Thief

The Intel Core i7-12700K pairs a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake-S design with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and a base clock of 3.60 GHz. In Thief, a stealth title from 2014, this CPU is far more capable than the game demands, meaning CPU-induced bottlenecks are virtually absent across all tested resolutions. The benchmark data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system delivers 155 FPS, and even at 4K Low, it maintains 63 FPS. The i7-12700K’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and multi-thread score of 9979 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for a game engine that may not scale perfectly across many threads. Given that Thief’s stealth gameplay involves complex AI and interactive environments, the 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom, but the actual limiting factor in this combo is the GPU, not the processor. The i7-12700K sits in the 84th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365, -0.2% delta), showing the i7-12700K is aligned with similarly performing chips in synthetic tests. In a game like Thief, where frame pacing depends more on the renderer, the CPU’s job is to feed the GPU efficiently; the data indicates it does so without becoming a constraint. When the GPU is the bottleneck, as seen when going from Low to Ultra settings, the CPU can still push enough draw calls and physics calculations to keep the GPU fully occupied. The end result is that the i7-12700K is a non-issue in Thief, allowing the RTX 2060 SUPER to be the definitive performance limiter.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1470 MHz, boosting to 1650 MHz. The GPU’s 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs handle the visual loads, while 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but unused in Thief, which does not feature ray tracing or DLSS. In this benchmark, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary variable. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 155 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 86 FPS. The trend highlights a 30% performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p, and the delta widens at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the GPU manages 35 FPS, while at 4K Low, it reaches 63 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is not saturated in Thief, as the game’s textures are modest by 2014 standards, but the GPU’s compute capacity is what limits performance. The RTX 2060 SUPER sits in the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, -0.4%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, -0.5%), placing it in the same performance class. The GPU’s pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s are relevant: at 4K, the pixel rate directly impacts fill rate, and the data shows the RTX 2060 SUPER can’t maintain 60 FPS at 4K on any preset. The GPU is the limiting factor, as shown by the fact that at 1080p Low, the CPU is not the bottleneck, but the GPU still caps the frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of degradation as resolution increases, and this is the key evidence for identifying the GPU as the bottleneck. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by a significant margin. For example, at High settings, the average FPS goes from 90 at 1080p to 62 at 1440p, a decline of 10%. At Low, the drop is from 155 to 107, a decline of 31%. At Medium, 118 to 81, a 31% decline. At Ultra, 86 to 59, a 31% drop. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all settings, indicating a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count is the primary factor. Moving to 4K, the declines are even steeper: at High, 62 to 36, a 42% drop; at Low, 107 to 63, a 41% drop; at Medium, 81 to 48, a 41% drop; at Ultra, 59 to 35, a 41% drop. These consistent percentage declines across settings and resolutions show that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component, not the CPU. The i7-12700K is more than enough to handle the CPU overhead, so the GPU’s rendering capabilities dictate the frame rate. The data indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions, but the CPU is not causing any dips. The frame times do not vary with resolution, suggesting that the CPU is not struggling. The resolution scaling is smooth and predictable, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The i7-12700K’s powerful multi-core performance (Cinebench R23 multicore 19784) and the game’s older engine don’t create any CPU limitation, so the GPU is the only component that matters for this benchmark.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Thief is provided across three resolutions and four settings, with 1080p results showing the highest performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 155 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset averages 90 FPS, with Medium at 118 FPS and Ultra at 86 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 69 FPS, indicating a significant impact of settings on the GPU. The 1080p Medium preset has a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS, showing a 36 FPS fluctuation, but the average is 118 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset reaches 107 FPS, High drops to 62 FPS, Medium to 81 FPS, and Ultra to 59 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 48 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS, with an average of 81 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 63 FPS, High 36 FPS, Medium 48 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS, with an average of 48 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 28 FPS. These numbers indicate that the GPU is the limiting component: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops, and at 4K, only the Low preset can maintain a playable frame rate above 60 FPS. The High 1080p FPS is 90, which is higher than the 1440p High FPS of 62, showing the GPU’s workload scales with resolution. The combos with the i7-12700K and RTX 2060 SUPER are limited by the GPU, and the CPU is not a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is ranked 2591 out of 3720 tested combos, putting it in the 31st percentile of all tested combinations. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier performance, while the CPU is high-tier. The combo rank is lower than what the CPU alone would suggest, because the GPU is the limiting factor. In Thief, the game’s frame rate is heavily dependent on the GPU, so the combo’s rank is determined by the RTX 2060 SUPER. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 18093, with a percentile of 62, which is well below the CPU’s percentile of 84. This difference in performance tiers is why the combo ranks 2591 out of 3720, as the GPU holds back the CPU. The i7-12700K’s nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks are all within 0.4% of its average score, but that does not translate to a higher combo rank because the GPU is the limiting factor. The GPU’s nearest rivals (RTX 3060 Mobile, Radeon Pro 5700) are also close in score, but none of them would change the combo’s rank significantly, as the CPU is not the bottleneck. The rank of 2591 out of 3720 shows that this combo is in the lower half of testing, but it’s important to note that Thief is a 2014 game, and the GPU is the primary reason for the rank. The combo’s performance is what you would expect from a mid-range GPU with a high-end CPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the best experience for this combo in Thief is at 1080p with the Medium preset. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 118 FPS average, with a minimum of 100 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS, which is smooth and above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1080p delivers 90 FPS average, which is also smooth, but the Medium preset offers a higher frame rate with a lower visual quality. The Low preset at 1080p hits 155 FPS, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. At 1440p, the Medium preset yields 81 FPS average, with a minimum of 69 FPS, which is still playable, but the High preset drops to 62 FPS average. At 4Kp, the Low preset is the only one that can sustain 63 FPS average, while Medium drops to 48 FPS, and High and Ultra are below 40 FPS. For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the recommended setting, as it offers 118 FPS average and the minimum stays above 100 FPS. If the user prefers higher resolution, the 1440p Medium preset at 81 FPS average is a good option, but the 4Kp Medium preset only averages 48 FPS, so the recommend is to stick to 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended due to the low frame rates, especially at 4Kp where the average is 35 FPS. The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium settings, providing a smooth experience. The Low preset at 1080p offers the highest FPS, but the Medium preset provides a 66% higher FPS than Ultra at the same resolution, making it the optimal choice for a balance of quality and performance.