Thief

Thief is a 2014 stealth title that, in this benchmark database, pairs the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The measured results show a combination that delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, with the GPU clearly being the dominant performance driver. The data indicates that this pairing is capable of maxing out the game at 1440p and even provides a playable, high-refresh experience at 4K, making it a strong candidate for high-end stealth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 72 frames per second. This is the most demanding preset tested, and the result shows it remains comfortably playable, though it does not reach the 100+ FPS territory seen at lower resolutions.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 SUPER compared to its nearest rival in general benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 54209. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, has an average score of 54247, which puts the RTX 4080 SUPER 0.1% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% ahead, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.7% ahead in these aggregate scores.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance percentile relative to all other tested processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has a percentile rank of 85, meaning it scores higher than 85% of all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 36938, placing it in the upper tier of desktop processors.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces an average of 191 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 122 FPS. This represents a 69 FPS difference, or roughly a 56% increase in performance when moving from Ultra to Low settings.

Q: Does the combo’s rank in Thief indicate a top-tier result?

A: The combo ranks 109th out of 2851 tested combinations. This places it in the top 3.8% of all recorded pairings for Thief, indicating that the combination of this CPU and GPU delivers performance that is far above the median for this game.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded for the 1920x1080 Medium preset?

A: At 1080p with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 166, the average is 196, and the maximum is 225. This shows a tight frame time distribution, with the minimum still well above typical high-refresh display targets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the decisive component in this pairing for Thief. Its specifications, including 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, provide a 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth. For a game from 2014, this bandwidth is more than sufficient to feed the GPU’s 10240 shading units, which operate at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz. The GPU’s performance in the measured FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern where higher settings and resolutions directly impact the average frame rate, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all tested configurations.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is particularly notable. Even at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the game’s memory footprint is unlikely to approach this limit, meaning the RTX 4080 SUPER will not be constrained by VRAM in Thief. This allows for consistent performance without texture pop-in or stutter related to memory swapping. The GPU’s 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance provides ample headroom for the game’s DirectX 11-era rendering workload, which is evident in the high average FPS numbers at 1440p, where the card exceeds 120 FPS on every preset.

The relationship between GPU clocks and results is straightforward. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 72, which is still a playable frame rate, but it is only 36% of the 216 FPS seen at 1080p Low. This scaling shows that the GPU’s raw compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors as resolution increases. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, which contributes to its efficiency and high clock speeds. The measured data confirms that this GPU is vastly overqualified for Thief at 1080p, where even the highest preset yields 174 FPS, and it remains highly capable at 4K, where the Ultra preset still delivers a smooth experience.

The GPU’s benchmark scores further contextualize its role. Its Passmark G3D score is 34245, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6600. These numbers, while not directly translating to Thief’s frame rates, indicate a high level of graphics compute capability. The GPU’s percentile rank of 86 among all tested GPUs reinforces that this is a top-tier part. In Thief, this translates to the observed performance, where the GPU never becomes a limiting factor for achieving high frame rates, except at the most demanding 4K Ultra setting, where it still maintains a 72 FPS average.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 174 FPS average, which is only 3 FPS lower than the High preset’s 177 FPS. The Medium preset yields 196 FPS, but the jump to Ultra is minimal in cost, making Ultra the recommended setting for 1080p if visual fidelity is the priority, as the frame rate remains far above any standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz display.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset produces 122 FPS average, which is above the 120 FPS threshold commonly associated with high-refresh gaming. The High preset offers 128 FPS, a marginal 6 FPS improvement. For users with a 144 Hz monitor, the Ultra preset’s 122 FPS is nearly sufficient, but the High preset provides a slightly higher average without a significant visual downgrade. The Medium preset at 168 FPS is an option for those who prioritize frame rate above all else, but the Ultra preset remains the recommended choice for a balance of quality and speed, as it stays above 120 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Ultra preset drops to 72 FPS, which is playable but below the 100 FPS mark seen at lower resolutions. The High preset improves this to 75 FPS, a negligible difference. The Medium preset, with an average of 99 FPS and a minimum of 84 FPS, offers a significantly better experience for 4K gaming. For users targeting a 60 Hz display, the Ultra preset’s 72 FPS is sufficient, but for smoother motion, the Medium preset at 99 FPS is the better choice. The Low preset at 130 FPS is available for those who want high refresh rates at 4K, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial.

