Thief

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER lands at rank 956 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief. That places this setup in the lower-middle portion of the database, suggesting it is outclassed by a substantial majority of configurations tested for this title. The ranking reflects a system that can play the game, but it is not a top-tier performer, and users seeking maximum frame rates would need to look at higher-end hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 956 out of 1642 places this configuration in the 58th percentile of all tested systems in Thief. This is a mid-pack result, indicating that while the hardware is far from obsolete, it sits behind a significant number of more powerful combinations. The data suggests that approximately 686 tested combos deliver lower performance, while 955 offer higher frame rates, making this a decidedly average performer in the grand scheme of the database. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which holds a percentile rank of 65 against all GPUs, while the CPU is significantly stronger, sitting in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs. This imbalance means the combo's overall standing is dragged down by the graphics card, which is an older design compared to the relatively recent processor. The result is a system that is capable of running the game smoothly at lower resolutions and settings, but which will struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum graphical fidelity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The card's base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz are modest by modern standards, and its 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance is sufficient for a 2019-era title like Thief. The GPU's percentile rank of 65 against all GPUs places it just above the median, and its nearest rivals reflect this middling standing. The data shows it is 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z and 2.5% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 5700, but it trails the NVIDIA RTX A400 by 0.5% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile by 2.3%. In Thief, the GPU's performance is most evident in the scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 98.6 FPS, which is a playable frame rate. However, at 4K with the same settings, the frame rate drops to 37.3 FPS, a 62% reduction that clearly demonstrates the GPU struggling to fill the additional pixels. The card's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this title, which is a traditional rasterized game from 2014. The GPU's 215 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class, but its end-of-life production status indicates it is no longer a current product.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a much stronger component than the GPU, and in many scenarios, it is likely leaving performance on the table. With 14 cores (a mix of performance and efficiency cores) and 20 threads, it provides ample processing power for Thief, which is not a heavily threaded title. The CPU's base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensure that single-threaded performance is excellent, which is crucial for a game engine that relies on a few fast cores. The processor's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and a single-core score of 4643. Its percentile rank of 93 against all CPUs confirms that it is a high-end processor, and its average benchmark score of 49367 places it just 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-14600K and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. In the context of Thief, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and at resolutions below 4K, it is more than capable of doing so. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 172.1 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that is likely CPU-bound in some scenes. However, as the resolution increases, the frame rate drops, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's large 24 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility, but the system's overall performance is constrained by the GPU, which is the weaker link in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600KF a good match for the RTX 2070 SUPER in Thief?

A: The data indicates a significant imbalance. The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 65th percentile. This means the GPU is the limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions, leaving the CPU's potential untapped.

Q: What is the best resolution to play Thief with this combo?

A: The 1080p results are the strongest, with the system achieving 98.6 FPS on High and 127.7 FPS on Medium settings. At 1440p, the frame rates are still playable, with 70.3 FPS on High, but 4K performance drops significantly, with only 37.3 FPS on High, making it less ideal.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its closest rivals?

A: According to the benchmark data, the RTX 2070 SUPER is 0.9% faster than the GeForce GTX TITAN Z and 2.5% faster than the Radeon RX 5700. It is 0.5% slower than the RTX A400 and 2.3% slower than the RTX 4060 Mobile, placing it in a tight competitive group.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings in Thief?

A: Yes, at 1080p, the system achieves 95.5 FPS on Ultra, which is a smooth experience. At 1440p, the frame rate drops to 62.5 FPS on Ultra, which is still playable. However, at 4K, Ultra settings yield only 40.4 FPS, which may not be smooth enough for all users.

Q: Does the CPU's performance bottleneck the GPU in Thief?

A: No, the data suggests the opposite. The CPU is much stronger than the GPU, ranking in the 93rd percentile versus the GPU's 65th percentile. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K indicate that the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the system achieves 172.1 FPS on Low settings and 95.5 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 44.5% reduction in frame rate, showing that the graphical settings have a significant impact on performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p, the system is capable of very high frame rates, with the Low setting hitting 172.1 FPS. This suggests that the CPU is able to feed frames quickly, and the GPU is not yet overburdened. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop by roughly 30-35% across all settings. For example, High settings fall from 98.6 FPS at 1080p to 70.3 FPS at 1440p, and Medium settings fall from 127.7 FPS to 90.5 FPS. This is a typical scaling factor for a GPU with a 256-bit memory bus, as the increased pixel count demands more memory bandwidth and fill rate. The jump to 4K is where the performance takes a significant hit. At 4K High, the frame rate drops to 37.3 FPS, which is a 62% reduction from the 1080p High result. Low settings at 4K achieve 70.8 FPS, which is still playable, but High and Ultra settings fall to 37.3 FPS and 40.4 FPS respectively, indicating that the GPU is heavily saturated. This scaling pattern strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's performance is likely not the issue, as the frame rates at 1080p are very high, and the drop-off is consistent with a graphics card that lacks the raw compute power and memory bandwidth for 4K gaming. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply not enough to maintain high frame rates at that resolution, especially with higher graphical settings. The data points to a system that is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver a smooth experience, but which falls short at 4K.