Thief

# Thief: Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + Intel Arc B570 — Benchmark Analysis

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that remains demanding at higher settings. Across the measured 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, the combo shows a clear pattern: the Arc B570's 10 GB VRAM and 2500 MHz boost clock handle the game's geometry and textures well at lower presets, but Ultra settings push frame rates below comfortable thresholds at every resolution. The data indicates this pairing is best suited for 1080p Medium or 1440p Low/Medium gameplay, with 4K reserved for Low settings only.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Thief?

A: The best measured result is 133 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration exceeding 120 FPS in the dataset.

Q: Can this combo run Thief at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which yields 54 FPS average. At Medium, the average drops to 41 FPS (with a 35 FPS minimum), and at High and Ultra, averages fall to 31 FPS and 29 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High averages 53 FPS, while Ultra averages 50 FPS. The 3 FPS difference is modest, but Ultra's lower frame rate approaches the 50 FPS threshold, making High the safer choice for consistent performance.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 86 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum drops to 59 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 35 FPS.

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

A: The combination ranks 2296 out of 2851 tested combos, placing it in the lower half of the database. This indicates that while playable, the pairing is not a top performer for this specific game.

Q: Is the Arc B570's VRAM a limiting factor in Thief?

A: The 10 GB GDDR6 VRAM with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is not explicitly flagged as a bottleneck in the data. The FPS drops from Low to Ultra at each resolution suggest GPU compute limits rather than VRAM capacity issues, as the game scales predictably with preset changes.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the primary driver of Thief's frame rate outcomes. With a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, 2304 shading units, and 80 ROPs, the GPU's raw throughput dictates performance across all measured configurations. The 10 GB GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's 2014-era asset streaming at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows diminishing returns at 4K where the GPU's pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s becomes the limiting factor.

At 1920x1080, the GPU delivers a wide performance spread: 133 FPS at Low, 101 FPS at Medium, 77 FPS at High, and 73 FPS at Ultra. This 60 FPS range between Low and Ultra indicates that Thief's settings significantly affect GPU load. The B570's 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 compute capacity is evidently enough for Low and Medium presets at 1080p, but the gap between Medium (101 FPS) and High (77 FPS) suggests a steep increase in shader complexity or fill-rate demands at High.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU's workload scales predictably. Low yields 91 FPS, Medium 69 FPS, High 53 FPS, and Ultra 50 FPS. The 41 FPS drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution highlights how the B570's 80 ROPs handle the increased pixel count. At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles: Low produces 54 FPS, Medium 41 FPS, High 31 FPS, and Ultra 29 FPS. The 4K results show that the B570's texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s are insufficient for High and Ultra presets, where the game demands more than 30 FPS but barely delivers it.

The GPU's benchmark profile corroborates these findings. The PassMark G3D score of 14195 and PassMark DirectX 11 score of 118 indicate mid-range DirectX 11 performance, which aligns with Thief's engine requirements. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844 suggests strong API overhead handling, but Thief's reliance on older DirectX paths means the GPU's 12 Ultimate (12_2) capabilities are not fully utilized. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-tier, consistent with the observed FPS figures.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal presets balance frame rate stability with visual quality. At 1920x1080, Medium is the recommended preset. It delivers 101 FPS average with a minimum of 86 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without the 24 FPS penalty of High (77 FPS) or the 28 FPS penalty of Ultra (73 FPS). Low at 133 FPS is excessively fast for a stealth game, where consistent pacing matters more than raw speed, and the visual downgrade is unnecessary.

At 2560x1440, Low is the safest choice at 91 FPS, but Medium (69 FPS) offers a better balance if the player tolerates a 59 FPS minimum. High at 53 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 50 FPS risks dipping below 50 FPS in dense scenes. The data suggests Medium at 1440p provides the best trade-off: 69 FPS average is 36% faster than High, while maintaining a minimum above 55 FPS.

At 3840x2160, only Low is viable. The 54 FPS average is playable, but Medium (41 FPS) and High (31 FPS) fall below the 45-50 FPS threshold for smooth stealth gameplay. Ultra at 29 FPS is essentially unplayable. The 4K Low setting is the sole acceptable option, and even then, the 54 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

For the best overall experience, 1080p Medium or 1440p Low/Medium are the recommended presets. The 1080p Medium result (101 FPS) offers the highest frame rate with a minimum above 85 FPS, while 1440p Medium (69 FPS) provides higher resolution with acceptable stability. Players prioritizing visual fidelity over speed should choose 1440p High (53 FPS), but should accept occasional frame rate dips.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is measured. Low produces an average of 133 FPS, the highest in the dataset. Medium averages 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS. High averages 77 FPS, and Ultra averages 73 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium is a 32 FPS drop, Medium to High is a 24 FPS drop, and High to Ultra is a 4 FPS drop. This indicates that the largest performance cost occurs between Low and Medium, with diminishing penalties at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 91 FPS, a 42 FPS decrease from 1080p Low. Medium averages 69 FPS (minimum 59 FPS, maximum 79 FPS), High averages 53 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The resolution scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by approximately 32% at Low, 32% at Medium, 31% at High, and 32% at Ultra. This consistent scaling suggests the GPU is the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops proportionally with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 54 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS (minimum 35 FPS, maximum 47 FPS), High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The 4K results show a steeper drop: 1080p to 4K reduces performance by 59% at Low, 59% at Medium, 60% at High, and 60% at Ultra. This consistent 60% reduction across all presets confirms that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor, as the B570's 200.0 GPixel/s cannot keep pace with 4K pixel count.

