Thief

Playing stealth shooter Thief (released 2014-02-24) with the Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT produces a set of measured results that reveal a combible that is strong but not overly exceptional in the game’s database. The CPU and GPU each hold solid positions in their respective percentile rankings—94th for the processor, 72nd for the GPU—yet their shared performance in Thief results in a global rank of 1802 out of 3720 combos, meaning the setup lands just above the midpoint. These numbers, drawn from the fact pack, show a pairing that can handle high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, but that becomes GPU-bound at 4K. The sections below dissect the FPS readings, resolution scaling, and the relative roles of the two components, using only the provided measurements.

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU+GPU combo perform at 1920×1080 with the game’s highest preset (Ultra)?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves an average 103 FPS. That is slightly above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid movement, but for a stealth game with heavy shadows and reflections, some players may prefer the Medium preset which provides a higher average 141 FPS with a minimum frame time of 120 FPS (max 163 FPS).

Q: Is the system able to maintain 60 FPS at 4K (3840×2160)?

A: Using the Medium settings, the average FPS is 57, with a min-max of 48–66 FPS. So performance dips below 60 FPS on average. Lowering to Low raises the average to 75 FPS, which stays above 60. The High preset averages 43 FPS, and Ultra drops to 41 FPS; none of those exceed 60 average.

Q: What does the FPS range look like across all tested settings and resolutions?

Only the Medium settings in each resolution have been reported with min/max values. At 1080p Medium the system averages 141 FPS with a 120–163 range; at 1440p Medium it averages 97 FPS (82–112); at 4K Medium it averages 57 FPS (48–66). All other presets report only the average FPS.

Q: How does the i7-14700KF compare to nearby CPUs in its benchmark percentile?

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 70163 puts it in the 94th percentile. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, is 1% faster (average 70879), while the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is 0.2% slower (69996), and the Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.9% slower (69515). The differences are small, indicating the i7-14700KF is positioned near the top of current desktop CPUs.

Q: In which resolution does the combo deliver its highest frame rate?

The least demanding preset (Low) at 1920×1080 produces the maximum observed average at 186 FPS. The game’s physics and scripting are simple relative to the large core count of the CPU, so CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution; the drop in performance at 4K is due to GPU saturation.

Q: Does the system have any severe frame pacing issues?

From the measured min/max data, the system sustains 1440×2560 Medium with a min of 82 and a max of 112, a spread of 30 FPS, which is typical and indicates no severe stutters. At 4K Medium the min 48 and max 66 define a 18‑FPS range, which is still within normal variation for a card of this tier.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT sits in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27425. Its GPU is built around the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 40 ray accelerators (Ray Accelerators in the pack), 64 ROPs, and 160 TMUs. The video memory is 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192‑bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The base clock is 2321 MHz, boost to 2581 MHz, and the memory clock runs at 2000 MHz (effective 16 Gbps). These numbers are modest by current standards, but they are sufficient for Thief, a 2014 release.

In the measured FPS, the GPU starts to be the performance limiting factor as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 186 FPS, but that frame rate is not limited by the GPU – it’s near the general CPU capability for this engine. At 1080p High and Ultra the GPU still has headroom, achieving 108 and 103 FPS respectively. At 1440p, the GPU is more engaged: Low produces 128 FPS, but Ultra drops to 70 FPS. At 4K, the 4670 XT clearly cannot saturate the card’s 12 GB buffer, but 4K Ultra yields only 41 FPS while Low goes to 75 FPS. The large memory bandwidth (384 GB/s) helps smooth frame delivery, as seen in the 4K Medium minimum of 48 FPS.

The 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Thief’s textures, even at Ultra, and the 384.0 GB/s bandwidth prevents heavy texture streaming stutters. The card’s capability peaks when the resolution stays within VRAM limits, and the game’s shading methods are not particularly heavy on the FUI.

How This Combo Ranks

With 3720 combined CPU/GPU combinations evaluated in Thief, this combo finishes 1802nd. That puts it in the top half, albeit near the middle – it is slower than 1799 combos and faster than 191 remainings. The percentile around the 48.4% notch (since rank 1802 / 3720 = 0.484) places it exactly at the middle of the tested hardware ensemble.

The measured data is, the rank derives from the actual FPS scored by each published. A position just above median suggests that there are many systems that are quicker, but also many that fall behind. Notably, the GPU sits at the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 94th percentile; the gap indicates that the CPU is not the constraining component, and the GPU struggles only at 4K Ultra. In comparison, a more expensive GPU (like the NVIDIA RTX 3090 which sits 0.5% faster) would raise the ranking, but the difference is small in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The table below lists every tested resolution and setting, with average FPS and, where provided, the min/max values from the measured dataset.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

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

| 1920×1080 (1080p) | Low | 186 | – | – |

| 1920×1080 | Medium | 141 | 120 | 163 |

| 1920×1080 | High | 108 | – | – |

| 1920×1080 | Ultra | 103 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 (1440p) | Low | 128 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Medium | 97 | 82 | 112 |

| 2560×1440 | High | 74 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Ultra | 70 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 (4K) | Low | 75 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Medium | 57 | 48 | 66 |

| 3840×2160 | High | 43 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Ultra | 41 | – | – |

The variation between Low and High is striking: at 1080p it spans from 186 down to 103, a reduction of 45%. At 4K the range is 75 (Low) to 41 (Ultra), which is 45%. The card’s shading and texture complexity scale large, but the CPU is never saturated—the absolute performance holder is the GPU.

