Thief

# Thief: Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a playable but mixed experience in Thief, depending heavily on resolution and quality preset. The data shows a setup that can push past 100 FPS at 1080p on Low settings but drops to sub-60 territory at 4K on higher presets. This combo ranks 1174th out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The CPU is a 20-core, 28-thread Raptor Lake Refresh part with a 5.60 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, while the GPU is an 8 GB GDDR6 Turing card with 2176 shading units. The benchmark results reveal a system where the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution climbs.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief?

A: At 1920x1080, every preset exceeds 84 FPS, with Low reaching 157.1 FPS and Medium hitting 119 FPS. At 2560x1440, High and Ultra stay above 56 FPS, but 3840x2160 on High and Ultra drops to 36.2 and 37.2 FPS respectively. The data indicates 1080p is the sweet spot, with 1440p viable for Medium settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 70074, placing it at the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, scores 70104 with a 0% delta. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.5% ahead, while the AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.3% behind. The Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 trails by 1.4%.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER a bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes, clearly. At 3840x2160, even Medium settings produce only 48.8 FPS, and High drops to 36.2 FPS. The GPU sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 19774. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, scores 19680, a 0.5% difference, showing the 2060 SUPER is positioned near the bottom of the RTX 20-series performance stack.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 62.6 FPS. This is a comfortable playable frame rate for a stealth game, though not high-refresh territory. Ultra settings at the same resolution drop to 56.6 FPS, which remains acceptable for this genre.

Q: Does the CPU's 96th percentile ranking translate to gaming performance?

A: Not in this title. While the i7-14700K scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6287 in single-core, the measured FPS in Thief scales more with resolution than CPU workload. The 1080p Low result of 157.1 FPS suggests the CPU can feed frames well, but the GPU limits high-resolution performance.

Q: How does the combo rank overall?

A: This combo ranks 1174th out of 1642 tested combinations. That places it in the lower 30% of all tested pairings, consistent with a mid-range GPU from 2019 paired with a high-end 2023 CPU. The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor for this pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The card has 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, delivering 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. These specifications place it at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, scores 19706, a 0.3% delta, while the RTX 2070 is 0.5% ahead at 19680.

In Thief, the GPU's role becomes apparent when comparing 1080p to 4K results. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 157.1 FPS, but at 4K High, it falls to 36.2 FPS. This 76.9% drop indicates that the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-resolution, high-detail workloads. The card's 175 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU are modest, but the Turing architecture's DirectX 12 Ultimate support does not compensate for raw bandwidth limitations at 4K.

The GPU's end-of-life production status and 2019 release date further contextualize its performance. The 12 nm process node and 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die are dated compared to the CPU's 10 nm node. The data shows this GPU can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well, but 4K requires dropping to Low settings to achieve 63.1 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the combo produces 157.1 FPS at 1080p, 107.6 FPS at 1440p, and 63.1 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31.5%, while 1440p to 4K is another 41.4%. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's memory bandwidth and shading throughput are the primary constraints as pixel count increases.

At High settings, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute values: 87.4 FPS at 1080p, 62.6 FPS at 1440p, and 36.2 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 28.4%, and 1440p to 4K is 42.2%. The pattern holds for Ultra settings: 84.6 FPS, 56.6 FPS, and 37.2 FPS across the three resolutions. The Ultra preset at 4K is only 1 FPS higher than High, suggesting both are hitting a similar GPU ceiling.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller FPS differences between resolutions. Instead, the 2.5x difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low demonstrates that the RTX 2060 SUPER cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of preset. The i7-14700K's 20 cores and 5.60 GHz boost clock are more than capable, as evidenced by the 157.1 FPS result at 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing twelve distinct data points. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low at 157.1 FPS, Medium at 119 FPS, High at 87.4 FPS, and Ultra at 84.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 38.1 FPS, while High to Ultra is only 2.8 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, the FPS values drop to: Low at 107.6 FPS, Medium at 81.6 FPS, High at 62.6 FPS, and Ultra at 56.6 FPS. The High to Ultra gap narrows to 6 FPS, while Low to Medium is 26 FPS. This resolution represents a reasonable compromise between visual quality and performance, with Medium and High both playable.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 63.1 FPS, Medium at 48.8 FPS, High at 36.2 FPS, and Ultra at 37.2 FPS. Notably, Ultra is 1 FPS higher than High at 4K, which is within measurement noise. The Low setting is the only 4K preset that achieves 60 FPS, and it does so by a narrow margin. Medium at 48.8 FPS may be acceptable for a stealth game, but High and Ultra are below 40 FPS, which will affect smoothness in fast-moving scenes.

The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER's performance ceiling in Thief is around 157 FPS at 1080p Low, with the CPU providing ample headroom. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggles at 4K with higher presets.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 1174th out of 1642 tested combinations, placing it in the 28.5th percentile of all tested pairings. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking (average score 70074) is offset by the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking (average score 19774), resulting in a mid-low overall position. The data indicates that the GPU drags down the combo's standing, as the CPU is clearly a top-tier part.

The i7-14700K's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the i7-14700KF (0% delta), AMD EPYC 9115 (0.3% behind), and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (0.5% ahead). The GPU's nearest rivals are the GTX TITAN (0.3% behind), RTX 2070 (0.5% ahead), and Quadro K5200 (0.8% ahead). These close margins suggest that swapping the RTX 2060 SUPER for an RTX 2070 would yield only a 0.5% improvement in GPU compute, which would not meaningfully change the combo's rank in Thief.

The 1174th rank out of 1642 combos means that 468 tested pairings performed worse. This places the combo in the lower third, but not at the very bottom. The 1080p results show the combo can compete with higher-ranked pairings at lower resolutions, but the 4K results reveal its limitations. For a 2014 stealth game like Thief, this rank is acceptable, but users seeking 4K Ultra performance would need a more powerful GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 84.6 FPS provide the highest visual quality without sacrificing playability. The gap between High (87.4 FPS) and Ultra (84.6 FPS) is only 2.8 FPS, so enabling Ultra is a free upgrade. Medium at 119 FPS is preferable for high-refresh monitors, but the visual difference from Ultra may not justify the lower fidelity.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings at 81.6 FPS offer the best balance of quality and smoothness. High at 62.6 FPS is also playable, but the 19 FPS drop from Medium may be noticeable. Ultra at 56.6 FPS is borderline, and the 6 FPS gain from High to Ultra is not worth the potential stutter. For a stealth game where frame pacing matters, Medium is the recommended preset.

At 3840x2160, Low settings at 63.1 FPS is the only preset that maintains 60 FPS. Medium at 48.8 FPS is playable for a slow-paced stealth title, but the 14.3 FPS drop from Low is significant. High and Ultra are not recommended, as both sit below 40 FPS. The data suggests that 4K users should either accept Low settings or drop to 1440p for better visual fidelity.

Overall, the sweet spot for this combo is 1080p Ultra or 1440p Medium. The i7-14700K's strong single-thread performance (6287 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures that CPU-side bottlenecks are minimal, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential. The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but users should avoid 4K High or Ultra presets, as the measured FPS falls below 40, which is suboptimal for a genre that relies on smooth camera movement.