Thief

# Thief Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The benchmark data for Thief with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti shows a system capable of delivering high frame rates across all tested settings, with the most balanced experience appearing at 1440p High where the average of 118 FPS comfortably exceeds typical display refresh rates while maintaining visual fidelity. The combination ranks 165th out of 2,851 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the top percentile of configurations. The measured results reveal a consistent pattern: the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to feed frames at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this configuration in Thief shows a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 225 FPS on Low, 203 FPS on Medium, 172 FPS on High, and 164 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium costs only 22 FPS (a drop of roughly 9.8%), while the jump from Medium to High costs 31 FPS (a drop of about 15.3%), and from High to Ultra costs just 8 additional FPS (a drop of 4.7%). This pattern suggests diminishing returns in the jump from Medium to High, but the relative efficiency of moving from High to Ultra makes the latter more appealing for users wanting maximum visual quality without a proportional performance penalty.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 198 FPS on Low, 155 FPS on Medium, 118 FPS on High, and 113 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Medium and High widens to 37 FPS (a 23.9% reduction), while High to Ultra remains modest at 5 FPS (a 4.2% reduction). The 1440p High preset delivers 118 FPS, which is still well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on most high-refresh monitors. For 3840x2160, the results are 120 FPS on Low, 91 FPS on Medium, 70 FPS on High, and 66 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K offers 91 FPS, which is a reasonable compromise, while High and Ultra dip below the 72 FPS mark that some users consider minimum for premium experiences.

The data indicates that High settings at 1440p provide the best balance of visual quality and performance, with 118 FPS leaving headroom for demanding scenes. At 1080p, Ultra at 164 FPS is the recommended choice because the performance cost from High is minimal. At 4K, Medium at 91 FPS is the pragmatic option, as the jump to High only adds 21 FPS of cost for what may be marginal visual gains. The Medium preset across all resolutions shows the most consistent performance scaling, with minimum FPS values recorded at 173 for 1080p, 132 for 1440p, and 78 for 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It carries 12 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s and a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU operates at a base clock of 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz. Its 7,680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines deliver a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 40.09 TFLOPS.

In Thief, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, frame rates range from 164 FPS on Ultra to 225 FPS on Low, indicating that the GPU is not fully saturated. At 1440p, the range narrows to 113–198 FPS, and at 4K it tightens further to 66–120 FPS. The 4K Low preset at 120 FPS shows the GPU still has capacity, but the 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS reveals the limits of the 12 GB frame buffer and the memory bandwidth under heavy load. The RTX 4070 Ti's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs is consistent with its performance in this title, where it sits near rivals like the RTX 5090 Mobile (which has a deltaPct of -0.8% in average GPU benchmarks) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (deltaPct -1.3%).

The 285 mm dual-slot card with a 16-pin power connector and a suggested 600 W power supply is a capable solution for 1440p gaming, as the measured 118 FPS average on High settings demonstrates. The GPU's 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but play no direct role in Thief's rasterized rendering, as the game's release in 2014 predates hardware ray tracing. The 80 ROPs are likely the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 66 FPS average suggests the fill rate is being taxed heavily.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K across all settings shows the expected pattern of decreasing frame rates as pixel count increases. On Low settings, the average drops from 225 FPS at 1080p to 198 FPS at 1440p (a 12% reduction) and then to 120 FPS at 4K (a 39.4% reduction from 1440p). On Medium, the progression is 203 FPS, 155 FPS, and 91 FPS, with the 1440p to 4K drop being 41.3%. High settings go from 172 FPS to 118 FPS to 70 FPS, with the 4K reduction at 40.7%. Ultra goes from 164 FPS to 113 FPS to 66 FPS, with a 41.6% drop from 1440p to 4K.

The consistency of the 4K penalty across settings—roughly 40% reduction from 1440p—indicates that the limiting component is the GPU. The RTX 4070 Ti's 504.2 GB/s bandwidth and 12 GB frame buffer are being saturated at 4K, regardless of the preset complexity. At 1080p, the frame rates above 164 FPS suggest that the CPU, with its 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock, is capable of feeding the GPU without bottlenecking, as the 3.50 GHz base clock and 24 MB of L3 cache provide sufficient single-thread performance for a 2014 title.

