Thief

Thief is a stealth title from 2014 that still gets played today, and this page analyses measured performance for the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER. The dataset includes average FPS at three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) across four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), plus synthetic benchmark scores and relative rankings. The combination sits at rank 3179 out of 3720 tested combos, placing it in the lower segment of the pool, which suggests it is not a balanced pairing for this title. The following sections break down what the average frames reveal about the GPU, the CPU, and the best settings a user can run with this combination.

Resolution Scaling

The measured average FPS degrade as resolution climbs, confirming the typical pattern seen in GPU‑bound titles. At Low preset, 1920x1080 delivers 120 average FPS, which drops to 82 at 2560x1440 and further to 48 at 3840x2160. The Medium preset shows the same trend: 91 at 1080p, 62 at 1440p, and 37 at 4K. High follows with 69, 47, and 28 at the three resolutions, and Ultra goes from 66 down to 45 and then 27. The drop-off from 1440p to 4K is particularly severe across all presets—Low loses 34 FPS, Medium 25, High 19, and Ultra 18—which indicates that the GPU is running out of raw throughput as pixel count increases.

The shape of the scaling curve points to the graphics card as the limiting component. At 1080p Low, 120 FPS is achieved, but the slope becomes steeper beyond 1440p, meaning the CPU can prepare frames well ahead of what the GPU can process at higher resolutions. The i7-14700K is rated at an avg benchmark of 69355 and sits in the 94th percentile, while the GTX 1660 SUPER is only at the 53rd percentile and scores 12699 on Passmark G3D. The slow render at 4K — even Ultra drops to 27 average FPS — suggests the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting factor in that range. By contrast, the 1080p results show the combo can satisfy the 120 Hz mark at Low, which hints the CPU is not the constrainer, because the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 38% on Low (120 to 82) but the CPU’s compute power is ample for the older title.

The measured average FPS also shows that the 4K profile is mostly unusable for smooth play. Only Low reaches 48 average, and Medium drops to 37, High 28, Ultra 27 — all well below the common 60 FPS target. The 1440p setting is a borderline territory: Medium at 62 FPS is playable, but High and Ultra stay below that threshold, and Low hits a comfortable 82. A 1080p resolution is clearly the sweet spot from a purely FPS perspective.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture, with a TU116 chip, 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192‑bit bus, and memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1530 MHz and boost reaches 1785 MHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The 6 GB frame buffer is modest by modern standards, but it is sufficient for the textures seen in Thief at the settings applied here. The card’s PassMark G3D score of 12699 places it in the 53rd percentile, and it is within a single percent of three competitors: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (avg 12940, +0.4%), the AMD Radeon RX 580 (12928, +0.4%), and the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (13075, -0.7%). This places it firmly in the mid-range tier.

The fps drops observed as resolution increases align exactly with what a mid-range GPU would deliver. At 1080p Low, the 120 FPS cap is hit, but the moving as soon as texture load increases or the fill rate climbs, the GPU becomes the wall. The 4K Ultra scene averages 27 FPS, which is a typical outcome for a card with 6 GB of VRAM and 1928 stream processors. Even at 1440p High the 47 FPS is far from ideal, indicating the GPU cannot sustain the geometry and shading reduced by the 1440p pixel count. The fact that the same CPU frame data can pull 120 at 1080p Low but only 47 at 1440p reinforces that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting piece.

The GPU’s bandwidth (336 GB/s) is enough for 6 GB of GDDR6, but the relatively low fill rate at higher resolutions translates into falling frames. None of the 4K settings reach a playable 60 FPS, and even the medium preset at 4K averages 37. Users who want to play Thief with this GPU should keep the render resolution below 4K; the card is obviously suited to 1080p and turns in a decent 1440p experience only on lighter settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a desktop processor with 20 cores, 28 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost of 5.60 GHz. It features 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4/DDR5 memory. Its benchmark results are strong: Cinebench R23 multi‑core 33440.5, single‑core 2160; Geekbench multi 20767 and single 2569. Its PassMark single‑thread score is 4472, and it ranks in the 94th percentile, with an avg score of 69355. Its nearest competitors are the AMD EPYC 9115 (avg 69288, 0.1% worse), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (avg 69515, –0.2%), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (avg 69875, –0.7%), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (avg 69996, –0.9%). These deltas of under 1% show that the Core i7 is very close to the top consumer and server parts.

In Thief, the CPU side is rarely strained. The 1080p Low result of 120 average FPS is likely limited by the game’s own max FPS or the GPU rather than the CPU, because the i7‑14700K can compute far more than 120 physical frames in a title of this age. The scaling at higher resolutions lines up with a GPU‑bound curve, indicating the CPU is not the primary constraint in this configuration. While the game is from 2014 and its logic is modest, the i7‑14700K offers enough raw performance to keep the frame pacing stable, ensuring no CPU‑induced stutter at any of the tested settings. The impressive single‑thread strength (Cineb R23 single 2160) is more than sufficient for Thief’s main thread, and the multi‑core capability is irrelevant for this non‑threaded workload.

