Thief

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i5-12600KF with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 in Thief?

A: The combination ranks 1586th out of 2851 tested combos in this game, placing it in the middle of the database's tested configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (score 27896) and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (score 27712). It also trails the Intel Core i9-10900K by 0.3% (score 27872).

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, scores 16129, which is 0.7% higher.

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 171, achieved at Low settings. Medium settings deliver 130 FPS, High settings 99 FPS, and Ultra settings 94 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU have a launch MSRP listed?

A: No, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 does not have a launch MSRP field in the data. The CPU, however, has a launch MSRP of $264.

Q: What memory configuration does the GPU use?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration directly influences Thief's performance, as the game's texture and geometry loads at higher settings demand more memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1700 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz and a boost clock of 2990 MHz, providing substantial headroom for sustained loads.

The GPU's shading units total 1792, paired with 112 texture mapping units and 64 raster operation units. Its pixel rate is 191.4 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 334.9 GTexel/s, which are the raw throughput figures that determine how quickly the GPU can fill pixels and sample textures in Thief's stealth-heavy environments. The FP32 performance of 21.43 TFLOPS (with FP16 at a 1:1 ratio) indicates the compute capacity available for the game's lighting and shadow calculations. The GPU also includes 28 ray tracing cores, though Thief's original 2014 release does not appear to leverage ray tracing in the measured results.

The GPU's benchmark scores show its DirectX capabilities: PassMark DirectX 11 scores 182, while DirectX 12 scores 44, and DirectX 10 scores 104. These figures suggest the GPU is more efficient in older API paths, which aligns with Thief's era. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 88183 and Vulkan score of 39476 provide compute and graphics API performance references. The GPU's percentile rank of 59 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014, places it slightly below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (score 16129, 0.7% higher) but above the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (score 15852, 1% lower).

In Thief specifically, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient at 1080p, where even Ultra settings maintain 94 FPS. At 1440p, the VRAM and bandwidth combination still handles Ultra at 65 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, performance drops to 38 FPS, indicating the GPU's bandwidth and memory capacity are stretched by the higher resolution's demands.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across resolutions and settings provides clear guidance for optimal play. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 171 FPS average, which is far above display refresh rates for most monitors. Medium settings at 1080p produce 130 FPS average (with a min of 110 FPS and max of 149 FPS), offering a substantial visual upgrade while maintaining high frame rates. High settings at 1080p still achieve 99 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 94 FPS. For 1080p users, Medium settings present the best balance, delivering 130 FPS while providing the visual improvements over Low that Thief's stealth environments benefit from.

At 2560x1440, the scaling is similar. Low settings hit 117 FPS, Medium reaches 89 FPS (min 76, max 102), High achieves 68 FPS, and Ultra drops to 65 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p remains the sweet spot, offering nearly 90 FPS with the min frame rate staying above 75 FPS, which keeps gameplay smooth during demanding scenes. High settings at 1440p are playable at 68 FPS, but the drop from Medium to High is 21 FPS, a significant cost for the visual uplift.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes. Low settings produce 69 FPS, Medium averages 52 FPS (min 45, max 60), High drops to 40 FPS, and Ultra falls to 38 FPS. For 4K, Low settings are the only preset that maintains a consistently playable frame rate above 60 FPS. Medium at 4K is borderline, with the minimum FPS of 45 potentially causing noticeable stutter in action sequences. The data indicates that the GPU cannot sustain high visual fidelity at 4K, so users with 4K displays should prioritize Low settings for smooth play, or consider dropping to 1440p to enjoy Medium or High presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1586th out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it at roughly the 55th percentile of tested configurations. This middle-tier ranking reflects the GPU's 59th percentile position among all GPUs and the CPU's 79th percentile among all CPUs. The combination's overall standing suggests that while neither component is top-tier, their pairing produces respectable performance in this game.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 27799 places it in close competition with several rivals. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872, just 0.3% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896, also 0.3% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712, 0.3% lower. These sub-1% differences indicate the i5-12600KF is competitively positioned within its performance class. The GPU's average score of 16014 compares closely with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 16129 (0.7% higher), suggesting the RX 9060 delivers similar raw compute performance.

