Thief

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers a compelling 1080p experience in Thief, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 158 FPS, showcasing the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU efficiently in this 2014 stealth title. However, the frame rate drops to 84.9 FPS at Ultra settings, indicating that the graphics card becomes the primary bottleneck when visual fidelity is maximized. The measured results show a steady progression from 36.4 FPS at 4K Ultra to 62.3 FPS at 1440p High, with the 1080p Ultra figure of 84.9 FPS remaining the highest playable threshold for demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS degradation from 1080p to 4K is stark and consistent across all settings tiers. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 158 FPS at 1920x1080 to 108.7 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 61.9 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 31% drop between 1080p and 1440p, and a further 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests that at Low settings, the RX 7600 is still the limiting factor even at 1080p, as the 158 FPS figure is well below what a modern CPU like the i5-13400F could theoretically produce in a less demanding scene.

For High settings, the numbers tell a similar story: 94 FPS at 1080p, 62.3 FPS at 1440p, and 36.4 FPS at 4K. The 1440p High result is 34% lower than 1080p High, while 4K High is 61% lower than 1440p High. This escalating penalty indicates that the RX 7600’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width, with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, struggle to maintain throughput as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The GPU’s 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are simply overwhelmed at higher resolutions, regardless of how efficiently the CPU supplies draw calls.

The Medium settings curve mirrors this trend: 121.6 FPS at 1080p, 82.8 FPS at 1440p, and 47.7 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute numbers, with 84.9 FPS at 1080p, 57.8 FPS at 1440p, and 34.4 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 73.1 FPS, but this narrows to 27.5 FPS at 4K, confirming that resolution scaling compresses the performance envelope. Benchmark results indicate that the RX 7600 is the definitive bottleneck at 4K, where even Low settings cannot reach 62 FPS, while the CPU’s role diminishes as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1,642 tested combos for Thief, this pairing ranks 1,114th, placing it in the 32nd percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects the RX 7600’s mid-range positioning, as the GPU sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs in the database. The CPU, by contrast, is stronger relative to its peers, ranking in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs. The discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles explains why the combo underperforms in Thief: the i5-13400F is capable of far higher frame rates, but the graphics card holds it back.

The GPU’s nearest rivals illustrate its competitive position. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 0.6% higher in average benchmark score, while the AMD Radeon RX 460 scores 0.8% higher—a surprising delta given the generational gap. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 1.3% faster, and the Intel Arc B570 is 1.5% faster. These small deltas suggest that in raw compute terms, the RX 7600 is tightly clustered with these alternatives, but its 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus limit its real-world performance in texture-heavy titles like Thief.

For the CPU, the nearest rivals show an even tighter cluster. The Intel Core i7-13620H is 0.1% faster, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D is 0.5% slower, the AMD EPYC 9474F is 0.5% faster, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 is 0.5% faster. These sub-1% deltas indicate that the i5-13400F’s 10-core, 16-thread configuration delivers consistent performance across synthetic benchmarks, but the CPU’s 82nd percentile ranking does not translate into top-tier gaming results when paired with a mid-range GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Low settings yields 158 FPS, while 2560x1440 with Low settings achieves 108.7 FPS. For a balance of quality and smoothness, 1080p Medium at 121.6 FPS is the recommended target.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 61.9 at Low settings. Ultra settings drop to 34.4 FPS, making 4K playable only at lower quality presets.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RX 7600 XT scores 0.6% higher, the RX 460 scores 0.8% higher, the RTX 3070 Mobile is 1.3% faster, and the Intel Arc B570 is 1.5% faster in average benchmark scores.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance percentile?

A: The i5-13400F ranks in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,236 across various tests.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 158 FPS result suggests the GPU is still the bottleneck, as the CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and multi-thread score of 7,307 indicate headroom for higher frame rates.

Q: What memory configuration does the GPU use?

A: The RX 7600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 158 FPS for Low, 121.6 FPS for Medium, 94 FPS for High, and 84.9 FPS for Ultra. The 1080p Low result is the highest recorded in the entire dataset, and the drop from Low to Ultra is 73.1 FPS, a 46% reduction. This resolution provides the widest range of playable settings, with even Ultra remaining above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages fall to 108.7 FPS for Low, 82.8 FPS for Medium, 62.3 FPS for High, and 57.8 FPS for Ultra. The 1440p Ultra result is the only sub-60 FPS figure at this resolution, while Low and Medium provide smooth gameplay. The gap between Low and Ultra is 50.9 FPS, indicating that graphical settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the RX 7600’s limitations become apparent: 61.9 FPS for Low, 47.7 FPS for Medium, 36.4 FPS for High, and 34.4 FPS for Ultra. Only the Low preset achieves playable frame rates, and the spread between Low and Ultra is 27.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 34.4 FPS is the lowest in the dataset, confirming that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming with high fidelity settings.

Comparing resolutions, the 1080p Low result of 158 FPS is 2.5 times higher than the 4K Low result of 61.9 FPS. The 1440p Medium result of 82.8 FPS is 1.7 times the 4K Medium result of 47.7 FPS. These ratios show that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are progressively overwhelmed as pixel count increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its L3 cache is 20 MB shared, with 1.25 MB L2 per core and 80 KB L1 per core. This configuration places it in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,236. Synthetic results show strong single-thread performance with a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3,004, which are critical for older game engines like the one powering Thief.

Multi-threaded performance is equally robust, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21,279 and a Passmark multithread score of 25,032. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,314 and max-thread score of 7,307 indicate that the CPU scales well with parallelism, though Thief—released in 2014—is unlikely to fully utilize all 16 threads. The Geekbench multicore score of 10,971 and single-core score of 2,301 further reinforce the CPU’s capability.

In this game, the CPU’s role is to maintain a steady frame delivery pipeline to the GPU. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the 158 FPS average is not CPU-limited, as the processor’s Passmark single-thread score of 3,634 suggests ample headroom. However, the CPU’s 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it an efficient pairing for the RX 7600’s 165 W TDP. The CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, is only 0.5% slower in average benchmark score, indicating that the i5-13400F holds its own against specialized gaming CPUs.

The data confirms that the i5-13400F is not the bottleneck in Thief. At 1440p High, the 62.3 FPS result is 34% lower than 1080p High, and at 4K High, it drops another 42% to 36.4 FPS. These reductions align with GPU-bound scaling, not CPU limitations. The processor’s 82nd percentile ranking and high single-thread scores ensure that it can deliver frames faster than the RX 7600 can render them, making the GPU the definitive limiting component across all tested resolutions and settings.