Thief

Thief (released 2014) is a stealth game that remains a demanding test for modern hardware. The combination of an Intel Core Ultra 5 245 CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU produces measurable frame rates at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra presets. This report analyzes those measured framerates to determine where the system’s strengths and bottlenecks lie, and offers specific guidance on settings for different resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

Measured data shows how the frame rate drops as resolution climbs from 1920×1080 (Full HD) to 3840×2160 (4K UHD). The pattern varies slightly by preset, but the general trend is a substantial reduction at 4K that points to GPU-bound workload scaling.

For the High preset, the average frame rate at 1080p is 184 FPS. At 2560×1440 the average falls to 129 FPS, and at 3840×2160 it drops to 76 FPS. That means 1440p delivers about two-thirds of the 1080p performance, while 4K provides only a fraction of the 1080p count. The gap is even wider at the Ultra preset: the 1080p average is 179 FPS, 1440p gives 123 FPS, and 4K yields just 72 FPS.

Medium settings are smoother: 1080p yields 203 FPS, 1440p yields 169 FPS, and 4K gives 100 FPS. The minimum and maximum readings for Medium at 1080p are 173 and 234 FPS; at 1440p they are 144 and 195; at 4K they are 85 and 114. This indicates that the engine's frame pacing remains stable even when the resolution increases significantly.

Low settings produce the highest performance: 1080p has an average of 225 FPS, 1440p of 198 FPS, and 4K of 131 FPS. Notably, the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs slightly less than the jump from 1440p to 4K in all cases. For instance, at High, the drop from 184 to 129 is 55 FPS, and from 129 to 76 is 53 FPS. This near-equal step suggests that the GPU’s fillrate and memory bandwidth become the primary limiting factor at 1440p and above, while the CPU can still cover the demand at 1080p.

Thus, the data indicates a CPU-bound territory at 1080p and a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. For a game released in early 2014, this is typical behavior—the engine places moderate absolute load on the processor, but at 4K the pixel pipeline dominates the frame time.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and produced on a TSMC 5 nm process. It contains 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, plus 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores. The chip’s base clock is 2205 MHz and boost clock is 2505 MHz. The memory subsystem uses 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit memory bus, with a peak bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. Effective memory speed is 22.4 Gbps.

In terms of raw compute, the GPU reaches 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance, which underpins the frame rates seen in Thief. Its benchmark percentile is 86%, placing it well above a typical GPU on this site’s metrics. The nearest rivals in the GPU database are the Ada-based RTX 4080 SUPER (deltaPct 0.1%), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (deltaPct -1.1%), the RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (deltaPct -2.6%), and the Radeon 8060S (deltaPct -2.7%). With such a close ranking to the RTX 4080 SUPER, the margin between these cards is essentially negligible within virtual any margin of error.

During the measured runs, the GPU demonstrates a wide frame ceiling. At 1080p, the low preset yields 225 FPS, and even the Ultra preset remains above the 170 area. However, at 1440p and 4K the capacity of the GPU begins to dictate the results. The difference between the Low and High presets at 4K is from 131 FPS to 76 FPS, a reduction that reflects the engine’s updating of draw calls, shading and memory traffic.

The 16 GB VRAM appears more than sufficient for a 2014 title, because none of the measured presets show signs of frame stutter or texture-pop that would indicate a memory bottleneck. The RTX 4080’s high bandwidth and capacity provide ample headroom for Thief’s environments, which are detailed but not exceptionally heavy on modern texture assets. This lets the user run the game at maximum quality with no concern for VRAM pressure.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined CPU and GPU setup earns a combo rank of 117 out of 3,720 recorded combinations for this game. That means the combination is only 116,859 behind the very best tested configuration, placing it in the top fraction of all tested pairs. This rank reflects the balanced strengths of both components. The CPU’s average benchmark score, relative to all CPUs, is in the 90th percentile, while the GPU is in the 86th percentile. When combined, they achieve a measured ranking that is better than either one's percentile alone, suggesting they are well matched for a release aimed at high-frame-rate 1080p and workable performance at lower resolutions.

Geographically, the combo's placement is not surprising given that both parts are near the top of the test pool. The rank also indicates that Thief is not particularly sensitive to the chip’s 14-core / 14-thread configuration; many other higher-core processors might not provide a large advantage because the game does not heavily utilize all threads. The RTX 4080’s compute power and memory subsystem are the key contributors to that high rank.

FAQ

Q: Which preset offers the highest average FPS at 1080p?

A: The Low preset achieves an average of 225 FPS, the Medium preset yields 203 FPS, High yields 184, and Ultra yields 179. So Low gives the absolute highest average frame rate at 1920×1080.

Q: Is the system capable of running Thief at 4K with Ultra quality?

