Thief

The data shows that pairing the Intel Core i5-14600K with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 in Thief produces a configuration where the graphics card is the clear performance bottleneck, particularly at higher resolutions. The combo ranks in the 17th percentile of all tested combinations, indicating that while the CPU is extremely potent, the GPU's age and architecture limit the overall experience. The results are a study in contrasts: a modern, high-core-count processor paired with a mid-range Pascal-era graphics card, yielding playable but not exceptional frame rates at the settings where the game looks its best.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a stark and predictable resolution curve. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 128 FPS. This is the peak of the dataset, showing that when the GPU is less stressed, the system can deliver very high frame rates. Ascending to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average FPS falls to 88, a significant drop of 40 FPS. The jump to 3840x2160 at Low settings further reduces the average to 51 FPS. The delta from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 77 FPS, a 60% decrease. This massive falloff indicates that even at the lowest visual quality settings, the GTX 107 " 's memory bandwidth and compute capacity are heavily taxed by the increase in pixel count.

The pattern holds for every setting category, with the 4K resolution proving especially demanding. Moving from High settings at 1080p (74 FPS) to High at 1440p (51 FPS) results in a 23 FPS drop, and then to High at 4K (30 FPS), another 21 FPS drop. The 4K High result is not just a performance drop but a hard boundary; the game is barely playable at an average of 30 FPS.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K at each setting is particularly telling. For Medium settings, the average drops from 66 FPS at 1440p to 39 FPS at 4K, a 27 FPS loss. For Ultra settings, the average dips from 48 FPS at 1440p to 28 FPS at 4K, a 20 FPS loss. This demonstrates a clear, consistent degradation as the resolution increases, with the performance penalty being steepest at the 4K boundary. The data strongly suggests that 4K resolution is not a viable target for this configuration at any quality setting, as all results there fall below the 60 FPS smoothness threshold. The 1080p resolution, conversely, is the only one where the combo consistently clears 60 FPS across all settings, except for Ultra at 70 FPS. The limiting component is unquestionably the GPU, as the CPU is never the reason for the frame rate decline in these tests.

How This Combo Ranks

This pairing of Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 achieves a combo rank of 3079 out of 3720 tested combinations in Thief. That places it in the 17th percentile of all tested hardware pairings, meaning that 83% of configurations tested produce higher average frame rates. This is a low ranking, reflective of the GPU's age and performance class relative to the modern CPU. The GPU itself, the GTX 1070, has a percentile rank of 47 among all GPUs, and an average benchmark score of 9780. Its nearest rivals in the overall GPU database are the AMD FirePro W5000 (scoring 9803, a 0.2% difference), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, -0.5% difference), and the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724, 0.6% difference). This puts the "GTX 1070" squarely in the middle of the pack of tested GPUs, but its performance is still heavily constrained in a modern game like Thief.

By contrast, the Intel Core i5-14600K is a high-end CPU, ranked in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 48618. Its closest rivals in the CPU benchmark charts are the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, -0.2% delta), the AMD EPYC 4345P (48470, 0.3% delta), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48287, 0.7% delta), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48995, -0.8% delta). This disparity in ranking—a top-10% CPU paired with a mid-tier GPU—is the central reason for the combo's low overall rank. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU's capabilities are largely untapped in this game, as the GPU is consistently the limiting factor. The combo rank is a holistic measure, and it highlights a significant imbalance in performance potential between the two components in this specific title.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The average frame rate is 74 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro W5000?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, while the AMD FirePro W5000 scores 9803. This represents a 0.2% difference, which is negligible in real-world performance, placing the two cards in the same performance tier.

Q: What is the performance at 4K (3840x2160) with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 4K Medium is 39, with a minimum recorded of 33 and a maximum of 45. This shows a playable but not smooth experience, with a high variance between frames.

Q: What is the CPU's single-core performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K scores 2064 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2491 in Geekbench single-core. This shows strong per-thread performance, which is typically beneficial for game engine logic.

