Thief

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER lands at rank 158 out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief. That places this setup comfortably inside the top 10% of all configurations evaluated for this title, a strong showing for a desktop pairing built around a mid-range CPU and a high-end GPU. The rank reflects the combination's ability to push very high frame rates at every resolution tested, with the weakest result still clearing the 73 FPS mark at 4K Ultra. In a game as old as Thief, this hardware is far from stressed, but the data confirms the pairing is well balanced for the stealth classic.

The GPU drives most of the ranking weight, as the RTX 4080 SUPER sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The CPU also holds an 88th percentile ranking among all processors, meaning both components are similarly positioned relative to their respective markets. That symmetry contributes to the strong overall rank, since neither part is dramatically holding back the other in Thief's workload. The combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, though it does not crack the top 100, leaving headroom that more powerful GPUs or CPUs would occupy.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor built on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic and AI routines in Thief, which is a stealth title that does not typically hammer CPU resources as hard as modern open-world games. The processor's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 mounting make it a conventional desktop part, and its 10 nm process node from Intel is older than the GPU's 5 nm node, but that does not appear to hinder performance in this title.

Benchmark data shows the i5-14400F achieving a multi-core score of 21914 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 3093 in the same test. These numbers indicate strong per-thread performance, which matters for Thief's engine, a 2014 release that likely relies heavily on a few primary threads for gameplay simulation. The processor's Geekbench multi-core score of 11209 and single-core score of 2333 reinforce the picture of a capable CPU that can feed the RTX 4080 SUPER without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i7-12800H with an average score of 32513 and a delta of 0%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 with a delta of 0.2%, showing the i5-14400F is essentially tied with those parts in aggregate CPU benchmarks.

For Thief specifically, the CPU's role is to maintain steady frame pacing and handle the game's stealth AI and object interactions. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 183.8 FPS, which suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output even when graphical load is minimal. The boost clock of 4.70 GHz provides the single-thread speed that older game engines often reward, and the 10-core layout ensures background tasks do not interfere with the game's primary threads. The launch MSRP of $196 positions this as a mainstream part, but its benchmark results place it near the top of the 88th percentile, so it is punching above its weight class in this context.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, armed with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its AD103 chip, built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, contains 45,900 million transistors and offers 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. The boost clock of 2550 MHz, combined with a base clock of 2295 MHz, allows the GPU to sustain high throughput in Thief's DirectX 11 rendering path, which is well optimized for this era of hardware. The 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler indicate this is a power-hungry card, but that thermal headroom translates directly into performance.

In benchmark terms, the RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with a score of 53489 and a delta of 0.2%, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 53414 with a delta of 0.4%, meaning the RTX 4080 SUPER is effectively tied with those parts in aggregate GPU benchmarks. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 246994 and Vulkan score of 226163 further establish its compute capability, though Thief's DX11 path likely does not exploit all of that raw power. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs aligns with its position as a high-end part that still trails the absolute top tier.

For Thief, the GPU's primary job is to render the game's atmospheric lighting, shadows, and textures at high resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is far more than this 2014 title needs, so memory capacity is never a limiting factor, even at 4K Ultra. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth ensures texture streaming remains smooth, and the 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate helps maintain fill rates at high resolutions. The RTX 4080 SUPER's DirectX 12 Ultimate support is backward compatible with Thief's older API, and the data shows the GPU scales well across settings, from 131.1 FPS at 4K Low to 73.4 FPS at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 183.8 FPS, Medium yields 164.6 FPS, High reaches 146.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 149.9 FPS. The Ultra figure being slightly higher than High is a curiosity in the data, but it suggests that the GPU is not heavily taxed at this resolution, and the differences between settings are relatively small. The spread from Low to Ultra is only about 34 FPS, indicating that even the most demanding preset leaves substantial headroom at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to separate more noticeably. Low settings produce 160 FPS, Medium reaches 142.9 FPS, High hits 130 FPS, and Ultra manages 121 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra grows to roughly 39 FPS, showing that the GPU starts to feel the additional pixel load. Still, even at Ultra, the 121 FPS result is well above the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth, so this resolution is thoroughly playable with maximum settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU finally encounters a meaningful workload. Low settings produce 131.1 FPS, Medium drops to 101.8 FPS, High reaches 75.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 73.4 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs about 26 FPS, which is the largest single-setting penalty in the entire dataset, indicating that High and Ultra presets introduce effects that heavily tax the GPU at 4K. Even so, the lowest result of 73.4 FPS at 4K Ultra remains highly playable, and the combo never dips below that threshold in any tested configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between components. At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 183.8 FPS at 1080p to 131.1 FPS at 4K, a reduction of about 29%. At Medium settings, the drop is from 164.6 FPS to 101.8 FPS, a steeper decline of roughly 38%. High settings see a fall from 146.5 FPS to 75.4 FPS, a 49% reduction, and Ultra settings drop from 149.9 FPS to 73.4 FPS, a 51% decrease. These patterns show that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, while at 1080p, the CPU has more influence on the final frame rate.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the combo is partially CPU-bound, particularly at Low and Medium settings where the GPU could render frames faster if the CPU could feed it more data. At 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the frame rates converge across settings, with High and Ultra both landing near 75 FPS. This convergence suggests that at 4K, the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are the primary constraints, regardless of whether the game uses High or Ultra presets. The 1440p results sit in between, with a broader spread from Low to Ultra that reflects a balanced workload where neither component is fully saturated.

The data shows that this pairing is best suited for high-refresh 1440p gaming, where it delivers over 120 FPS even at Ultra settings. At 4K, it remains viable but sacrifices frame rate for visual fidelity, with the 75 FPS High result being the practical ceiling for smooth play. The CPU's 4.70 GHz boost clock keeps up with the GPU at all resolutions, but the scaling curve makes clear that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the component that determines whether the combo hits 183 FPS or settles at 73 FPS depending on the resolution and settings chosen.