Thief

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a commanding performance profile in Thief, with the data showing that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates across all tested configurations. This analysis breaks down the measured results by settings, resolution scaling, component roles, and overall ranking against other tested combos.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of how the four available presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—perform at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 174 FPS, while High reaches 177 FPS, Medium hits 196 FPS, and Low tops out at 216 FPS. The data shows that the step from Ultra to High is negligible, costing only 3 FPS, which suggests that High is the most efficient choice for users prioritizing visual fidelity without sacrificing significant performance headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. Ultra averages 136 FPS, High averages 143 FPS, Medium averages 173 FPS, and Low averages 191 FPS. The difference between Ultra and High remains modest at 7 FPS, but the gap between High and Medium widens to 30 FPS. At this resolution, High still offers the best balance, as it maintains a 143 FPS average that comfortably exceeds common 120 Hz refresh rate thresholds, while Ultra's 136 FPS remains playable but with less margin.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more nuanced. Ultra averages 80 FPS, High averages 84 FPS, Medium averages 110 FPS, and Low averages 145 FPS. The delta between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, making High the clear recommendation at 4K. Medium's 110 FPS offers a substantial 26 FPS improvement over High, but the visual trade-off may be significant. Low at 145 FPS demonstrates the GPU's raw power, but this preset likely sacrifices too much image quality for a stealth-based game where visibility matters.

Across all resolutions, the data indicates that the High preset provides the optimal experience per the measured rows. It consistently sits near the top of the FPS range while avoiding the diminishing returns seen when pushing to Ultra. For users with high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p or 1440p, High delivers frame rates between 143 and 177 FPS, which is ample for smooth gameplay. At 4K, High's 84 FPS average is the best balance of visual quality and performance, as Ultra's 80 FPS offers no meaningful improvement.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this combo, and its specifications explain why the frame rates are so high. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This memory configuration is far beyond what Thief requires, given its 2014 release date, but it ensures that memory capacity and bandwidth never become bottlenecks. The 24 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for even the highest texture settings at 4K, as evidenced by the consistent performance across all presets.

Clock speeds are another factor. The GPU has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These high clocks translate into a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. In practice, this means the RTX 4090 can fill pixels and sample textures far faster than Thief can demand, keeping frame rates high even at Ultra settings.

The benchmark data supports this interpretation. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 38194 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 place it in the 88th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database—the Intel Arc Pro A60, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M—have comparable average benchmark scores, but the RTX 4090's gaming-specific strengths are evident in the measured FPS. The GPU's compute performance, reflected in a PassMark GPU Compute score of 26613, further underscores its capability to handle complex shading workloads.

The RTX 4090's 16384 shading units and 512 tensor cores are overkill for Thief, but they ensure that the game runs at maximum speed without any GPU-side limitations. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU maintains an 80 FPS average, which confirms its raw throughput. The only scenario where the GPU appears to be the limiting factor is at 1080p Low, where the 216 FPS average suggests the CPU begins to catch up, but even then, the GPU is still delivering exceptional performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS deltas across resolutions reveal where the bottleneck lies. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 177 at 1080p to 143 at 1440p (a 19% reduction) and then to 84 at 4K (a 53% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at higher pixel counts, as the workload scales with resolution. The RTX 4090's 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is substantial, but 4K rendering demands significantly more memory throughput, and the data shows this in the 59 FPS gap between 1080p and 4K.

At Low settings, the scaling is more pronounced. The average FPS goes from 216 at 1080p to 191 at 1440p (an 12% drop) and then to 145 at 4K (a 33% drop from 1080p). The smaller percentage decline at Low settings suggests that the CPU is playing a larger role at lower resolutions, where the GPU has less work to do. At 1080p Low, the 216 FPS average is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability, as the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has 10 cores and 10 threads with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz.

Medium settings show a similar trend. The average FPS is 196 at 1080p, 173 at 1440p (a 12% drop), and 110 at 4K (a 44% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset follows the High pattern, with averages of 174, 136, and 80 FPS across the three resolutions. The data consistently shows that the most significant FPS loss occurs between 1440p and 4K, which is expected given the quadrupling of pixel count. The GPU's role as the primary limiter at 4K is clear, while at 1080p, the CPU's influence becomes more apparent.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 63rd out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 2.2% of all configurations. This percentile rank reflects the GPU's enormous performance advantage, as the RTX 4090 is among the fastest cards ever tested. The CPU, while not the strongest in its class, is more than capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for this ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, placing it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450—have nearly identical average scores, with deltas ranging from 0% to -0.4%. This means the CPU is a mid-to-high-tier processor, but it is not the reason this combo ranks so high. The RTX 4090, with its 88th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 60347, is the clear driver of the combo's 63rd place finish.

