Thief

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination delivers a playable but not flawless Thief experience at 4K, with the data showing 4K Ultra averaging 38.1 FPS. The combo ranks in the 21st percentile of all tested configurations (rank 1303 out of 1642), indicating that while this pairing is far from the top, it occupies a solid mid-tier position for this 2014 stealth title.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 84.2 FPS. This is the second-highest 1080p result, trailing only the 117.5 FPS achieved at Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 19774, which places it 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (average score 19680) and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (average score 19706).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The data shows a massive performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K (64.4 FPS vs 38.1 FPS respectively), which strongly indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher settings due to the increased rendering load.

Q: What is the best performing settings/resolution combination in the measured data?

A: The highest average FPS is 117.5, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 110 FPS.

Q: How many cores and threads does the Intel Core i5-9400 have?

A: The processor has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its synthetic benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 2060 SUPER?

A: The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its memory clock operates at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Thief, as evidenced by the steep FPS declines when moving from Low to Ultra presets. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 64.4 on Low to 38.1 on Ultra, a 40.8% reduction that directly corresponds to the GPU's rendering workload. The card's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, paired with a 256-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, proves sufficient for this title's texture demands at 4K, but the raw compute power becomes the limiting factor.

The GPU's clock behavior reinforces this interpretation. With a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, the RTX 2060 SUPER operates within a narrow frequency band, meaning performance scaling is driven by shader throughput rather than clock headroom. The card's 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs are tasked with filling 3840x2160 frames, and the data shows this becomes increasingly difficult as settings rise. The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores corroborate its mid-range position: an average score of 19774 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, and it sits just 0.5% above the RTX 2070 in average score.

Notably, the RTX 2060 SUPER's 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present in the silicon but have minimal relevance for Thief, a game released in 2014 that predates ray tracing and DLSS implementation. The FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS is the more relevant metric for this traditional rasterization workload. The transition from 1080p Low (117.5 FPS) to 4K Ultra (38.1 FPS) represents a 67.6% performance loss, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count and shading complexity scale faster than the card's fill rate can compensate.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the GPU becoming the bottleneck at higher pixel counts. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 117.5 at 1080p to 104.4 at 1440p (an 11.1% reduction) and then to 64.4 at 4K (a 38.3% reduction from 1440p). This non-linear scaling indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER handles the jump to 1440p with relative ease, but the 4K resolution overwhelms its 8 GB memory subsystem and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate.

The scaling pattern changes dramatically at Ultra settings. From 1080p Ultra (84.2 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (56.7 FPS), there is a 32.7% drop. Moving from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (38.1 FPS) results in another 32.8% reduction. This consistent percentage loss across both resolution steps suggests the GPU is operating at its compute limit, with no single resource (memory bandwidth, pixel fill, or shader throughput) becoming the sole bottleneck. By contrast, at Medium settings the 1080p to 1440p drop is 22.5% (107.1 to 83 FPS), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 39.2% (83 to 50.5 FPS), showing that the 4K penalty intensifies as settings increase.

These numbers indicate that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo in Thief. The average FPS at 1440p ranges from 56.7 on Ultra to 104.4 on Low, with High settings delivering 62.9 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings (64.4 FPS) achieve a playable frame rate, while Medium (50.5), Ultra (38.1), and High (36.4) all fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The resolution scaling analysis thus points to the GPU's 256-bit memory interface and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth as sufficient for 1440p but insufficient for consistent 4K performance at higher quality presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports Ultra settings at 1080p as the optimal experience, delivering 84.2 FPS while maximizing visual quality. This frame rate is comfortably above the 60 FPS target and represents a 2.9% improvement over High settings (87.5 FPS at High vs 84.2 FPS at Ultra), making the additional visual fidelity essentially free. At 1440p, High settings (62.9 FPS) provide the best balance, as Ultra drops to 56.7 FPS and Medium (83 FPS) sacrifices too much visual quality for a marginal frame rate gain.

For 4K users, the data presents a more constrained choice. Low settings (64.4 FPS) is the only preset that maintains playable frame rates, while Medium (50.5 FPS) and Ultra (38.1 FPS) both fall below the 60 FPS threshold. High settings at 4K (36.4 FPS) are the worst-performing configuration in the entire dataset, worse than Ultra at 4K (38.1 FPS), which is an anomaly likely related to specific game engine optimizations. Given these results, the recommendation is to prioritize 1080p Ultra for the full visual experience, or 1440p High if higher resolution is preferred over maximum settings.

