Thief

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a strong performance profile in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that scales well with modern hardware. The measured frame rates across the board are high, yet the data reveals a clear hierarchy in how the system behaves as resolution and graphical load increase. This analysis breaks down the measured results, contextualizes the combo’s standing against other tested configurations, and provides actionable guidance based strictly on the recorded data.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not uniform across all settings, which highlights where the bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (180 FPS) to 3840x2160 (115 FPS) represents a 36% reduction in average frame rate. This is a significant decline, but the absolute numbers remain high, suggesting that even at 4K, the CPU is not the limiting factor at this preset. The scaling is more pronounced at Medium settings, where the drop from 166.9 FPS at 1080p to 88.2 FPS at 4K is a 47% decrease. This steeper curve indicates that the GPU is starting to take on more work, but the frame rates are still playable.

The High and Ultra presets tell a more revealing story about the system’s balance. At High settings, the 4K average of 66.4 FPS is roughly 55% lower than the 1080p result of 149.2 FPS. Similarly, at Ultra, the 4K frame rate of 65.7 FPS is 55% below the 1080p figure of 146.2 FPS. This consistent ~55% penalty across the two heaviest presets suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary constraint at 4K. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the pixel throughput demands at 3840x2160 push the graphics card to its limits. The data shows that the system is GPU-bound in the most demanding scenarios, while at 1080p, the headroom is ample, with even the Ultra preset exceeding 146 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1,642 tested combos, this specific configuration ranks 217th for Thief. This places it in the top 13% of all tested systems, indicating a high level of performance relative to the broader field. The percentile for the GPU alone is 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU’s percentile is 88. These individual scores align well with the combo’s overall rank, showing a balanced pairing where neither component is dramatically weaker than the other. The combo rank of 217 suggests that while this is a very capable system, there are a substantial number of other configurations that deliver even higher frame rates in this specific title, likely due to more powerful GPUs or newer architectures.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the Intel Core i7-12800H with an average benchmark score of 32,513, which is essentially identical (0% delta) to the i5-14400F’s score of 32,508. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 7 250 is 0.2% slower, indicating that the i5-14400F sits in a very tight cluster of mid-range performers. For the GPU, the NVIDIA RTX A6000 is a close rival with a score of 42,653, just 0.2% higher than the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 42,576. These tight margins confirm that the combo’s performance is typical for its class, and the 217th rank out of 1,642 is a strong showing, driven by the synergy between a high-percentile CPU and GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this gaming scenario, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for Thief at all tested settings, even at 4K, as the game’s 2014 origin likely does not require excessive VRAM. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1980 MHz are relatively high, and with 7,168 shading units, the card has substantial raw compute power. The FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS is a strong indicator of its ability to handle the pixel and shader workloads that drive frame rates at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s role becomes more apparent when examining the frame rate deltas between settings at a fixed resolution. At 4K, the difference between Low (115 FPS) and Ultra (65.7 FPS) is a 43% reduction, showing that the card is heavily taxed by the higher graphical presets. The gap between Medium (88.2 FPS) and High (66.4 FPS) is also substantial, a 25% drop, indicating that each step up in settings has a measurable cost. This behavior is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load directly translates to frame time. The RTX 4070 SUPER’s 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs are working hard at 4K, and the data confirms that the card’s capabilities are the deciding factor in the most demanding tests. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 42,576 and its 84th percentile ranking support its status as a high-tier performer, but the 4K results show that even this powerful card has limits in a title that pushes pixel throughput.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a 1080p display, the Ultra preset is the clear choice, as it delivers an average of 146.2 FPS, which is only 3% lower than the High preset’s 149.2 FPS. There is little reason to sacrifice visual quality at this resolution, as even the heaviest preset keeps the frame rate well above 144 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. At Medium settings, the frame rate rises to 166.9 FPS, but the visual fidelity trade-off is not justified when Ultra is already so smooth.

At 1440p, the High preset offers the best balance, with an average of 114.6 FPS. This is a 64% improvement over the Ultra preset’s 106.3 FPS, and it keeps the experience comfortably above the 100 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 146.1 FPS is faster, but High provides a more visually rich experience without dropping below 100 FPS. The Low preset at 163.7 FPS is unnecessary, as the system can handle the higher quality settings without issue. For 4K gaming, the data suggests a more careful approach. The High preset achieves 66.4 FPS, which is playable, but the Ultra preset drops to 65.7 FPS, a marginal difference. The Medium preset at 88.2 FPS offers a significant boost and is the recommended choice for 4K, as it provides a smoother experience while still maintaining a higher level of detail than Low. The Low preset at 115 FPS is the fastest, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for a title that benefits from atmosphere and lighting.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a granular view of the system’s behavior. At 1920x1080, the system is clearly CPU-limited at lower settings, with the Low preset hitting 180 FPS, the highest of any configuration. The Medium preset achieves 166.9 FPS, High reaches 149.2 FPS, and Ultra is close behind at 146.2 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 19%, demonstrating that the CPU has ample headroom to drive high frame rates, but the GPU’s role becomes more significant as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale in a predictable manner. Low delivers 163.7 FPS, Medium drops to 146.1 FPS, High is at 114.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 106.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is just 11%, but the drop from Medium to High is a more substantial 22%. This suggests that the High preset introduces rendering features that significantly increase GPU load. The Ultra preset is only 7% slower than High, indicating that the additional quality steps at the top end have diminishing returns. At 3840x2160, the pattern becomes steeper. Low is at 115 FPS, Medium is at 88.2 FPS, High is at 66.4 FPS, and Ultra is at 65.7 FPS. The Low to Medium drop is 23%, and the Medium to High drop is 25%. The High to Ultra difference is negligible at 1%, showing that the GPU is fully saturated at the highest settings, and the performance ceiling of the RTX 4070 SUPER is reached. These numbers demonstrate a well-rounded system that excels at 1080p and 1440p, while remaining capable at 4K with adjusted settings.