Thief

# Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Thief reveals a steep performance curve as resolution climbs, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 113 FPS; moving to 1440p High drops that to 77 FPS, a 32% reduction. Pushing to 4K High yields just 46 FPS, which is 59% below the 1080p figure. This progressive decline is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, but the magnitude of the drop suggests the Radeon RX 7700 is the primary constraint once pixel count rises.

Look at the Low preset for comparison. At 1080p Low, the system hits 171 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still manages 134 FPS. At 4K Low, it falls to 79 FPS. The spread from 1080p to 4K at Low is 92 FPS, whereas at High the spread is 67 FPS. This narrowing gap at higher settings indicates that the GPU's shading and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily as image quality increases, but the resolution scaling itself remains the dominant factor. The data shows that the Intel Core i5-12400F is not the bottleneck here—if it were, we would see similar FPS across resolutions at a given setting, which is not the case.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data in the pack. At 1080p Medium, the average is 148 FPS with a minimum of 126 and maximum of 171. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 102 FPS, with min/max of 86 and 117. At 4K Medium, the average is 60 FPS with min/max of 51 and 69. The minimum FPS values scale proportionally with the averages, indicating consistent frame pacing rather than sudden hitches. The fact that the minimum at 4K Medium (51 FPS) is above the average at 4K Ultra (43 FPS) hints that even the lowest-quality preset at 4K is more playable than the highest-quality preset at the same resolution.

What does this say about the limiting component? The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire set, and the 4K High result of 46 FPS is barely better. The RX 7700, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus, has ample capacity for Thief's textures even at 4K, but the raw compute throughput—25.18 TFLOPS FP32—appears insufficient to maintain high frame rates at that resolution with quality settings maxed. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is likely idle in comparison at 4K, since the GPU is clearly the one struggling to keep up.

# GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 brings substantial specifications to Thief, and the measured FPS reflects both its strengths and limits. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. Memory operates at 2438 MHz, yielding 19.5 Gbps effective speed across a 256-bit bus. This configuration produces a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for a 2014 stealth title.

Thief is not a memory-hungry game by modern standards, but the 16 GB GDDR6 allocation on this GPU is generous. The game's textures and geometry from 2014 will not come close to saturating 16 GB, so VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any of the measured results. Instead, the bottleneck is likely the GPU's shading units and texture mapping units. The RX 7700 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, producing a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s. These figures indicate a mid-range card that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but struggles at 4K with high-quality settings.

The data supports this interpretation. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 108 FPS, which is a smooth experience. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 74 FPS, still playable. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 43 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay on most displays. The RX 7700's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2865 and PassMark G3D score of 20974 place it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, meaning it sits slightly above average but far from top-tier. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (average score 15862, delta -0.1%), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014, delta -1%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129, delta -1.7%). The RTX 3060 Ti, a popular mid-range card, scores 1.7% higher on average, which aligns with the RX 7700's position as a comparable but slightly slower option.

The RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, delivers 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This is a modest figure for a card released in 2025, but Thief's engine from 2014 does not require modern features like ray tracing or mesh shaders. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support is irrelevant for this title, which predates those APIs. Instead, the GPU's raw rasterization performance is what matters, and the measured FPS numbers show it is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but not for 4K at high settings.

# FAQ

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

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 108 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K compared to 1440p?

A: At 4K High, the average FPS is 46, while at 1440p High it is 77. This represents a 40% drop when moving from 1440p to 4K at the same settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Thief?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 171 FPS, but at 4K Low it drops to 79 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain similar across resolutions, which is not the case.

Q: What is the lowest measured FPS in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest average FPS is 43, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the RX 7700 have enough VRAM for Thief?

A: Yes, the GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is far more than Thief from 2014 requires. No VRAM-related issues are implied by the measured FPS data.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129, which is 1.7% higher than the RX 7700's average of 15852. This suggests the RTX 3060 Ti is slightly faster overall, though the difference is small.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1241 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the 43rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 57% of combos perform better in this game. Given that the RX 7700 itself sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs and the i5-12400F in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, the combo's rank is lower than either component's individual percentile would suggest.

This discrepancy is interesting. The CPU is a strong performer—its average benchmark score of 19039 puts it in the 73rd percentile, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and a single-core score of 1680. The GPU, while not top-tier, is still above average. Yet in Thief, the combo underperforms relative to what the components' individual scores might imply. The reason could be that Thief is an older title that does not scale well with modern multi-core CPUs or high-bandwidth GPUs. The game was released in 2014, and its engine may not utilize the 12 threads of the i5-12400F effectively.

