Thief

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 307th out of 1,642 tested combinations in Thief, placing it comfortably within the top 19% of all systems benchmarked for this title. This is a strong showing for a pairing of a 14th-generation desktop processor with an Ampere-architecture GPU, and the data confirms the combo sits well above the median experience.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU's average benchmark score of 70,074 places it in the 96th percentile against all processors, meaning it outperforms 96% of CPUs in general compute workloads. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, scores 70,104, a negligible 0% delta, so the two are effectively identical in performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70,420, which is 0.5% higher, while the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 trails by 1.4% at 71,056—wait, that delta is inverted, meaning the Xeon actually scores higher at 71,056, so the 14700K is 1.4% behind it. The AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.3% ahead at 69,887. These are all marginal differences, indicating the 14700K is in a tightly contested performance tier.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 35,787 puts it in the 80th percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores 35,860, a 0.2% difference, and the AMD Radeon 880M is 0.4% behind at 35,646. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE is 0.9% ahead at 36,101, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile trails by 1% at 35,435. The RTX 3080 holds its own, but the deltas show it is not a class leader in raw compute.

In Thief specifically, the combination's rank of 307 out of 1,642 reflects a system that delivers very high frame rates at most settings, which is consistent with the component-level data. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance—evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 52,392—ensures the processor is not a bottleneck in a game from 2014, while the GPU's 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute provides ample rasterization power. The result is a combo that should handle Thief with ease, as the measured FPS data confirms.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Thief?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 307th out of 1,642 tested combinations, placing it in the top 19% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all processors?

A: The i7-14700K sits in the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70,074. Its closest rival, the i7-14700KF, scores 70,104, a 0% delta, making them statistically tied.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35,787 and sits in the 80th percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35,860), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon 880M (35,646), 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (36,101), and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35,435).

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Thief?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 218.4 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 4K, the highest is 99.5 FPS, also at Low settings.

Q: Does the combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 55.5, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. At High settings, it reaches 55.2 FPS, also just under 60.

Q: What is the CPU's core and thread configuration?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K has 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Thief reveals a predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop tells a clear story about which component limits performance. Starting at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 218.4 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, that figure falls to 166.7 FPS, a drop of 51.7 FPS or roughly 24%. At 3840x2160, the average is 99.5 FPS, which is 118.9 FPS lower than 1080p—a 54% reduction from the 1080p figure.

This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, 1080p yields 142.4 FPS, 1440p yields 95.5 FPS, and 4K yields 55.2 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 46.9 FPS (33%), and from 1080p to 4K is 87.2 FPS (61%). For Medium settings, the numbers are 187.7 FPS at 1080p, 127.5 FPS at 1440p, and 72.9 FPS at 4K—a 114.8 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K. Ultra settings show 132.8 FPS at 1080p, 92.9 FPS at 1440p, and 55.5 FPS at 4K, a 77.3 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K.

The fact that frame rates drop by roughly half or more from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 3080, with its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth, is being pushed harder as pixel count increases. At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-threaded performance—a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,287 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4,472—allows the GPU to run closer to its maximum output. But at 4K, the GPU's compute resources become saturated, and the frame rate drops accordingly.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens at lower resolutions. At 1080p, Low produces 218.4 FPS while Ultra produces 132.8 FPS, a difference of 85.6 FPS. At 4K, the same comparison yields 99.5 FPS versus 55.5 FPS, a difference of 44 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough that raising settings has a proportional impact on FPS, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and settings changes have a smaller absolute effect.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Thief provides a comprehensive view of how this combo performs across twelve distinct scenarios, covering three resolutions and four settings presets. All figures are average FPS, as no minimum or maximum values were recorded.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest performance. With Low settings, the average is 218.4 FPS, which drops to 187.7 FPS at Medium, 142.4 FPS at High, and 132.8 FPS at Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra is 85.6 FPS, representing a 39% reduction from the Low baseline. This is a wide spread, indicating that settings have a substantial impact at 1080p, but even at Ultra, the frame rate remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but begin to show the GPU's workload. Low settings average 166.7 FPS, Medium 127.5 FPS, High 95.5 FPS, and Ultra 92.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 73.8 FPS, a 44% reduction from Low. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is just 2.6 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the highest settings tier. All settings at 1440p still clear 90 FPS, which is excellent for a high-refresh-rate monitor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Low settings produce 99.5 FPS, Medium drops to 72.9 FPS, High to 55.2 FPS, and Ultra to 55.5 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra difference is 44 FPS, a 44% reduction. More importantly, both High and Ultra fall below the 60 FPS mark, which may be noticeable on displays that target 60 Hz. Medium settings, at 72.9 FPS, are the highest preset that maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS at 4K.

