Thief

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but not exceptional experience in Thief, with the data showing a clear trend: the combination is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom at 1080p. Benchmarks indicate that the Arc B570’s 10 GB VRAM and 160-bit memory bus become the primary constraint as resolution climbs, and the combo ranks in the 80th percentile (2296 out of 2851 tested combinations) for this specific title. The measured FPS results show that while 1080p Low hits 133 FPS average, 4K Ultra drops to just 29 FPS, revealing a steep performance cliff that aligns with the GPU’s mid-range positioning relative to its nearest rivals.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Thief?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 133, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only setting/resolution combination that exceeds 120 FPS, with 1080p Medium reaching 101 FPS and 1080p High reaching 77 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 54 on Low to 29 on Ultra. Medium settings produce an average of 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47, while High settings yield 31 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K Ultra is not playable for smooth gameplay, and even 4K Low struggles to maintain 60 FPS.

*Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems for Thief?*

A: The combo ranks 2296 out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the 80th percentile (since 2296/2851 ≈ 0.805). This means roughly 20% of tested combos perform worse, while 80% perform better in this game.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 1440p and 4K?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The Intel Arc B570 has 10 GB GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. As resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops disproportionately (e.g., 1080p High at 77 FPS vs. 4K High at 31 FPS), indicating memory bandwidth and pixel throughput constraints rather than CPU limitations.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.1% lower than the Intel Arc A750 (20582). It also sits 0.4% above the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480) and 0.5% below the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662). These are marginal differences, meaning performance is effectively tied with those rivals.

Q: Does the CPU’s performance align with the GPU’s capabilities in this game?

A: Yes. The i5-12600KF has a single-thread score of 1016 in 3dmark and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302, which are strong results. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 133 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 29 FPS, showing the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions while the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher ones.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the decisive component in this combo’s Thief performance, particularly as resolution increases. The GPU’s specifications from the FACT PACK show a 10 GB GDDR6 memory pool, a 160-bit memory bus, and 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These figures are modest for modern gaming, and the measured FPS data confirms that they limit the combo in higher-resolution scenarios. The GPU’s base and boost clocks are both 2500 MHz, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, which are the theoretical throughput limits that explain the FPS drops.

At 1080p, the GPU has enough bandwidth and pixel throughput to push high frame rates. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 133, at Medium it is 101, and at High it is 77. These numbers show that the GPU can handle the game’s demands at lower settings, but the scaling from Low to Ultra (133 to 73 FPS) indicates a 45% drop, which is substantial. Moving to 1440p, the average FPS at Low drops to 91, at Medium to 69, and at High to 53. This represents a 32% reduction from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, and a 31% reduction from 1080p High to 1440p High. The consistency of this drop suggests that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed as the pixel count increases.

At 4K, the GPU’s limitations become severe. The average FPS at 4K Low is 54, which is a 59% drop from 1080p Low. At 4K High, the average FPS is 31, a 60% drop from 1080p High. The 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS is only 40% of the 1080p Ultra result of 73 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor; if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller FPS differences between resolutions, but the steep decline points to the Arc B570’s architecture being overwhelmed by the 3840x2160 pixel count. The GPU’s 10 GB VRAM is also a concern, as Thief at 4K Ultra likely requires more memory than the bus can efficiently feed, though the FACT PACK does not provide VRAM usage data.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmarks reinforce this interpretation. The PassMark G3D score is 14195, and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2649. These scores place the Arc B570 in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, which is mid-range. The nearest rivals show that it trades blows with the RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750, meaning it is not a high-end part. In Thief, the GPU’s role is to deliver acceptable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it cannot sustain 60 FPS at 4K on any settings, as the maximum 4K average is 54 FPS on Low.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound scenario with predictable linearity. Starting at 1920x1080, the average FPS for Low is 133, Medium is 101, High is 77, and Ultra is 73. At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 91 (Low), 69 (Medium), 53 (High), and 50 (Ultra). At 3840x2160, the averages are 54 (Low), 41 (Medium), 31 (High), and 29 (Ultra). The percentage drops from 1080p to 1440p are consistent: Low drops by 31.6% (133 to 91), Medium by 31.7% (101 to 69), High by 31.2% (77 to 53), and Ultra by 31.5% (73 to 50). This uniformity suggests that the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count, as 1440p has roughly 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and the FPS drops by about one-third.