In Thief specifically, this combo's rank of 1586 out of 2851 means there are 1585 tested combinations that perform better and 1265 that perform worse. The game's age and its CPU-light nature mean the GPU likely dominates the performance profile, which is consistent with the measured FPS scaling across resolutions. The combo's rank relative to its component percentiles (CPU at 79th percentile, GPU at 59th percentile) suggests the game is more GPU-bound, as the final ranking aligns closer to the GPU's percentile than the CPU's.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows how the combo scales from 1080p to 4K, revealing the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 171 at 1920x1080 to 117 at 2560x1440 to 69 at 3840x2160. This represents a 31.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 41.0% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing headroom for a 2014 game.

At Medium settings, the progression is 130 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 31.5% from 1080p to 1440p and 41.6% from 1440p to 4K, nearly identical to the Low settings scaling. This consistency across settings suggests the GPU's rendering load scales predictably with resolution, and the CPU is not introducing variability.

High settings show a similar trend: 99 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K, with drops of 31.3% and 41.2% respectively. Ultra settings follow with 94 FPS, 65 FPS, and 38 FPS, showing drops of 30.9% and 41.5%. The uniformity of these percentage drops across all settings strongly indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the limiting component, as the frame rate reduction scales directly with the pixel count increase from 1080p (2.07 million pixels) to 1440p (3.69 million pixels) to 4K (8.29 million pixels).

The 4K-to-1080p ratio shows that 4K FPS is roughly 40% of 1080p FPS at every setting level, which aligns with the 4x pixel count difference requiring substantially more GPU throughput. The CPU's role appears minimal, as its 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.90 GHz boost clock, combined with 10 cores, are more than sufficient for Thief's single-threaded or lightly threaded workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance in Thief across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 171 FPS, with no min or max FPS recorded. Medium settings average 130 FPS, with a minimum of 110 FPS and maximum of 149 FPS, indicating a tight frame time distribution. High settings average 99 FPS, and Ultra settings average 94 FPS. The 1080p results show that even Ultra settings maintain near-100 FPS, making this resolution comfortable for the combo.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 117 FPS. Medium settings average 89 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS. High settings average 68 FPS, and Ultra settings average 65 FPS. The 1440p results show a noticeable step down from 1080p, with Ultra settings dropping below 70 FPS, but still remaining playable for most users.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 69 FPS. Medium settings average 52 FPS, with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 60 FPS. High settings average 40 FPS, and Ultra settings average 38 FPS. The 4K results show the combo's limits, with only Low settings staying above 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 45 FPS suggests occasional frame drops that could impact gameplay smoothness.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with min and max FPS data, allowing for frame time analysis. At 1080p Medium, the spread from 110 to 149 FPS (a 39 FPS range) indicates some variability but generally stable performance. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 26 FPS (76 to 102), showing more consistent frame pacing. At 4K Medium, the range is 15 FPS (45 to 60), which is tighter in absolute terms but represents a larger percentage of the average FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF belongs to the Core 12th Gen series, built on the Alder Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node. It features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides substantial processing power for Thief, a game released in 2014 that was designed for far less capable hardware.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its multi-threaded capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23391 in multicore and 3302 in single-core. Cinebench R20 shows 9824 multicore and 1386 single-core, while Cinebench R15 shows 2357 multicore and 332 single-core. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 1995 with 2 threads to 7956 with 16 threads, indicating efficient thread utilization. The PassMark multithread score of 27575, with a single-thread score of 3925, further confirms its balanced performance profile.

In Thief, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes while settings remain constant. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, but instead the FPS drops significantly with each resolution increase. The CPU's 16 threads provide ample headroom for Thief's background processes, and its high single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1016, Geekbench single-core of 2157) ensures smooth frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios.

The CPU's percentile rank of 79 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27799, places it above the GPU's 59th percentile. This disparity suggests that in most workloads, the CPU outperforms the GPU relative to their respective markets. In Thief, this means the combo is likely GPU-limited in most scenarios, which is confirmed by the resolution scaling analysis. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, all score within 0.3% of the i5-12600KF, indicating that these processors are functionally equivalent for this game's requirements.