Thief

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is a high-end combination that handles Thief with authority, but the data reveals a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the CPU does the heavy lifting, delivering frame rates that often exceed what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. As you move to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the performance gap between settings narrows. This is a classic example of a system that is remarkably balanced at 1440p but becomes increasingly GPU-bound at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable yet telling pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 171.2 FPS, which drops to 116.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 72.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 31.8% performance loss from 1080p to 1440p, and a 57.8% loss from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU that has a 192-bit memory bus and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, where pixel throughput becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The Low settings preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 209.4 FPS, which is only slightly higher than the 188.4 FPS at 1440p Low. The gap between Low and High at 1080p is 38.2 FPS, but at 4K that gap shrinks to 50.4 FPS. This compression of performance between presets at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming saturated, and the CPU’s 16 cores and 24 threads are no longer the primary driver of frame rates. The data suggests that for maximum frame rates at 4K, lowering settings yields diminishing returns compared to the gains seen at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 94th out of 1,642 combos in Thief. This places it in the top 5.7% of all tested systems, which is an exceptionally strong showing for a game released in 2014. The high rank is attributable to the combination of the CPU’s strong single-thread performance and the GPU’s substantial rasterization power, which together overcome the game’s older engine limitations.

The CPU alone holds the 93rd percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 47,282. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are the Intel Core i7-13700KF, which scores 47,334 (a 0.1% difference), and the AMD EPYC 4364P at 47,131 (0.3% difference). The GPU sits in the 85th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average score of 44,900. Its closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile at 45,152, which is only 0.6% higher. This indicates that the pairing is well-matched, with neither component dramatically outperforming the other in a way that would create a significant bottleneck in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process and features 7,680 shading units. It operates at a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with memory running at an effective 21 Gbps. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is sufficient for Thief at all tested settings. The GPU’s Transistor count of 35,800 million and a die size of 294 mm² contribute to its high fill rates, including a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s.

In Thief, the GPU’s role becomes critical at 4K resolution. At 4K Ultra, the combo hits 68.4 FPS, while 4K High produces 72.3 FPS. The difference between these two presets is only 3.9 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is nearing its limits and the more demanding Ultra preset offers little additional visual benefit over High for the performance cost. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS is more than adequate for this game, and the data shows that the card is not the primary constraint at 1080p, where the CPU’s single-thread performance is more influential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive look at how this system performs across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 162.5 FPS, while High produces 171.2 FPS, Medium 189.9 FPS, and Low 209.4 FPS. The jump from Ultra to Low is 46.9 FPS, which is substantial and indicates that the CPU can push well beyond 200 FPS when the GPU is not heavily loaded.

At 2560x1440, the results are 112.2 FPS on Ultra, 116.7 FPS on High, 156 FPS on Medium, and 188.4 FPS on Low. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced on the Medium preset, which loses 33.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset loses 50.3 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding on the GPU’s memory subsystem. At 3840x2160, the performance is 68.4 FPS on Ultra, 72.3 FPS on High, 89.9 FPS on Medium, and 122.7 FPS on Low. The 4K Low preset still manages to exceed 120 FPS, which is impressive, but the Ultra preset falls below the 70 FPS mark, indicating that this is the first resolution where the GPU truly struggles to maintain high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 30 MB L3 cache. Its benchmark results are strong across the board, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39,000 and a single-core score of 5,505. The PassMark multithread score is 45,887, and the single-thread score is 4,333.

In Thief, the CPU’s impact is most visible at 1080p. The difference between 1080p High (171.2 FPS) and 1440p High (116.7 FPS) is 54.5 FPS, which is larger than the difference between 1440p High and 4K High (44.4 FPS). This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU more frames than it can render, and the bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution increases. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1,136, is particularly well-suited for Thief’s engine, which relies heavily on a single primary thread for game logic.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the High preset at 1440p offers the most balanced performance. At 116.7 FPS, it provides a smooth frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold, while maintaining visual quality that is clearly superior to Medium. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 112.2 FPS, which is only 4.5 FPS lower, but the visual difference between High and Ultra in Thief is often negligible, making High the more efficient choice.

If you are playing at 4K, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering 89.9 FPS. This is a significant improvement over High (72.3 FPS) and Ultra (68.4 FPS), while still providing acceptable visual fidelity. The Low preset at 4K achieves 122.7 FPS, but the visual compromise is steep, and the 32.8 FPS gain over Medium is not worth the loss of detail. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 162.5 FPS is the recommended choice, as the system has ample headroom to run maximum settings without sacrificing performance. For competitive play, the Low preset at 209.4 FPS is available, but for most players, the Ultra preset offers the best balance of image quality and frame rate.