From 1440p to 4K, the drops are steeper. 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, and the FPS drops are: Low from 91 to 54 (40.7% reduction), Medium from 69 to 41 (40.6% reduction), High from 53 to 31 (41.5% reduction), and Ultra from 50 to 29 (42% reduction). This steeper drop indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s) and pixel rate (200.0 GPixel/s) are insufficient for 4K, even on Low settings. The fact that 4K Low (54 FPS) is lower than 1440p Ultra (50 FPS) is telling—it shows that resolution has a greater impact on performance than settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU, not the CPU. The i5-12600KF has a boost clock of 4.90 GHz and 10 cores, which is more than enough for a 2014 game like Thief. If the CPU were limiting, we would see FPS plateaus across resolutions, but instead we see continuous declines. The data shows that for every setting level, the FPS at 4K is roughly 40-45% of the FPS at 1080p, which aligns with pixel count increases. This suggests that the Arc B570’s 10 GB VRAM and 160-bit bus are the primary constraints, as higher resolutions require more memory accesses and greater bandwidth utilization.

For gamers, this means that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p, even Ultra settings average 73 FPS, which is playable, while 1440p Ultra averages 50 FPS, which is borderline. At 4K, the combo fails to reach 60 FPS on any setting, and even Low settings produce an average of 54 FPS, which may feel inconsistent. The scaling data shows that to achieve 60 FPS, users would need to play at 1440p with Medium settings (69 FPS) or lower, as 1440p High (53 FPS) and 4K Low (54 FPS) both fall short.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank in Thief is 2296 out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the 80th percentile of all systems. This rank reflects the overall performance across all resolutions and settings, and it indicates that the i5-12600KF + Arc B570 is a below-average pairing for this specific game. To contextualize, 555 combos perform worse, while 2295 perform better. The rank is not terrible, but it shows that the GPU’s mid-range status (65th percentile among all GPUs) and the CPU’s strong but not top-tier performance (79th percentile among all CPUs) combine to produce results that lag behind many other systems.

The CPU’s percentile is 79, meaning it outperforms 79% of all CPUs, while the GPU’s percentile is 65. If the combo’s rank were purely a product of these percentiles, we might expect a rank around 65-79%, but the actual rank of 80% (since 2296/2851 = 0.805) shows that the GPU’s limitations are more pronounced in Thief. This is because the game’s requirements, as evidenced by the measured FPS, are more GPU-intensive than CPU-intensive. The CPU’s high single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 1016 and Cinebench R23 single-core of 3302) does not compensate for the GPU’s inability to handle high resolutions.

Comparing to the nearest rivals in the FACT PACK, the CPU (i5-12600KF) has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i9-10900K (27872) and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27712). The GPU (Arc B570) has an average score of 20556, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.1% lower than the Arc A750 (20582). In Thief, the combo’s rank suggests that the GPU’s performance is the deciding factor, as the CPU’s rivals are all within 0.3% of its average score, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator. The rank of 2296 indicates that most other combos have either a stronger GPU or a better-balanced pairing.

The data shows that the combo is not well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p or any gaming at 4K. For a game like Thief, which is a 2014 title, the performance is adequate for 1080p, but the rank reflects the fact that many other systems with mid-range or high-end GPUs achieve better frame rates. The 80th percentile rank is a clear signal that users should consider a more powerful GPU if they want to play at higher resolutions or with higher settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF plays a supporting role in this combo, providing enough processing power to avoid becoming the bottleneck at 1080p but being underutilized at higher resolutions. The CPU has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It is based on the Alder Lake architecture and uses a 10 nm process node. The cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications are more than sufficient for Thief, which was released in 2014 and does not require modern multi-core scaling.

