Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, remains a demanding benchmark even for modern hardware. The data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination shows a system capable of very high frame rates, but the optimal settings depend heavily on your display's resolution and refresh rate. This analysis breaks down the measured performance to guide your configuration choices.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy of performance across the four tested presets. For a 4K display, the "High" preset is the sweet spot, delivering an average of 67.5 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The "Ultra" preset, while visually richer, drops to 64.3 FPS, a marginal difference that might not justify the potential for more frequent dips in demanding scenes. The "Medium" preset at 94.7 FPS is a strong alternative if you prefer higher frame rates over maximum visual fidelity, but "High" offers the best balance of image quality and performance for 4K.

At 1440p, the calculus changes. The "High" preset averages 118.1 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, if you have a 144Hz display, the "Medium" preset at 156.6 FPS or even "Low" at 182.5 FPS will allow you to fully utilize the panel's capabilities. The "Ultra" preset at 112.4 FPS is still very playable and is the best choice for a 60Hz or 120Hz display where you want the highest visual quality. For 1080p, the CPU becomes a more significant factor, and all presets deliver exceptional performance. The "Ultra" preset at 164.2 FPS is the recommended choice for 1080p users, as it provides the highest fidelity without sacrificing the high frame rates that competitive or fast-paced play demands. The data indicates that "Ultra" at 1080p yields a 51% higher frame rate than "High" at 4K (164.2 vs 67.5), highlighting how resolution scaling impacts the GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Thief?

A: Yes, the data shows it can. The "High" preset at 3840x2160 averages 67.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS standard for smooth play. The "Ultra" preset is also playable at 64.3 FPS, but "High" is recommended for a larger performance buffer.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz 1440p monitor?

A: To consistently hit 144 FPS, you would need to use the "Low" preset, which averages 182.5 FPS, or the "Medium" preset at 156.6 FPS. The "High" preset at 118.1 FPS will not fully saturate a 144Hz display's refresh rate.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: No. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are extremely high across all presets, ranging from 164.2 FPS on "Ultra" to 208.9 FPS on "Low". The performance gap between presets is smaller at this resolution, suggesting the Intel Core i7-14700F is the primary driver of these high frame rates.

Q: How much of a performance hit is the "Ultra" preset compared to "High"?

A: The penalty varies by resolution. At 4K, the drop from "High" to "Ultra" is 3.2 FPS (67.5 to 64.3). At 1440p, it is a 5.7 FPS drop (118.1 to 112.4), and at 1080p, it is a 9.8 FPS drop (174 to 164.2). The relative cost is higher at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or the GPU more in this configuration?

A: The data suggests a balanced load. At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high and the scaling from "Low" to "Ultra" is less dramatic (208.9 to 164.2), indicating a CPU bottleneck at the very high end. As resolution increases to 4K, the frame rates drop significantly (120.6 to 67.5 on "Low" and "High"), showing the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor.

Q: Is the "Medium" preset a good compromise for 4K?

A: Yes, if you prioritize frame rate. The "Medium" preset at 4K averages 94.7 FPS, which is a 40% improvement over the "High" preset's 67.5 FPS. This makes it a great option for high-refresh-rate 4K monitors that can display more than 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The performance data illustrates a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the "High" preset results in a 32% decrease in average FPS (from 174 to 118.1). The subsequent jump from 1440p to 3840x2160 on the same preset sees a further 43% decrease (from 118.1 to 67.5). This steep drop at 4K clearly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary component being stressed at higher resolutions.

The scaling is even more pronounced on the "Low" preset, where the frame rate drops from 208.9 FPS at 1080p to 182.5 FPS at 1440p (a 13% reduction), and then to 120.6 FPS at 4K (a 34% reduction from 1440p). This is because lower graphical settings reduce the GPU load, allowing the CPU to push more frames at lower resolutions. At 4K, however, the GPU's pixel processing power becomes the absolute bottleneck, regardless of the graphical preset. The data shows that the difference between "Low" and "Ultra" presets is 56.3 FPS at 4K (120.6 vs 64.3), but only 44.7 FPS at 1080p (208.9 vs 164.2). This highlights that at 1080p, the game is less sensitive to GPU load, while at 4K, the GPU's capabilities dictate the final frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates is as follows:

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: 64.3 FPS
• High: 67.5 FPS
• Medium: 94.7 FPS
• Low: 120.6 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: 112.4 FPS
• High: 118.1 FPS
• Medium: 156.6 FPS
• Low: 182.5 FPS

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: 164.2 FPS
• High: 174 FPS
• Medium: 192.1 FPS
• Low: 208.9 FPS

These figures show a consistent performance hierarchy. At every resolution, the order from fastest to slowest is Low, Medium, High, Ultra. The performance deltas between presets are more significant at 1080p, where the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to make the graphical settings matter more. At 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even the jump from "Low" to "Medium" (a 26 FPS difference) is less pronounced than the same jump at 1080p (a 16.8 FPS difference). The data confirms that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER provides a solid 4K experience, but the best frame rates are found at 1440p and below.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 98th out of 1,642 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the top 6% of all configurations, indicating a very high level of performance. This ranking is consistent with the measured frame rates, which show the system is capable of exceeding 60 FPS at 4K and delivering over 160 FPS at 1080p on the highest settings.

The ranking suggests that this is a top-tier pairing for this game. While there are 97 other combinations that perform better, this is a vast database of potential setups. The high rank solidifies that this specific CPU and GPU pairing is well-suited for Thief, offering no significant bottleneck that would push it down the list. The system's standing is a strong endorsement for its gaming capabilities in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its high core count and boost clock of 5.40 GHz are key factors in this game's performance. In Thief, a game from 2014, the engine is likely optimized for fewer cores, but the high single-thread performance of the i7-14700F, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003, is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, especially at 1080p.

The data shows that at 1080p, the game is often CPU-bound. The frame rates on the "Low" preset reach 208.9 FPS, but the difference between presets is smaller than at higher resolutions, suggesting the CPU is working to feed the GPU. The processor's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and fast clock speeds help minimize latency and keep frame times consistent. While the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the star for visual fidelity, the i7-14700F ensures that the system never feels held back, providing the headroom needed to achieve those high frame rates at lower resolutions and to maintain playable performance at 4K. The CPU's average benchmark score of 54097 places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, underscoring its strength in supporting a high-end GPU like the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER.