Thief

# Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Thief with the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER reveals a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 157.7 FPS, which drops to 108.5 FPS at 1440p and further to 66.2 FPS at 4K. That represents a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 39% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear; the steepness of the curve suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

Looking at the High preset row, the same trend appears: 88.7 FPS at 1080p, 60.5 FPS at 1440p, and 34.2 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 32%, and from 1440p to 4K it's about 43%. The increasing percentage loss at each step indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering resources are being saturated more aggressively at higher resolutions. This is typical behavior for a mid-range GPU paired with a very fast CPU — the i7-13700K is not the limiting factor here, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate (34.9 FPS) is still well above what would indicate a CPU stall.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads are more than enough to feed the GPU, and the frame rates are likely GPU-bound even at Low settings. At 4K, the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed hard, and the 34.2 FPS at High settings suggests that the card is near its limits. Interestingly, the gap between Low and High settings at 4K is 32 FPS (66.2 vs 34.2), while at 1080p that same gap is 69 FPS (157.7 vs 88.7). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions is a signature of GPU-bound scenarios, where lowering settings cannot fully compensate for the raw pixel throughput required.

# Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

When analyzing the measured rows for the best experience, the Medium preset stands out as the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 120.7 FPS, which is only 37 FPS below Low but 32.5 FPS above High. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 32 FPS (120.7 to 88.7), which is a significant hit for what is typically a modest visual improvement in a 2014 stealth title. At 1440p, Medium provides 83 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while High drops to 60.5 FPS and Ultra falls to 57.7 FPS. The data suggests that Medium offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom.

At 4K, the situation changes. Medium yields 45.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. High and Ultra are nearly identical at 34.2 FPS and 34.9 FPS respectively, indicating that the GPU is so constrained that the extra settings overhead makes little difference. Low at 4K produces 66.2 FPS, which is the only preset that clears 60 FPS at this resolution. For users prioritizing smoothness at 4K, Low is the only viable option, but the 21 FPS gap between Low and Medium (66.2 vs 45.8) suggests that Medium is a significant visual upgrade that many would accept at the cost of some smoothness.

The Ultra preset is consistently close to High across all resolutions, with differences of only 0.5 FPS at 1080p, 2.8 FPS at 1440p, and 0.7 FPS at 4K. This indicates that Ultra's additional settings have minimal impact on this particular combo, making High a more efficient choice for those seeking the highest quality without the negligible performance penalty. Overall, the data points to Medium as the recommended preset for most users, with Low reserved for 4K play and High/Ultra for those who prioritize visuals over frame rate.

# FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best frame rate achievable with this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 157.7 at 1080p with Low settings. The Medium preset delivers 120.7 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 88.7 and 88.2 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the combo rank against other tested configurations in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 1144 out of 1642 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all configurations. This is despite the CPU being in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER sufficient for 4K gaming in Thief?

A: At 4K, the card achieves 66.2 FPS on Low settings, 45.8 FPS on Medium, and 34.2 FPS on High. Only Low settings clear 60 FPS, so 4K gaming is possible but requires significant visual compromises.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark percentile and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-13700K is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 47282 is 0.1% behind the Intel Core i7-13700KF (47334) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P (47131). It is also 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900F (47081) and 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 (47527).

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between 1440p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the combo delivers 83 FPS at 1440p and 45.8 FPS at 4K, a drop of 37.2 FPS. This represents a 45% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the significant cost of rendering at 4K.

# Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 157.7, Medium 120.7, High 88.7, and Ultra 88.2. The spread between Low and Ultra is 69.5 FPS, which is the largest across all resolutions, indicating that the GPU has headroom to accommodate settings changes without being fully saturated. The near-identical High and Ultra scores (88.7 vs 88.2) suggest that Ultra's additional effects have negligible cost at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the values are: Low 108.5, Medium 83, High 60.5, and Ultra 57.7. The drop from Low to Medium is 25.5 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 22.5 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 2.8 FPS, again showing diminishing returns from Ultra settings. The 1440p data shows a more compressed range than 1080p, with a total spread of 50.8 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low 66.2, Medium 45.8, High 34.2, and Ultra 34.9. The spread narrows to 32 FPS, and notably, Ultra actually performs slightly better than High (34.9 vs 34.2), though this is within typical measurement variance. The 4K data reveals that even with Low settings, the GPU cannot reach the frame rates seen at 1440p High, confirming that pixel throughput is the dominant constraint.

# How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1144 out of 1642 tested combinations in Thief. This places it in approximately the 30th percentile of all tested combos, meaning roughly 70% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The rank is notably lower than what the CPU's individual performance might suggest — the i7-13700K is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER is in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. This disparity indicates that the GPU is dragging the combo down in a game that is likely more GPU-intensive than CPU-intensive.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 19774, which is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (19680). This places the 2060 SUPER in a tight cluster with these rivals, yet in Thief, the combo's rank suggests that this level of GPU performance is not sufficient to push the frame rates into the higher tiers. The CPU's nearest rivals — the i7-13700KF, EPYC 4364P, and i9-12900F — all have similar average scores (within 0.5%), yet the combo rank reflects the total system performance, not just the CPU.

For context, the combo rank of 1144 out of 1642 means that there are 498 other combos that perform worse, but also 1143 that perform better. This places the system in a position where it can handle Thief at playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it will struggle at 4K with high settings. The rank is a reminder that in a 2014 game, the RTX 2060 SUPER's mid-range positioning is the key constraint, and even a top-tier CPU like the i7-13700K cannot fully compensate.

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, and it has 30 MB of shared L3 cache plus 2 MB of L2 cache per core. In benchmark tests, the CPU achieves a single-thread score of 1136 in 3DMark and 5505 in Cinebench R23 single-core, while multi-thread scores reach 12412 in 3DMark max threads and 39000 in Cinebench R23 multicore. These numbers place the CPU in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47282.

In Thief, the CPU's role is largely to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. Given that the game was released in 2014, it is unlikely to utilize all 24 threads effectively, and the high single-thread performance of the i7-13700K (passmark single-thread score of 4333) ensures that even poorly optimized game code will not be CPU-bound. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 157.7 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit or the GPU's capability, not the CPU's. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain constant across resolutions, but the significant drops at 1440p and 4K confirm that the GPU is the limiting component.

The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads are far more than Thief needs, and the 125 W TDP indicates a high-power chip that can sustain boost clocks under load. The L3 cache of 30 MB is ample for a 2014 game's working set, reducing memory latency. In summary, the i7-13700K provides more than enough computational headroom for Thief, and its performance is effectively "invisible" in the measured FPS — the frame rates are determined entirely by the GPU.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture (TU106 chip) using TSMC's 12 nm process, with 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die. Its base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and it has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card features 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 7.181 TFLOPS, and it is in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 19774.

In Thief, the GPU's capabilities directly dictate the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the card achieves 157.7 FPS, which is a strong result for a mid-range GPU. However, the drop to 88.7 FPS at High settings shows that the card's shading units and TMUs are being taxed by the game's lighting and texture work. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for Thief at any resolution, as the game predates the era of 4K texture packs, but the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the pixel throughput demands more data per frame.

The GPU's boost clock of 1650 MHz is modest by modern standards, and the 175 W TDP reflects a card that was designed for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The measured 4K performance — 34.2 FPS at High — is consistent with the card's FP32 throughput and pixel rate. The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the clear bottleneck in this combo, as evidenced by the fact that the CPU's performance percentile (93rd) is far higher than the GPU's (63rd). For Thief, the GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of compute and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the primary determinants of frame rate, and the results confirm that the card is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings reductions.