Thief

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a high-end desktop processor, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a low-end graphics card from the same era. Combined in this measurement of Thief, a 2014 stealth title, the pair lands near the bottom of the test database, ranked 3595th out of 3720 tested combinations. The CPU is clearly capable of feeding any frame rate this GPU can produce, and every benchmark result shows the GTX 1650 as the binding constraint — resolution scaling, settings sensitivity, and the low overall combo rank all trace back to the graphics card’s finite pixel and texture throughput.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound curve. At 1080p with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 56 FPS; at 1440p that same setting drops to 39 FPS; at 4K Medium it falls to 23 FPS. That’s a 33 FPS reduction from 1080p to 4K, or just under half the original, which correlates directly with the fourfold increase in pixel count. The same trend holds at Low settings: 74 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. High settings follow the pattern: 43 → 29 → 17 fps. Ultra settings show 41 / 29 / 17 fps.

What the numbers say about the limiting component is that the GPU is saturated almost immediately. At 1080p the CPU’s six‑core, 20‑thread configuration is nowhere near a bottleneck. The drop from 74 FPS (Low) to 41 FPS (Ultra) at 1080p is a settings‑driven span of 33 FPS. At 4K, the Low-to-Ultra span is only 13 FPS (30 to 17) because the card is already at its limit. The fact that raising resolution at High settings costs more than 50% of the frame rate (43 to 16) while CPU load stays negligible reinforces that the GTX 1650’s pixel‑fill / texture rate (53.28 GPixel/s and 93.24 GTexel/s) is the ceiling.

Even at the most CPU‑friendly resolution (1080p), the 14600KF is idling from a gaming perspective. The CPU’s single‑core performance (Cinebench R23 single 4594) is high, and its multi‑core score of 32544 or the average benchmark score of 49394 places it 90th percentile among all CPUs. None of that matters here because the title from 2014 never loads all 20 threads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5‑14600KF packs 14 cores and 20 threads. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz and boost clock is 5.30 GHz, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. All those specifications are far above what a 2014 stealth title demands. In the benchmark averages, this CPU scores 49394, which is within 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228) and 0.8% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (48995). It also sits just below the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 at 49796 (‑0.8%). That means in general compute the 14600KF is at the level of a high‑end desktop chip.

In Thief, the CPU rarely becomes the trouble spot. The highest average FPS recorded in any tested configuration is 74 FPS at 1080p Low, and that is still well below where a CPU bottleneck would appear. The CPU’s cinebench single‑core score of 4594 and multi‑core 32553 reinforce its capability, but the data from this game indicates that the GPU is what’s holding the whole system back. Even when the resolution is 4K and the frame counter only reads 17 or 23, the processor is not the constraint. A game from 2014 typically runs on a few threads; the 14600KF’s 20 threads are irrelevant.

The CPU’s 90th percentile standing among all tested CPUs means that among the 3591‑place combo rank, it is the CPU’s high score that superficially lifts the combos average. Yet in practice the gaming results are entirely GPU‑limited.

FAQ

*Q: What is the CPU’s role in this combo for Thief?*

A: The Intel Core i5‑14600KF provides 14 cores and 20 threads with a 5.30 GHz boost clock. Its benchmark scores (Geekbench multi 17085, single 2445; Cinebench R23 multi 32553) rank it at the 90th percentile of all CPUs. In game, it never becomes a limiting factor; the measured FPS at 1080p Low is 74, and no configuration shows a CPU‑side stall.

Q: What FPS can this pair achieve at 4K, and is it playable?

A: At 3840×2160, the highest average FPS is 30 at Low settings. At Medium it is 23 FPS (min 19, max 26), at High 17, and Ultra 17. These figures fall well below 30 FPS for anything but Low, indicating that the GTX 1650’s 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth cannot feed the pixel load.

Q: Does the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM cause issues?