The combo rank of 63 out of 2851 is particularly impressive because it means that only 62 other combinations outperform this setup in Thief. Given that the RTX 4090 is end-of-life and the CPU is a recent release from 2025, this pairing represents a high-end configuration that will handle the game with ease. The data suggests that users seeking higher ranks would need to pair the RTX 4090 with a more powerful CPU, but the marginal FPS gains would be minimal at 4K where the GPU is already the bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 contributes to this combo's performance through its 10 cores and 10 threads, which is a standard desktop configuration for its class. The CPU has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache. Its single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655, is strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4090 in most scenarios. The PassMark single-thread score of 4412 corroborates this, placing the CPU in the 85th percentile overall.

In Thief, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the 216 FPS average approaches the limits of what this processor can generate. The data shows that at 1080p, the FPS differences between settings are relatively small (174 to 216 FPS), suggesting that the CPU is keeping pace with the GPU's output. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes over as the limiter, and the CPU's 10 threads are sufficient to maintain frame rates above 136 FPS at 1440p Ultra.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 30459. These numbers indicate that the CPU can handle the game's background tasks and physics calculations without issue. The PassMark physics score of 2342 is particularly relevant for Thief, as the game's stealth mechanics involve complex interactions that can stress the CPU. However, the data shows no signs of CPU-induced stuttering or frame drops, even at the highest settings.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, supported by dual-channel DDR5 memory, is adequate for feeding the GPU. While this is not the fastest memory configuration available, it does not appear to limit performance in Thief, as the frame rates are consistently high. The CPU's 65 W TDP also indicates that it runs cool and efficiently, which is beneficial for sustained gaming sessions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces the following average FPS values: Low delivers 216 FPS, Medium delivers 196 FPS with a minimum of 166 FPS and a maximum of 225 FPS, High delivers 177 FPS, and Ultra delivers 174 FPS. The Medium preset's data shows a 59 FPS variance between its minimum and maximum, which is the largest of any measured row, indicating some scene-to-scene variability. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42 FPS, meaning that users can gain significant performance by dropping settings, but even Ultra remains above 170 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 191 FPS, Medium at 173 FPS (minimum 147 FPS, maximum 198 FPS), High at 143 FPS, and Ultra at 136 FPS. The Medium preset again shows a wide variance of 51 FPS, suggesting that the game's more demanding scenes can tax even this powerful GPU. The step from Medium to High is 30 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra is only 7 FPS, reinforcing the recommendation for High settings at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 145 FPS, Medium at 110 FPS (minimum 94 FPS, maximum 127 FPS), High at 84 FPS, and Ultra at 80 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 94 FPS is still above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in the most demanding moments. The difference between High and Ultra is a mere 4 FPS, making Ultra the least efficient choice at 4K. Low at 145 FPS demonstrates that the RTX 4090 can brute-force 4K even with minimal settings, but the visual compromise is likely too great for a game where atmosphere matters.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Medium settings offer the best FPS-per-visual-quality ratio at each resolution, while High provides the most balanced experience overall. Low and Ultra are the extremes, with Low maximizing performance and Ultra maximizing fidelity with minimal FPS cost over High.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Thief?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 216, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, the average is 191 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it drops to 145 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset shows the smallest performance gap between High and Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160, the difference between High (84 FPS) and Ultra (80 FPS) is only 4 FPS, the smallest gap across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the gap is 3 FPS (177 vs 174), and at 2560x1440, it is 7 FPS (143 vs 136).

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 63rd out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 2.2% of all configurations. This ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's high performance.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the limiting factor. The FPS drops significantly from 1440p (e.g., 143 to 84 FPS at High), indicating that the RTX 4090's pixel processing capabilities are the primary constraint at this resolution.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values recorded for this combo?

A: The only measured minimum FPS values are for Medium settings: 166 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. No minimum FPS data is available for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance support gaming?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4412, which is sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 at 1080p, where the 216 FPS average at Low settings suggests the CPU is nearing its frame generation limit.