Thief

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Thief across three resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p, the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers 172.8 FPS at Low settings, which drops to 116.3 FPS at 1440p and further to 70.8 FPS at 4K. This progression represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 59% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling is consistent with a system where the GPU becomes progressively more limiting as pixel count increases.

The High preset tells a similar story: 97.9 FPS at 1080p falls to 70 FPS at 1440p (a 28% drop) and then to 40 FPS at 4K (a 59% drop from 1080p). Medium settings show 128.7 FPS at 1080p, 91.8 FPS at 1440p, and 54.5 FPS at 4K — a drop of 57% from 1080p to 4K. Ultra settings yield 95.8 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 36.1 FPS at 4K, a 62% reduction across the resolution range.

The near-identical percentage drops across all four presets — ranging from 57% to 62% when moving from 1080p to 4K — indicate that the rendering load scales predictably with pixel count. The 4K results at High, Medium, and Ultra all fall within the 36-55 FPS range, suggesting that each incremental preset step costs roughly 7-9 FPS at this resolution. This tight clustering at 4K is the signature of a GPU that is nearing its throughput ceiling.

At 1080p, the spread between Low (172.8 FPS) and Ultra (95.8 FPS) is 77 FPS, showing that the GPU still has headroom to accommodate higher preset demands without collapsing. The 1440p results show a similar but compressed spread of 53.3 FPS between Low and Ultra. The data indicates that 1080p and 1440p are the practical operating ranges for this combination, with 4K reserved for Low and Medium settings if playable frame rates are the priority.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its benchmark scores are formidable: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and a single-core score of 6290, alongside a Geekbench multi-core score of 19287 and single-core score of 2972. The processor sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70104.

In Thief, a stealth game released in 2014, the CPU's role is primarily about maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 172.8 FPS, which is far above typical display refresh rates. The fact that this frame rate drops to 116.3 FPS at 1440p Low and 70.8 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that even at the lowest graphics preset, the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700K with an average score of 70074 (0% delta), the AMD EPYC 9115 at 69887 (0.3% delta), the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 (-0.4% delta), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 at 71056 (-1.3% delta). These margins are negligible, meaning the i7-14700KF's computing headroom is effectively identical to its closest competitors. For Thief, this means the CPU is unlikely to be the bottleneck in any configuration tested.

The 20-core configuration with 28 threads provides ample parallelism for any game engine, even one from 2014. The L3 cache of 33 MB shared across cores helps with data locality, and the dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 ensures the memory subsystem does not starve the cores. The processor's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest it is designed for sustained high performance, though the game itself does not appear to tax it heavily based on the FPS data.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p as the strongest performer, with 172.8 FPS at Low and 95.8 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p resolution remains playable across all presets, with 63 FPS at Ultra, while 4K falls below 55 FPS for Medium, High, and Ultra presets.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 22206, placing it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A400, scores 22307 with a -0.5% delta, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 scores 21670 with a 2.5% delta. The differences are under 3% in all cases.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any settings?

A: No. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all presets, with reductions of 57-62% when moving from 1080p to 4K. This uniform scaling indicates the GPU is the limiting component throughout, not the CPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 116.3 FPS while Ultra produces 63 FPS, a difference of 53.3 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 24.5 FPS, and Medium to High costs 21.8 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 7 FPS.

Q: How does the i7-14700KF's single-threaded performance relate to Thief?

A: The processor's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290 and Geekbench single-core score of 2972 indicate strong per-core performance. This matters for older game engines that may not scale well across many cores, though the high frame rates at 1080p show no signs of CPU limitation.

Q: Is 4K viable with this hardware?

A: At 4K, only Low settings (70.8 FPS) and Medium (54.5 FPS) achieve frame rates above 50 FPS. High settings produce 40 FPS and Ultra produces 36.1 FPS, which may be acceptable for a stealth game but falls below typical 60 FPS targets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 172.8 FPS on Low, 128.7 FPS on Medium, 97.9 FPS on High, and 95.8 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 44.1 FPS, while Medium to High is 30.8 FPS, and High to Ultra is only 2.1 FPS. The diminishing returns from High to Ultra suggest that the Ultra preset adds visual features that cost little performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 116.3 FPS on Low, 91.8 FPS on Medium, 70 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. The performance deltas between presets are 24.5 FPS (Low to Medium), 21.8 FPS (Medium to High), and 7 FPS (High to Ultra). The High-to-Ultra cost remains small, but the overall frame rates have dropped by 32-35% compared to 1080p across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 70.8 FPS on Low, 54.5 FPS on Medium, 40 FPS on High, and 36.1 FPS on Ultra. The deltas are 16.3 FPS (Low to Medium), 14.5 FPS (Medium to High), and 3.9 FPS (High to Ultra). The Ultra preset costs only 3.9 FPS over High at 4K, making it an attractive option if the base frame rate is acceptable.

The overall pattern across all resolutions is that the Low-to-Medium step is the largest performance hit, while High-to-Ultra is the smallest. This holds true at every resolution tested, suggesting the preset scaling is consistent regardless of pixel count. The minimum and maximum frame rates were not recorded, so the analysis relies solely on average FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It contains 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, along with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz for 14 Gbps effective speed.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for Thief at all tested resolutions and presets, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate scaling without any anomalous drops that would indicate memory capacity issues. The GPU's FP32 performance is 9.062 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 2070 SUPER achieves a Passmark G3D score of 18169, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 98316, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 94918. Its average benchmark score of 22206 places it at the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals are all within a narrow band: the NVIDIA RTX A400 at 22307 (-0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z at 22006 (0.9%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile at 22729 (-2.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 at 21670 (2.5%).

The GPU's role in Thief is clearly dominant. The FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the system reaches 172.8 FPS, which is likely near the practical ceiling for the game engine. The consistent 57-62% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all presets confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER's rendering throughput is the primary constraint. The 2.5% delta to the AMD Radeon RX 5700 indicates that this GPU performs slightly better than that rival, while the 0.9% delta to the GTX TITAN Z shows near-parity with that older high-end card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 95.8 FPS is the best choice for maximum visual quality, as the difference from High (97.9 FPS) is negligible at 2.1 FPS. The Low preset at 172.8 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 144 Hz or higher refresh rate display and prefers maximum smoothness over visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the High preset at 70 FPS provides a balanced experience, with the Ultra preset at 63 FPS being a viable alternative for those who prioritize image quality. The Medium preset at 91.8 FPS offers a smoother experience but at a noticeable visual cost. The Low preset at 116.3 FPS is only recommended for competitive play or if the user wants to maximize headroom above 60 FPS.

For 4K, the Medium preset at 54.5 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it remains above 50 FPS and offers better visual quality than Low (70.8 FPS). The High preset at 40 FPS and Ultra at 36.1 FPS are playable for a stealth game where reaction times are less critical, but they fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows that the High-to-Ultra step at 4K costs only 3.9 FPS, so if the user can tolerate 40 FPS, the Ultra preset is worth considering for the additional visual features.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Ultra at 95.8 FPS, which combines near-maximum visual quality with frame rates well above 60 FPS. For users with 1440p displays, High at 70 FPS offers the best compromise between smoothness and fidelity. At 4K, Medium at 54.5 FPS is the most sensible choice, balancing visual quality with playable frame rates.