A: Yes, the measured ultra preset at 3840×2160 produces an average of 72 FPS. While not as high as the 1080p results, it remains a fully playable frame rate for a stealth action game.

Q: How much slower is the Medium preset compared to Low at 4K?

A: At 3840×2160, Low averages 131 FPS and Medium averages 100 FPS. The difference is 31 FPS, still a clear gap, but both remain comfortable for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the performance delta between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560×1440, High averages 129 FPS and Ultra averages 123 FPS, a difference of just six FPS. The high quality visual fidelity does not incur a large frame cost at that resolution.

Q: Does the 16 GB of VRAM in the RTX 4080 become a limitation in Thief?

A: No. Across all resolutions and presets, the measured frame rates do not indicate any memory or cache induced frames. The 16 GB capacity is far beyond the demands of the 2018 game, leaving headroom for unnecessary performance.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p and 4K at the High preset?

A: 1080p yields 184 FPS, 1440p yields 129 FPS, and 4K yields 76 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial at 76 FPS, but the frame rate still stays playable.

Settings Recommendations

Given the recorded frame rate data, the optimal setting depends on the target resolution. Here is a practical per‑resolution recommendation aimed at a smooth experience without sacrificing visual quality.

• 1080p (1920×1080): For a high refresh-rate, the Ultra preset is recommended. It averages 179 FPS, with only a small sacrifice versus the High preset (184 FPS). The Low and Medium presets are higher (225 and 203 FPS respectively), but those come with reduced visual details. If absolute-smoothness is needed and the hardware refresh rate is above 200 Hz, Low provides the headroom, but most users will prefer Ultra and will still see a locked 120 FPS.

• 1440p (2560×1440): Here the High preset is the sweet spot. It executes a 129 FPS average and keeps the visual quality high. The Ultra setting lowers to 123 FPS, only slightly lower, but the improvement in shadow and texture quality is marginal. Medium provides a considerable gain to 169 FPS if you prefer run-and-dribble smoothness over the extra effects; but High is the best risk‑/reward. The Low preset (198 FPS) is also available for those who want the highest refresh possible.

• 4K (3840×2160): Medium or Low is the recommended setting. The Medium preset delivers a solid 100 FPS average (85 min / 114 max), which fully matches a 60‑60‑Hz display. High is at 76 FPS and Ultra only 72 – still playable, but not as fluid. Low maximize the average at 131 FPS, but it tends to reduce the visual fidelity to unacceptable level for a 4K player. Thus, choosing Medium keeps the visual and smoothness.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a fresh‑ for 2025 processor built on the Arrow Lake‑S architecture. It features 14 cores and 14 threads, which is a parallel section without simultaneous multi‑threading (SMT). The base clock is 3.50 GHz, topping 5.10 GHz under boost. The chip has a 65 W TDP, which is surprisingly low for the performance. The L3 cache is 24 MB shared, which is a moderate size for the target CPU class.

In multi‑core benchmarks, the processor reaches 32,924 points in Cinebench R23 multi‑core and 13,828 in R20. The single‑core score is 4,648, which is a solid strong result that directly affects games that rely on one or two threads. The nearby rivals in the CPU rankings include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (avg score 49,196, deltaPct -0.4%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (avg 49,228, deltaPct -0.5%), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (avg 48,968, deltaPct +0.6%), and the Intel Core i5-14600K (avg 48,618, deltaPct +0.8%). These are nearly identical in average score, meaning the Ultra 5 245 is within a small margin of half a dozen highly-regarded chips.

In Thief, the CPU’s role is primarily to deliver metadata for the game’s AI and physics. Because a 2014 title, it does not rely heavily on multiple threads. The measured average FPS at 1080p near with Low preset (225 FPS) shows that the processor is not a bottleneck for high frame rates. Even with a stronger GPU, the system would likely still hit close to 180–200 FPS if the GPU were not the first constraint at 1080p. When resolution rises to 1440p and 4K, the load is transferred to the GPU after, and the excess CPU follow is ready.

The 14 threads are not a disadvantage because the majority of game between core usage is low, but the boost clock of 5.10 GHz provides excellent single‑thread performance. This is evidenced by the 184 on High at 1080p – a setting that would be limited by any processor with a lower IPC or slower clock. The substantial L2 cache (3 MB per core) also reduces memory traffic in repetitive tasks, though Thief is not a cache-heavy engine.

In summary, the core relationship between CPU and GPU in this pairing shows a balanced system. The CPU never becomes the reason for the frame rate falling below the 100 FPS mark on a High and the GPU handles the big pixel counts without being choked by the CPU. The measured data confirms that the Core Ultra 5 245 plus RTX 4080 is a coherent hi‑performance platform for Thief and general desktop use.