low preset tells a similar story but with different absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the system hits 169.1 FPS, which is still the highest result in the entire dataset. However, at 4K Low, it falls to 127.7 FPS. The spread from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 41.4 FPS, which is smaller than the 65.9 FPS spread at High settings. This indicates that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is still the bottleneck at 4K, but the CPU is doing more work at 1080p Low to push those high frame rates. The data strongly suggests that the Intel Core i5-12400 has enough compute headroom to feed the RTX 4080 SUPER at 1080p, but the GPU's rendering load at 4K overwhelms its capabilities regardless of settings.

The Medium and Ultra presets reinforce this conclusion. At 4K, Medium yields 96.5 FPS and Ultra yields 74.7 FPS, which is nearly identical to the High result of 74.3 FPS. The fact that High and Ultra produce almost the same frame rate at 4K suggests that the GPU is saturated, and the difference between those presets is negligible in performance terms. In contrast, at 1080p, the difference between High (140.2 FPS) and Ultra (134.5 FPS) is only 5.7 FPS, showing that the CPU is still keeping up. The resolution scaling data indicates that this pairing is best suited for 1440p gaming, where the frame rates are consistently high across all settings, or 4K gaming at Medium settings for a smooth experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the performance ceiling at 4K. The card features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Thief, a 2014 title, but the sheer pixel throughput required at 4K is where the GPU's limits become visible. The card's boost clock of 2550 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz are high, but they do not prevent the frame rate from dropping to 74.3 FPS at 4K High. The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6600, place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, yet Thief still pushes it to its limits at 4K.

The GPU's role as the primary bottleneck is clear when comparing the 4K results across settings. The difference between Low (127.7 FPS) and Medium (96.5 FPS) is 31.2 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High (74.3 FPS) is 22.2 FPS. This shows that each step up in settings costs a significant number of frames, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. The card's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are impressive on paper, but Thief's rendering demands at 4K still overwhelm them. The RTX 4080 SUPER sits close to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M—but those small synthetic deltas do not translate into a comfortable 4K experience in this game.

At 1440p, the GPU's role shifts slightly. The frame rates are much higher—124.1 FPS at High and 135.6 FPS at Medium—which indicates that the GPU is still working hard but has more headroom. At 1080p, the GPU is no longer the sole bottleneck; the CPU begins to play a more significant role. The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is a capable 1440p card for Thief, but 4K requires compromises in settings to maintain high frame rates. The card's 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in this title, as even at Ultra settings, the memory footprint is well within the available capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 plays a supporting role in this combo, and its performance is sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck except at the lowest settings and resolutions. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and single-core score of 2249 indicate a solid mid-range processor. In the broader context, the i5-12400 sits in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 19850 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals—it is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K.

The CPU's role becomes evident when comparing the 1080p Low result of 169.1 FPS to the 1440p Low result of 150.1 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is only 19 FPS, which is a smaller relative drop than at High settings (16.1 FPS from 140.2 to 124.1). This suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is nearing its limit, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames quickly, but the CPU must process the game logic and draw calls. The fact that the 1080p Low result is the highest in the dataset—169.1 FPS—indicates that the CPU can push frame rates well above 150 FPS in this game, but it cannot sustain that at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache are adequate for Thief, which is not a highly threaded title. The 3DMark multi-threaded scores show a progression from 1692 at 2 threads to 5873 at 16 threads, indicating that the CPU scales reasonably well with additional threads. However, Thief's engine benefits more from single-thread performance, where the i5-12400 scores 910 in 3DMark single-thread and 3456 in Passmark single-thread. These scores are competitive but not exceptional, and they explain why the CPU can deliver 169.1 FPS at 1080p Low but cannot push much higher. The CPU is not the bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as the GPU's workload dominates, but at 1080p Low, the system is approaching a balanced state where both components are working near their limits.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p offers the best balance, with 124.1 FPS at High settings and 150.1 FPS at Low settings, providing high frame rates without the steep 4K penalty.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The frame rate drops from 140.2 FPS at 1080p to 74.3 FPS at 4K, a 47% reduction that clearly demonstrates the GPU's workload scaling with resolution.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the CPU appears to be a limiting factor, as the system achieves 169.1 FPS, but this is the only scenario where the CPU's role is prominent. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414).