The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution quantifies the GPU headroom available. At 1080p, the difference is 33.3 FPS (117.5 vs 84.2), at 1440p it is 47.7 FPS (104.4 vs 56.7), and at 4K it is 26.3 FPS (64.4 vs 38.1). This pattern shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER has the most headroom at 1440p, where the user can choose between high frame rates (Low/Medium) or high quality (High/Ultra) without severe compromises. The 1080p data suggests that the CPU still has some influence, as the 117.5 FPS on Low likely approaches the i5-9400's practical limit for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 + RTX 2060 SUPER configuration ranks 1303 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the bottom 20.6% of all systems. This rank of 1303 is notable because the individual components perform better in their respective synthetic benchmarks: the CPU sits at the 50th percentile (average benchmark score 2305) and the GPU at the 63rd percentile (average benchmark score 19774). The game-specific ranking being lower than either component's percentile suggests that Thief is particularly demanding on the combination's memory bandwidth or driver overhead.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are all within 0.6% of the i5-9400's 2305 average, including the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, delta 0.2%) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, delta 0.4%). This tight clustering indicates that processor performance is not a differentiator for this combo's ranking. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals are the GTX TITAN (19706, delta 0.3%) and RTX 2070 (19680, delta 0.5%), both of which would likely produce nearly identical results in Thief. The rank of 1303 thus reflects the overall system balance rather than any single component's strength.

Given that the combo rank falls in the 21st percentile, the data implies that the majority of tested systems (339 combos) achieve better performance in Thief. However, this ranking should be contextualized by the fact that many of those systems likely feature newer or higher-tier hardware. The i5-9400's 6-core/6-thread configuration, while dated, still delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969, and the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM is adequate for this game's 2014-era texture sizes. The measured FPS results confirm that this combo is playable but not competitive with high-end modern systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings achieve 117.5 FPS, Medium 107.1 FPS, High 87.5 FPS, and Ultra 84.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 33.3 FPS, a 28.3% reduction. This resolution shows the smallest performance gap between adjacent settings, with Medium to High representing the largest single-step drop of 19.6 FPS (107.1 to 87.5).

At 2560x1440, performance degrades more noticeably. Low settings produce 104.4 FPS, Medium 83 FPS, High 62.9 FPS, and Ultra 56.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra expands to 47.7 FPS (45.7% reduction). The High to Ultra transition is modest (6.2 FPS), but Medium to High is a substantial 20.1 FPS drop, indicating that the High preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results show significant strain. Low settings yield 64.4 FPS, Medium 50.5 FPS, High 36.4 FPS, and Ultra 38.1 FPS. Notably, Ultra outperforms High by 1.7 FPS, which is an inversion that suggests the High preset may trigger a specific rendering path that is less efficient than Ultra. The overall range from Low to Ultra is 26.3 FPS, and the 4K results confirm that this combo is limited to Low or Medium settings for playable performance at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400's role in Thief is secondary to the GPU but not negligible. With 6 cores and 6 threads, this Coffee Lake processor provides adequate single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125. The base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz ensure sufficient responsiveness, but the lack of hyper-threading (6 threads total) could limit performance in scenes with heavy AI or physics calculations. The 9 MB shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards but sufficient for a 2014 game.

The CPU's benchmark data shows it is a mid-pack performer, with a percentile rank of 50 and an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, delta 0.2%) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, delta 0.4%), all within a 0.6% band. This indicates that the i5-9400 is not a bottleneck for this game at lower resolutions, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. However, at 1080p Low (117.5 FPS), the CPU's 6 threads may begin to assert some influence, as frame rates above 100 FPS often require strong per-thread performance.

The memory support of DDR4 in dual-channel configuration provides 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Thief's data requirements. The CPU's PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes offers sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 2060 SUPER. The processor's 65W TDP and end-of-life production status (released 2018-10-18) indicate that it is a mature, stable platform. For Thief, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU without introducing frame pacing issues, and the measured FPS consistency across settings (as opposed to resolution) confirms that the i5-9400 handles this task adequately up to the GPU's performance ceiling.