The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings: 86 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that Medium preset maintains stable frame pacing, with the 4K minimum (35 FPS) being the only sub-40 FPS value. The absence of min/max data for other presets limits analysis, but the averages alone suggest that High and Ultra at 4K are marginal.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2296 out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the 20th percentile of all configurations. This low ranking reflects the GPU's mid-tier status rather than the CPU's capabilities. The Arc B570's 65th percentile among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 20556 (compared to rivals like the RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 and Arc A750 at 20582) indicate that the GPU is competitive with mid-range options, but Thief's engine demands more than this GPU can deliver at higher presets.

The combo's rank suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings outperform it in Thief. Given that the game launched in 2014, modern mid-range and high-end GPUs likely achieve significantly higher frame rates, especially at 1080p and 1440p. The B570's 10 GB VRAM and 380 GB/s bandwidth are not the issue; rather, the GPU's 11.52 TFLOPS compute and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate cap its performance in this title.

The CPU's contribution to the rank is likely minimal. The Core Ultra 5 245's benchmark scores — Cinebench R23 multi-core 32924, single-core 4648, and PassMark single-thread 4394 — are strong, and its 90th percentile among all CPUs suggests it does not bottleneck the GPU in Thief. The rank is therefore attributable to the GPU's limitations in this specific game, where Ultra settings at 1440p and above push the B570 beyond its comfort zone.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 plays a supporting role in Thief's performance. With 14 cores and 14 threads (no hyperthreading), the CPU provides ample parallel processing for the game's AI and physics systems. The 3.50 GHz base clock and 5.10 GHz boost clock deliver strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 and PassMark single-thread score of 4394. Thief, being a 2014 title, primarily relies on a few well-optimized threads, and the Ultra 5 245's fast cores handle this workload effectively.

The CPU's 24 MB shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR5 dual-channel) ensure that game assets and instructions are readily available to the cores. The PassMark physics score of 2569 and data compression score of 400942 indicate robust computational throughput, which is relevant for Thief's stealth AI and destructible environments. However, the CPU's 65W TDP and 3 nm process node (TSMC) suggest it operates efficiently, avoiding thermal throttling during extended gameplay.

The benchmark data shows the CPU is not a bottleneck at any measured resolution. At 1080p Low (133 FPS), the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the CPU would need to be exceptionally weak to cap frame rates at this level. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 48995 (nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49228 and Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49196) confirm it is a high-performance part.

In Thief, the CPU's role is to maintain consistent frame pacing and avoid drops in complex scenes. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU-induced stuttering, as the minimum FPS values for Medium settings (86 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p) are well above playable thresholds. The CPU's 14 threads may be underutilized in this older game, but its high single-thread performance ensures that the primary game thread runs efficiently, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent pattern across all settings. At Low, the frame rate drops from 133 FPS at 1080p to 91 FPS at 1440p (a 32% decrease) and 54 FPS at 4K (a 59% decrease from 1080p). At Medium, the drop is from 101 FPS to 69 FPS (32%) and 41 FPS (59%). At High, the drop is 77 FPS to 53 FPS (31%) and 31 FPS (60%). At Ultra, the drop is 73 FPS to 50 FPS (32%) and 29 FPS (60%).

This consistent 31-32% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and 59-60% decrease from 1080p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at all settings. The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p (2.07 million pixels) to 1440p (3.69 million), and by 300% from 1080p to 4K (8.29 million). If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS drops would be less than proportional to pixel count increases, as the CPU workload would remain constant. Instead, the FPS drops closely match the pixel count scaling, confirming GPU-bound performance.

The 4K results are particularly telling. At High and Ultra, the frame rates (31 FPS and 29 FPS) are below the 30 FPS threshold for playability, while Low (54 FPS) and Medium (41 FPS) remain playable. The Arc B570's 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate translates to roughly 24 million pixels per frame at 4K, but the GPU's shading and texture units (144 TMUs, 2304 shading units) are insufficient for high-quality settings at this resolution. The 380 GB/s memory bandwidth is not the limiting factor, as the FPS scaling is consistent across settings, suggesting compute-bound rather than bandwidth-bound performance.

The data shows that Thief's resolution scaling is predictable and GPU-dominated. Players seeking higher resolutions must reduce settings proportionally: 1080p Ultra (73 FPS) is comparable to 1440p High (53 FPS) and 4K Low (54 FPS). This scaling behavior is typical of a well-optimized game engine, but it also means the B570's performance ceiling in Thief is clearly defined at each resolution. For a smooth experience above 60 FPS, the combo is limited to 1080p Low/Medium or 1440p Low; for 4K, only Low settings approach playable frame rates.