Thief

Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and Intel Arc B570 in Thief: this pairing lands in the 80th percentile of all tested CPU/GPU combos for the game, with a combo rank of 2296 out of 2851. The data shows a system that can deliver smooth 1080p gameplay at high settings, but the frame rate curve across resolutions reveals a GPU that is clearly the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It runs at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts to 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This is a modern CPU with a strong single-thread presence: its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and Passmark single-thread score of 4516 place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. That single-thread strength matters for Thief, a 2014 stealth title that was designed before the shift toward heavily threaded engines; the game's core logic and physics tend to rely on fewer, faster cores rather than scaling across many threads.

The CPU's multi-core capability is solid but not exceptional. It scores 14,769 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 37,816 in Passmark multithread, which puts it in a tight cluster with rivals like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% ahead), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% behind), and AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% behind). These near-identical average benchmark scores suggest that in this game, the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution tested. The cache hierarchy — 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3 — is more than enough for a game of Thief's era, which was designed around far smaller cache pools and simpler data structures.

The CPU's role in this combo is to feed the Intel Arc B570 with draw calls and game state updates. At 1080p, the measured FPS results show that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output: the frame rates scale smoothly from Low to Ultra, with no sign of a CPU-imposed ceiling. The data indicates that the Ultra 5 235 has ample headroom for this title, and its 14 threads (even without hyperthreading) handle the game's background tasks without issue. The processor's Passmark physics score of 2570 further supports this, as physics simulation in Thief is a CPU-bound workload that benefits from raw clock speed rather than core count.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief if I want 60 FPS or higher?*

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 91 FPS average, and Medium delivers 69 FPS. At 1920x1080, even the Ultra preset hits 73 FPS average, with Medium at 101 FPS and Low at 133 FPS. For 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS — the highest is Low at 54 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The Ultra 5 235's average benchmark score of 46,062 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46,030), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46,098, 0.1% higher), the AMD EPYC 4364P (45,970), and the AMD EPYC 7303 (45,960). In practice, these CPUs are functionally interchangeable for Thief performance.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 more comparable to a mobile or desktop GPU in raw performance?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20,556 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20,534, 0.1% ahead) and the Intel Arc A750 (20,582, 0.1% behind). This puts it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, which is a mid-range position.

Q: What does the FPS data say about which component is the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The frame rate drops by roughly 40-45% from 1440p to 4K at each settings level (e.g., High goes from 53 to 31 FPS). Since the CPU's performance does not change with resolution, this severe scaling indicates the GPU is the limiting component at 4K.

*Q: Can this system run Thief at Ultra settings at 1080p?*

A: Yes. The measured data shows 73 FPS average at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, though not by a large margin.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Thief?*

A: The combo ranks 2296 out of 2851 tested CPU/GPU pairings, placing it in the 80th percentile. This means roughly 80% of tested combos perform worse, while 20% perform better.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions tells a clear story about system balance. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 77 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 53 FPS — a 31% reduction. At 3840x2160, it falls further to 31 FPS, another 42% drop from 1440p. This pattern repeats across all settings presets. For Low settings, 1080p yields 133 FPS, 1440p gives 91 FPS (down 32%), and 4K gives 54 FPS (down 41%). For Medium, the progression is 101 to 69 to 41 FPS, with drops of 32% and 41% respectively.

The consistency of these percentage drops is telling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU's workload (draw calls, game logic) stays constant regardless of pixel count. Instead, the FPS scales down steeply with each resolution increase, which is the signature of a GPU-bound system. The Intel Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is being saturated at higher resolutions, particularly at 4K where the pixel fill rate of 200.0 GPixel/s is insufficient to maintain high frame rates.

The delta between Low and Ultra settings also widens with resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (133 FPS) and Ultra (73 FPS) is 60 FPS. At 4K, the gap shrinks to 25 FPS (54 vs. 29), indicating that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even dropping to Low settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count. This further confirms that for this title, resolution is the dominant performance factor, and the GPU is the limiting component across all tested configurations.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the Intel Arc B570 achieves a combo rank of 2296 out of 2851 tested configurations in Thief. This places the pairing in the 80th percentile, meaning it outperforms 80% of all CPU/GPU combos that have been benchmarked for this game. The rank is modest for a system with a 2025-era CPU and GPU, which reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than any deficiency in the processor.

To contextualize this rank, consider the individual component percentiles. The CPU sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The combo rank of 80th percentile sits between these two figures, leaning closer to the CPU's strong position. This suggests that the GPU is holding the combo back from ranking higher. If the Arc B570 were replaced with a higher-tier GPU, the combo's rank would likely improve significantly, as the CPU has demonstrated it can drive higher frame rates in this game.

The data shows that this combo is positioned to deliver a solid 1080p experience and a playable 1440p experience at lower settings, but it is not a high-end configuration for Thief. The 555 combos ranked above it (2851 minus 2296) likely feature more powerful GPUs that can maintain higher frame rates at 1440p and 4K. The 0.1% delta between the Arc B570 and its nearest GPU rivals (RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750) suggests that swapping to those alternatives would not meaningfully change the combo's ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with some cells including min/max frame times. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 133 FPS average on Low, 101 FPS average on Medium (with min 86 and max 116), 77 FPS average on High, and 73 FPS average on Ultra. The 1080p results are all above the 60 FPS threshold, making this resolution fully playable at any settings level. The gap between High (77) and Ultra (73) is only 4 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional graphical features are relatively cheap to render at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance drops across the board. Low settings yield 91 FPS average, which is still smooth. Medium produces 69 FPS average (min 59, max 79), which hovers right at the edge of smoothness. High and Ultra produce 53 and 50 FPS average respectively, which are playable but not ideal for fast-paced stealth sequences. The 1440p data shows that the GPU begins to struggle with the higher pixel count, but the CPU is still feeding it adequately.

At 3840x2160, the combo is clearly GPU-limited. Low settings produce 54 FPS average, just below the 60 FPS target. Medium yields 41 FPS average (min 35, max 47), which is noticeably choppy. High drops to 31 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS. None of the 4K settings reach 60 FPS, and even the Low preset struggles to maintain a smooth experience. The min/max data for Medium at 4K shows a 12 FPS variance, indicating frame time inconsistency that would be noticeable during gameplay.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend entirely on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 73 FPS average is the best choice. The 4 FPS difference between High (77) and Ultra (73) is negligible, and the Ultra preset likely includes additional visual enhancements that are worth the small performance cost. The Medium preset at 101 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but the Ultra preset's 73 FPS is already above the smoothness threshold.

At 2560x1440, the situation is more nuanced. The Medium preset at 69 FPS average (with a 59 FPS minimum) is the best balance of visual quality and performance. It stays above 60 FPS on average, though the minimum dips slightly below, which could cause occasional stutter. The High preset at 53 FPS is playable but not ideal, and the Ultra preset at 50 FPS is borderline. For a smoother experience, dropping to Low at 91 FPS guarantees consistent frame rates, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth it for a stealth game where atmosphere matters.

At 3840x2160, no preset delivers a fully smooth experience. The Low preset at 54 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, and even then, it falls short of the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 41 FPS is too choppy for a game that requires precise movement and timing. For 4K play, the data suggests that this combo is not suitable, and players should either drop to 1440p or accept the visual trade-offs of the Low preset. The measured results clearly indicate that the Intel Arc B570's 10 GB of memory and 200.0 GPixel/s fill rate are insufficient for 4K in this title, regardless of the CPU's capability.