The combo's rank of 1241 out of 2851 means there is a wide range of systems that outperform it. This is not surprising for a mid-range GPU paired with a mid-range CPU. The nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (average score 19047, delta 0%), the Intel Core 3 201E (19056, delta -0.1%), and the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982, delta 0.3%). These scores are nearly identical, indicating that the i5-12400F is well-matched with its peers in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU rivals are similarly close, with the RX 9060 just 1% faster and the RTX 3060 Ti 1.7% faster. Yet in Thief, the combo's rank suggests these small differences in synthetic scores translate to larger differences in real-world game performance.

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration is typical of a modern mid-range desktop CPU, and its benchmark scores reflect solid performance: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and a single-core score of 1680, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 9472 and single-core of 1964.

In Thief, the CPU's role is likely secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The evidence is in the FPS scaling. At 1080p, the combo achieves 171 FPS at Low settings, which is high enough that the CPU could become a factor if it were weak. However, the i5-12400F's single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 3481) is strong enough to keep up with the GPU's output at 1080p. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the FPS drops to 79 at Low settings—far below what the CPU could theoretically deliver.

The game's age matters here. Thief from 2014 was designed for quad-core CPUs and lower thread counts. The i5-12400F's 12 threads are likely underutilized, which explains why the combo's rank in this game (1241 out of 2851) is lower than the CPU's percentile (73rd). If Thief were better optimized for modern multi-core processors, the combo's rank would likely be higher. The data suggests that the CPU is not limiting performance in most scenarios, but it also does not provide any advantage in this particular title.

The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, is another factor. Thief does not require high memory bandwidth, so the CPU's memory controller is not a bottleneck. The 18 MB of L3 cache is more than enough for the game's working set. In short, the i5-12400F is a capable CPU for Thief, but the game does not leverage its full potential, leaving the GPU as the deciding factor in frame rates.

# Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo's performance in Thief.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 171 FPS average
• Medium: 148 FPS average, with a minimum of 126 and maximum of 171
• High: 113 FPS average
• Ultra: 108 FPS average

The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 63 FPS, which is significant. The Medium preset shows a tight min/max range (126 to 171), indicating stable frame delivery. The High and Ultra presets are close together (113 vs 108), suggesting diminishing returns from High to Ultra.

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 134 FPS average
• Medium: 102 FPS average, with a minimum of 86 and maximum of 117
• High: 77 FPS average
• Ultra: 74 FPS average

The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable across all settings. At Low, the FPS falls from 171 to 134, a 22% reduction. At Ultra, it falls from 108 to 74, a 31% reduction. The Medium preset's minimum of 86 FPS is still above 60, so the experience remains smooth. The High and Ultra presets again show a small gap (77 vs 74), reinforcing that Ultra offers little benefit over High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 79 FPS average
• Medium: 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 69
• High: 46 FPS average
• Ultra: 43 FPS average

This is where the RX 7700 begins to struggle. At Low, the FPS is 79, which is playable. At Medium, it drops to 60, with a minimum of 51—bordering on uncomfortable for some players. At High, it falls to 46, and at Ultra, to 43. The Medium preset's min/max (51 to 69) shows significant variance, suggesting the GPU is working hard to maintain frame delivery. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is just 3 FPS, meaning there is no reason to choose Ultra over High at this resolution.

The data reveals a clear pattern: at 1080p, all settings are playable; at 1440p, all settings remain above 60 FPS; at 4K, only Low and Medium approach playable levels. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (51) is higher than the average at 4K High (46), which is a telling statistic.

# Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and the desired frame rate.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 108 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 113 FPS is only 5 FPS faster, so the visual fidelity of Ultra comes at a negligible cost. The Medium preset at 148 FPS offers a significant boost for competitive play, but for a stealth game like Thief, the higher detail of Ultra is preferable. The best experience at 1080p is Ultra, since the 108 FPS average is still high enough for a responsive feel.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 74 FPS, which is still above 60. The High preset at 77 FPS is nearly identical, so again Ultra is a reasonable choice. The Medium preset at 102 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60, making it a safer option for those who prioritize frame stability. The minimum FPS at Medium is 86, which is excellent. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, High is recommended, as the 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra does not justify the extra load.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS is below the playable threshold for most users. The High preset at 46 FPS is not much better. The Medium preset at 60 FPS is exactly at the 60 FPS mark, but its minimum of 51 FPS means there will be dips below that. The Low preset at 79 FPS is the only one that provides a consistently comfortable experience. For 4K, the Low preset is the best choice, as it maintains an average of 79 FPS with no reported minimum below that. If visual quality is paramount, Medium at 60 FPS average is acceptable, but the 51 FPS minimum may cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced scenes.

The data suggests a clear hierarchy: at 1080p and 1440p, the Ultra preset is viable; at 4K, only Low is reliably smooth. The RX 7700 is a capable 1080p and 1440p card for Thief, but 4K requires significant settings reductions. For players with a 4K display, the Low preset offers the best experience per the measured rows, sacrificing visual detail for playability. For 1440p users, High strikes the best balance, while 1080p users can comfortably max out the game at Ultra.