Thief

The Intel Core i5-14400F pairs a 10-core, 16-thread layout with a 2.50 GHz base clock and a 4.70 GHz boost clock in Thief. This Raptor Lake-R architecture part carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache, and its single-thread performance appears decisive for a game of this era. In Cinebench R23, the chip scores 3,055 points single-core and 21,645 multi-core, suggesting that while multi-threaded headroom exists, Thief's frame pacing depends heavily on the strength of its primary threads. The data supports this: the CPU sits in the 83rd percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 32,279. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Core i9-11900 (deltaPct 0.2), and Intel Core i7-12800H (deltaPct 0.5), all within a half-percent of its average score. This clustering indicates that the i5-14400F is not a standout in raw compute but is more than sufficient for a 2014 stealth title like Thief, which was designed around far older CPU architectures.

The 10 cores are split between performance and efficiency types, though the game's engine likely cannot leverage all 16 threads effectively. Benchmark results from Passmark show a multithread score of 25,470 and a single-thread score of 3,701, with the latter being the more relevant metric for this game's logic-heavy stealth AI. The data implies that the CPU's high boost clock, rather than its core count, is what prevents bottlenecking at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 182 FPS, and at 1440p Low it hits 160 FPS; these numbers only drop meaningfully when the GPU becomes saturated at higher settings or resolutions. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 mounting also indicate a mainstream part that generates modest heat, but the benchmark data does not show thermal throttling, as FPS scales predictably with resolution changes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 provides 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth—a substantial pool for Thief's texture-heavy environments. Its Navi 48 chip runs at a base clock of 1330 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz that likely sustains during actual play. The GPU's 3,584 shading units and 128 ROPs give it ample pixel throughput, rated at 322.6 GPixel/s, which explains why even at 4K Ultra the combo manages 53 FPS. The card's Passmark G3D score of 25,381 places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,877. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (deltaPct 0.6), AMD Radeon RX 6800S (deltaPct -0.8), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (deltaPct 1.1), showing that the RX 9070 sits near the top of its performance class in synthetic tests.

In Thief, the GPU's role becomes apparent when comparing FPS across settings at the same resolution. At 4K, dropping from Ultra (53 FPS) to High (56 FPS) yields only a 3 FPS gain, but moving to Medium (73 FPS) and Low (97 FPS) shows the GPU has significant headroom when texture and shader complexity are reduced. The 16 GB VRAM is likely never fully utilized at 1080p or 1440p, but at 4K with Ultra settings, the data shows the card working harder, as the FPS gap between Low and Ultra is 44 FPS. The RDNA 4.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6, though Thief's engine predates these APIs, so the game likely runs through older compatibility paths. The GPU's 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 564.5 GTexel/s texture rate suggest it is overkill for this title at lower settings, but at 4K Ultra it still delivers playable framerates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo averages 182 FPS on Low, 165 FPS on Medium, 139 FPS on High, and 132 FPS on Ultra—a spread of 50 FPS between the lowest and highest settings. Moving to 1440p, those numbers shift to 160, 125, 95, and 91 FPS respectively, with the Low-to-Ultra gap widening to 69 FPS. At 4K, the averages drop to 97, 73, 56, and 53 FPS, making the Low-to-Ultra difference 44 FPS. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is still contributing to performance, as the FPS differences between settings are relatively small (a 21.6% drop from Low to Ultra). At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, as the FPS drop from Low to Ultra is a smaller percentage of the total, but the absolute numbers are much lower.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a 46.7% reduction in FPS at Low settings (182 to 97 FPS), a 55.8% reduction at Medium (165 to 73 FPS), a 59.7% reduction at High (139 to 56 FPS), and a 59.8% reduction at Ultra (132 to 53 FPS). This increasing percentage drop at higher settings confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, especially with Ultra presets. The CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the 182 FPS result suggests that even this older game cannot fully saturate the i5-14400F's single-thread capabilities. The fact that 1440p Low (160 FPS) still exceeds 1080p Ultra (132 FPS) indicates that resolution alone does not determine playability; settings have a more pronounced effect on the GPU load than the change from 1080p to 1440p does.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F combined with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 965th out of 3,720 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 25.9% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the game's age and its reliance on single-thread CPU performance rather than modern multi-core scaling, which the combo handles well. The CPU's 83rd percentile standing among all processors, combined with the GPU's 69th percentile, suggests that the combo's overall rank is pulled down slightly by the GPU's relatively lower position in synthetic benchmarks. However, in actual gameplay, the data shows that the combo delivers over 130 FPS at 1080p across all settings, which is far above the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth.

