Thief

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B370 in Thief represents a significant bottleneck scenario, where the processor's high-end capabilities are largely neutralized by the integrated graphics solution. Benchmark results show this combo ranks 2634 out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems, with the GPU's performance ceiling being the primary constraint across all tested resolutions and settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this combo in Thief?*

A: The combination ranks 2634 out of 2851 tested combos, placing it in the 8th percentile of all systems tested. This indicates that while the CPU is capable, the overall gaming experience is severely limited by the graphics subsystem.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700K compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287, which is nearly identical to its closest rivals. It trails the Intel Core i5-13600T by 0.1%, the Intel Core i7-12700KF by 0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.3%, while being 0.4% behind the Intel Core 5 213PE.

Q: What is the best average FPS achievable at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded at 1920x1080 is 78 FPS with Low settings. At Medium settings, the average drops to 59 FPS, and at High settings it falls to 45 FPS, with Ultra producing 43 FPS.

Q: Does the Arc B370 have dedicated VRAM?

A: No, the Intel Arc B370 uses System Shared memory. Its memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," with bandwidth being "System Dependent," meaning performance relies entirely on the host system's memory configuration.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B370 ranks in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184. Its nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186, which is only 0.2% higher.

Q: How does the FPS scale from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 59 at 1920x1080 to 41 at 2560x1440, and further to 24 at 3840x2160. This represents a 59% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2634 out of 2851 tested combinations places it firmly in the lower echelon of gaming systems for Thief. This position is not a reflection of the CPU's capabilities, but rather a direct consequence of the GPU's performance profile. The Intel Core i7-12700K sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, demonstrating strong processing power, yet the system's overall gaming performance is dragged down by the Arc B370, which sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This massive disparity between component tiers creates a situation where the CPU is almost never the limiting factor. The data indicates that the system is operating far below what the processor could support, with the GPU acting as a hard cap on frame rates. For context, the gap between the CPU's percentile and the combo's overall rank suggests that the graphics solution is the dominant variable in determining in-game performance. The benchmark results consistently show that even at lower resolutions where CPU load typically increases, the FPS numbers remain low, confirming that the GPU cannot deliver the frame rates the CPU could theoretically facilitate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and can boost up to 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a 25 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance, scoring 19784 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 12229 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Single-thread performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2308. The CPU's average benchmark score of 35287 places it at the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13600T, scoring 35305, a mere 0.1% difference. In the context of Thief, a game from 2014, the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are vastly more than what the title requires. The game's engine was designed for an era of quad-core processors, meaning the i7-12700K's additional cores and high boost clocks are largely underutilized. The measured FPS data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a bottleneck; even at 1080p Low settings, where CPU demands are highest relative to GPU load, the system only achieves 78 FPS. This is a clear indicator that the processor is not the limiting factor. The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by its PassMark single-thread score of 4013, would be more than sufficient to drive frame rates well above 100 FPS in this title, but the GPU prevents this from occurring. The data suggests that the i7-12700K is operating in a state of significant underutilization, with its capabilities far exceeding what the graphics subsystem can deliver in this specific game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern of performance that scales predictably with both resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 78 FPS on Low settings, 59 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting provides a measured range of 50 to 68 FPS, indicating some frame time variance, but no minimum FPS data is available for other settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 53 on Low, 41 on Medium, 31 on High, and 29 on Ultra. At this resolution, the Medium setting shows a range of 35 to 47 FPS. At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit, with Low producing an average of 31 FPS, Medium 24 FPS, High 18 FPS, and Ultra 17 FPS. The 4K Medium setting is the only one with complete min/max data, showing a range of 20 to 27 FPS. The scaling between settings is relatively consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 35 FPS, or roughly 45%. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 24 FPS, and at 4K, it shrinks to 14 FPS. This trend indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more saturated, and the relative impact of settings adjustments diminishes. The absolute numbers are all quite low for a modern gaming experience, with even the best-case scenario of 78 FPS at 1080p Low being only marginally acceptable. The data shows that the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1080p on Medium settings, which would typically be considered a baseline for playable performance. The lack of min/max data for most configurations limits the analysis of frame pacing, but the available data for Medium settings across all resolutions shows no extreme frame time spikes, suggesting relatively stable, albeit low, performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W. The GPU features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation pipelines, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 12.29 TFLOPS of FP16 performance. The memory subsystem is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM, making bandwidth dependent on the host system's memory configuration. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the Arc B370 scores 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This low percentile is reflected in its nearest rivals, which include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (scoring 1186, 0.2% higher) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (scoring 1190, 0.5% higher). These rivals are all legacy or low-end parts, underscoring the GPU's limited performance envelope. In Thief, the GPU's role is the primary determinant of the measured FPS. The system-shared memory architecture is particularly problematic for a game like Thief, which was released in 2014 and likely benefits from dedicated VRAM. The shared memory setup means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, potentially exacerbating performance issues. The 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs are modest numbers, and they directly limit the fill rate and texture processing capabilities, which are critical for a game with detailed environments. The GPU's boost clock of 2400 MHz is relatively high, but the low core count and memory limitations prevent it from translating into meaningful gaming performance. The data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck in this system, as evidenced by the fact that FPS scales almost linearly with resolution, a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the user's resolution preference and tolerance for lower frame rates. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, which is the only configuration that approaches what could be considered smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 59 FPS, which is borderline playable but may suffer from occasional dips given the 50 FPS minimum recorded. For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, 1080p Low is the clear choice, as it offers a playable experience. At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields 53 FPS, which is acceptable for a slower-paced stealth game, but the Medium preset drops to 41 FPS, which may feel sluggish. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p produce 31 FPS and 29 FPS respectively, which are likely too low for comfortable gameplay. At 3840x2160, all settings produce averages below 35 FPS, with Low at 31 FPS, Medium at 24 FPS, High at 18 FPS, and Ultra at 17 FPS. None of these are recommended for a playable experience. The data suggests that the best experience is achieved at 1080p with Low settings, which provides the highest average FPS of any configuration. For users who can tolerate lower frame rates, 1440p Low may be acceptable, but the 53 FPS average is still marginal. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a balance between visual quality and performance, but the 59 FPS average and 50 FPS minimum indicate that the system is right at the edge of smooth gameplay. Given the GPU's 5th percentile ranking, there are no settings that will provide a high-quality, high-frame-rate experience. The recommendation is to prioritize frame rate at 1080p, using the Low preset as the default, and only consider higher settings if the user is willing to accept sub-50 FPS performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern, where performance drops dramatically as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 45 at 1080p to 31 at 1440p, a 31% reduction, and then to 18 at 4K, a further 42% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 60%. At Low settings, the scaling is similar, with 78 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p (a 32% drop), and 31 FPS at 4K (a 42% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low is 60%. The Medium settings show a slightly different pattern, with 59 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p (a 31% drop), and 24 FPS at 4K (a 41% drop from 1440p), totaling a 59% reduction. This consistent scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions and settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K, as the GPU workload increases but the CPU workload remains relatively constant. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally with the increase in pixel count, which is characteristic of a system where the GPU is fully saturated. The 4K resolution, with its 3840x2160 pixel count, presents a workload that is over 4 times that of 1080p, and the measured FPS reflects this, with averages dropping to less than a third of the 1080p values. This analysis confirms that the Intel Arc B370 is operating at its limits even at 1080p, and the additional pixel throughput required at higher resolutions simply overwhelms the GPU's limited ROP and texture processing capabilities. The system-shared memory architecture likely also contributes to the scaling, as memory bandwidth constraints become more pronounced at higher resolutions where larger framebuffers are required.