Thief

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a strong showing in Thief, landing at rank 137 out of 3720 tested combos. That puts it in the top 3.7% of all configurations tested for this game. The data confirms this is a high-end pairing capable of handling the game at high resolutions and settings, though the gap between settings at 4K reveals where its limits lie.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 3720 tested combos, this CPU-GPU pairing ranks 137th in Thief. That is a top-tier result, placing it comfortably ahead of the vast majority of systems tested. The average benchmark score for the CPU is 69355, which places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, with an average score of 54247, sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. This combination of a top-decile CPU and a high-80s GPU yields a result that is far above the median for this game.

The rank of 137/3720 is not a number that defines a system that uses the absolute highest-end parts, but for this game, it is a very strong result. The game is from 2014, and its engine scales well with both CPU and GPU resources. The CPU’s position at the 94th percentile means it is well above the average in the database. The GPU’s 86th percentile is also strong, but the gap between the two (94 vs 86) suggests that in some scenarios, the GPU may be the limiting factor at higher settings. The near-identical average benchmark scores of the CPU’s nearest rivals (AMD EPYC 9115 at 69288, Ryzen 9 7950X at 69515, Ryzen 9 7940HX at 69875, Ryzen 7 9700F at 69996) show that the i7-14700K is in a highly competitive performance class, with a delta of 0.1%, -0.2%, -0.7%, and -0.9% respectively. The GPU’s rivals are even closer in score: RTX 4080 SUPER (54209, +0.1%), Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1%), Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.6%), and Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.7%). This tells us the i7-14700K is already at the top of its class, and the RTX 4080 is in a tightly contested tier. In Thief, the rank shows the pairing is well balanced, with no single component dragging the other down.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a 5nm chip from TSMC, using the Ada Lovelace architecture. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The memory clock is 1400 MHz, effective 22.4 Gbps. The GPU’s base clock is 2205 MHz, and the boost clock is 2505 MHz.

The 16 GB of VRAM is not fully stressed by Thief at any resolution or setting in this data set, as even the 4K Ultra result remains playable. In the measured FPS, the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor. The game’s textures and geometry, even at Ultra, are well within the 16 GB frame buffer. The memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s is also sufficient; at 4K Ultra, the GPU is able to push 72 FPS, which indicates the memory subsystem is not a bottleneck. The boost clock of 2505 MHz allows the GPU to maintain high fill rates. The pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s. These are high numbers that matter for Thief, a game that relies on direct lighting and shadowing. At 4K, the GPU is the primary driver of performance; this is shown by the fact that moving from Low to Ultra settings at 4K reduces the average FPS from 131 to 72. That’s a 81% drop in FPS, which is a large setting-related performance hit that is typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

The RTX 4080’s nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER, which is only 0.1% faster in average score, making the two effectively identical. The other rivals are 1.1% to 2.7% slower. This data supports the idea that the RTX 4080 in this combo is performing as expected, with no driver or VRAM issues. The GPU’s performance in Thief is solid, and at 1080p, it’s able to push well beyond 200 FPS on Low settings, which shows it is not the limiting factor at that resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It has 33 MB of L3 cache and is built on a 10nm process. The CPU’s benchmark results show it is a very strong gaming processor; its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 33440.5 and single-core is 2160.

Thief was released in 2014, and its engine does not use many threads. In this context, the CPU’s high single-thread performance is more important. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 2160 is high, and this is reflected in the game’s performance at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 219, and at 1080p Ultra, it is 176. The difference between those two is 43 FPS, which is the game’s engine being more CPU-bound at low settings, since the GPU is less stressed. The CPU is not the bottleneck at 1080p Ultra either, as the FPS is still very high.

The CPU’s 94th percentile ranking (among all CPUs) and its position relative to rivals like the Ryzen 9 7950X (which is 0.2% slower) and the EPYC 9115 (0.1% slower) show that this is a top-tier gaming CPU. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score is 18544, and the single-core is 2617. These numbers are all strong, but for Thief specifically, the single-thread performance is what matters most. The game is from 2014, and its engine is not well-threaded, so the 20 cores are largely underutilized. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz is the key spec that helps push high FPS at 1080p. The CPU’s L3 cache is 33 MB, which is plenty for a game like this.

The CPU’s performance in this game is best seen at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 219 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it holds 176 FPS. That’s only a 19.6% drop from Low to Ultra, which is a minor impact. This is because the CPU is the primary driver at 1080p, and the 5.60 GHz boost clock is enough to keep the game running at high frame rates. The CPU is also not a bottleneck at 1440p, where the FPS is still very high (123 FPS at Ultra). At 4K, the CPU’s role is less important, as the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s benchmark scores are 694.5% above the average CPU, but the game itself is a relatively light load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo has the following average FPS:

• Low: 219 FPS
• Medium: 198 FPS (min 144, max 195, but this is inconsistent with the 198 average – the min and max are for a different test, the min/max are provided for Medium only)
• High: 179 FPS
• Ultra: 176 FPS

The measured FPS for 1920x1080 at Medium is 198 FPS, with a min of 168 and a max of 228. That’s a very tight range. At 1080p, the game is clearly CPU-bound at Low settings, as the FPS is 219, but at Ultra, it drops to 176, a 19% drop. This is a small drop, which is unusual for a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160, is the reason why the game does not drop below 176 FPS even at Ultra.

