Thief

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Thief with the Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B370 reveal a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 78 FPS average. Moving to 1440p drops that to 53 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 31 FPS. That represents a 32% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and another 41% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating the Intel Arc B370 is the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The scaling behavior tells a clear story about system balance. In High settings, the averages go from 45 FPS at 1080p to 31 FPS at 1440p to 18 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is barely playable, and the gap between 1440p and 4K is proportionally larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p. This nonlinear degradation points to the GPU hitting memory bandwidth or shading limits at higher resolutions. The Arc B370 uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth, so the integrated design struggles to feed the rendering pipeline when pixel throughput demands increase.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic collapse. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 43 FPS average. At 1440p Ultra, that drops to 29 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 17 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is 60% below the 1080p Ultra figure. This suggests that Thief's Ultra preset adds significant shading complexity that disproportionately taxes the Arc B370's 1280 shading units at higher resolutions. The GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 compute is simply insufficient for 4K Ultra in a 2014 title that still stresses modern integrated graphics.

The Medium preset data includes min and max frame values, which provide additional insight into the scaling penalty. At 1080p Medium, the average is 59 FPS with a min of 50 and max of 68. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 41 FPS with a min of 35 and max of 47. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 24 FPS with a min of 20 and max of 27. The frame time consistency remains relatively tight even as the average falls, meaning the bottleneck is steady rather than spiky. This is characteristic of a GPU that is consistently saturated rather than one experiencing intermittent stutters.

Looking at the resolution scaling from a different angle, the ratio between Low and Ultra settings changes with resolution. At 1080p, Low is 78 FPS and Ultra is 43 FPS, a 45% advantage for Low. At 4K, Low is 31 FPS and Ultra is 17 FPS, a 45% advantage for Low as well. The settings gap remains proportional regardless of resolution, which confirms that the GPU's performance ceiling scales uniformly with both resolution and settings. The Core i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 16 threads are not the constraint here; the data shows the GPU is the dominant bottleneck across all measured configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2634 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places the combination in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations, which is a poor result for a game that is over a decade old. The ranking reflects the Arc B370's position in the GPU hierarchy more than the CPU's capabilities. The GPU sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs based on its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, and its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770, which are both ancient discrete parts.

The CPU portion of this combo is comparatively strong. The Core i5-12600KF ranks at the 79th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27799. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27872 (a 0.3% difference), the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D at 27896 (a 0.3% difference), and the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE at 27712 (a 0.3% difference). The CPU is essentially tied with these higher-tier parts in synthetic benchmarks, yet the combo rank in Thief is dragged down entirely by the GPU. This is a textbook case of a severe bottleneck.

The mismatch between CPU and GPU performance is stark. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23391 and single-core score of 3302 indicate a processor capable of feeding any modern discrete GPU. The Geekbench multicore score of 12137 and single-core score of 2157 reinforce this. However, the Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is in the same league as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which scores 1186 (a 0.2% difference). The gap between the CPU's 79th percentile standing and the GPU's 5th percentile standing explains why this combo ranks so poorly in actual game performance.

The combo rank of 2634 out of 2851 means that 217 tested combinations perform worse. While that sounds like a meaningful number, the bottom 8% of combos are typically dominated by integrated graphics or very old discrete GPUs. The Arc B370's specs — 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, 20 ROPs, 10 RT cores, 25 W TDP, and a 2400 MHz boost clock — position it as a low-power integrated solution. In Thief, which was released in 2014 and relies on traditional rasterization rather than ray tracing, the GPU's limited ROP count and shared memory bandwidth are the primary constraints.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that Medium settings offer the best balance of playability and visual quality for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 59 with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 68. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay in most scenarios, and the min frame rate of 50 FPS ensures that dips remain tolerable. High settings at 1080p drop the average to 45 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth. Ultra settings at 1080p average 43 FPS, providing almost no visual benefit over High while costing additional performance.

At 1440p, Medium settings are the only reasonable choice. The 41 FPS average with a min of 35 and max of 47 is borderline, but it is the highest average among all 1440p presets except Low. Low settings at 1440p achieve 53 FPS average, which is smoother but sacrifices significant visual fidelity. The jump from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 12 FPS on average, while the jump from Medium to High costs 10 FPS and from High to Ultra costs only 2 FPS. This suggests that Medium is the visual sweet spot, as High and Ultra provide diminishing returns.

At 4K, the recommendation is straightforward: play at Low settings or avoid 4K entirely. The 31 FPS average at 4K Low is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, and even that is below the 30 FPS minimum for most players. Medium at 4K averages 24 FPS, High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 17 FPS. None of these are acceptable for a stealth game that requires precise timing and observation. The data strongly suggests that 1080p Medium is the intended use case for this hardware combination.

