Thief

Thief, released on 2014-02-24, is a stealth title that behaves unexpectedly with this pairing of an Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. The data shows a system where the GPU's immense capability is throttled by a dated six-core processor, yet the absolute frame rates remain playable across all tested configurations. The benchmark results indicate a classic bottleneck scenario, but one where the final output is still smooth enough for the game's deliberate pacing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a distinctive pattern in how performance degrades as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 98.9 FPS, which drops to 89.0 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 70.6 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 28.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is relatively modest for a GPU of this class. The RTX 4090's benchmark percentile of 91 against all GPUs suggests it should dominate at lower resolutions, but the data shows it does not scale as aggressively as expected.

Looking at the Low settings tier, the scaling is even flatter: 121.3 FPS at 1080p, 106.4 FPS at 1440p, and 90.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 25.7%, indicating that even when graphical load is minimal, the system cannot push much beyond 121 FPS. This is a strong indicator that the Intel Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, is the limiting factor. The CPU's base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz are sufficient for the game's logic, but the lack of hyper-threading and older Coffee Lake architecture cap the maximum frame delivery.

The most telling observation comes from comparing the resolution deltas at Ultra settings. From 1080p Ultra at 93.9 FPS to 1440p Ultra at 85.4 FPS is a 9.0% drop, while moving to 4K Ultra at 70.9 FPS adds another 17.0% reduction. This non-linear scaling suggests that at 4K, the GPU is finally starting to become the primary workload driver, but the CPU's ceiling is still visible in the absolute numbers. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are nowhere near saturated at any resolution, confirming that memory bandwidth is not the constraint here.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings overwhelming specifications to this 2014 title, but the measured results show that raw power does not translate linearly to performance. The card operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz, with 16384 shading units and 512 TMUs. In Thief, the GPU's role is largely relegated to handling the game's DirectX 11 rendering pipeline, which is not optimized for modern hardware. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 326 and DirectX 12 score of 150 for this GPU indicate that its architectural strengths lie in newer APIs, which Thief does not fully utilize.

The VRAM allocation is a non-issue in this scenario. With 24 GB of GDDR6X, the card has eight times more memory than any practical need for a 2014 title. The data shows no frame rate collapse at 4K Ultra, which would be the first sign of VRAM exhaustion, so the memory subsystem is clearly idle. The texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s are far beyond what Thief's engine can request, making the GPU role one of a high-speed renderer waiting on the CPU.

The performance ceiling imposed by the CPU becomes evident when examining the GPU's benchmark scores. The RTX 4090 achieves an average benchmark score of 66473, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, yet in Thief it cannot exceed 121.3 FPS even at Low settings. This is a 2014 game with relatively simple geometry and lighting, so the CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory at 42.7 GB/s are likely the true bottleneck. The GPU is essentially running at a fraction of its potential, as evidenced by the modest FPS gains when lowering resolution.

FAQ

Q: Why does the RTX 4090 not produce higher frame rates in Thief at 1080p?

A: The data shows a hard ceiling around 121.3 FPS at 1080p Low, which does not scale up with the GPU's massive compute capability. The Intel Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads and a 50th percentile ranking against all CPUs, cannot feed the GPU fast enough, making the processor the limiting component.

Q: Is the game more CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo achieves 70.9 FPS, which is still high, but the scaling from 1440p to 4K shows the GPU beginning to take on more load. However, the fact that Low settings at 4K only yield 90.1 FPS versus 121.3 FPS at 1080p indicates the CPU still imposes a significant constraint even at the highest resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Thief?

A: The comboRankInGame places this pairing at rank 865 out of 1642 combos, which is just below the median. This is surprising given the GPU's top-tier status, but it reflects the CPU's modest standing, where the i5-9400 is within 0.6% of rivals like the Intel Core i7-8809G and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon E-2134.

Q: Does the game benefit from the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM?

A: No measurable benefit is observed. The frame rates do not degrade at 4K Ultra, which would indicate VRAM pressure, but the GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is never stressed by a 2014 title. The VRAM is effectively idle, contributing nothing to the performance ceiling.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings produce 89.0 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 85.4 FPS. This 3.6 FPS difference (4.0% drop) is minimal, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual features that are nearly free for the GPU, but the CPU's limitation keeps both settings in a narrow performance band.

Q: Could a newer CPU with the same GPU yield better results?

A: The data does not include such a comparison, but the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 with a 0.2% deltaPct, show that any improvement would be marginal. The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 is nearly identical to its closest competitors, implying that only a substantial CPU upgrade would meaningfully raise the FPS ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the lowest average is 70.6 FPS on High settings, which is just 0.3 FPS below the Ultra preset's 70.9 FPS. The Medium setting yields 81.2 FPS, and Low pushes to 90.1 FPS. This 27.6% spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is surprisingly narrow, again pointing to the CPU as the primary limiter. The consistency between High and Ultra at 4K (70.6 vs 70.9) is notable, as the extra visual fidelity costs almost nothing in performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 106.4 FPS at Low, 94.1 FPS at Medium, 89.0 FPS at High, and 85.4 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra expands to 21.0 FPS (19.7%), which is larger than at 4K, but still constrained. The step from Medium to High at 1440p is 5.1 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra is only 3.6 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns on the highest preset.

At 1920x1080, the numbers are highest across the board: 121.3 FPS at Low, 107.5 FPS at Medium, 98.9 FPS at High, and 93.9 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 13.8 FPS, which is the largest single-setting delta in the entire dataset. This indicates that the Medium preset introduces significant computational load, but the CPU still manages to deliver over 100 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p is only 4.9 FPS below High, showing that the game's Ultra settings are not particularly demanding for this GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this pairing at 865 out of 1642 tested combos, putting it in the 52.7th percentile of all systems. This is a surprisingly low rank for a GPU that sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. The disconnect is explained by the CPU's 50th percentile ranking, which drags the overall combo down. The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2300 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i3-1125G4 at 2299 (0.2% faster), and the Intel Xeon E-2134 at 2295 (0.4% faster). The only rival that is slower is the Intel Core i7-8809G at 2319, which is 0.6% behind.

In the context of Thief, this rank means that hundreds of other combos, likely pairing mid-range CPUs with older GPUs, achieve better frame rates. The data shows that the RTX 4090's raw power is wasted here, as the game's engine cannot leverage the GPU's features. The GPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 at 66733 (0.4% faster) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 at 67097 (0.9% faster), are professional cards that would likely perform similarly in this game due to the CPU bottleneck.

The rank of 865 out of 1642 is a clear signal that this hardware combination is poorly matched for Thief. A system with a stronger CPU and a less powerful GPU would likely rank higher, as the game's performance is capped by the processor. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (121.3) is respectable, but it is the absolute maximum, and any resolution or settings increase only lowers the frame rate from there. This combo is functional for Thief, providing smooth gameplay, but it does not showcase the GPU's capabilities, and the benchmark data confirms that the CPU is the decisive factor in determining overall rank.