Thief

# Thief Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a mid-pack experience in Thief, ranking 1398 out of 2851 tested combos. The data shows a system that handles 1080p and 1440p gaming comfortably, but begins to strain at 4K Ultra settings, where the frame rate dips below playable thresholds. The pairing sits in the 49th percentile of all tested combinations, indicating that roughly half of the tested systems perform better and half worse, a positioning that reflects the GPU's mid-range standing more than the CPU's relatively strong benchmark profile.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1398 out of 2851 places it squarely in the middle of the tested field. This percentile positioning (approximately 49th) suggests that Thief's performance with this hardware is neither exceptional nor disappointing — it is representative of what a mid-range modern system achieves in a 2014-era title. The CPU component, however, punches above this combined ranking when considered in isolation, sitting at the 89th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 46062. This disconnect between CPU capability and overall combo rank points directly at the GPU as the limiting factor.

The GPU's own standing reinforces this interpretation. The RTX 4060 ranks at the 61st percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (avg score 17666, only 0.2% faster), the AMD Radeon 780M (17588, 0.3% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, 0.5% slower). These are not modern high-end parts — the HD 7790 dates from an earlier GPU generation, and the 780M is an integrated solution. The RTX 4060's position among these competitors highlights that while it is a capable discrete GPU, its raw benchmark scores place it in the company of older or integrated graphics solutions rather than alongside contemporary performance kings.

For the CPU, the nearest rivals show a tightly clustered group. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46030 (0.1% slower), the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46098 (0.1% faster), and the AMD EPYC 4364P scores 45970 (0.2% slower). This clustering within 0.2% of each other suggests that the Core Ultra 5 235's processing power is well-matched to mobile and workstation-class competitors, making it a versatile component that should not bottleneck most gaming workloads.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2125 MHz with 17 Gbps effective speed, while the GPU core operates between a base of 1830 MHz and a boost of 2460 MHz. These specifications define a card designed for 1080p and entry-level 1440p gaming, which aligns precisely with what the measured FPS data shows in Thief.

At 1080p, the GPU delivers 184 FPS on Low settings, 140 FPS on Medium, 107 FPS on High, and 101 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra costs roughly 45% of the frame rate, which is a manageable drop for a title of Thief's era. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is not stressed at this resolution, as even the most demanding settings do not appear to trigger memory-related stutters or frame drops.

At 1440p, the picture shifts. Low settings yield 126 FPS, Medium drops to 96 FPS, High to 73 FPS, and Ultra to 70 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows significantly, suggesting that the GPU is approaching its memory or compute limits. Moving to 4K, the pattern becomes more pronounced: Low achieves 74 FPS, Medium 56 FPS, High 43 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS. These numbers indicate that the RTX 4060's 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory interface begin to constrain performance at higher resolutions, particularly when texture quality and shading complexity increase.

The GPU's 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units provide the compute backbone, while 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores offer modern feature support. However, Thief predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so those cores likely contribute little to this specific game's performance. The card's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate are the figures that matter most here, and they align with the observed mid-range results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions tells a clear story about which component limits performance. At 1080p Low, the system produces 184 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 126 FPS (a 31.5% reduction); at 4K Low, it falls to 74 FPS (a 41.3% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern is consistent with GPU-bound behavior — as pixel count increases, the frame rate drops proportionally.

The High preset shows a similar trend: 107 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p (31.8% drop), and 43 FPS at 4K (41.1% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that the GPU's rasterization throughput, rather than memory bandwidth or VRAM capacity, is the primary bottleneck. If VRAM were the limiting factor, we would expect to see sharper drops at 4K Ultra compared to 4K Low, but the relative decreases remain similar.

The Medium preset provides the only min/max FPS data points in the dataset, offering insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 119 to 161 FPS around an average of 140. At 1440p Medium, the range tightens to 82 to 110 FPS around an average of 96. At 4K Medium, it narrows further to 48 to 65 FPS around an average of 56. The shrinking range relative to the average at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is working closer to its maximum capacity, leaving less headroom for frame rate variation.

The transition from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings (70 to 41 FPS, a 41.4% drop) mirrors the scaling seen at other presets, reinforcing that the RTX 4060's compute resources scale predictably with pixel count. However, the absolute values matter: 41 FPS at 4K Ultra falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, making this resolution/settings combination impractical for competitive or fast-paced play.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with Ultra still achieving 101 FPS. The Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance headroom, with 140 FPS average and a min of 119 FPS that stays well above any stutter threshold. Players seeking maximum fidelity can choose Ultra without dropping below 100 FPS, making 1080p the resolution where this combo shines.

At 1440p, the High preset at 73 FPS provides a solid experience, but the Ultra preset at 70 FPS offers nearly identical performance with better visuals — the 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests that the GPU is not heavily taxed by the additional settings, so choosing Ultra costs almost nothing. The Medium preset at 96 FPS remains the smoothest option for players who prioritize frame rate over visual detail, and its 82 FPS minimum ensures consistent performance during action sequences.

