Thief

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT ranks 911th out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the lower half of the database. The measured frame rates show a system that is clearly GPU-bound at high settings, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom for 1080p play but becoming less relevant as resolution climbs. The data indicates a pairing that delivers playable performance across most presets, though 4K Ultra remains a stretch.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 911 out of 1642 means 910 other combinations deliver higher average FPS in Thief, while 731 deliver lower. This places the pairing in the 45th percentile of tested combos, a below-median result. The CPU alone sits at the 50th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 2305, while the GPU reaches the 82nd percentile with an average score of 39647. The gap between component percentiles and the combo’s game-specific rank suggests that Thief’s engine does not fully leverage the GPU’s strengths, or that the CPU limits performance in certain scenarios. The CPU’s nearest rivals in average score are the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, +0.2%), Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, +0.2%), and Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, +0.4%), while the Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2319 (-0.6%). The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39703, -0.1%), NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, +0.2%), and AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39836, -0.5%). These margins are tiny, indicating that the individual components are near the middle of their respective performance bands, yet the game-specific outcome is below average.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s rank in Thief?

A: It ranks 911th out of 1642 tested combinations.

Q: What average FPS does the combo achieve at 1080p Ultra?

A: 93.6 FPS.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 9070 XT have?

A: 16 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: What is the CPU’s core and thread count?

A: 6 cores and 6 threads.

Q: What is the GPU’s boost clock?

A: 2970 MHz.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K High?

A: No, it averages 58.4 FPS at 4K High.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the dominant component in this pairing. It carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. Its base clock is 1660 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz and a boost clock of 2970 MHz. The GPU’s 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs provide substantial raw throughput, reflected in its 48.66 TFLOPS FP32 performance. In Thief, the GPU’s role becomes decisive at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 53.3, indicating that the rendering load exceeds the GPU’s capacity to maintain 60 FPS. The large VRAM and high bandwidth prevent memory bottlenecks even at 4K, but the compute workload still caps performance. The GPU’s launch MSRP is 599 USD. The data shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K High and Ultra, where the average FPS falls below 60, while at lower settings the GPU has enough headroom to push frame rates well above 80.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings, yielding twelve distinct averages. The full set is:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 58.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 86.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 81.1 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 53.3 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 84.6 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 107.2 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 92.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 87.4 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 96.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 119.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 106.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 93.6 |

At 1080p, all settings exceed 90 FPS, with Low reaching 119.7 and Ultra at 93.6. At 1440p, Low stays above 100 (107.2), while High and Ultra fall to 84.6 and 87.4 respectively. At 4K, only Low and Medium remain above 80 (86.7 and 81.1), while High and Ultra drop to 58.4 and 53.3. The 1440p Ultra result of 87.4 is notably higher than the 1440p High result of 84.6, an anomaly that suggests the Ultra preset may alter certain rendering paths in a way that benefits this particular GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts. For Low settings, the average FPS falls from 119.7 at 1080p to 86.7 at 4K. For Medium, it goes from 106.8 to 81.1. For High, from 96.2 to 58.4. For Ultra, from 93.6 to 53.3. The drop is smallest at Low and Medium, where the frame rate reduction is roughly 33 and 26 FPS respectively, while at High and Ultra the reduction is 37.8 and 40.3 FPS. This pattern indicates that at Low and Medium, the CPU and GPU share the load more evenly, so the resolution increase has a milder effect. At High and Ultra, the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck, and the added pixel count directly impacts rendering time. The 4K Ultra average of 53.3 is the lowest in the dataset, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component at the highest quality preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution. At 1080p, all four settings deliver averages above 90 FPS, so Ultra is the clear choice for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. At 1440p, Ultra yields 87.4 FPS, which is playable and actually higher than High’s 84.6, making Ultra the best option. At 4K, only Low and Medium maintain averages above 80 FPS (86.7 and 81.1). High and Ultra fall below 60, which may be acceptable for slower-paced stealth gameplay but is not ideal for high-refresh displays. Therefore, for 4K, Medium is the highest preset that keeps the average FPS above 80, while High and Ultra should be reserved for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate. The data shows no scenario where the combo fails to reach 50 FPS, but the 4K Ultra result of 53.3 is the only sub-60 average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 7969 and single-core score is 1125, placing it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs. In Thief, the CPU’s influence is most visible at 1080p Low, where the average FPS reaches 119.7—the highest in the dataset. This suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions and settings. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is only 12.5 FPS (119.7 to 107.2), indicating that the CPU is not a major constraint at that point. However, at 4K Low, the average falls to 86.7, a reduction of 20.5 FPS from 1440p Low, which points to the GPU taking over as the primary limiter. The CPU’s six threads are likely sufficient for Thief, a 2014 title that does not heavily utilize many cores. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz helps maintain responsiveness in single-threaded scenes, but the overall performance ceiling is set by the GPU at higher settings. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing; rather, it provides a stable foundation that allows the GPU to stretch its legs at 1080p and 1440p, while at 4K the GPU’s limits become the deciding factor.