Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, is often used as a legacy benchmark due to its unique lighting and shadow engine. When paired with an Intel Core i7-14700F and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, the measured data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet shows signs of CPU limitation at 1080p. The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts, moving from a balanced load at lower resolutions to a definitive GPU limit at the highest settings.

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

The measured FPS data shows a classic scaling curve, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At the Ultra preset, performance scales from 165.8 FPS at 1920x1080 down to 121.1 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 69.5 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 58% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K. The High preset shows a similar pattern, dropping from 171.3 FPS to 129 FPS, and then to 74.2 FPS at 4K. This steep decline at 4K is a strong indicator that the rendering workload is becoming the primary constraint, with the RTX 4080 SUPER's fillrate and memory bandwidth being pushed to their limits.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 163.4 FPS to 98.5 FPS, a 40% decrease. At High settings, the drop is 42.5%, from 129 FPS to 74.2 FPS. These significant reductions at higher resolutions suggest that pixel throughput is the limiting factor; the GPU is working harder to fill more pixels, and the performance penalty is directly proportional to the increase in resolution. The data implies that the CPU is not the bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rate is entirely dependent on the GPU's ability to render the scene.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a formidable piece of hardware, and its specifications align well with the observed performance. With a boost clock of 2550 MHz and 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, it offers a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This high bandwidth is crucial for a game like Thief, which relies heavily on texture streaming and shadow maps. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the game maintains an average of 69.5 FPS, which is highly playable. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are more than sufficient to handle the game's geometry and shading demands.

The GPU's performance percentile of 88 vs all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 53610 suggest it is a high-end part, and the game results reflect that. However, the scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is not fully utilized at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 206.4 FPS, but this is likely limited by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls. The GPU's 80 RT cores are not relevant for Thief, as it does not use ray tracing, but the raw rasterization power is what drives the high frame rates. The memory clock of 1438 MHz, translating to 23 Gbps effective, ensures that the 16 GB frame buffer is never a limiting factor in this game.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a rank of 74 out of 1642 tested combos for Thief. This places the system in the top 4.5% of all configurations tested for this game. This high ranking is expected given the powerful CPU and GPU, but the data shows that the pairing is well-balanced for this title. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads, while not fully utilized by a game from 2014, provide enough single-thread performance to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at most settings.

The rank of 74 indicates that there are only 73 other combinations that perform better in this game. Given that the RTX 4080 SUPER is an end-of-life product, this ranking will likely be surpassed by newer GPUs, but for its generation, it is a top-tier performer. The nearest GPU rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which has a deltaPct of 0.2% in average benchmark scores, are not present in the measured FPS data, but the ranking suggests that the 4080 SUPER is competitive with or slightly faster than its direct competitors in this specific title.

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

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 165.8 FPS at Ultra to 206.4 FPS at Low. The Medium preset yields 187 FPS, and High produces 171.3 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the system is capable of delivering exceptionally high frame rates, well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. The difference between Low and Ultra is 40.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to handle increased visual fidelity without significant performance loss.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still very high. Low settings deliver 181.5 FPS, while Medium, High, and Ultra produce 163.4 FPS, 129 FPS, and 121.1 FPS respectively. The drop from Low to Ultra is 60.4 FPS, showing that the higher resolution begins to tax the GPU more heavily. At 3840x2160, the performance is more variable. Low settings still achieve 131.2 FPS, but Medium drops to 98.5 FPS, High to 74.2 FPS, and Ultra to 69.5 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 61.7 FPS, which is the largest of all resolutions, highlighting the GPU's workload at 4K.

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

Based on the measured data, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance for a high-refresh-rate experience. With an average of 129 FPS, it provides a smooth and responsive experience that is well-suited for a stealth game where quick reactions are not always necessary but fluid movement is appreciated. The visual upgrade from Medium to High is significant, and the 34.4 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is not worth the marginal visual gains.

For users with a 4K display, the High preset at 3840x2160 is the sweet spot, delivering 74.2 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 69.5 FPS, which is still playable, but the 4.7 FPS difference between High and Ultra is minimal, making High the more efficient choice. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is recommended, as it delivers 165.8 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most standard monitors, and the visual quality is maximized without any noticeable performance penalty.

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

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.10 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz provide excellent single-thread performance, which is critical for a game like Thief that was released in 2014 and likely does not scale well across many cores. The CPU's benchmark scores reflect its capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and a single-core score of 5003. These scores indicate that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rates do not increase proportionally with GPU power. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 206.4 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it only drops to 165.8 FPS. This 40.6 FPS difference is less than the difference seen at higher resolutions, implying that the CPU is holding back the GPU at lower settings. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache helps with game logic and draw calls, but the 10 nm process and 65 W TDP suggest that it is not a high-power part. The CPU's percentile of 94 vs all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 54097 place it near the top of the performance charts, but for Thief, the GPU is the dominant hardware.

FAQ

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in Thief at 4K?

A: The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K. The frame rate drops significantly from 131.2 FPS at Low to 69.5 FPS at Ultra, indicating that the RTX 4080 SUPER's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint at this resolution.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this setup in Thief?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 206.4, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the peak performance of the system in this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER's memory bandwidth affect Thief's performance?

A: The GPU has a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for Thief's texture and shadow data. The high bandwidth ensures that the 16 GB frame buffer is not a bottleneck, allowing for smooth performance even at 4K Ultra.

Q: What is the recommended settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 is recommended, delivering an average of 129 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with good visual quality, and the performance is not significantly improved by dropping to Medium (163.4 FPS) or degraded heavily by Ultra (121.1 FPS).

Q: Does this CPU have enough single-thread performance for Thief?

A: Yes, the Intel Core i7-14700F has a boost clock of 5.40 GHz and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003. This is more than enough for Thief, which relies on a few fast cores rather than many slower ones.

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

A: The combo ranks 74th out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the top 4.5% of all systems tested for Thief. This is a strong result, indicating that the CPU and GPU work well together for this title.