Thief

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a capable, high-end result in Thief, with this pairing placing at rank 282 out of 3,720 tested combos. The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four quality presets, revealing a system that remains well above 60 FPS at 4K and pushes toward 200 FPS at 1080p. The CPU and GPU both sit near the top of their respective performance percentile distributions—85th for the processor and 86th for the graphics card—while their benchmark scores and nearest rival deltas provide context for how this combo behaves specifically in this stealth title.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 282nd overall among 3,720 tested CPU–GPU combinations in Thief. That places the pairing roughly in the top eight percent of all tested combos, a strong showing consistent with values from both components. The Intel Core i7-12700KF carries a percentile of 85 among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms most desktop processors in aggregate marking. The RTX 4080, meanwhile, holds an percentile of 86 among GPUs. When these two are combined in this game, the great ranking underscores a systems that rarely feels constrained by either part.

The measured FPS spans a wide pit—from a high of 195 FPS at 1920x1080 Lowe settings, down to 72 FPS at 4K Ultra. This spread highlights that the bottleneck shifts depending on resolution and preset, but the floor remains playable. At no tested configuration does the average FPS fall below 72, which is near 60 Hz plus headroom. Even at 4K Ultra, the system produces a 72 FPS average, and only at that heavy setting does it dip close to 60. The rank, when combined with the FPS spread, suggests a combo that is not just top-tier in theory, but in practice for this title.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in Thief shows a clear pattern: the FPS drops as pixels increase, but the pace of the drop depends on the selected preset. At High settings, the average goes from 160 FPS at 1920p to 129 at 1440p, then to 76 at 4K. That is a 51% percent reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra, the decrement is similar: 157 FPS to 123 to 72. At Medium, the numbers run from 177 to 156 to 100, meaning 1440p gives up about 21% of 1080p performance while 4K sheds a further 35% relative to 1440p. Low settings show the largest absolute numbers: 195 FPS at 1080p, 172 at 1440p, and 131 at 4K.

These deltas reveal a GPU-limit condition in this title, particularly at higher presets and 1440p. The scaling from 1440p to 4K sacrifices roughly half of the increased pixel count into performance, which is typical of a heavily pixel-based work. Conversely, the transition from 1080p to 1440p for the same settings shows a smaller relative drop—about 20% to 25% depending on the preset. For example, at High, 160 at 1080p becomes 114 at 1440p (a 16% drop), while Low goes from 195 to 172, which is a 12% loss. The largest drop occurs in 4K, where the GPU's output bandwidth becomes the primary factor.

The fact that Low settings scale relatively better than closer to processor limits, not the GPU. At 108p Low, 195 FPS is likely pushing against the CPU's high‑thread efficiency. But as the settings are raised, the graphical load grows, and the RTX 4080 takes over as the limiting part. In per-resolution per‑setting data, Medium is the only preset with reported min and max frames.

FAQ

Q: What is the combination's rank among all tested combos in Thief?

A: It ranks at 282 out of 3,720 tested combinations.

Q: At 3840x2160 with Ultra, what is the average FPS?

A: The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 72.

Q: What are the core and thread counts of the processor?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has 12 cores and 20 threads.

Q: What is the GPU's memory size and type?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus.

Q: At 1440p High, does the system produce above 120 FPS?

A: Yes, the average FPS at 2560x1440 High is 129.

Q: Which component holds a higher percentile—CPU or GPU?

A: The GPU is at the 86th percentile, while the CPU is at 85th.

Settings Recommendations

The preset that best balances fluidity and visual quality depends on the target resolution. At 4K, the Medium setting yields a stable 100 FPS average, with a min of 85 and a max of 114. High drops to 76 FPS, and Ultra to 72, making Medium the obvious choice for a 4K display that supports high refresh rates. That same setting, at 1440p, produces a 156 FPS average (min 132, max 179), which is far beyond the frame rate of most 144 Hz displays. For 1080p, even Ultra gives 157 FPS, so all four presets run above 150 FPS average.

The Stealth genre of Thief does not necessarily require the fastest refresh rates, but the data shows that the system can comfortably target 144 Hz at 1440p and 100+ FPS at 4K. From a practical standpoint, the Medium preset appears to be the "sweet spot" at all three resolutions: it provides the largest margin over the refresh boundary while maintaining high fluidity. For example, at 4K Medium is 32% faster than High, and at 1440p Medium is 20% faster than High, while Ultra only yields a marginal image quality gain but at a cost of around 30 FPS relative to Medium. At 1080p, the difference between presets is narrower (195 vs. 177 vs. 160 vs. 157), but for maximum stutter avoidance, Medium's 177 FPS with a 150 min is the best trade.

Given that the game is a single-player title, there is no competitive reason to sacrifice graphical fidelity for high frames. However, because the measured numbers show a large headroom (e.g., 100 FPS at 4K Medium), users can afford to increase to High for a richer visuals while still staying smooth, but that would bring 4K down to 76 FPS, which may be acceptable for some. In the sliding cost of Ultra is a mere 4% over High at 4K, yet at 1440p and 1080p Ultra is almost as fast as High, so leaving it on Ultra is harmless. Overall, the data suggests setting the preset to Medium for 4K and 1440p, and Ultra for 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

All measured averages, along with the only min/max values provided (for Medium presets), are tabulated below.

| Resolution | Setting | Average FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|------------------------|-------------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 76 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 131 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 100 | 85 | 114 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 72 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 129 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 172 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 156 | 132 | 179 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 123 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 160 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 195 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 177 | 150 | 203 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 157 | — | — |

At 4K, the spread from Low to Ultra is 59 FPS (131 vs. 72). At 1440p, the spread is 49 FPS (172 to 123). At 1080p, the spread is just 38 FPS (195 to 157). This decreasing range indicates that the CPU’s or the engine’s frame ceiling at lower resolutions compresses the preset differences. The Medium preset's min/max data shows that the 1440p has a minimum of 132, meaning even at its slowest it stays above 100 FPS, and the 4K min is 85, which remains smooth. The 1800p Medium yields between 150 and 203, a span of 53 FPS, reflecting consistent frame.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost of 5.00 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The chip ships for a launch MSRP of $384, derived from its original retail price. The CPU’s benchmark profile shows a multi-thread score of 29,838 in Cinebench R23 and a single-thread score of 4,071, which places it near the top of the desktop CPU chart. In the database it holds an 85th percentile across all processors and a average benchmark score of 35,365. Its nearest rivals are the Core i7-13700T (avg 35403, –0.1% delta), Core i5-13600T (35305, +0.2%), Core 5 213PE (35428, –0.2%), and Core i7-12700K (35287, +0.2%). These deltas remain within 0.2%, meaning the CPU performance is equivalent among these four.

In Thief, the CPU's role is crucial pre-1080p Low and 1080p Medium. The jump from Low to Ultra at 1080p is only 38 FPS, and even at 1440p the system is able to maintain a positive average. According to the FPS scaling, the transition from 1440p to 4K causes a 40% to 45% drop at all presets, indicating that pixel count dominates over CPU throughput. The fact that at 4K Low reaches 131 FPS while at 4K Ultra falls to 72 strongly suggests the GPU is the primary limit. The CPU's fast single-thread performance (4,071 in Cinebench R23) is likely enough for the game's logic, and its multi-thread overhead is never taxed.

The processor's 12 cores and 20 logical threads might be overkill for a 2014 release, but the data shows no that. The game likely uses just a few threads, and the boost of 5.00 GHz provides the needed single-thread punch. In this combination, the CPU never pulls the FPS below 72 at 4K, and at 1080p Low it delivers 195 FPS, which is still 20% higher than the 160 FPS at High. The measured FPS at 1080p High and Ultra are nearly identical (160 vs. 157), suggesting that once the graphics pipeline is fully loaded, the CPU does not need to rest. Thus, the i7-12700KF is more than capable for Thief, and the RTX 4080 is the leading part in determining frame rate at higher resolutions.