Thief

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Thief, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes the combo’s standing against other tested configurations, and answers key questions about the pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, with the magnitude of the drop heavily dependent on the quality preset. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 185 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 149.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 19%. Pushing to 4K Low yields 88 FPS, which is a substantial 41% drop from the 1440p figure and only 48% of the 1080p performance. This pattern indicates that at lower resolutions and settings, the system is not fully GPU-bound, allowing the CPU to push frame rates higher.

The scaling behavior changes character at higher quality settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 121.6 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that falls to 80.5 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average plummets to 50.2 FPS, which is just 41% of the 1080p Ultra score. The gap between Low and Ultra settings also widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 63.4 FPS (185 vs 121.6). At 4K, that difference shrinks to 37.8 FPS (88 vs 50.2). This compression suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s rendering workload becomes the dominant limiting factor, regardless of the preset.

The data suggests that the RTX 3070 Ti, with its 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary constraint at 4K. The jump from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings (167.6 to 118 FPS) shows a 30% performance hit, while the 1440p to 4K jump at the same settings (118 to 66.9 FPS) represents a 43% drop. This accelerating decline points to memory bandwidth and pixel throughput becoming increasingly strained. For a 2014 stealth title, the 4K Ultra result of 50.2 FPS is playable, but the 4K High result of 54.5 FPS indicates that even slight settings reductions do not yield major headroom at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 550th out of 1642 tested combos for Thief. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, indicating a strong but not elite standing. The rank reflects the balance of the i5-14400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads with the RTX 3070 Ti’s 6144 shading units.

The GPU’s individual benchmark percentile is 74, meaning it outperforms 74% of all GPUs tested. Its average benchmark score of 30849 places it in close competition with several other cards. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME, scores 30755, a delta of just 0.3%. On the other side, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 scores 31112 (a -0.8% delta), and the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 scores 31142 (a -0.9% delta). These minuscule percentage differences indicate that the RTX 3070 Ti sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The CPU’s percentile is higher at 88, with an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% delta). The AMD Ryzen 7 250 scores 32584 (-0.2% delta), and the Intel Core i7-13705H also scores 32586 (-0.2% delta). The CPU’s performance is therefore essentially identical to these four rivals, suggesting that the i5-14400F provides a consistent, mid-to-high-tier compute baseline that does not bottleneck the GPU in this title.

The combo rank of 550 out of 1642 suggests that while the individual components are well-matched, other combinations with higher-tier GPUs or CPUs achieve better results in Thief. The data implies that this pairing is optimized for high-refresh-rate 1080p and solid 1440p gaming, rather than pushing the absolute maximum at 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average is 185 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 50.2 FPS, which is the lowest recorded figure across all tested settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The large gap between Low (185 FPS) and Ultra (121.6 FPS) at 1080p suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the high frame rates indicate the CPU is not holding back performance at lower settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1440p High and 4K High?

A: At 2560x1440 High, the average FPS is 87.5, while at 3840x2160 High, it drops to 54.5, representing a 38% reduction in frame rate.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti scores 30849, while the RX 6700 scores 31112, making the RX 6700 slightly faster by a delta of -0.8%.

Q: What resolution and settings yield a frame rate closest to 120 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 121.6 FPS. At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, it averages 118 FPS, which is also near that mark.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a full matrix of average frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 185 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 167.6 FPS, High settings drop to 124.7 FPS, and Ultra settings average 121.6 FPS. The transition from Medium to High represents a significant 26% performance hit, while the gap between High and Ultra is minimal at just 2.5%.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 149.7 FPS, which remains highly playable for competitive or smooth gameplay. Medium settings produce 118 FPS, High settings drop to 87.5 FPS, and Ultra settings average 80.5 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 21% reduction, while the step from High to Ultra is an 8% reduction. This resolution strikes a balance between visual fidelity and performance, with High settings still comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limits become apparent. Low settings average 88 FPS, which is still respectable, but Medium drops to 66.9 FPS. High settings average 54.5 FPS, and Ultra settings dip to 50.2 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 4.3 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset adds little visual overhead but also provides no performance benefit. The 4K results show that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding settings or titles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. This cache hierarchy is substantial for a mid-range desktop part, and the CPU’s benchmark scores reflect its capability.

In synthetic tests, the i5-14400F scores 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3093 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 11209 multi-core and 2333 single-core. These figures place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong multi-threaded performance. In the context of Thief, a game originally released in 2014, the CPU’s 16 threads are more than sufficient to handle the game’s physics and AI workloads. The high single-core score of 3093 in Cinebench R23 is particularly relevant, as it ensures that the game’s primary game thread is not a bottleneck.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, both with deltas of 0% or 0.2%. This suggests that the i5-14400F provides a level of compute performance that is essentially interchangeable with these other processors for gaming workloads. The data from Thief supports this: at 1080p Low, where CPU load is relatively higher, the combo still achieves 185 FPS, indicating no CPU-side limitation. Only at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is unquestionably the limiting factor, does the CPU’s role diminish. The 10 cores and 16 threads, combined with a 4.70 GHz boost clock, ensure that this processor does not hold back the RTX 3070 Ti in this title, making the combo’s performance dependent almost entirely on the GPU’s capabilities as resolution and settings increase.