The CPU’s benchmark scores confirm its capability. In Cinebench R23, the multicore score is 23391 and the single-core score is 3302. In Geekbench, the multicore score is 12137 and the single-core score is 2157. The 3dmark scores show scaling: 2 threads at 1995, 4 threads at 3806, 8 threads at 6128, and 16 threads at 7956, with max threads at 7952. This scaling indicates that the CPU benefits from additional threads, but the game’s engine likely uses fewer than 8 threads, so the single-thread performance is more relevant. The single-thread score of 1016 in 3dmark and 3302 in Cinebench R23 are high, meaning the CPU can handle the game’s main thread without issue.

At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 133 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU is not limiting. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see the FPS cap around 100-120 FPS regardless of settings, but the data shows that at 1080p, the FPS varies from 133 (Low) to 73 (Ultra), which is a GPU-driven range. At 1440p and 4K, the FPS drops further, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz provides high single-thread performance, and its 10 cores ensure that background tasks do not interfere with game performance.

The CPU’s percentile of 79 means it outperforms 79% of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K (0.3% lower average score) and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (0.3% lower average score). In Thief, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame rate, and the measured FPS data shows that it does so effectively, as the minimum FPS recorded is 35 FPS at 4K Medium and 86 FPS at 1080p Medium. The CPU’s 20 MB L3 cache is ample for the game’s data, and its dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provides sufficient bandwidth for the GPU.

However, the CPU’s performance is not fully utilized in this game. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 29, which is a GPU-limited result. The CPU could likely push higher FPS if paired with a stronger GPU, but with the Arc B570, the CPU sits idle for much of the frame time. This is a common pattern for mid-range GPUs, where the CPU has more headroom than the GPU can use. The data shows that the CPU is not a liability, but it also does not boost the combo’s rank, which depends more on the GPU’s capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 133 on Low, 101 on Medium, 77 on High, and 73 on Ultra. The Medium setting has a minimum FPS of 86 and a maximum of 116, indicating some variance but generally smooth gameplay. The gap between High and Ultra is small (77 vs. 73 FPS), suggesting that Ultra settings add little visual benefit for the performance cost. At 1080p, all settings except Ultra maintain an average above 75 FPS, making this the sweet spot for the combo.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 91 on Low, 69 on Medium, 53 on High, and 50 on Ultra. The Medium setting has a minimum of 59 and a maximum of 79, which means that most of the time the game runs above 60 FPS, but it can dip below. High and Ultra settings average below 60 FPS, so for a smooth 60 FPS experience, users would need to select Medium or Low. The 1440p results show that the GPU is starting to struggle, with a 32% drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low and a 31% drop from 1080p High to 1440p High.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 54 on Low, 41 on Medium, 31 on High, and 29 on Ultra. The Medium setting has a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47, which is consistently below 60 FPS. Low settings average 54 FPS, which is close to 60 but not stable, as the minimum FPS is not provided. High and Ultra settings are not playable for smooth action, with averages in the 30s. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steep, reinforcing the GPU bottleneck.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the only resolution where the combo can achieve 60 FPS or higher on most settings. At 1440p, only Low and Medium settings average above 60 FPS, with Medium at 69 FPS. At 4K, no settings average above 60 FPS, and even Low fails to reach 55 FPS. The measured FPS also shows that the combo’s performance is consistent with its 80th percentile rank, as it delivers playable frame rates at lower resolutions but cannot handle the demands of 4K gaming. The minimum FPS values provided for Medium settings (35 FPS at 4K, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 86 FPS at 1080p) indicate that frame pacing is acceptable at 1080p but becomes problematic at higher resolutions. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown confirms that the Arc B570 is the limiting component, and users should target 1080p or 1440p with adjusted settings for the best experience.