Q: Does the GTX 1070 support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, the GPU reports DirectX 12 (12_1) support in its API list.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p when compared to 1080p at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average FPS is 74. At 1440p High, it drops to 51 FPS. This is a 31% performance reduction from the resolution increase, indicating a significant GPU load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1080p, the configuration delivers the following average FPS: Low (128), Medium (97 with a min of 82 and max of 111), High (74), and Ultra (70). This is the only resolution where the average FPS stays above 60 for all settings, and it clearly shows the system's strong performance at the native resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low (88), Medium (66 with a min of 56 and max of 76), High (51), and Ultra (48). The gaming experience at this resolution is still good for most settings, but the High and Ultra are no longer at the 60 FPS mark. The Medium setting, with an average of 66 FPS, is the best balance for playability here.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops significantly: Low (51), Medium (39 with a min of 33 and max of 45), High (30), and Ultra (28). The 4K results are all below the 60 FPS threshold, and the High and Ultra settings are close to unplayable, with averages in the 28-30 range. The Low setting is the only one that provides a playable experience at 4K, and even then, it is around 50 FPS. The data clearly shows the GPU is not designed for 4K gaming in a demanding title like Thief.

The variance between minimum and maximum frame rates is only recorded for Medium settings across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the frame times are stable, with a min of 82 and max of 111, a spread of 29 FPS. At 1440p, the spread is 20 FPS (56 to 76), and at 4K the spread is 12 FPS (33 to 45). This indicates the GPU is able to maintain a relatively consistent frame rate at lower resolutions, but the variance gets tighter as the resolution increases, likely due to the GPU being consistently at its limit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the limiting component in this configuration for Thief. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s is the core limitation. The memory operates at 2002 MHz (or 8 Gbps effective), which is standard for the Pascal architecture. The GPU's shader count is 1920, with 120 TMUs and 64 ROPs. The base clock is 1506 MHz, with a boost clock of 1683 MHz, which the GPU can achieve under load.

In Thief, the GPU's performance is heavily impacted by resolution. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings results in a 21 FPS drop (51 to 30), and at Ultra, a 20 FPS drop (48 to 28). This is a clear sign that the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are saturated at 4K. The GPU's pixel rate is 107.7 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 202.0 GTexel/s, but the game's "Ultra settings at 4K are too demanding for these resources.

The GPU's FP32 performance is 6.463 TFLOPS, but this is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The card's average benchmark score of 9780 places it in the 47th percentile of all GPUs, and its passmark G3D score is 13498, with a G2D score of 846. The DirectX 11 and DirectX 9 scores are 100 and 197, respectively, while the DirectX 12 score is 48. This indicates the card is significantly stronger at older APIs, which is relevant for an older game like Thief (2014) that likely uses DirectX 11 or earlier. The GPU's 47th percentile ranking among all GPUs highlights its mid-range status in the current market.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a high-end processor, ranking in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. It has 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU features a large cache: 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3. The memory is dual-channel, supporting both DDR4 and DDR5. The CPU's average benchmark score is 48618, and its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, scores 48698, a nearly identical performance level.

In the context of Thief, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and the data shows it is more than capable. The game is not CPU-bound at any resolution in this test. The CPU's single-core performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064, and a Geekbench single-core score of 2491. In a game like Thief, which is a stealth title, the CPU's single-thread performance is more important than multi-core, and the i5-14600K excels. It scores 24491 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 38682 in Passmark multi-thread, but this multi-core power is not heavily utilized by the game.

The CPU's performance is not the limiting factor, as the FPS does not scale with the CPU's capability. When the GPU is the bottleneck, the CPU is idle, waiting for the GPU. This is the classic imbalance seen in this combo. The CPU can easily feed the GPU at 1440p, but at 4K, the CPU is never the cause of a frame rate drop. The data suggests that the CPU has significant headroom, and if the GPU were more powerful, the i5-14600K could support much higher frame rates. The CPU's high single-thread performance is a good match for the game's engine, but the GPU's limitations prevent it from being fully realized.