Thief

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a revealing performance profile in Thief, a 2014 stealth title. The measured data shows a system that is capable at mainstream resolutions but begins to show its limitations as pixel count and graphical fidelity rise. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results across resolutions and settings, examining the roles of the CPU and GPU, and contextualizing the combo’s overall standing.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a steep and consistent decline in average frame rates across all settings, indicating a clear shift in the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 119 at 1920x1080 to 91 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 28 frames. Moving to 3840x2160, the average falls further to 54, representing a 65-frame drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern suggests that at lower resolutions and settings, the workload is not fully saturating the GPU, allowing the CPU to push higher frame rates.

The scaling behavior becomes more pronounced at higher settings. At Medium, the average FPS is 101 at 1080p, 69 at 1440p, and 41 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 28 frames, which is a larger absolute decline than the 32-frame drop from 1080p to 1440p. This indicates that as the preset increases, the GPU becomes more heavily utilized, and the resolution scaling begins to follow a more traditional curve where 4K demands a significantly higher pixel throughput.

At High settings, the pattern continues with averages of 77, 53, and 31 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with averages of 73, 50, and 29 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 44 frames, suggesting that the Ultra preset places a substantial load on the Arc B570’s rendering pipeline. The data indicates that while the CPU can deliver high frame rates at 1080p, the GPU’s capabilities become the limiting factor as resolution increases, particularly at higher settings where the gap between 1440p and 4K performance narrows.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the primary driver of performance in this configuration, and its specifications explain the observed frame rates. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for Thief at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows that at 4K, the combination of higher resolution and demanding settings begins to strain the memory subsystem. The average FPS of 29 at 4K Ultra confirms that the GPU is working at its limit.

The Arc B570’s clock behavior is notable: both base and boost clocks are locked at 2500 MHz. This fixed clock speed means the GPU does not have additional headroom to compensate for increased load, making its raw throughput the sole determinant of performance. With 2304 shading units and 80 ROPs, the pixel fill rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s. These figures directly influence how quickly the GPU can process the visual data in Thief, and they align with the measured frame rates.

The GPU’s overall benchmark standing places it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, has a nearly identical average score of 20582, with a deltaPct of -0.1. This proximity in synthetic benchmarks suggests that the B570’s real-world performance in Thief is representative of its class. However, the measured data shows that the B570 cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra, where the average of 29 FPS falls below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance is achieved at Medium settings for most resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 101 FPS, which is significantly higher than the 77 FPS at High and 73 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset also provides a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. This makes Medium the recommended setting for 1080p, as it offers a substantial performance margin over higher presets while still providing a noticeable upgrade from Low.

At 2560x1440, Medium remains the best choice, with an average of 69 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 1440p averages 53 FPS, which is playable but closer to the edge, while Ultra drops to 50 FPS. For users prioritizing frame rate stability, Medium at 1440p is the clear winner, as the 35 FPS minimum at 4K Medium demonstrates the GPU’s limits at higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves an average above 60 FPS. The Low preset at 54 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, while Medium averages 41 FPS and High/Ultra fall to 31 and 29 FPS, respectively. For 4K, the data suggests that users must accept either Low settings for a playable experience or reduce the resolution. The Low preset at 4K is the only viable option for maintaining a frame rate above 50 FPS, but it sacrifices most visual fidelity. Therefore, the recommendation is to use Medium at 1080p or 1440p, and only use Low at 4K if higher resolution is a priority.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 119 at Low to 73 at Ultra. The Low preset delivers the highest performance, with averages that leave ample headroom for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium provides a balanced 101 FPS average, with a minimum of 86 and a maximum of 116. High averages 77 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects have a minimal impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops across all presets. Low averages 91 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium averages 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 and a maximum of 79, indicating that the 1% lows are near the 60 FPS threshold. High averages 53 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 16 FPS, which is more pronounced than at 1080p, showing that the GPU’s fill rate becomes a limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS falls below 60 for all presets. Low averages 54 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 47, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 13 FPS drop, and the step from Medium to High is a 10 FPS drop. The performance at 4K Ultra is the lowest measured, at 29 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. These numbers illustrate a clear hierarchy: the system is well-suited for 1080p, capable at 1440p with settings adjusted, and marginal at 4K.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest average frame rates across all settings, with the Low preset reaching 119 FPS and Medium achieving 101 FPS. This is the recommended resolution for maximizing performance.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Thief?*

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 54 at Low to 29 at Ultra. Only the Low preset approaches playability, while Medium and above fall below 45 FPS. The GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium averages 69 FPS, while High averages 53 FPS. This is a 16 FPS difference, making Medium the better choice for maintaining a frame rate comfortably above 60 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 35 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Medium preset. This indicates that the system can experience frame drops at 4K even when the average is acceptable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game’s performance?

A: The measured data shows that as resolution increases, the average FPS drops significantly, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, the CPU can maintain high frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU’s limits are reached.

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 119, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The lowest average FPS is 29, achieved at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its specifications are sufficient for Thief. The CPU has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It is built on the Coffee Lake architecture and features 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel capability, offering a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. These specs are adequate for a game released in 2014, which does not demand high core counts.

The CPU’s benchmark scores place it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 2254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with a score of 2259 and a deltaPct of -0.2, and the Intel Core i7-10710U with a score of 2248 and a deltaPct of 0.3. This puts the i5-9400 in the mid-range tier for processors, which is consistent with its performance in Thief.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS of 119 is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame rate output for this game. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU’s role diminishes. At 4K, the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the GPU’s render times dominate. The i5-9400’s single-core performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935, is sufficient to feed the Arc B570 at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s capabilities cap the overall frame rate at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2351 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places the combo in the lower half of all tested configurations, which is a direct result of the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions and settings. The rank reflects that while the system is competent at 1080p, it does not excel in scenarios that demand high GPU throughput.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 65 is notably higher than the CPU’s percentile of 47, indicating that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing. However, the combo’s overall rank is dragged down by the CPU’s mid-range standing. The nearest GPU rivals, such as the Intel Arc A750, show similar synthetic performance, but the combo’s rank in Thief suggests that the specific workload of this game does not favor the B570’s architecture.

The rank of 2351 out of 2851 means that 500 combos perform worse, while over 2300 perform better. This positioning is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows that the system cannot achieve high frame rates at 4K and struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 1440p with high settings. The combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it delivers strong performance, but its overall standing in the benchmark database reflects its limitations in more demanding scenarios.