A: Only 4 GB is available, and at 4K with many assets the memory may be inadequate. The measured data does not show a VRAM‑specific stall, but the 4K MSAA or texture heavy scenes could not be tested. The closest evidence is the 30 FPS at 4K Low, which is the only 4K preset above 30 FPS. The card’s bandwidth is 128.1 GB/s.

Q: Why is the combo ranked 3591 out of 3720 if the CPU is excellent?

A: The ranking is based on the average FPS across all tested games for this CPU+GPU pair. The GTX 1650 performs at the 40th percentile of all GPUs (Passmark G3D 7880), while the CPU sits at 90th percentile. The GPU’s low pixel and texture rates (53.28 GPixel/s, 93.24 GTex/s) drag the overall performance, and the rank reflects that bottleneck.

Q: What is the best settings for 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: According to measured FPS, no tested preset reaches 60 fps. The closest is Low at 74 FPS, then Medium at 56 FPS. If you want stable 60 FPS on this GPU, you would need a custom profile — which is not in the data set. The highest preset with a measured average above 50 is Medium (56), so that is the only tested option that stays above 50.

Q: How does the GPU’s benchmark scores compare to nearby rivals?

A: The GTX 1650’s Passmark G3D score is 7880, its 3DMark Steel Nomad is 305, and its Geekbench OpenCL is 29629. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with an average G3D 7447 (0.3% higher), and the Intel UHD Graphics 750 (7441, 0.4% higher). The GPU is middling among the database.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5‑14600KF + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination is ranked 3591st out of 3720 tested combos in Thief. That places it in the bottom 7% of all configurations tested. The CPU alone sits at the 90th percentile of all CPUs (benchmark average 49394, with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 just 0.3% away). The GPU is at only the 40th percentile of all graphics cards (avg 7472, with the Intel Arc A310 1.0% higher). The gap between CPU and GPU performance is stark, and the game’s measured FPS confirms the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p Medium the pair delivers 56 FPS, but at 4K the same settings drop to 23. The rank reflects a CPU that is far too fast for the bundle, making the GPU the bottleneck that pins this combo to the mid‑low tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing‑based card with 896 shading units, 32 ROPs, and 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128‑bit interface. Its boost clock is 1665 MHz, and memory runs at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The card’s texture fill rate is 93.24 GTex/s and pixel rate is 53.28 GPixel/s. With these specs it delivers a 128.1 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU’s measured benchmark scores put it in 40th percentile of all GPUs: 3DMark Steel Nomad 305, Geekbench Vulkan 33042, 3DMark WinD3D 7880, and Passmark 3D 7880 — just a hair above the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (0.3% delta).

In this game, the card shows exactly why it lies on the low end. At 1080p the best settings, Low, hits 74 FPS, but Medium already drops to 56, High to 43, and Ultra to 41. The steep drop with quality implies the GPU has insufficient pixel‑fill capability. At 4K the card’s peak is 30 FPS at Low, and it drops to 17 at Ultra. The 4 GB VRAM is likely also a factor, but the main constraint is raw shading power. The GPU’s 2.984 TFLOPS FP32 and limited 128.1 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the game’s environmental detail at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

All values below are from the measured database for Intel Core i5‑14600KF + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650.

1920 × 1080:

• Low: 74 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average (min 48, max 65)
• High: 43 FPS average
• Ultra: 41 FPS average

2560 × 1440:

• Low: 51 FPS average
• Medium: 39 FPS average (min 26, max 45)
• High: 29 FPS average
• Ultra: 29 FPS average

3840 × 2160:

• Low: 30 FPS average
• Medium: 23 FPS average (min 19, max 26)
• High: 17 FPS average
• Ultra: 17 FPS average

At 1080p, the card manages alright, but at 1440p the frame rates start to slide, with High and Ultra both at ‑‑‑‑ below 30 FPS. 4K is effectively unusable except at the absolute minimal settings. The pattern illustrates a classic GPU‑bound configuration: the CPU never shifts the result, and the GTX 1650 leads to an unavoidable frame rate ceiling that scales with resolution and quality.