Thief

This combo places the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 at rank 128 out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief. That position puts it in the top 8% of all recorded configurations, a strong showing for a stealth title that leans heavily on GPU throughput. The ranking reflects a pairing where the RTX 4090 dominates the workload, while the i5-14400F provides enough headroom to avoid becoming a limiting factor at most settings. The gap between this combo and the field is substantial — the data shows a clear tier separation, with only a narrow slice of rival systems outperforming it.

How This Combo Ranks

At rank 128 of 1642, this configuration sits comfortably within the upper echelon of tested hardware pairings for Thief. The 91st percentile standing of the RTX 4090 among all GPUs aligns with the combo’s overall position, suggesting the graphics card is the primary driver of this ranking. The CPU, holding the 88th percentile among all processors, contributes enough single-thread and multi-thread performance to keep pace with the GPU’s output. In practical terms, the data indicates that this pairing will rarely encounter a scenario where the processor stalls the frame pipeline. The margin between this combo and the median tested system is wide, but the delta to the very top is also notable — the top 127 combinations likely feature even more balanced or higher-clocked components. For a 2014 stealth title, this represents an over-provisioned setup that prioritizes maximum visual fidelity and frame rates at any resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed centerpiece of this configuration. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Thief’s texture-heavy environments and shadow calculations. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, operates with a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. These clocks translate into a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s, figures that explain why frame rates remain high even at 4K resolution. The GPU’s 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores provide raw compute muscle, though Thief’s release predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so those RT cores remain largely idle in this title. The 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance ensures that even the most demanding shader effects in the game’s Ultra preset are processed without bottlenecking the CPU. The data shows a clear GPU-bound pattern: as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, frame rates drop consistently, confirming that the RTX 4090’s capabilities are the deciding factor in this combo’s performance.

FAQ

Q: Why does the Ultra preset at 4K produce lower frame rates than High at the same resolution?

A: The measured data shows Ultra averaging 79.5 FPS at 3840x2160, while High averages 84.7 FPS. The difference of 5.2 FPS reflects the additional computational load from the Ultra preset’s enhanced effects, which the RTX 4090 handles but with measurable performance cost.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in Thief?

A: Benchmark results indicate no significant bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the combo reaches 148.9 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it holds 79.5 FPS. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, provide sufficient throughput to feed the GPU, particularly since Thief is not a CPU-intensive title by modern standards.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 66473 places it slightly above the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, -0.4% delta) and below the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097, -0.9% delta). These are workstation-class cards, indicating the RTX 4090 competes at the top of the performance spectrum.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the RTX 4090 provide, and why does it matter for Thief?

A: The GPU offers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth via 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus. This high bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and large scene data in Thief are loaded quickly, which supports the smooth frame rates observed across all resolutions.

Q: Can this combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K with all settings maxed?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 79.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Even at High settings, the average rises to 84.7 FPS, providing additional headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-core performance affect the game’s results?

A: The i5-14400F scores 3093 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3723 in Passmark single-thread tests. These scores indicate strong per-core performance, which helps maintain consistent frame pacing in Thief, especially in areas with complex AI or physics calculations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of this combo’s behavior across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 184.7 FPS, followed by Medium at 162.7 FPS, High at 149.7 FPS, and Ultra at 148.9 FPS. The narrow gap between High and Ultra at this resolution (0.8 FPS) suggests that the game’s Ultra preset adds minimal overhead at 1080p, likely due to GPU headroom being plentiful. Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly: Low averages 159.1 FPS, Medium 142.8 FPS, High 130.5 FPS, and Ultra 128.2 FPS. The delta between High and Ultra widens to 2.3 FPS, indicating a slightly heavier load as pixel count increases. At 3840x2160, the impact of resolution becomes pronounced: Low averages 133.7 FPS, Medium 113.4 FPS, High 84.7 FPS, and Ultra 79.5 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 4K causes a 28.7 FPS drop, the largest single-preset transition in the data, highlighting where the GPU’s fill rate begins to strain under the combination of high resolution and enhanced effects. Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently outperforms Ultra by margins ranging from 35.8 FPS at 1080p to 54.2 FPS at 4K, demonstrating the scalability of the RTX 4090’s architecture.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides the computational foundation for this combo, featuring 10 cores and 16 threads based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz, combined with a 20 MB shared L3 cache, deliver robust performance for Thief’s CPU-bound systems, such as enemy AI pathfinding and physics calculations. Benchmark scores reinforce this: Cinebench R23 multi-core results of 21914 and single-core of 3093 place the CPU in the 88th percentile among all processors. The nearest rivals — the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513 avg score, 0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446 avg score, 0.2% delta) — show that the i5-14400F sits in a tightly contested performance band. In Thief, the CPU’s role is secondary but not negligible. The data reveals that at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 148.9 FPS, which is 69.4 FPS lower than the same combo at 1080p Low. This gap is primarily GPU-driven, but the CPU’s ability to maintain high frame rates without stuttering is evident in the consistent averages across all settings. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 ensure stable operation, though Thief’s 2014 engine does not fully utilize the CPU’s multi-threading capabilities, leaving headroom for background tasks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 148.9 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides the highest fidelity while still delivering frame rates well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors. The minimal difference between High (149.7 FPS) and Ultra (148.9 FPS) at this resolution makes Ultra the clear winner. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset maintains 128.2 FPS, which remains suitable for high-refresh displays, though users with 120 Hz panels may prefer High at 130.5 FPS for a small stability margin. For 4K gaming at 3840x2160, the High preset at 84.7 FPS offers the best experience, as it stays above 60 FPS with a comfortable buffer, while Ultra drops to 79.5 FPS — still playable but closer to the threshold. The Medium preset at 113.4 FPS is an alternative for those prioritizing frame rates over visual detail, but the data suggests High is the sweet spot for 4K. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates at all resolutions, sacrifices too much visual quality for a title that benefits from atmospheric lighting and shadows, making it viable only for competitive play or extremely high refresh rate displays.