Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, places the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination in the 2,251st position out of 2,851 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The data suggests a pairing where the GPU's age is the primary bottleneck, yet the modern CPU provides enough headroom to maintain playable frame rates at most settings. This analysis explores the measured performance across resolutions and presets, examining the distinct roles of the processor and graphics card in shaping the experience.

FAQ

Q: How does this CPU-GPU combo rank in Thief compared to all other tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 2,251st out of 2,851 tested combinations, placing it in the 21st percentile. This indicates it outperforms roughly 21% of all tested combos but is outclassed by the majority of the database, reflecting the GPU's mid-range standing.

Q: What is the best 1080p performance measured for this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 142 FPS, achieved with Low settings. The Ultra preset still delivers a respectable 78 FPS average, while Medium and High presets land at 108 FPS and 82 FPS respectively.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 82 FPS at 1080p to 56 FPS at 1440p and further down to 33 FPS at 4K. This represents a 60% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, highlighting the GPU's struggle at higher resolutions.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve a 60 FPS average?

A: The 60 FPS threshold is met at 1440p with High settings (56 FPS average) and 1080p with Ultra settings (78 FPS average). At 4K, no preset achieves a 60 FPS average, with Low settings yielding 57 FPS as the closest result.

Q: What is the GPU's market standing based on its aggregate benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15,290, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, which has a near-identical average score of 15,283 (0% delta), showing the RTX 2060's performance is closely matched by a much older card.

Q: What is the CPU's performance context relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46,062, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. It sits between the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46,030, 0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46,098, 0.1% slower), indicating a tightly contested performance tier.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2,251 out of 2,851 in Thief is a telling statistic. It places this pairing in the bottom 21% of all tested combinations, which is a surprisingly low position given the CPU's high standing in the general benchmark hierarchy. The Core Ultra 5 235 sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, yet the overall combo performance is dragged down by the RTX 2060, which only reaches the 58th percentile among GPUs. This mismatch suggests that the graphics card is the limiting factor in this game, preventing the modern processor from expressing its full potential.

The data implies that while the CPU is a top-tier component in synthetic tests, its gaming performance in Thief is constrained by the GPU's ability to render frames. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 680M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, with the RTX 2060's average score of 15,290 being just 0.1% higher than the Radeon 680M's 15,270. This clustering at the GPU's performance level means that the combo's rank is more indicative of the GPU tier than the CPU's capabilities. In essence, this pairing represents a classic bottleneck scenario where a high-end processor is paired with a mid-range graphics card from an older generation.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a steep performance cliff as pixel count increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo averages 82 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 56 FPS, a 31.7% reduction. The jump to 4K is even more punishing, with the average falling to 33 FPS, a 41.1% drop from 1440p and a 59.8% drop from 1080p. This pattern strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the scaling is nearly linear with the increase in pixel count.

The CPU's role becomes less significant at higher resolutions, but the data shows it is not entirely irrelevant. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 142 FPS, which is a high frame rate that could potentially be CPU-bound in some scenarios. However, the fact that the frame rate scales down so dramatically with resolution suggests that the RTX 2060's 6 GB of VRAM and its compute throughput are overwhelmed by the demands of 4K rendering. The GPU's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 192-bit bus are likely insufficient for the texture and geometry loads at 4K, leading to the observed frame rate collapse.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance across presets. Low settings produce an average of 142 FPS, demonstrating the CPU's ability to push high frame rates when the GPU is not heavily taxed. Medium settings average 108 FPS with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 124 FPS, indicating a smooth experience. High settings average 82 FPS, while Ultra averages 78 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings average 97 FPS, which remains highly playable. Medium settings average 74 FPS with a range of 63 to 85 FPS. High settings drop to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The 1440p results show that the combo can handle the resolution at medium settings for a solid 60+ FPS experience, but higher presets push it below the 60 FPS mark.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations are fully exposed. Low settings average 57 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS, indicating noticeable dips. High settings average 33 FPS, and Ultra averages 31 FPS. The 4K results are only playable at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is marginal.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the clear bottleneck in this pairing for Thief. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is a moderate specification that struggles with the high-resolution textures and effects in the game. The GPU's base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz are standard for the Turing architecture, but its 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs are not sufficient for 4K gaming at high presets.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range position. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 and PassMark G3D score of 14,111 place it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Notably, its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, which has an average score of 15,283, a 0% delta from the RTX 2060's 15,290. This near-identical performance with a much older card highlights the RTX 2060's age and its limited ability to handle modern titles at high resolutions. The GPU's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present, but Thief does not heavily utilize ray tracing or DLSS, so these features provide no measurable benefit in this title.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, as it delivers an average of 78 FPS. This provides a high-quality visual experience while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. The drop from Ultra to High is only 4 FPS, so players who prioritize a higher frame rate could opt for High, but Ultra is clearly viable.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the best balance, averaging 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS. This ensures smooth gameplay without dipping below 60 FPS. High and Ultra presets, at 56 and 54 FPS respectively, are playable but may be noticeable to users sensitive to frame rate fluctuations. Low settings at 97 FPS are overly conservative, sacrificing visual quality for a frame rate that exceeds what is necessary.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only practical option, averaging 57 FPS. Medium settings drop to 43 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for many users. High and Ultra presets at 33 and 31 FPS are not recommended for a smooth experience. The data suggests that 4K is not the intended resolution for this combo, and users should either lower resolution or accept significant visual compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a high-end processor that provides ample headroom for the RTX 2060. With 14 cores and 14 threads, it has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for gaming workloads. The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,769 and a single-core score of 2,085, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

In Thief, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The data suggests that at 1080p Low settings, the CPU can push the frame rate to 142 FPS, indicating it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's high performance is underutilized. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-13900HX, has an average score of 46,098, just 0.1% higher, showing that the Ultra 5 235 is competitive with top-tier mobile processors.

The CPU's 14 threads are a unique configuration, as it lacks hyper-threading. This is a deliberate design choice for Arrow Lake architecture, and while it may not be ideal for heavily threaded workloads, it is more than adequate for gaming. The CPU's 65W TDP and 3nm process node indicate high efficiency, but in this combo, its power is wasted by the GPU's inability to keep up. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield significant performance gains in Thief, while the CPU would not need to be changed.