At 4K, the recommendations become more constrained. The Low preset at 74 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the default choice for 4K gaming with this hardware. Medium at 56 FPS is borderline playable, but the 48 FPS minimum could cause noticeable hitches in busy scenes. High at 43 FPS and Ultra at 41 FPS fall below the smoothness threshold and are best avoided unless the player prioritizes visual fidelity over frame rate. For a stealth game like Thief, where precise timing and environmental awareness matter, maintaining at least 60 FPS is advisable, which effectively limits 4K play to Low or Medium settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Thief at 4K Ultra settings smoothly?

A: No. The measured data shows 41 FPS at 4K Ultra, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface struggle with the high-resolution textures and shading demands at this preset.

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

A: 1080p offers the most comfortable experience, with every preset exceeding 100 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves 101 FPS, allowing maximum visual quality without sacrificing frame rate. 1440p is also viable, but 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium settings to maintain playable performance.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666), 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon 780M (17588), and 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551). These differences are negligible, indicating similar raw compute performance.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck in Thief?

A: The CPU's benchmark scores (89th percentile among all CPUs) and its tight clustering with rivals like the Core i9-13900HX (0.1% faster) suggest it is not the limiting factor. The GPU-bound scaling patterns across resolutions confirm that the RTX 4060 determines frame rates in this game.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 96 FPS, with a minimum of 82 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with sufficient headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM on the RTX 4060 cause issues in Thief?

A: The data does not show VRAM-related stutters or frame drops, as the min FPS values remain proportional to averages across resolutions. However, the 41 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests that memory bandwidth limitations contribute to the performance ceiling at that resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 features 14 cores and 14 threads, running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture uses a 3 nm process from TSMC, packing 17,800 million transistors into a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. With a 65 W TDP and support for DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth, this CPU delivers strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance for gaming workloads.

Benchmark results confirm the CPU's capability: Cinebench R23 scores reach 14769 multi-core and 2085 single-core, while PassMark shows 37816 multithread and 4516 single-thread scores. The data compression score of 390711 and integer math score of 87948 indicate robust general-purpose performance. In Thief, which is primarily GPU-bound as shown by the resolution scaling patterns, the CPU easily keeps up with the RTX 4060's output, never emerging as a bottleneck.

The CPU's nearest rivals reinforce its positioning. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores within 0.1% (46030 vs 46062), the Intel Core i9-13900HX is 0.1% faster (46098), and the AMD EPYC 4364P is 0.2% slower (45970). This clustering means that swapping to any of these processors would produce nearly identical frame rates in Thief, confirming that CPU choice has minimal impact on this game's performance with a mid-range GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 184 FPS average
• Medium: 140 FPS average, 119 FPS minimum, 161 FPS maximum
• High: 107 FPS average
• Ultra: 101 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 126 FPS average
• Medium: 96 FPS average, 82 FPS minimum, 110 FPS maximum
• High: 73 FPS average
• Ultra: 70 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 74 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average, 48 FPS minimum, 65 FPS maximum
• High: 43 FPS average
• Ultra: 41 FPS average

The data reveals several notable patterns. First, the gap between High and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases: at 1080p, the difference is 6 FPS (107 vs 101); at 1440p, it is 3 FPS (73 vs 70); at 4K, it is 2 FPS (43 vs 41). This compression suggests that Ultra settings add visual features that become increasingly expensive at higher pixel counts, but the GPU's compute limits dominate at 4K regardless of the preset.

Second, the Low-to-Ultra scaling factor remains relatively consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra runs at 54.9% of Low's frame rate (101/184). At 1440p, the ratio is 55.6% (70/126). At 4K, it is 55.4% (41/74). This consistency indicates that the GPU's architecture scales predictably with both resolution and settings, making performance projections straightforward for users.

Third, the Medium preset's min/max values show that frame time consistency degrades with resolution. At 1080p, the range spans 42 FPS around the average (140 ± 21). At 1440p, the range is 28 FPS around the average (96 ± 14). At 4K, the range narrows to 17 FPS around the average (56 ± 9). The relative variance (range as a percentage of average) decreases from 30% at 1080p to 29% at 1440p and 30% at 4K, remaining stable. This stability suggests that the game's frame pacing is consistent regardless of resolution, with no sudden spikes or drops beyond what the averages imply.

For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the viable configurations are: 1080p at any setting (minimum 101 FPS), 1440p at Low through High (minimum 70 FPS), and 4K at Low only (74 FPS). The 4K Medium preset's 48 FPS minimum and the 4K High/Ultra averages in the low 40s fall short of this target, making those combinations less suitable for smooth gameplay. The 1440p Ultra preset at 70 FPS and the 1440p High preset at 73 FPS both exceed 60 FPS, offering viable high-fidelity options for players with 1440p displays.