Thief

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 delivers a playable experience in Thief primarily at 1080p, but the data clearly shows the graphics card as the dominant limiting factor as resolution increases. The measured frame rates reveal a steep performance cliff between 1080p and 4K, with the GPU struggling to maintain playable numbers at higher resolutions. This combination ranks low among tested system configurations, placing it in the bottom tier for this specific title, which is consistent with the age and tier of the components involved.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-bound workload. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 77 FPS, which drops to 54.1 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 31.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 31% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The pattern holds across all settings presets, indicating that the RX 570’s rendering throughput is the primary constraint.

At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 41.4 FPS at 1080p to 30.7 FPS at 1440p, then to 18.9 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic decline, starting at 39.8 FPS at 1080p and dropping to 29.2 FPS at 1440p, then collapsing to 15.2 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that the GPU’s 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and its 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the higher resolution textures and shading work, causing the frame rate to crumble.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the CPU can still feed the GPU adequately, but as pixel count rises, the RX 570’s compute resources—2048 shading units and 32 ROPs—become the bottleneck. The data shows that 4K is simply not viable for this combo under any preset, as even the Low setting only manages 31.7 FPS. The 1440p resolution sits in a marginal zone where Low preset is playable, but higher settings fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Thief?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where playable frame rates are consistently achievable. At 1080p, all presets range from 39.8 FPS (Ultra) to 77 FPS (Low), while 1440p drops to a maximum of 54.1 FPS on Low, and 4K never exceeds 31.7 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 570 perform relative to other GPUs in the database?

A: The RX 570 holds a percentile rank of 74 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30158. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (deltaPct 0.2), indicating it sits near those parts in aggregate benchmark performance.

Q: Is the i5-12400F a bottleneck at 1080p in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the opposite. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 77 FPS, and the CPU’s multi-threaded score of 16518 in Cinebench R23 suggests it has ample headroom. The GPU is the limiting component, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops with higher resolutions and settings.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 39.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but technically playable. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 29.2 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 15.2 FPS. The data suggests that Ultra is only feasible at 1080p with compromises.

Q: How does this specific combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1563 out of 1642 combinations tested for Thief, placing it in the bottom 5% of all systems. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU’s age and its position relative to modern parts.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 77 FPS while Ultra averages 39.8 FPS. This represents a 37.2 FPS reduction, or roughly 48% lower performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Thief, this combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 570 achieves a rank of 1563 out of 1642 tested combos. This places the system in the bottom 4.8% of all configurations, indicating that it struggles significantly relative to the broader field. The low rank is primarily attributable to the GPU, which, despite having a percentile rank of 74, is matched against much newer and more powerful parts in this database.

The CPU itself is not the weak link here. The i5-12400F ranks at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19221. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, has an average score of 19210 (deltaPct 0.1), showing that the 12th-gen chip is competitive with older high-end parts. However, the GPU’s average benchmark score of 30158 places it below many modern graphics cards, and when paired with the CPU, the overall system performance for Thief is dragged down.

The rank of 1563 suggests that most other tested combos—whether they use newer GPUs, higher-tier CPUs, or both—deliver better frame rates in this game. The data shows that the RX 570’s 4 GB memory capacity and 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are insufficient for the demands of Thief at higher resolutions, which is a key reason for the poor ranking. For users considering this combo, the expectation should be for 1080p gaming at medium quality, not high-resolution or high-fidelity experiences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a clear picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 77 FPS, which is the highest score across all configurations. The Medium preset averages 58.4 FPS, while High averages 41.4 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 39.8 FPS, which is only slightly below the High preset, suggesting a diminishing return on quality settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. The Low preset averages 54.1 FPS, which remains playable but shows a 30% reduction from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 36.6 FPS, High averages 30.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 29.2 FPS. None of the higher presets at 1440p reach the 60 FPS threshold, and even Low falls short of that mark, indicating that this resolution is only suitable for lower quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance is largely untenable. The Low preset averages 31.7 FPS, which is borderline playable but not smooth. The Medium preset drops to 24.3 FPS, High to 18.9 FPS, and Ultra to 15.2 FPS. These numbers suggest that 4K gaming is not a realistic option for this combo, as even the lowest settings fail to provide a consistent experience. The data shows a clear linear relationship between resolution and frame rate, with the GPU’s fill rate being the decisive factor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo in Thief is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This configuration delivers an average of 58.4 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target and provides a good balance between visual quality and smoothness. The High preset at 1080p averages 41.4 FPS, which is playable but may feel less fluid, while the Ultra preset at 39.8 FPS offers marginal visual gains over High for a small performance cost.

For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear winner, with an average of 77 FPS. This provides a significantly smoother experience and is recommended for competitive or fast-paced play. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option, averaging 54.1 FPS, but users should be prepared for a less consistent experience than at 1080p.

The data suggests avoiding the Ultra preset at any resolution above 1080p, as the frame rates fall below 30 FPS at 1440p and below 20 FPS at 4K. Similarly, the High preset at 1440p and 4K is not recommended, as averages of 30.7 FPS and 18.9 FPS, respectively, fail to provide a playable experience. The Medium preset at 1440p (36.6 FPS) is a marginal option, but the frame rate variability may be noticeable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications contribute to strong synthetic benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16518 and a single-core score of 2332.

In the context of Thief, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale predictably with GPU load. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 77 FPS, which is a solid result for a game from 2014. The CPU’s single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2221, is sufficient for the game’s threading model, which does not heavily utilize multiple cores.

The CPU’s 12 threads provide headroom for background tasks and system overhead, but the game’s performance is ultimately limited by the RX 570. The GPU’s 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are the constraining factors, particularly at higher resolutions. The CPU’s 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is well above average, and its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-8700K, perform similarly in aggregate benchmarks, confirming that the i5-12400F is not the cause of the low combo rank.