Across all resolutions, the scaling from Medium to High is consistent: at 1080p, the drop is 45.3 FPS; at 1440p, it is 32 FPS; and at 4K, it is 17.7 FPS. This pattern reinforces the conclusion that the GPU becomes more dominant as resolution increases, and the CPU's headroom at lower resolutions means settings changes have a larger absolute effect.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For users with a 1080p display, all presets deliver well above 60 FPS, so the choice comes down to visual fidelity versus frame rate headroom. Ultra settings at 132.8 FPS provide a smooth experience on most monitors, but those with 144 Hz or 240 Hz displays may prefer High at 142.4 FPS or Medium at 187.7 FPS to maximize refresh rate utilization. Low settings at 218.4 FPS offer the highest possible frame rate, but the visual trade-off is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation is clearer. High settings at 95.5 FPS and Ultra at 92.9 FPS are both viable for 60 Hz displays, but the 2.6 FPS difference between them suggests Ultra is the better choice for maximum visual quality without a meaningful FPS penalty. For users with 144 Hz monitors, Medium at 127.5 FPS is a strong compromise, while Low at 166.7 FPS provides the headroom needed to hit higher refresh rates. The data shows that High and Ultra are nearly indistinguishable in performance at 1440p, so there is no reason to choose High over Ultra unless the 2.6 FPS difference is critical.

At 3840x2160, the recommendations become more restrictive. Ultra at 55.5 FPS and High at 55.2 FPS both fall short of 60 FPS, so users targeting 4K at 60 Hz will need to accept a compromise. Medium at 72.9 FPS is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for a locked 60 FPS experience. Low at 99.5 FPS provides ample headroom for variable refresh rate displays, but the visual quality drop may be too severe for a 4K panel. For those who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, Ultra at 55.5 FPS is playable, but the data suggests Medium offers the best balance of smoothness and image quality at 4K.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1080p Ultra, which delivers 132.8 FPS, or at 1440p Ultra, which delivers 92.9 FPS. Both provide high visual quality with frame rates well above 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K plays a crucial supporting role in this combo, and its specifications directly influence the frame rates observed in Thief. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU offers substantial parallel processing capability, which is reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and Passmark multi-thread score of 52,392. However, Thief, being a 2014 release, is unlikely to fully utilize 28 threads, so the CPU's single-threaded performance is more relevant to this game's results.

The 14700K's base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz provide strong single-threaded throughput, backed by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,287 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,932. These figures indicate the CPU can handle game logic and draw calls efficiently, which is essential for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The CPU's cache configuration—80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3—ensures that frequently accessed data is kept close to the cores, reducing memory latency. This is particularly important for a game like Thief, which involves stealth mechanics and complex AI that may rely on rapid data access. The CPU also supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, though the measured FPS data does not specify which memory type was used.

In Thief, the CPU's influence is most evident at 1080p. At Low settings, the combo achieves 218.4 FPS, which is high enough to suggest the CPU is feeding the GPU effectively. The fact that frame rates scale with resolution—dropping to 166.7 FPS at 1440p and 99.5 FPS at 4K—indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts, while the CPU maintains its role as a capable partner. The 14700K's 96th percentile ranking against all CPUs, and its near-identical performance to the 14700KF (0% delta), confirm it is not a weak link in this pairing.

The CPU's integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present but irrelevant for gaming with a discrete RTX 3080, and the 125W TDP reflects a high-power desktop part. The 14700K's market segment as a desktop CPU with a 2023 release date means it is a modern choice, and its performance in Thief aligns with expectations for a high-end processor of this generation.