Thief

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER combination delivers a playable experience in Thief, but the data clearly indicates that the graphics card is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 2070 SUPER, a Turing-generation GPU, struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, while the modern Core Ultra 5 235 provides ample headroom. Benchmark results show that this combo ranks in the 55th percentile of all tested configurations, placing it solidly in the mid-to-upper tier for this title.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance is achieved at Medium settings. This preset offers a substantial improvement over Low settings while retaining a stable frame rate that avoids the steep performance penalties of High and Ultra. Across all three tested resolutions, the Medium preset delivers frame rates that are approximately 23-24% higher than High settings, making it the most efficient choice for a smooth experience.

At 1080p, the Medium preset produces an average of 130 FPS, with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. This is a significant jump from the 99 FPS average at High settings and remains well above the 94 FPS average at Ultra. The Low preset reaches 171 FPS, but the visual downgrade is likely not worth the extra 41 FPS over Medium, given that the latter already provides a high-refresh-rate experience.

Moving to 1440p, the Medium preset still holds up admirably, averaging 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This is comfortably playable and shows that the combo can handle a higher resolution without needing to drop to Low settings. The High preset at this resolution drops to 68 FPS, which is still playable but starts to show the GPU's limits. The Ultra preset at 65 FPS is marginal, and the data suggests that Medium is the better trade-off.

At 4K, the situation becomes more challenging. Medium settings produce an average of 52 FPS, with a minimum of 45 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. This is playable but borders on the edge of what many would consider smooth. The High preset drops to 40 FPS, and Ultra falls to 38 FPS, both of which are below the ideal threshold for a stealth action game. The Low preset at 69 FPS is the only option that provides a consistently fluid experience at 4K, but it sacrifices the visual quality that makes the game's atmosphere compelling. For a balanced experience, Medium at 4K is the clear recommendation, as it maintains playable frame rates while preserving more graphical detail than Low.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes strained at 4K. The GPU's base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with its 2560 shading units, deliver a FP32 performance of 9.062 TFLOPS. These specifications place the card in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, indicating a mid-range performer that is now several generations old.

The benchmark results show a clear pattern: the RTX 2070 SUPER is capable of high frame rates at lower resolutions but cannot keep up with the demands of 4K rendering. The GPU's performance is also reflected in its nearest rivals, where it trades blows with the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, and Intel Arc B570, all within a 1.5% margin. This suggests that the card's performance is well understood and consistent, but it is not a high-end part by modern standards.

The memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) is a key detail. While this provides sufficient bandwidth for most scenarios, the 8 GB capacity may be a constraint in texture-heavy scenes at 4K, potentially causing the GPU to rely on slower memory paging. The data shows that the GPU's compute performance, as measured by Passmark's GPU compute test at 7557, is solid but not exceptional, reinforcing its mid-range status.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1575th out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places the pairing in the 55th percentile, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of other configurations but is far from the top tier. This ranking reflects the GPU's age and its inability to fully leverage the CPU's modern architecture.

The CPU itself is a strong performer, ranking in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 46062 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030), Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098), and AMD EPYC 4364P (45970), with all deltas within 0.2%. This indicates that the Core Ultra 5 235 is a capable processor that is not holding back the system in most scenarios.

However, the GPU's 65th percentile ranking is the weaker link. The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 20282 is slightly below that of its nearest rivals, all of which score between 20480 and 20582. This means the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU, especially in a game like Thief where frame rates are heavily dependent on the graphics card's ability to render shadows, lighting, and textures.

The data suggests that if the GPU were upgraded, the combo's rank would improve significantly. The CPU has the headroom to support a more powerful graphics card, as evidenced by its high percentile ranking and strong multi-threaded performance. As it stands, this combo is a balanced mid-range system that can handle the game at 1080p and 1440p with ease, but it falls short of a high-end experience.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Thief?*

A: The data shows that 1080p is the sweet spot, with the Medium preset averaging 130 FPS. At 1440p, the Medium preset still delivers 89 FPS, making it a viable option. 4K is possible but only at Low settings (69 FPS) or Medium settings (52 FPS), which may not be ideal for all players.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 20282 is slightly lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), Intel Arc B570 (20556), and Intel Arc A750 (20582). The deltas range from -1% to -1.5%, showing that the card is marginally slower than these alternatives.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck for the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs and has an average score of 46062, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo; the GPU is.

*Q: Can this combo run Thief at Ultra settings?*

A: At 1080p, Ultra settings average 94 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 65 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 38 FPS. The data suggests that Ultra is only recommended at 1080p for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Medium settings?

A: Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is approximately 23-24% slower than Low. Specifically, at 1080p, Low averages 171 FPS while Medium averages 130 FPS; at 1440p, Low averages 118 FPS while Medium averages 89 FPS; at 4K, Low averages 69 FPS while Medium averages 52 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU's memory capacity limit performance?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. While this is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, the data shows a significant drop in performance at 4K, which may be partially attributed to memory capacity constraints in texture-heavy scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU's limitations. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 130 FPS at 1080p to 89 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 31.5%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops further to 52 FPS, a 41.6% decrease. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 60%, indicating that the GPU is struggling to handle the increased pixel count.

This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's performance does not degrade with resolution, so the frame rate drop is directly attributable to the RTX 2070 SUPER's rendering capabilities. The data shows that the GPU's pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, where the workload is four times that of 1080p.

At Low settings, the scaling is slightly less severe but still significant. The average frame rate drops from 171 FPS at 1080p to 118 FPS at 1440p (a 31% reduction) and then to 69 FPS at 4K (a 41.5% reduction). The total drop is 59.6%, showing that even with reduced graphical load, the GPU is the limiting factor.

The minimum and maximum frame rates at Medium settings highlight the variability. At 1080p, the range is 111-150 FPS, a spread of 39 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 76-103 FPS, a spread of 27 FPS. At 4K, the range is 45-60 FPS, a spread of 15 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming saturated, leaving less headroom for frame time spikes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a modern 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic and physics calculations. Its memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface is more than sufficient for this game.

Benchmark results show that the CPU is a strong performer. In Cinebench R23, it scores 14769 multi-core and 2085 single-core, placing it well above average. Its Passmark multi-thread score of 37816 and single-thread score of 4516 further confirm its capability. The CPU's percentile ranking of 89% indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market.

In Thief, the CPU's role is to handle the game's stealth mechanics, AI, and world simulation. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU across all resolutions. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, have nearly identical average scores, suggesting that the Core Ultra 5 235 is a well-balanced part that offers no disadvantage in this title.

The CPU's high single-thread performance is particularly beneficial for a game like Thief, which may rely on a single main thread for core game logic. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures that this thread runs at maximum speed, minimizing any potential CPU-induced frame drops. The 14 cores and 14 threads provide plenty of parallel processing power for background tasks, but the game's frame rate is ultimately determined by the GPU's ability to render each frame.