These numbers allow for both competitive play and single‑player stealth. At 1080p, even Ultra breaks 100 FPS; at 1440p, Medium keeps a 97 average with a min of 82, which handles fast corridors with ease. At 4K only the Low preset meets or exceeds 60 FPS on average.

Resolution Scaling

As resolutions increase, the FPS drop at roughly similar rates but with different severity measures the impact of GPU load. The table below summarizes average FPS drops between successive preset levels for each resolution step.

1080p → 1440p:

• Low: 186 → 128 (‑31.2%)
• Medium: 141 → 97 (‑31.2%)
• High: 108 → 74 (‑31.5%)
• Ultra: 103 → 70 (‑32.0%)

1440p → 4K:

• Low: 128 → 75 (‑41.4%)
• Medium: 97 → 57 (‑41.2%)
• High: 74 → 43 (‑41.9%)
• Ultra: 70 → 41 (‑41.4%)

The relative loss is slightly higher when stepping from 1440p to 4K than from 1080p to 1440p, which indicates the GPU’s fill rate is approaching its limit. The scaling behavior is largely independent of settings; at 1080p the game is CPU‑limited and further GPU load (Ultra) does not drop the FPS as much relatively, but at 1440p and 4K the GPU is the clear bottleneck. Because the 4K results shrink to under 50% of the 1080p values, we attribute the performance to the Radeon RX 6700 XT’s compute capacity rather than any CPU limitation.

Settings Recommendations

From the measured rows, the most balanced preset in terms of both frame rate and visual depth is Medium. At 1080p, Medium provides an average of 141 FPS with a minimum of 120, which is well above typical refresh‑rate needs. At 1440p, the average drops to 97, still comfortable for a 60Hz display, while the High preset (74) is suitable for 60Hz but has lower headroom. At 4K, Medium averages 57 FPS; without v‑sync this is playable, but not locked to 60.

Low sets are always available for those preferring a higher frame rate, but they are ultra‑fast; the Ultra preset, which would be preferred for the best shading, only delivers 41 FPS at 4K and 103 FPS at 1080p. Since the game is from 2014, the visual differences between Medium and High are trivial, and Medium seems to give the best compromise. The Ultra preset removes almost no extra stress on the GPU? Actually the measurements show Ultra is only 4% lower than High at 4K and 3% lower at 1080p, so the trade‑off is not steep.

For practical gameplay, reporting the 1440p Medium results (97 FPS avg) as the recommended starting point, as nothing else matches that stability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF brings 20 cores and 28 threads with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost of 5.60 GHz, configured into 10 nm Raptor Lake. Its cache hierarchy includes 33 MB L3 and it uses an Intel Socket 1700. In this 4‑year‑old stealth title, the CPU’s core count and clocks are far beyond what the engine requires. The synthetic metrics underscore its strength: Cinebench R23 multi‑core saw 44167 points, single‑core 6235; Geekbench multi‑core 21462, single‑core 2578; PassMark multi‑thread 52425 and single‑thread 4480. These place it in the 94th percentile overall (up from 96), and the nearest rival CPUs are all within ±1% of its average score, showing it has headroom at the top.

In Thief’s graphics engine, the CPU role is indeed to feed the GPU to the scene. The 28 threads are more than sufficient for drawing calls and lighting calculations in a stealth corridor shooter from 2014. When we observe the frame rate across resolutions, the performance does not collapse when moving from 1080p to 4K— it is the GPU that changes. For instance, at 1080p Low the CPU can produce 186 FPS; the same preset at 4K drops to 75 FPS, a -59.4% reduction, which is almost certainly due to the GPU’s resolution limit. The CPU has enough bandwidth to feed the GPU at all settings, so its only inconsistency is the TDP of 125 W, which is fine for a dark stealth experience.

In essence, the Intel i7-14700KF stands clearly as the strongest of the pairing, leaving the GPU as the limiting component. Its ranking among all CPUs is 94th percentile, while the GPU sits 72st—a separation that supports the fact that every measured frame rate is bounded by the GPU, not by the CPU’s ability to process the game logic.

Thus, the data in Thief indicates that the AMD RX 6700 XT, not the 20‑core i7, is the component that should be upgraded first to lift the experience at 4K or heavy presets.