The data suggests that this combo is best utilized at 1440p with Ultra settings, as it provides a 122 FPS average that exceeds the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh displays. At 4K, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 99 FPS that is close to 100 FPS and a minimum of 84 FPS that ensures smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K is functional but does not fully leverage the GPU’s capabilities, as the frame rate hovers around 72 FPS. In summary, the recommended settings are Ultra for 1080p and 1440p, and Medium for 4K, based on the measured data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Thief with this combo covers three resolutions and four settings each, providing a comprehensive view of performance scaling.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields the highest average at 216 FPS. The Medium preset produces 196 FPS, with a minimum of 166 FPS and a maximum of 225 FPS. The High preset averages 177 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 174 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 3 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset is nearly as efficient as High at this resolution. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 19% reduction in frame rate, from 216 to 174 FPS, which is modest and shows that the GPU has ample headroom at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 191 FPS. The Medium preset averages 168 FPS, with a minimum of 143 FPS and a maximum of 194 FPS. The High preset averages 128 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 122 FPS. The transition from Medium to High is a 40 FPS drop, which is more significant than the 1080p scaling. The Ultra preset is only 6 FPS lower than High, again showing minimal difference between the two highest presets. From Low to Ultra, the frame rate drops by 69 FPS, a 36% reduction, indicating that the increased resolution places more strain on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 130 FPS. The Medium preset averages 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. The High preset averages 75 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 72 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 24 FPS, which is substantial. The Ultra preset is only 3 FPS lower than High, continuing the pattern seen at lower resolutions. From Low to Ultra, the frame rate drops by 58 FPS, a 45% reduction. The minimum FPS of 84 at 4K Medium is still above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay, while the 4K Ultra minimum is not recorded but the average of 72 FPS suggests it may dip below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the difference between High and Ultra is minimal across all resolutions (3 FPS at 1080p, 6 FPS at 1440p, and 3 FPS at 4K), suggesting that the Ultra preset does not tax the GPU significantly more than High. The major performance jumps occur between Medium and High, with a 19 FPS drop at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the High and Ultra presets are closely related in their rendering demands, and the GPU’s performance is largely determined by the resolution and the Medium-to-High transition.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a rank of 109 out of 2851 tested combos for Thief. This places it in the top 3.8% of all pairings, which is a strong result for a game that is over a decade old. The high rank is primarily attributable to the GPU’s capabilities, as the RTX 4080 SUPER is a top-tier part with a percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs.

The combo’s rank of 109 means that there are 108 other combinations that perform better in Thief. Given the GPU’s high percentile, those superior combos likely feature even more powerful GPUs, such as the RTX 4090 or similar, though the fact pack does not list those specific rivals. The CPU’s percentile rank of 85 is also high, but in a game like Thief, which is not heavily CPU-bound at high resolutions, the GPU has a larger influence on the final ranking.

Comparing to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RTX 4080 SUPER is 0.1% behind the RTX 4080 in average benchmark score. This negligible difference suggests that in Thief, the two GPUs would perform nearly identically, and the combo’s rank would be similar if paired with a standard RTX 4080. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which is 2.7% ahead in aggregate benchmarks, might yield a slightly higher rank, but the difference is small. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with a 0% delta, show that the Core Ultra 5 225 is in a tight performance cluster, and swapping to a comparable CPU would not significantly alter the Thief results.

The rank of 109 out of 2851 is a strong endorsement of this combo’s ability to run Thief at high frame rates. The data shows that this pairing is in the top tier of tested systems, and the measured FPS numbers confirm that it can handle the game at 4K with high settings. The combo’s position is a reflection of the GPU’s dominance, as the CPU’s performance, while solid, is not the limiting factor in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a supporting role in Thief, as the game’s performance is primarily dictated by the GPU. The CPU features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This configuration is more than adequate for a 2014 stealth game, which typically does not utilize more than a few threads. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game data, reducing potential bottlenecks.

The CPU’s benchmark scores indicate its capability. In Cinebench R23, it scores 25891 in multi-core and 3655 in single-core. The single-core score is particularly relevant for Thief, as older games often rely on single-threaded performance. A single-core score of 3655 is high, ensuring that the CPU can handle the game’s main thread without becoming a bottleneck. The Passmark single-thread score of 4412 further confirms this, as it shows strong per-core performance.

The CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads, with no hyper-threading, means that it has a straightforward execution pipeline. For Thief, this is not a disadvantage, as the game’s engine is not designed to scale across many threads. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz is a key factor, as it allows the CPU to reach high frequencies when needed, ensuring that the game’s primary thread runs at maximum speed. The base clock of 3.30 GHz is sufficient for typical loads, but the boost clock is what provides the headroom for demanding scenes.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, due to dual-channel DDR5 support, is also sufficient for Thief. The game does not require massive memory throughput, and the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with data is not a limiting factor. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 5 support, with 20 lanes, provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 4080 SUPER, which uses PCIe 4.0 x16, ensuring no data transfer bottleneck.

In the context of Thief, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame rate by not becoming a bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the average is 216 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that could potentially stress the CPU. However, the CPU’s strong single-core performance ensures that it can keep up with the GPU’s output. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 72 FPS, which is well within the CPU’s capabilities, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 85 and average benchmark score of 36938 place it in the upper echelon of processors. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has an identical average score, indicating that the two CPUs perform equivalently in synthetic benchmarks. In Thief, this means that the Core Ultra 5 225 provides a level of performance that is more than sufficient for the game, and the GPU is the component that determines the final frame rates.

The CPU’s 3 nm process node and Arrow Lake architecture contribute to its efficiency and high clock speeds. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz is particularly impressive and is a direct contributor to the game’s performance at lower resolutions, where the CPU has more influence. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 42 FPS, and the CPU’s ability to maintain high frame rates at Low settings confirms its single-threaded power. In summary, the CPU provides a solid foundation for the GPU, ensuring that Thief runs smoothly across all tested settings, with the GPU being the primary driver of performance.