The CPU’s average benchmark score (69355) far exceeds that of the GPU (12986), reinforcing the notion that in the pair the GPU is the weak link. The CPU also has a TDP of 125 W, same as the GPU, but the intention is that the CPU can outlast the GPU in any real-time scenario. Having a 94th percentile CPU with a 53rd percentile GPU leads to the low overall rank of this combination, which we discuss next.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the tested set of 3720 CPU- and GPU pair combinations, this i7‑14700K + GTX 1660 SUPER allocation holds the 3179th position. That places it deep into the lower end of the performance spectrum. A rank of 3179 seems counterintuitive to the CPU’s high absolute standing, but it accurately reflects the GPU’s limitation in an engine like Thief. The high CPU percentile (94) is neutralized by the low GPU percentile (53), and the relative gap between the two yields a combination that performs poorly when measured purely by frame output. Many lower‑end CPUs paired with richer GPUs would beat it, because the GPU is the one that drives the large majority of FPS difference in this title. The rank essentially quantifies the imbalance: the CPU is over‑chilled, and the GPU cannot take advantage of the CPU’s large thread count.

To place it in context, the GTX 1660 SUPER’s nearest rivals are the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and RX 580 that impart almost identical average scores (12940, -0.4%; 12928, +0.4%). The i7-14700K, in turn, is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and EPYC 9115. Individually, both are respected parts, but the junction yields subpar absolute frames. For a game like Thief, which is light on CPU and heavily GPU–bound, the result is that this combo is often redeemed by the other side of the cast. Anyone looking at the lineup 3179/3720 knows that many other configurations yield better 4K and even 1440p performance. The data shows no special synergy or overclocking advantage; it is a mismatch where far more compute capacity is present on the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The table below contains the average FPS for each of the twelve measured rasters. Values for Medium include min and max in parentheses; all other rows only have the average because the benchmark recorded no variance.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS | (Min–Max) |

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

| 3840x2160 | Low | 48 | |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 37 | (31–42) |

| 3840x2160 | High | 28 | |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 27 | |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 82 | |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 62 | (53–72) |

| 2560x1440 | High | 47 | |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 45 | |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 120 | |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 91 | (77–105) |

| 1920x1080 | High | 69 | |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 66 | |

Starting from 1080p: Low is consistently above 60, and Medium averages 91 FPS with frame times from 77 to 105. High and Ultra are very close at 69 and 66, both above the 60‑FPS threshold, meaning that for smoothest gameplay at 1080p, even Ultra is acceptable. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium exceed 60, whereas High drops to 47 and Ultra to 45 — those frames will be stuttering at most monitor use. The 4K results are dominated by the GPU’s back cap: only Low at 48 provides more than 30, while Medium 37, High 28, and Ultra 27 are certainly sub‑30. The data also shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is around 30 FPS across the presets, while the leap to 4K hurts more severely, further indicating the GPU is the limiting piece.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal experience varies by desired refresh rate. The most efficient combination of visual fidelity and performance occurs at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, depending on the target. For a 60 Hz display, 1080p can run at Ultra (66 avg) or High (69 avg) without problems, but to keep it fluid for a 75–Hz monitor or V‑sync, Medium (91) is the safest. If you want headroom or only have a 60‑Hz screen, High at 1080p (69) is a good, balanced preset; it retains most details without hampering the action.

For 2560x1440, the recommended preset is Medium, which yields 62 average FPS and a minimum of 55. If the player tolerates occasional dips below 60, Low (82) gives more space, and reduction to Low fully guarantees a steady 60+ FPS. Do not choose High or Ultra at 1440p; 47 and 45 average, respectively, will be noticeable and may put you near the stutters that appear in crowded scenes.

3840x2160 level playback is not workable with this GPU. The lowest error—Low at 48 FPS—still trips frame drop below 60, and visually there is little to prioritize at 4K because 27–28 FPS is near unplayable quickly. If 4K is unavoidable, selecting Low (48) is the only option where the action matches, but even then it falls short of the ideal 60. The best trade-off, therefore, is 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium: both sit at the edge of the 60‑FPS line, and either gives a more coherent experience than any 4K setting. Based on the data, a smooth and visually consistent Thief session is possible with this pairing at 1080p Ultra (66 FPS) or 1440p Low (82 FPS), but the strongest recommendation is to stay at 1080p or scale down to 1440p Medium (62 FPS) so the GPU’s pacing remains fluid.