Thief

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Thief. The data shows a clear progression where performance drops significantly as pixel count rises, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions. This combination sits at rank 972 out of 1642 tested configurations for this title, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a steep scaling curve. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 96.4 FPS, which drops to 68.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 39.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 29% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 43% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, with the Low preset showing the most dramatic absolute drop from 172 FPS at 1080p to 120.4 FPS at 1440p and 69.8 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU can keep up, but the GPU's workload increases disproportionately with pixel count. The 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS is particularly telling — it shows that even with a capable CPU, the GPU cannot maintain fluid performance at maximum settings in 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is 32.8 FPS, whereas at 1080p that same gap is 76 FPS, suggesting the GPU saturates before settings differences can fully manifest at 4K.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1605 MHz with a boost of 1770 MHz, and the card contains 2560 shading units. These specifications place the GPU at the 65th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores 22307, which is 0.5% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 trails by 2.5% with a score of 21670.

The GPU's VRAM capacity appears sufficient for Thief's textures at all tested settings, as no memory-related stutters or anomalies are evident in the data. The 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for this 2014 title, even at 4K Ultra. The card's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power drives the observed frame rates, with the 4K High result of 39.1 FPS representing a reasonable load for this hardware generation. The GPU's pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s explain why performance degrades smoothly rather than catastrophically when moving from 1080p to 4K.

CPU Role

The Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores and 20 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost up to 5.30 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture chip sits at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49166. Its closest rival is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, which scores 49062 and is only 0.2% behind, indicating the i5-14600K delivers essentially equivalent overall processing power to a much more expensive 16-core part.

In Thief, the CPU's role is secondary at higher resolutions but becomes more relevant at 1080p. The 1080p Low result of 172 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at high frame rates. The multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881, ensures that background tasks and game logic do not bottleneck the frame delivery. The single-thread score of 4642 in Cinebench R23 is particularly relevant for a game that relies on a primary simulation thread; this strong single-core performance prevents CPU-bound scenarios from emerging at 1080p High, where the system still manages 96.4 FPS. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample room for game assets to stay close to the cores, reducing latency in scene traversal.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Thief at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: At 4K High, the system produces 39.1 FPS, which is borderline playable. Dropping to Medium yields 52.7 FPS, and Low reaches 69.8 FPS. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, 4K requires Low settings or accepting a 30 FPS cap at Medium.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low?

A: At 1080p, the gain is 76 FPS (from 96 to 172). At 1440p, the gain is 57.9 FPS (from 62.5 to 120.4). At 4K, the gain is 32.8 FPS (from 37 to 69.8). The absolute gain shrinks as resolution increases because the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RTX 2070 SUPER or the i5-14600K the bottleneck in Thief?

A: At 1080p, the system achieves 172 FPS on Low, suggesting the CPU can handle high frame rates. The steep drop to 39.1 FPS at 4K High indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking versus the GPU's 65th percentile supports this conclusion.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rival for gaming workloads?

A: The i5-14600K scores 49166 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49062). This negligible difference means gaming performance in CPU-bound scenarios would be effectively identical between the two.

Q: What is the optimal resolution for this combination in Thief?

A: 1440p offers the best balance, with 68.7 FPS on High and 86.9 FPS on Medium. This resolution keeps frame rates above 60 FPS without requiring the aggressive settings reductions needed at 4K.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity limit performance at 4K?

A: The data shows no evidence of VRAM-related performance cliffs. The 8 GB frame buffer handles all tested settings, with performance scaling consistently from Low to Ultra at 4K rather than showing sudden drops from memory swapping.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 172 FPS, Medium reaches 130.6 FPS, High achieves 96.4 FPS, and Ultra manages 96 FPS. The near-identical High and Ultra results suggest that Ultra adds little visual benefit at 1080p while consuming similar GPU resources.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally. Low drops to 120.4 FPS, Medium to 86.9 FPS, High to 68.7 FPS, and Ultra to 62.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p remains above 60 FPS, making it viable for smooth gameplay, while High also clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes dominant. Low settings yield 69.8 FPS, Medium drops to 52.7 FPS, High falls to 39.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 37 FPS. The incremental difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 2.1 FPS, indicating that Ultra's additional effects nearly saturate the GPU.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: Low settings at 4K (69.8 FPS) outperform High settings at 1440p (68.7 FPS) by a slim margin, suggesting that resolution scaling is more punishing than settings scaling on this hardware.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, the High preset at 96.4 FPS provides the best experience. Ultra offers no meaningful improvement over High (96 FPS versus 96.4 FPS), so the extra visual fidelity does not justify the negligible performance cost. Medium at 130.6 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, while Low at 172 FPS suits competitive play or esports-style setups.

At 1440p, High settings at 68.7 FPS represent the sweet spot for visual quality and smoothness. The Ultra preset at 62.5 FPS is acceptable for players who prioritize image quality, though the 6.2 FPS difference from High may not be noticeable. Medium at 86.9 FPS is the recommended choice for users who want headroom above 60 FPS to account for demanding scenes, while Low at 120.4 FPS offers a buttery-smooth experience for fast-paced stealth sequences.

For 4K gaming, the choices become more constrained. Low settings at 69.8 FPS deliver the only fully smooth experience, though visual quality suffers significantly. Medium at 52.7 FPS represents a compromise — playable but not consistently smooth, with noticeable drops in complex scenes. High and Ultra at 39.1 and 37 FPS respectively are only suitable for players who prioritize fidelity over frame rate and can tolerate sub-40 FPS performance. The data clearly suggests that 4K users should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better overall experience.