The rank of 965 out of 3,720 means that roughly 2,755 other combinations performed better in this title, but many of those likely include newer, higher-end GPUs or CPUs with faster single-core clocks. The i5-14400F's nearest CPU rivals—the Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, Core i9-11900, and Ryzen 7 6800HS—all have similar average scores, indicating that the combo's rank is not held back by an unusually weak processor. The RX 9070's nearest GPU rivals, including the GTX TITAN Z and RTX 3080 Mobile, also cluster within 1.2% of its score, so the GPU is performing as expected. The data implies that Thief's engine does not fully utilize the RX 9070's modern features like ray tracing or mesh shaders, which would explain why the combo's rank is not higher relative to older hardware.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 182, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay but still playable.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 160 FPS, while Ultra settings average 91 FPS, a difference of 69 FPS.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the FPS reaches 182, which is likely CPU-limited because the GPU has minimal work, and the i5-14400F's single-thread performance becomes the constraint.

Q: Are there any measured minimum FPS values below 60?

A: Yes, at 4K Medium the minimum FPS is 62, and at 1440p Medium it is 106, but at 1080p Medium the minimum is 140. No measured minimum drops below 60 in the data.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 965th out of 3,720 tested combinations, placing it in the top 26% of all configurations for Thief.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset appears optimal across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS, which is only 17 FPS lower than Low but provides noticeably better image quality. At 1440p, Medium averages 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS, remaining well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, Medium drops to 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS, which is still playable and offers a significant visual upgrade over Low's 97 FPS. The Ultra preset, while only 8 FPS lower than High at 1080p (132 vs 139 FPS), shows a more substantial drop at 4K (53 vs 56 FPS), making it less desirable unless the user prioritizes maximum quality over framerate stability.

The data suggests that High settings are a reasonable middle ground for users with 1440p or 4K displays, as it provides 95 FPS at 1440p and 56 FPS at 4K. However, the 4K High result falls below 60 FPS, so Medium is the recommended preset for 4K users who want to maintain a consistent framerate. At 1080p and 1440p, Ultra settings are viable given that they stay above 90 FPS, but the marginal visual improvement over High may not justify the 5-7% FPS reduction. For competitive play or high refresh rate monitors, Low settings at 1080p (182 FPS) or 1440p (160 FPS) provide the highest framerates, but the visual trade-off is significant. The measured data indicates that Medium offers the best compromise between smoothness and quality across all three resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest performance across all settings. Low settings average 182 FPS, Medium averages 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS, High averages 139 FPS, and Ultra averages 132 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 50 FPS, and even the lowest measured minimum (140 FPS at Medium) is far above any refresh rate concern. This resolution clearly benefits from the CPU's strong single-thread performance, as the FPS differences between settings are smaller in absolute terms than at higher resolutions.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop but remain high. Low settings average 160 FPS, Medium averages 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS, High averages 95 FPS, and Ultra averages 91 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap widens to 69 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to take on more load. The Medium preset's minimum of 106 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes, while Ultra's 91 FPS average still provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. Low settings average 97 FPS, Medium averages 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS, High averages 56 FPS, and Ultra averages 53 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra dip below the 60 FPS threshold for average framerates. The FPS drop from 1440p to 4K is substantial, ranging from 39.4% at Low (160 to 97 FPS) to 41.8% at Ultra (91 to 53 FPS), confirming that resolution scaling heavily taxes the RX 9070's 16 GB VRAM and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The data shows that for 4K gaming, Medium settings are the maximum recommended preset, while 1080p and 1440p users can enjoy Ultra with confidence.