The 4K Medium result of 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS shows the GPU can still maintain playable frame rates at this resolution, but the 4K High and Ultra results of 70 FPS and 66 FPS, respectively, fall below the 72 FPS threshold that some users consider smooth. The scaling from 1080p Medium (203 FPS) to 1440p Medium (155 FPS) shows a 23.6% reduction, which is less severe than the 4K drops, reinforcing that 1440p is the sweet spot for this GPU in Thief.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 165th out of 2,851 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations. This rank is driven primarily by the GPU's strong performance, as the RTX 4070 Ti's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs and 44,795 average benchmark score place it well above the median. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48,995, further supports the system's overall standing.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average score of 48,995, which is within 0.8% of the Intel Core i5-14600K (score 48,618, deltaPct 0.8%), within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (score 49,228, deltaPct -0.5%), and within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (score 49,196, deltaPct -0.4%). The close margins indicate that the CPU's performance is essentially at parity with these competitors in synthetic benchmarks, though its 14 cores and 14 threads are configured without hyperthreading, which is a notable design choice. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,924 and single-core score of 4,648 demonstrate solid all-around capability.

The GPU's nearest rivals show similar clustering: the RTX 4070 Ti's average score of 44,795 is within 1.7% of the Intel Arc A730M (score 45,592, deltaPct -1.7%), within 1.3% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (score 45,384, deltaPct -1.3%), within 0.8% of the RTX 5090 Mobile (score 45,152, deltaPct -0.8%), and within 1.6% of the RTX A6000 (score 44,075, deltaPct 1.6%). The 165th rank out of 2,851 combos suggests that this pairing is well-matched for Thief, as the measured frame rates at 1440p High (118 FPS) are competitive with what similar configurations would achieve.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the optimal resolution, with High settings delivering 118 FPS average and Ultra delivering 113 FPS. The 1080p results exceed 164 FPS on all settings, but the visual fidelity gains at 1440p are substantial for the 46–54 FPS cost.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti perform at 4K in Thief?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 120 FPS on Low, 91 FPS on Medium, 70 FPS on High, and 66 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset is the only 4K option that stays above 90 FPS, while Ultra falls below 72 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a bottleneck in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 1080p, frame rates reach 225 FPS on Low and 164 FPS on Ultra, showing the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently. The CPU's 5.10 GHz boost clock and 24 MB L3 cache provide adequate single-thread performance for this 2014 title.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the difference is 8 FPS (172 vs 164). At 1440p, it is 5 FPS (118 vs 113). At 4K, it is 4 FPS (70 vs 66). The Ultra preset costs minimal performance relative to High across all resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 165th out of 2,851 tested combos in Thief. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU ranks in the 84th percentile among all GPUs.

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

A: The Medium preset has recorded minimums of 173 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. These are the only settings with min FPS data in the measured results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are 225 FPS on Low, 203 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 173 FPS and maximum of 234 FPS, 172 FPS on High, and 164 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show the system is heavily GPU-bound at lower settings, with the Low preset achieving 225 FPS—well above any display refresh rate commonly available. The Medium preset's range of 173 to 234 FPS indicates some scene-to-scene variance, but the average of 203 FPS remains smooth. The step from Medium to High reduces the average by 31 FPS, while High to Ultra reduces it by only 8 FPS, suggesting that Ultra at 1080p is a worthwhile upgrade for visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 198 FPS on Low, 155 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 132 FPS and maximum of 179 FPS, 118 FPS on High, and 113 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Medium preset's 155 FPS average is still exceptionally high, while High at 118 FPS offers a better balance of visual fidelity and speed. The 5 FPS difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is negligible, making Ultra the clear choice for users who want maximum settings without sacrificing playability. The Low preset at 198 FPS demonstrates that the CPU is not limiting at this resolution either.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 120 FPS on Low, 91 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 78 FPS and maximum of 105 FPS, 70 FPS on High, and 66 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low preset at 120 FPS is impressive, but the Medium preset at 91 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS is the recommended option for maintaining smooth gameplay. The High preset at 70 FPS and Ultra at 66 FPS both fall below the 72 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU's 12 GB frame buffer and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed at this resolution. The Medium preset's range of 78 to 105 FPS shows that even with demanding scenes, the system stays playable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process node by TSMC. It features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. It has 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and an integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU, though the discrete GPU handles all rendering in this test.

In Thief, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates without bottlenecking the GPU. The measured results at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, show frame rates up to 225 FPS on Low settings. This indicates the CPU can sustain high instruction throughput, likely due to its 5.10 GHz boost clock and the single-thread performance reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,648. The CPU's 14 threads, while not offering hyperthreading, are sufficient for a 2014 game that was designed for older multi-core processors. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,394 and multithread score of 38,706 reinforce that both single-thread and multi-thread performance are strong.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 90th among all CPUs places it well above average, and its average benchmark score of 48,995 is within 0.8% of the Intel Core i5-14600K, a popular mid-range option. The Cinebench R20 scores of 13,828 multi-core and 1,952 single-core further demonstrate its capability. For Thief, the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution tested—the frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU-bound scaling, not CPU limitations. The 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node make it an efficient choice, though the socket 1851 requirement and DDR5-only memory support are considerations for platform compatibility.