Q: Is the difference between High and Ultra settings significant at 4K?

A: No, the difference is minimal—74.3 FPS at High versus 74.7 FPS at Ultra—indicating that the GPU is saturated and the extra settings have little impact on performance.

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

A: This combo ranks 229th out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the top 14% of all tested systems for Thief.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination are as follows, organized by resolution and settings:

1920x1080:

• Low: 169.1 FPS
• Medium: 154.8 FPS
• High: 140.2 FPS
• Ultra: 134.5 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 150.1 FPS
• Medium: 135.6 FPS
• High: 124.1 FPS
• Ultra: 119.3 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 127.7 FPS
• Medium: 96.5 FPS
• High: 74.3 FPS
• Ultra: 74.7 FPS

At 1080p, all settings deliver frame rates above 134 FPS, with the Low preset achieving the highest result in the entire dataset at 169.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 14.3 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 14.6 FPS, and High to Ultra costs only 5.7 FPS. This indicates that the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p, and the CPU is the limiting factor at the Low preset.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high but show a steeper drop-off. Low delivers 150.1 FPS, Medium drops to 135.6 FPS, High to 124.1 FPS, and Ultra to 119.3 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 30.8 FPS, which is more pronounced than at 1080p, showing the GPU's increasing workload. At 4K, the performance cliff is evident. Low still manages 127.7 FPS, but Medium drops to 96.5 FPS, and High falls to 74.3 FPS. Interestingly, Ultra at 74.7 FPS is marginally higher than High, which is likely within measurement variance but still notable. The 4K Low result is higher than the 1440p Ultra result, which suggests that settings have a larger impact than resolution at the extremes.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the best choice, as it delivers 96.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The jump to High costs 22.2 FPS (down to 74.3 FPS), which is a significant sacrifice for marginal visual gains. The Ultra preset offers no benefit over High at 4K, as both produce nearly identical frame rates, so Medium is the clear winner for 4K.

At 1440p, the High preset is recommended for the best visual quality while maintaining 124.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 119.3 FPS is also viable, but the 4.8 FPS difference between High and Ultra is small enough that High is the more efficient choice. For competitive play, the Low preset at 150.1 FPS provides the highest frame rate, but the visual compromise is substantial. Medium at 135.6 FPS offers a good middle ground.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 134.5 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors. The High preset at 140.2 FPS is nearly as good, and the difference is negligible. The Low preset at 169.1 FPS is only useful for extreme competitive scenarios, but the Medium preset at 154.8 FPS is a solid choice for those who want high frame rates without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. Overall, the data suggests that Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p are the best settings for this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 229th out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 14% of all configurations. This is a strong result, but it is not at the very top, which indicates that other combos with more powerful CPUs or GPUs achieve higher frame rates. The rank reflects the system's overall performance across all resolutions and settings, and the data shows that it is a well-balanced pairing for 1440p gaming, with 4K performance being acceptable but not stellar.

The CPU's percentile rank of 77% and the GPU's percentile rank of 88% suggest that the GPU is the stronger component, and this is reflected in the frame rates. The combo's rank of 229 is likely held back by the CPU's performance at 1080p Low, where it cannot fully unlock the GPU's potential. However, in the context of all tested combos, this system is in the upper echelon, and its performance in Thief is more than adequate for smooth gameplay at most settings. The data confirms that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the driving force, and the i5-12400 does not hold it back at 1440p or 4K, making this a solid recommendation for gamers who prioritize high frame rates at 1440p or are willing to adjust settings for 4K.