Thief

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

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake-S part with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support position it as a mainstream desktop processor. In synthetic tests, the chip scores 21,279 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,004 in single-core, placing it in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs tested.

The benchmark data for Thief suggests this CPU is rarely the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the combo produces 179.4 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to expose any CPU bottleneck. The processor's single-thread score of 3,004 in Cinebench R23 indicates strong per-core performance, which matters for a 2014 stealth title that often relies on fewer threads. The multi-core score of 21,279 shows ample headroom for background tasks, but Thief's engine likely doesn't scale perfectly across all 16 threads.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-13400F sits within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D and 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-13620H in average benchmark score. This tight clustering suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, swapping between these parts would produce nearly identical results. The data implies that the i5-13400F's 10 cores are more than sufficient for Thief's demands, and the game's frame rates will scale primarily with GPU capability as resolution increases.

The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility are notable for system builders, but the real story is how this CPU's balanced single-thread and multi-thread performance keeps up with a mid-range GPU without becoming a bottleneck. At 1080p, the GPU is clearly doing most of the work, given the 179.4 FPS Low result versus the 107.1 FPS Ultra result — a gap that points to GPU-side rendering demands rather than CPU limitations.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is a RDNA 2.0 part built on TSMC's 7 nm process, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock reaches 2600 MHz, while the game clock sits at 2495 MHz. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a peak FP32 throughput of 13.31 TFLOPS. This hardware configuration places it in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35,327.

In Thief, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution climbs. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages 42.5 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 79.7 FPS — a spread that shows how heavily the game's rendering pipeline depends on GPU fill rate and shading capacity. The 12 GB VRAM buffer is ample for a 2014 title, even at 4K with High or Ultra textures, so memory capacity is unlikely to be the constraint. Instead, the 64 ROPs and 166.4 GPixel/s pixel rate determine how quickly the GPU can rasterize frames at higher resolutions.

The RX 6750 XT's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with a deltaPct of -1.3% and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M with a deltaPct of 0.2%. This means the RX 6750 XT performs nearly identically to the RTX 3080 in aggregate benchmarks, despite the latter being a higher-tier card in many systems. The RTX 5070 Ti Mobile sits at -0.3% deltaPct, indicating that mobile parts are also competitive in this performance bracket.

The 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU are typical for this class, but the benchmark results show that Thief's frame rates scale predictably with GPU load. At 1440p High, the card delivers 81 FPS, which drops to 46.5 FPS at 4K High — a 42.6% reduction that aligns with the pixel count increase from 3.7 million to 8.3 million pixels. This direct relationship confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed it.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-13400F or the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT the bottleneck in Thief?

A: The bottleneck shifts with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 179.4 FPS, which suggests the CPU can push frames quickly, but the GPU is likely capping performance. At 4K Ultra, the 42.5 FPS result indicates the GPU is heavily constrained, as the CPU's 21,279 Cinebench R23 multi-core score provides far more headroom than this frame rate requires.

Q: How does the RX 6750 XT compare to the RTX 3080 in Thief-relevant performance?

A: The RX 6750 XT's average benchmark score of 35,327 is within 1.3% of the RTX 3080's 35,787 score. In Thief, this means the two GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates at the same settings, assuming the CPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Thief?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the combo achieves 62 FPS, which is playable. At 4K High, it drops to 46.5 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 42.5 FPS. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the Medium preset is the ceiling at 4K.

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

A: The data suggests 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the combo delivers 81 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1080p High, it reaches 110.8 FPS, but the extra resolution of 1440p provides better image quality without sacrificing smoothness.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM of the RX 6750 XT matter for Thief?

A: Thief is a 2014 title, so 12 GB is far more than needed for its texture budgets. The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any resolution or settings preset in the measured data.

Q: How does the i5-13400F's single-thread performance impact Thief?

A: The 3,004 Cinebench R23 single-core score is strong, which helps in a game that may rely on one or two main threads. The 1080p Low result of 179.4 FPS shows that the CPU can sustain high frame rates, so single-thread performance is sufficient for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo shows a clear progression from Low to Ultra settings. Low yields 179.4 FPS, Medium drops to 149.9 FPS, High settles at 110.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 107.1 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 3.7 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual features that cost little performance at this resolution.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low delivers 135.7 FPS, Medium hits 103.7 FPS, High reaches 81 FPS, and Ultra produces 76.3 FPS. The delta between High and Ultra narrows further to 4.7 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not particularly taxing at this resolution.

At 4K, the results become more demanding. Low achieves 79.7 FPS, Medium drops to 62 FPS, High falls to 46.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms at 42.5 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra here is 4 FPS, but the overall performance is significantly lower than at lower resolutions, highlighting the GPU's fill rate limitations at 8.3 million pixels.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep across all settings. At Low, the combo goes from 179.4 FPS at 1080p to 79.7 FPS at 4K, a 55.6% reduction. At High, it falls from 110.8 FPS to 46.5 FPS, a 58.0% reduction. At Ultra, it drops from 107.1 FPS to 42.5 FPS, a 60.3% reduction. These consistent percentages suggest that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the CPU's performance would not scale with resolution.

The pixel count increases by 4x from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS drops by roughly 2.5x, not 4x. This indicates that Thief's rendering pipeline is not purely pixel-bound; there are other factors like shading complexity and memory bandwidth that partially offset the resolution increase. The 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth of the RX 6750 XT likely helps mitigate the impact of higher resolutions, as texture and geometry data can be fetched quickly.

The scaling pattern also reveals that the CPU has significant headroom at 4K. The 42.5 FPS at 4K Ultra is far below the CPU's capability to generate frames, as evidenced by the 179.4 FPS at 1080p Low. This suggests that overclocking the CPU or upgrading to a faster model would not improve 4K performance; the GPU is the clear bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The data points to 1440p Medium or High as the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 103.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p High, it drops to 81 FPS, still comfortable for most players. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 76.3 FPS, which is acceptable but provides diminishing returns over High given the small 4.7 FPS difference.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1080p Low at 179.4 FPS is the fastest option, but the visual compromise is significant. The 1080p Medium preset at 149.9 FPS strikes a better balance, offering a 30.5 FPS improvement over High while presumably retaining most visual features. For 4K gaming, Medium at 62 FPS is the only preset that maintains 60 FPS, while High at 46.5 FPS and Ultra at 42.5 FPS are better suited to 30 FPS console-style play.

The Ultra preset consistently delivers only slightly lower frame rates than High across all resolutions, with gaps of 3.7 FPS at 1080p, 4.7 FPS at 1440p, and 4 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Ultra adds features that are computationally cheap, such as minor shadow or texture filtering enhancements, making it a reasonable choice for players who want maximum quality without a large performance penalty.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F + AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT combination ranks 719th out of 1,642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the 56th percentile of all pairings. This mid-pack ranking reflects the balanced nature of the hardware: neither component is top-tier, but together they deliver playable frame rates across most settings and resolutions.

The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all processors is notably higher than the GPU's 79th percentile, suggesting that the CPU is relatively stronger in this pairing. However, the measured FPS data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions, meaning the CPU's higher percentile does not translate to better performance in 4K scenarios.

The rank of 719 out of 1,642 indicates that there are 923 combos that perform worse and 718 that perform better in this game. This places the combo in the upper-middle range, which is consistent with the 1080p High result of 110.8 FPS and the 1440p High result of 81 FPS. The data implies that this pairing is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Thief, but it will struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum settings. The combination's aggregate benchmark scores — 25,236 for the CPU and 35,327 for the GPU — align with its mid-pack ranking, confirming that it delivers performance commensurate with its hardware class.