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 193 FPS
• Medium: 169 FPS (min 144, max 195)
• High: 129 FPS
• Ultra: 123 FPS

At 1440p, the scaling from Low to Ultra is a 70 FPS difference (193 down to 123), which is a 36% drop. This is more GPU-related, but the FPS is still above 120, which is very high. The 4K results are as follows:

• Low: 131 FPS
• Medium: 100 FPS (min 85, max 114)
• High: 76 FPS
• Ultra: 72 FPS

At 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor. The drop from Low to Ultra is 59 FPS (131 down to 72), which is a 45% reduction. This is a significant GPU load. The data shows that at 4K, the game is GPU-bound, as the CPU is not the bottleneck, but the GPU still manages to push 72 FPS at Ultra, which is playable.

The min and max FPS are only available for Medium settings. At 4K Medium, the min is 85 FPS and the max is 114 FPS, with an average of 100 FPS. This shows a 29 FPS spread, which is standard for a GPU-bound scenario. At 1440p Medium, the min is 144 FPS and the max is 195 FPS, a 51 FPS spread, which is larger and indicates that the CPU or the engine is causing some variance. At 1080p Medium, the min is 168 and the max is 228, a 60 FPS spread, which is very high and shows that the CPU is limiting, but the average is still high.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops significantly as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS is 219 at 1080p, 193 at 1440p, and 131 at 4K. That’s a 40% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is typical for a GPU-bound game. At Ultra, the drop is from 176 at 1080p, 123 at 1440p, and 72 at 4K, a 59% drop from 1080p to 4K. This scaling shows that the game becomes progressively more GPU-bound as resolution increases.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 is the limiting factor at 4K, especially at Ultra settings. At 1080p, the CPU is more important, as the FPS is high and the GPU is not the bottleneck. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is moderate: for example, at High settings, 179 FPS at 1080p drops to 129 FPS at 1440p, a 28% drop. From 1440p to 4K, it drops from 129 to 76 FPS, a 41% drop. The larger drop from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 12% (219 to 193), and from 1440p to 4K is 32% (193 to 131), showing the GPU is becoming more of a bottleneck at 4K even on Low.

This scaling is consistent with a game that is not heavily CPU-bound at high resolutions. The CPU has a high single-thread performance, but at 4K, the GPU is the primary driver. The 1080p Low data point of 219 FPS shows that the CPU can push a lot of frames, but the game’s engine is not able to utilize all of the CPU's cores, as the 20-core i7-14700K is overkill for this 2014 game.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that at 1080p, the combo can reach 176-219 FPS depending on settings, with Ultra at 176 FPS. At 1440p, it can do 123 FPS at Ultra and 129 FPS at High. At 4K, the Ultra setting drops to 72 FPS. The 1440p High setting is the best balance, with 129 FPS, which is high enough for a smooth experience, and it looks better than 1080p.

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

A: At 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor. The 4K Ultra average is 72 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra is 176 FPS. The 4K Low is 131 FPS, which is lower than the 1080p Ultra, showing that the resolution is more important than the settings. The CPU’s 5.60 GHz boost clock is not enough to prevent a GPU bottleneck at 4K.

Q: How does the i7-14700K compare to its nearest rivals in terms of CPU performance?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355. The AMD EPYC 9115 is 31 points higher (69288, a delta of 0.1%), the Ryzen 9 7950X is 160 points higher (69515, a -0.2% delta, so the i7 is actually lower), the Ryzen 9 7940HX is 520 points higher (69875, -0.7%), and the Ryzen 7 9700F is 641 points higher (69999, -0.9%). The i7-14700K is between 0.1% and 0.9% slower than these rivals, so it is a very close race.

*Q: Does the RTX 4080 have enough VRAM for Thief?*

A: Yes, the RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory. In this game, even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 72, which indicates the VRAM is not a limiting factor. The memory bandwidth is 716.8 GB/s, which is also sufficient.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 176. At 4K Ultra, it is 72 FPS. This is a 59% drop (176 to 72). This shows that the 4K Ultra is a heavy load for the GPU.

Q: Is the game more CPU or GPU bound at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the game is more CPU-bound. The FPS at 1080p Low is 219, and at Ultra is 176, a 19% drop. The GPU is not the bottleneck at that resolution, as the FPS is very high. The CPU’s 5.60 GHz boost clock and 20 cores are only partially used, but the high single-thread score of 2160 in Cinebench R23 helps.