Thief

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable, albeit not flawless, experience in Thief, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combination provides a high refresh rate experience on Medium and High presets, but 4K gaming requires significant compromises. The data indicates this is a balanced pairing where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom for the game's engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combination for Thief?

A: The combo ranks 1189 out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems for this specific title.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF a strong processor for gaming?

A: Yes, the CPU sits in the 89th percentile of all tested CPUs, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general benchmark tests, which suggests it is more than capable for gaming workloads.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 2060 SUPER have, and is it sufficient?

A: The GPU comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is generally sufficient for the tested settings, though it may be a limiting factor at the highest resolutions and presets.

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth 60+ FPS experience?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves an average of 59.8 FPS, which is near the target. For a guaranteed smooth experience above 60 FPS, the 1920x1080 resolution with High settings delivers an average of 90.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its closest rival, the RTX 2070?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is only 0.5% lower than the RTX 2070's score of 19680, indicating near-identical raw performance in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock speed?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, which helps ensure high single-threaded performance that is often critical for game logic.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this specific hardware configuration at rank 1189 out of 1642 tested combos for Thief. This position, which is in the 28th percentile of tested systems, suggests that while the combination is capable of running the game, there are many other hardware pairings that deliver superior frame rates. The ranking indicates that this is not a top-tier configuration for this title, and users should have moderate expectations for maximum settings at higher resolutions.

The ranking is likely a result of the balance between the components. The CPU's high percentile rank (89th) contrasts with the GPU's more modest 63rd percentile ranking. This discrepancy suggests that the graphics card is the component holding the system back from achieving higher scores in this GPU-intensive game. The CPU has significant headroom, but the GPU's performance ceiling prevents the combo from climbing higher in the overall rankings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It features a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, which provides substantial processing power. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a single-thread score of 1043 in 3dmark, which is a strong indicator of its ability to handle the primary game logic thread that Thief relies on. The multi-threaded performance is equally robust, with a 3dmark max thread score of 9983.

Given that the CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, it is clearly not the limiting factor in this configuration. The data shows that the CPU can produce frame rates that far exceed what the GPU can render. For instance, at 1080p Low settings, the average FPS is 153.5. This high frame rate reflects the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with enough data, as a weaker processor would likely bottleneck the frame rate at lower resolutions where the GPU workload is lighter. The 25 MB of shared L3 cache also aids in keeping frequently accessed data close to the cores.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Measured performance varies significantly across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combination is capable of high frame rates. The Low preset yields an average of 153.5 FPS, Medium produces 121 FPS, High achieves 90.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 87.4 FPS. These figures show that at 1080p, the system is well-suited for high-refresh-rate monitors, with even the most demanding preset remaining above 85 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset averages 104.4 FPS, Medium drops to 82.2 FPS, and High falls to 59.8 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 58.8 FPS. This resolution remains playable, but the drop from High to Ultra is minimal, suggesting the GPU is beginning to hit its limits. At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit. The Low preset manages an average of 65.1 FPS, but Medium drops to 45.4 FPS. The High preset averages 35.7 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 35.2 FPS. This shows that 4K gaming is only viable on the Low preset for a smooth experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing architecture GPU with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. It is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU's raw compute power is rated at 7.181 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This specification set places the GPU in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, firmly in the mid-range segment for its time.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU can push frame rates high enough to expose the GPU's limits. However, at 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become the clear bottlenecks. The data shows a dramatic drop in performance from the High preset at 1440p (59.8 FPS) to the High preset at 4K (35.7 FPS), a reduction of over 40%. This indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is not powerful enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the CPU's capabilities. Its nearest rival, the RTX 2070, has an average benchmark score only 0.5% higher, confirming that this GPU sits at a specific performance tier.

Settings Recommendations

For a 1920x1080 display, the High preset is the optimal choice. It delivers an average of 90.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, while still providing a significant visual upgrade over the Medium preset. The Ultra preset offers only a marginal performance cost (87.4 FPS) but may be preferred for users who prioritize visual fidelity over a few extra frames. The Low preset is unnecessary at this resolution, as even the Ultra preset is playable.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset provides the best balance, achieving an average of 82.2 FPS. The High preset, at 59.8 FPS, is just below the ideal 60 FPS mark, but it remains a viable option for users who prefer higher visual quality over a perfectly locked frame rate. The Ultra preset offers almost no benefit over High (58.8 FPS), so it is not recommended. For 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 65.1 FPS. All other presets fall below 50 FPS, which is not ideal for a stealth game where smooth camera movement is important.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At 1080p High, the average frame rate is 90.9 FPS. This drops to 59.8 FPS at 1440p High, a reduction of 34%. When moving to 4K High, the frame rate plummets to 35.7 FPS, which is a 61% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep decline is a classic sign that the GPU's rendering capabilities are being saturated.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. For example, on the Medium preset, the frame rate drops from 121 FPS at 1080p to 82.2 FPS at 1440p (a 32% decrease) and then to 45.4 FPS at 4K (a 45% decrease from 1440p). The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the frame rate scales almost linearly with the number of pixels rendered. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance difference between resolutions, particularly at the lower settings where the CPU workload is relatively higher. The significant performance drop at 4K confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary constraint in this pairing.