Thief

FAQ

Q: What is the Intel Core i5-12400F's position among all tested CPUs?

A: The processor sits in the 77th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 19221. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-8700K, which scores 19210, a delta of just 0.1%.

Q: How does the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti compare to its closest competitor?

A: The GPU holds the 85th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152, putting the RTX 4070 Ti 0.6% behind.

Q: What are the core and thread counts for the i5-12400F?

A: It is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with an 18 MB shared L3 cache.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the RTX 4070 Ti?

A: This GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz.

Q: What is the combo's ranking in Thief among all tested combinations?

A: This specific pairing of the i5-12400F and RTX 4070 Ti ranks 256th out of 1642 tested combos in this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between the lowest and highest quality presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 172.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 136 FPS. This represents a drop of 36.1 FPS, or roughly 21% lower performance when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti is the clear driving force in this combination, and the data from Thief reflects its capabilities. With a boost clock of 2610 MHz and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, the card provides substantial headroom. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is a critical factor here, as Thief's environments, with their dense geometry and texture work, can become bandwidth-sensitive at higher resolutions.

Examining the measured FPS, the GPU's raw compute power is evident. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 172.1 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the GPU is not being fully taxed at this resolution and preset, leaving performance on the table. The card's FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS and its 7680 shading units are more than enough to handle the game's DirectX 11-era workloads. The architecture, based on Ada Lovelace and built on a 5 nm process, is exceptionally efficient, which is reflected in its 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The shift to higher presets shows the GPU's scaling. At 1440p, the difference between Low (153.7 FPS) and High (120.8 FPS) is significant. However, it is at 4K that the GPU's memory subsystem becomes more critical. The 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient, and the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth allows the card to maintain playable frame rates even at 3840x2160. The data indicates a GPU that is well-matched to this game's demands, providing a smooth experience across the board. The question is whether the CPU can keep up, which we will explore in the CPU Role section.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck in this system. Starting at 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 139.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the average drops to 120.8 FPS, a reduction of 19.1 FPS. Stepping up to 3840x2160 brings the average down to 71.3 FPS, a further drop of 49.5 FPS from the 1440p result.

This pattern of scaling is telling. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is modest, suggesting the CPU is still contributing significantly to the frame rate at the lower resolution. The larger drop from 1440p to 4K indicates the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor. At 4K, the pixel count quadruples compared to 1080p, placing a much heavier burden on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is less steep. At 1080p Low, the system hits 172.1 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 153.7 FPS, and at 4K Low, it still manages 118.8 FPS. The relatively smaller percentage drops at Low settings suggest the CPU is more of a constraint at lower resolutions, while the GPU has more headroom. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the 4K result of 70 FPS is a significant drop from the 1080p result of 136 FPS, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of the highest quality settings at high resolutions. The data suggests that for this game, the sweet spot for balancing visual fidelity and frame rate lies in the 1440p range, where the system can still push well over 100 FPS on High settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how each preset impacts performance. For players prioritizing the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p is the obvious choice, delivering 172.1 FPS. However, this likely sacrifices visual quality in a stealth game where atmosphere and shadow detail are important.

The Medium preset offers a compelling balance. At 1080p, it achieves 157.1 FPS, which is only 15 FPS lower than Low. At 1440p, Medium still delivers a very smooth 138.4 FPS. This suggests that the step from Low to Medium has a relatively small performance cost, making it a recommended starting point for most players. The jump from Medium to High is more costly, with a 17.2 FPS drop at 1080p and an 17.6 FPS drop at 1440p.

The Ultra preset, while providing the maximum visual quality, shows the steepest performance penalty. At 1080p, it still manages 136 FPS, which is playable. However, at 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 70 FPS. Given that High at 4K yields 71.3 FPS, the difference between High and Ultra at 4K is minimal. This indicates that Ultra settings may introduce effects that are particularly demanding without a corresponding frame rate benefit at higher resolutions. The data suggests that High settings at 1440p, with 120.8 FPS, offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance. For those with 4K displays, High settings are the optimal choice, as the drop to Ultra provides no significant frame rate advantage.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 256th out of 1642 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the top 15.6% of all combinations tested, indicating a strong pairing for this specific title.

This ranking is a function of both components. The GPU, being in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, provides the bulk of the graphical horsepower. The CPU, while in the 77th percentile, is a capable partner that does not appear to be a severe bottleneck in most scenarios, as indicated by the relatively high frame rates at lower resolutions. The rank of 256 suggests that while there are many faster combinations, this system is well above the median performer. It is a high-end configuration that will handle Thief with ease at most settings and resolutions.

The gap between this combo and the top 255 others is likely filled by systems with higher-tier GPUs, such as the RTX 4090 or newer 50-series cards, or CPUs with more cores and higher clock speeds. However, for a mainstream 12th-gen i5 paired with a 40-series Ti-class card, the performance is commendable. The data shows this is a well-balanced setup that avoids severe bottlenecks, as evidenced by the consistent scaling across resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Thief is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 172.1 FPS
• Medium: 157.1 FPS
• High: 139.9 FPS
• Ultra: 136.0 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 153.7 FPS
• Medium: 138.4 FPS
• High: 120.8 FPS
• Ultra: 114.2 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 118.8 FPS
• Medium: 89.7 FPS
• High: 71.3 FPS
• Ultra: 70.0 FPS

The data shows a consistent trend: performance decreases as resolution and quality settings increase. The most significant drop occurs between 1440p and 4K on the High and Ultra presets. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 70 FPS, which is exactly half of the 140 FPS achieved at 1080p High. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is a mere 1.3 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset has diminishing returns at this resolution. Conversely, the difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 29.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU has more headroom to handle the medium-quality effects without a major performance hit. The data also shows that at 1080p, the gap between High and Ultra is small (3.9 FPS), suggesting that the game's Ultra settings may include effects that are not heavily dependent on the GPU's shading rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is a solid foundation for this gaming system. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with an 18 MB L3 cache, provide strong single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game logic and physics. In Thief, a game from 2014, the CPU's single-thread performance is likely the more important factor compared to its multi-threaded capabilities.

The benchmark data shows the CPU's single-thread scores are competitive. Its 3dmark_single_thread score of 909 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2332 are robust numbers. The CPU's multi-threaded scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518, are also respectable, but Thief may not fully utilize all 12 threads. The CPU's performance in the Passmark physics test (1202) is indicative of its gaming physics capability, which is more relevant than pure rendering workloads.

The data suggests that the i5-12400F is not the primary bottleneck in this system. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 172.1 FPS is high, but it is not as high as the GPU's theoretical maximum, indicating the CPU is setting a ceiling. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's role diminishes. The CPU's position in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 19221, shows it is a capable processor. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, is nearly identical in performance (0.1% delta), which puts the i5-12400F on par with a previous generation's flagship. This suggests that for Thief, the CPU provides a stable platform that allows the RTX 4070 Ti to showcase its full potential, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU's workload is more demanding.