Thief

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B390 in Thief?

A: This combination ranks 2534 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M, 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710.

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The best result is 86 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset delivers 66 FPS, High delivers 50 FPS, and Ultra delivers 48 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter across all resolutions. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 5 245 sits at the 90th percentile of all CPUs, creating a substantial performance imbalance.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The only minimum FPS values recorded are at Medium settings: 56 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. No minimum values are available for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark score relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, 0.5% below the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, 0.6% above the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, and 0.8% above the Intel Core i5-14600K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive component in this pairing. With a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, it ranks at the 9th percentile of all GPUs, meaning roughly 91% of tested graphics cards outperform it. The nearest rivals are all low-end NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX trails by 1.3%, the GeForce 800M by 1.5%, the GT 625 OEM by 2.5%, and the GT 710 by 2.7%. These are narrow margins, but they demonstrate that the B390 competes only in the entry-level segment.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. These specifications are modest for modern gaming, and Thief's measured results reflect this.

Memory is system-shared, with the GPU drawing from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU. The bus width is also system-shared, and bandwidth is listed as system-dependent, meaning performance scales with the host platform's memory configuration. This architecture creates inherent limitations for texture-heavy scenes, which Thief presents frequently given its stealth-environment focus.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 12 ray tracing cores and 24 ROPs are present, but the low shading unit count constrains raw throughput. In Thief, a game from 2014, the B390's feature set is more than sufficient; the bottleneck is pure computational power.

The measured FPS data confirms the GPU's ceiling. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 19 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. At 4K Low, it reaches 35 FPS. The GPU's 9th percentile standing is consistent with these results — this is not a card designed for high-resolution or high-detail gaming, and Thief's modest engine demands still exceed what the B390 can deliver at higher settings.

The TDP of 80 W and integrated form factor (IGP) indicate this is a mobile or compact solution, not a discrete desktop card. The slot width is listed as IGP, and there are no power connectors, reinforcing that this GPU shares thermal and power budgets with the CPU. This further limits sustained performance in extended gaming sessions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a markedly stronger component than the GPU. It ranks at the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. The nearest rivals show tight competition: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 0.4% higher, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 0.5% higher, while the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H trails by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K trails by 0.8%. This places the Ultra 5 245 in the upper tier of desktop processors.

The CPU has 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The TDP is 65 W, which is modest given the core count. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3. This configuration is well-suited for gaming workloads, where single-thread performance often matters more than raw multi-thread throughput.

In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 32924 in multi-core and 4648 in single-core. The R20 results are 13828 and 1952 respectively, while R15 shows 3318 multi-core and 468 single-core. These scores indicate strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Thief's game logic and simulation. The PassMark single-thread score is 4394, reinforcing that the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them.

Memory bandwidth is 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5, with ECC support. The CPU uses PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes. The 3 nm process node from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, is a modern and efficient design.

In Thief, the CPU's role is to handle AI, physics, and game state updates. The PassMark physics score is 2569, which is not exceptional but adequate. The data compression score of 400942 and floating point math score of 120548 suggest the CPU is never the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 86 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's frame delivery limit in less demanding scenes, but the GPU is still the primary constraint.

The release date of 2025-01-06 and launch MSRP of $270 position this CPU as a mid-range desktop part. The architecture is Arrow Lake-S on the Intel Socket 1851, with an integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU. The CPU is not multiplier unlocked, meaning overclocking is not an option for users seeking extra performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2534 out of 2851 tested combinations places this system in the bottom 11% of all tested combos in Thief. This is a direct consequence of the GPU's low standing, as the CPU is in the top 10% of all processors. The rank is a composite measure, and the data shows a clear imbalance: the CPU has 90th percentile performance while the GPU sits at the 9th percentile.

This ranking is meaningful for understanding what this system can deliver. With 2851 total combos, a rank of 2534 means only 317 combos perform worse. The combination is not suitable for high-refresh-rate gaming or high-detail settings, but it can handle lower presets at acceptable frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rivals (Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, Ryzen 9 7900, Xeon Gold 5318H, Core i5-14600K) all have similar average benchmark scores within 0.8% of the Ultra 5 245. This indicates that swapping in a different high-end CPU would not meaningfully change the Thief results, because the GPU is the limiting component. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals (GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, GT 710) perform within 2.7% of the B390, so any of these GPUs would produce similar Thief frame rates.