For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 78 FPS average provides a smooth experience that takes full advantage of the CPU's capabilities. The Core i5-12600KF is more than capable of driving high frame rates in Thief, and the 78 FPS result at 1080p Low demonstrates that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The GPU's shared memory architecture and 25 W TDP cap its ability to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions and settings, so the optimal configuration is one that minimizes GPU load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B370 produce the following results: Low settings average 78 FPS, Medium settings average 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 68, High settings average 45 FPS, and Ultra settings average 43 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 35 FPS, which is the largest range across all resolutions. The 1080p results show that the GPU can handle the game at playable frame rates when resolution is kept modest, but even at 1080p, Ultra settings push the average below 45 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low settings average 53 FPS, Medium settings average 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47, High settings average 31 FPS, and Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant across all presets. Low loses 25 FPS, Medium loses 18 FPS, High loses 14 FPS, and Ultra loses 14 FPS. The proportional loss is largest for Low settings, which suggests that the GPU's fill rate limitations become more pronounced as resolution increases, regardless of shading complexity.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low settings average 31 FPS, Medium settings average 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 and maximum of 27, High settings average 18 FPS, and Ultra settings average 17 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly poor. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 14 FPS, compared to 35 FPS at 1080p. This narrowing indicates that the GPU is completely saturated at 4K, and settings adjustments have diminishing impact because the pixel fill rate is the hard limit.

The Medium preset is the only one that provides both min and max FPS data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 18 FPS (50 to 68). At 1440p, the range is 12 FPS (35 to 47). At 4K, the range is 7 FPS (20 to 27). As resolution increases, the frame rate variance decreases, which is consistent with a GPU that is consistently pegged at its maximum throughput. The tighter frame time distribution at 4K does not compensate for the low averages.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Thief at 60 FPS?

A: Only at 1080p with Low settings, where the average FPS is 78. At 1080p Medium, the average is 59 FPS, which falls just short of 60. At all other resolution and settings combinations, the average FPS is below 60.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Arc B370 scores 1184. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4% lower). The Arc B370 is effectively tied with these legacy parts.

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

A: The data indicates 1080p is the only resolution where the combo achieves playable frame rates across multiple settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS. At 1080p Low, the average is 78 FPS. At 1440p and 4K, all settings produce averages below 53 FPS and 31 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Core i5-12600KF perform relative to its rivals?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 27799, placing it at the 79th percentile. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U scores 27887 (0.3% higher). The differences are negligible.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in Thief?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The Arc B370 ranks at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, while the Core i5-12600KF ranks at the 79th percentile among all CPUs. The frame rates scale steeply with resolution, which is a GPU-bound pattern. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23391 and single-core score of 3302 are more than sufficient for Thief.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 2634 out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations. This rank is driven by the GPU's weak performance, as the CPU is competitive with higher-tier processors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings substantial processing power to this combo, but Thief's frame rates do not reflect it. The CPU features 10 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its Alder Lake architecture uses a 10 nm process from Intel, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel bus. The L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with L1 at 80 KB per core and L2 at 1.25 MB per core. These specifications place the CPU well above the requirements for a 2014 stealth game.

Synthetic benchmarks confirm the CPU's strength. In Cinebench R23, the multicore score is 23391 and the single-core score is 3302. The Geekbench results show a multicore score of 12137 and a single-core score of 2157. The 3DMark threaded tests show scaling from 1995 at 2 threads to 7956 at 16 threads, with the max-thread score of 7952 nearly matching the 16-thread score. This indicates the CPU scales efficiently with thread count, but Thief does not require that level of parallelism to achieve playable frame rates.

The CPU's performance percentile of 79 places it above most CPUs on the market, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, both with average scores within 0.3% of the Core i5-12600KF. The CPU's launch MSRP is $264, and it was released on 2021-11-03. In Thief, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data shows that the GPU cannot keep up with what the CPU provides.

The Arc B370's 25 W TDP and integrated design mean it shares system memory with the CPU, which creates a bottleneck that the Core i5-12600KF cannot overcome. The GPU's boost clock of 2400 MHz and 1280 shading units are modest by modern standards, and its 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for high-resolution gaming. The CPU's memory bandwidth support is not the issue; the GPU's System Shared memory bandwidth is the constraint. In Thief, the CPU is effectively idle waiting for the GPU to complete rendering tasks, which is why the combo rank is so low despite the CPU's high percentile standing.