Thief

# Thief with Intel Core i5-14600K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a dominant experience in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that remains demanding at high resolutions. With measured frame rates ranging from 87 FPS at 4K Ultra to 210 FPS at 1080p Low, this combination sits firmly in the top tier of tested hardware. The data indicates that this pairing is overkill for 1080p and 1440p gaming but provides a smooth 4K experience at High and Medium settings, where the game's visual fidelity shines without sacrificing playability.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K resolution, the sweet spot is the High preset, which delivers 92 FPS average. This represents a 5 FPS improvement over Ultra (87 FPS) while maintaining most of the visual quality. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal in terms of playability, but the 5 FPS gain can be meaningful for maintaining a consistent frame rate during chaotic stealth sequences. Medium at 4K pushes further to 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS, making it the best choice for players who prioritize smoothness over maximum graphical fidelity. Low at 4K reaches 155 FPS, but the visual downgrade is substantial for a game that relies heavily on atmospheric lighting and shadow play.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 151 FPS is the recommended starting point. It offers a 3 FPS advantage over Ultra (148 FPS) while looking nearly identical. Medium at 167 FPS provides a 16 FPS boost over High, which can be valuable for high-refresh-rate monitors. Low at 185 FPS is only necessary for competitive play, which is not the primary use case for a stealth game. The 1920x1080 results show that all presets exceed 169 FPS, with High at 172 FPS and Ultra at 169 FPS being nearly indistinguishable. For 1080p, Medium at 189 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and headroom above 144Hz displays, while Low at 210 FPS is the ceiling for maximum frame rates.

The data reveals a clear pattern: the RTX 5090 D is so powerful that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 41 FPS (210 vs 169), whereas at 4K the same settings span 68 FPS (155 vs 87). This suggests that GPU-bound scenarios benefit more from preset adjustments, making High the optimal choice for 4K and 1440p, while Medium suffices for 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Raptor Lake Refresh processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides the computational muscle needed to feed the RTX 5090 D at high frame rates. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and single-core score of 2064 indicate strong all-around performance, while the PassMark single-thread score of 4270 reinforces its capability in lightly threaded workloads.

In Thief, the CPU's role becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully taxed. At 1080p, the difference between Low (210 FPS) and Ultra (169 FPS) is 41 FPS, suggesting that CPU throughput influences frame pacing even when the GPU is capable of higher output. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain consistent frame delivery in scenes with many AI actors or complex physics interactions, which are common in stealth gameplay.

The processor's benchmark percentile of 90 versus all CPUs places it well above average, with nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (0.2% lower average score) and AMD EPYC 4345P (0.3% higher). This positioning confirms that the i5-14600K is not a bottleneck in this configuration. The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for overclocking headroom, though the measured results already show no CPU-induced limitations at 4K. For a game like Thief, which launched in 2014 and does not heavily utilize multi-threading, the i5-14600K's strong single-core performance is the key asset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant force in this pairing, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, packs 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. With a base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, the card achieves 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s.

The GPU's 32 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond what Thief requires, as the game's 2014 origins mean it cannot utilize even a fraction of this memory. However, the sheer computational throughput drives the exceptional frame rates observed. At 4K Ultra, the card delivers 87 FPS, which is a 5 FPS drop from High at 92 FPS — indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects (likely shadows and ambient occlusion) impose a measurable cost. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and PassMark G3D score of 44065 place the GPU in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower average score) showing that this desktop part is significantly faster.

The GPU's memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensure that texture streaming and high-resolution assets never stall frame delivery. The measured data shows that the RTX 5090 D scales predictably with resolution: from 1080p Medium (189 FPS) to 1440p Medium (167 FPS) to 4K Medium (120 FPS), the performance curve reflects the increasing pixel workload. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 68 FPS spread between Low and Ultra presets.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 53rd out of 2,851 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the top 1.9% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's extraordinary power and the CPU's adequate support, though it is not the absolute fastest pairing available. The rank suggests that some combinations with even more powerful CPUs (or better memory configurations) achieve higher frame rates, but the i5-14600K does not significantly drag down the RTX 5090 D in this title.

The combo rank of 53 indicates that there are 52 other pairings that outperform it, likely involving top-tier CPUs like the Core i9 or Ryzen 9 series with higher boost clocks or more cache. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo already exceeds 144 FPS at 1440p High (151 FPS) and maintains 92 FPS at 4K High, which is sufficient for most displays. The 4K Ultra result of 87 FPS is the only setting that falls below the 90 FPS threshold, but the High preset recovers this easily.

For context, the GPU alone ranks in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. The combination's 53rd place ranking out of 2,851 is consistent with both components being near the top of their respective categories, though not the absolute best. This suggests that users seeking maximum frame rates at 4K could benefit from a more powerful CPU, but the practical difference is minimal given that the RTX 5090 D is already the dominant factor in most scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to use for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 4K delivers 92 FPS average, which is 5 FPS higher than Ultra (87 FPS) and 28 FPS lower than Medium (120 FPS). High is the recommended choice for balancing visual quality and smoothness.

Q: Can this combination handle 144Hz gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 167 FPS, High reaches 151 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 148 FPS — all above the 144 FPS threshold for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low produces 210 FPS while Ultra produces 169 FPS, a 41 FPS difference. This gap indicates that the CPU limits frame rates at this resolution, as the GPU is not fully utilized.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM necessary for Thief?

A: No. Thief's 2014 release means it cannot utilize more than a small fraction of the 32 GB VRAM. The GPU's computational power, not its memory capacity, drives the high frame rates in this game.

Q: How does this combo compare to other top configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 53rd out of 2,851 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1.9%. It outperforms the vast majority of setups, though some CPU-heavy configurations achieve higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only minimum FPS values recorded are at Medium settings: 102 FPS at 4K, 142 FPS at 1440p, and 161 FPS at 1080p. These minimums indicate that the combination maintains smooth frame delivery without significant drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K UHD)

• Low: 155 FPS average
• Medium: 120 FPS average, 102 FPS minimum, 138 FPS maximum
• High: 92 FPS average
• Ultra: 87 FPS average

At 4K, the RTX 5090 D's power is fully exercised. The 68 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, with each preset tier costing roughly 30-35 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 102 FPS ensures that even demanding scenes stay well above 60 FPS, making it the safest choice for consistent 4K play. High at 92 FPS is playable, but Ultra at 87 FPS leaves little headroom for frame drops in busy areas.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 185 FPS average
• Medium: 167 FPS average, 142 FPS minimum, 192 FPS maximum
• High: 151 FPS average
• Ultra: 148 FPS average

The 1440p results show a tighter spread of 37 FPS between Low and Ultra, indicating that the CPU begins to play a larger role. All presets exceed 144 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset's minimum of 142 FPS is just below 144 Hz, but the average of 167 FPS provides ample margin. High and Ultra are nearly identical at 151 and 148 FPS respectively, suggesting that the Ultra preset's extra effects have minimal cost at this resolution.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 210 FPS average
• Medium: 189 FPS average, 161 FPS minimum, 218 FPS maximum
• High: 172 FPS average
• Ultra: 169 FPS average

At 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 41 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. The RTX 5090 D is capable of far more than 210 FPS, but the i5-14600K's single-thread performance caps the output. The Medium preset's maximum of 218 FPS shows that frame rates can spike high, but the average of 189 FPS is more representative. All presets exceed 169 FPS, making this resolution suitable for 240Hz displays with the Low or Medium presets.