The ranking reflects the system's overall capability, not just peak FPS. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (19 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (33 FPS) are below playable thresholds, while 1080p Medium (66 FPS) is the most balanced preset. The combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at lower settings, where it can deliver playable results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 86 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all resolutions and presets. Medium settings yield 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 75. High settings drop to 50 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 20 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 16 FPS, and High to Ultra is only 2 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance decreases notably. Low settings average 59 FPS, which is a 31% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 and maximum of 52. High settings average 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The pattern is consistent: Low is playable, Medium is borderline, and High/Ultra are not smooth.

At 3840x2160, the results are poor. Low settings average 35 FPS, which is a 41% drop from 1440p Low and a 59% drop from 1080p Low. Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 and maximum of 30. High averages 20 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. None of these 4K results meet the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum of 56 FPS is above the 30 FPS playability floor. At 1440p, the minimum of 38 FPS is still acceptable. At 4K, the minimum of 22 FPS is below playable standards.

The data shows diminishing returns at higher settings. At 1080p, the difference between High (50 FPS) and Ultra (48 FPS) is minimal, suggesting that Ultra adds visual features without a proportional performance cost. Similarly, at 1440p, High (34 FPS) and Ultra (33 FPS) are nearly identical.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the optimal preset for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS, which provides a smooth experience with headroom for frame drops. The minimum of 56 FPS is well above the 30 FPS playability threshold, and the maximum of 75 FPS shows the system can burst higher in less demanding scenes.

Low settings at 1080p deliver 86 FPS, which is the maximum measured performance. This preset is ideal for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, but the visual quality reduction may not be necessary given that Medium is already smooth. The 20 FPS difference between Low and Medium indicates that Medium is not excessively demanding.

High settings at 1080p drop to 50 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The average is below the 60 FPS target, and there are no minimum FPS values recorded to assess worst-case performance. Ultra at 1080p averages 48 FPS, which is only 2 FPS below High, suggesting that Ultra is not worth the additional visual load if High is already borderline.

At 1440p, Medium is the best choice with 45 FPS average and 38 FPS minimum. This is playable but not ideal, as the minimum approaches the 30 FPS floor. Low at 1440p delivers 59 FPS, which is smoother but sacrifices visual fidelity. The 14 FPS difference between Low and Medium at 1440p is smaller than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

For 4K, no setting is recommended for playable performance. The best result is Low at 35 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and only slightly above the 30 FPS floor. Medium at 26 FPS and High/Ultra at 20/19 FPS are not playable.

The overall recommendation is 1080p Medium for the best balance of visual quality and performance. For users prioritizing frame rate, 1080p Low is the choice. For users with 1440p displays, Medium is the maximum playable setting.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming the GPU is the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 86 at 1080p to 59 at 1440p (a 31% decrease) and then to 35 at 4K (a 41% decrease from 1440p, and a 59% decrease from 1080p). At Medium settings, the drop is from 66 to 45 (32%) and then to 26 (42%). At High, it drops from 50 to 34 (32%) and then to 20 (41%). At Ultra, it drops from 48 to 33 (31%) and then to 19 (42%).

The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU is scaling uniformly with resolution, which is typical of a fill-rate-bound scenario. The Arc B390 has 24 ROPs and a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s, which means the number of pixels rendered per second is fixed. As resolution increases, the number of pixels grows, and the GPU cannot keep up.

The CPU's role in resolution scaling is minimal. The Core Ultra 5 245 has a PassMark single-thread score of 4394 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, which are strong. The CPU can deliver frames faster than the GPU can render them at any resolution, so the FPS drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU's pixel throughput limitations.

The 1080p to 1440p drop averages around 32% across all settings, and the 1440p to 4K drop averages around 41%. This accelerating decline is characteristic of a GPU that struggles with resolution scaling. The system-shared memory configuration may also contribute, as bandwidth contention increases at higher resolutions.

The practical takeaway is that this combo is a 1080p solution. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 66 FPS, which is a solid gaming experience. At 1440p, only Low settings (59 FPS) approach playable performance, and at 4K, no setting is viable. The data clearly shows that upgrading the GPU would provide the largest performance gain in Thief, as the CPU has ample headroom to support a much faster graphics card.