Thief

The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet reveals a notable CPU limitation at 1080p. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a playable experience across all settings, but the scaling pattern indicates that the mobile processor is the primary bottleneck when the GPU's load is lightened.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but consistent with a high-end GPU being constrained by pixel throughput. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 138 FPS at 1920x1080 to 106 FPS at 2560x1440, a 23.2% reduction, and then further to 62 FPS at 3840x2160, a 55.1% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling curve is typical for a title where the rasterization load scales nearly linearly with pixel count.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story. The average FPS at 1080p is 135, dropping to 101 at 1440p and then collapsing to 59 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is only 43.7% of the 1080p Ultra figure, indicating that the RTX 5090's raw compute is being fully exercised at the highest resolution. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is a mere 3 FPS (62 vs. 59), suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are pushing the GPU to its absolute limit at 3840x2160.

What is more revealing is the scaling at the lower end. Moving from 1080p Low (168 FPS) to 1440p Low (148 FPS) only costs 11.9% performance, and 4K Low still manages 108 FPS. The relatively modest drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings implies that the CPU is beginning to cap the frame rate. If the GPU were the sole limiting factor, the pixel-count difference between these resolutions (2.25x) would produce a much larger FPS gap. The data shows that at Low settings, the system is likely hitting a CPU-imposed ceiling around 150-170 FPS.

The Medium preset provides the clearest evidence of this bottleneck. At 1080p, Medium averages 152 FPS, which is only 14 FPS higher than the High preset's 138 FPS. At 1440p, Medium hits 134 FPS, and at 4K it reaches 82 FPS. The min FPS values for Medium are telling: 129 at 1080p, 114 at 1440p, and 70 at 4K. These minimums scale more gracefully than the averages, suggesting that while the GPU handles frame pacing well, the CPU's thread scheduling creates occasional hitches that are more pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU can render frames faster than the processor can feed them.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory subsystem is critical for Thief at 4K, where the Ultra preset's high-resolution textures and effects demand substantial VRAM. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains a 59 FPS average, which indicates the GPU is not running out of memory, as a capacity shortfall would cause severe stuttering and frame drops, not a steady average.

The GPU's clock behavior is another factor. With a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, the RTX 5090 has a narrow boost window compared to previous generations. This means the card sustains high clocks under load without significant thermal throttling, which is reflected in the consistent frame rates across repeated benchmark runs. The 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is what drives the 4K Ultra result; this is a card designed for brute-force rasterization.

The benchmark scores for the GPU support its classification. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and the Passmark G3D score of 39650 place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the aggregate benchmark are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% higher average score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% higher). These are professional and mobile workstation parts, which underscores that the RTX 5090 is a top-tier consumer GPU, but its performance in Thief is not solely defined by these synthetic numbers.

The GTexel/s rate of 1,636.8 and the 176 ROPs are the specifications that matter for a game like Thief, which relies heavily on texture fill and pixel output. The 4K High result of 62 FPS versus 4K Low at 108 FPS shows that the GPU's fill rate is the limiting factor at high settings; the difference between Low and High is 74.2%, which is a massive jump in shading complexity. The Medium preset's 82 FPS at 4K sits neatly between these two, confirming a linear scaling of GPU workload with preset complexity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a mobile processor with 16 cores and 22 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial for a laptop chip, and the 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is adequate for feeding the RTX 5090. However, the benchmark results indicate that this CPU is not in the same performance class as the GPU.

The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15028 and single-core score of 1743 place the CPU in the 83rd percentile of all processors. Its nearest rivals in aggregate score are the Intel Core i5-14600T (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (0.1% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F (0.2% lower). The near-zero deltaPct values among these rivals indicate that the 155H is a mid-pack performer, not a flagship. The Passmark single-thread score of 3468 is respectable but not exceptional.

In Thief, this CPU limitation manifests most clearly at 1080p Low, where the average FPS of 168 is likely close to the processor's maximum frame delivery rate. The fact that 1080p High (138 FPS) is only 30 FPS lower than 1080p Low (168 FPS) suggests that the CPU can handle the game's simulation logic and draw calls, but the GPU's headroom at Low settings exposes the CPU's inability to push beyond roughly 170 FPS. The 22 threads are likely underutilized, as Thief does not scale perfectly across many cores; the single-core performance is what matters most for the game's main thread.

The CPU's TDP of 28 W is a critical constraint. This is a low-power mobile part, and while the boost clock of 4.80 GHz is decent, sustained all-core loads will cause the processor to settle at lower clocks. This explains why the 4K results are GPU-bound, but the 1080p results show a plateau. The CPU's Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2450 is modest, and the Passmark physics score of 1727 indicates that the CPU's integer and floating-point performance in game-like workloads is adequate but not exceptional.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 882nd out of 3720 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 23.7% of all systems. This is a strong result, but it is not top-tier. The rank is more a reflection of the GPU's dominance than the CPU's contribution; the RTX 5090's 92nd percentile GPU score pulls the combo upward, while the CPU's 83rd percentile drags it down.

The rank disparity between the two components is significant. If the CPU were able to fully feed the GPU at 1080p, the combo would likely rank higher, as the GPU would not be idling waiting for data. The 882nd rank out of 3720 means there are 2838 combos that perform worse, but also 881 that perform better. This places the system in a solidly upper-midrange position for this specific game, which is a 2014 title that does not heavily leverage modern multi-core CPUs.

The nearest rival combos would likely feature desktop CPUs with higher single-thread performance, which would allow the RTX 5090 to reach its full potential at lower resolutions. The data suggests that the combo is most competitive at 4K, where the GPU's workload dominates and the CPU's limitations are masked by the pixel throughput requirements. At 4K Ultra, the 59 FPS average is respectable, but a combo with a stronger CPU might push past 70 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system averages 168 FPS on Low, 152 FPS on Medium, 138 FPS on High, and 135 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset's min FPS is 129 and max is 175, indicating a variance of 46 FPS. These 1080p numbers are all above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the Low and Medium presets exceed the 144 Hz refresh rate common on gaming monitors.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 148 FPS on Low, 134 FPS on Medium, 106 FPS on High, and 101 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min of 114 and max of 154. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced on High settings, with a 23.2% reduction, while Low settings only see an 11.9% reduction. This confirms that the CPU is more of a factor at Low settings, where the GPU has less work to do.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 108 FPS on Low, 82 FPS on Medium, 62 FPS on High, and 59 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset records a min of 70 and max of 94. The 4K Low result is particularly strong, indicating that the RTX 5090's raw power can overcome the resolution penalty when the visual effects are minimized. The 4K High and Ultra results are close, with only a 3 FPS difference, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is as follows: at 1080p, Ultra is 19.6% slower than Low; at 1440p, Ultra is 31.8% slower; at 4K, Ultra is 45.4% slower. This widening gap with resolution increase is expected, as the GPU becomes the bottleneck and the preset differences in shading and texture work become more costly at higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Thief at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes. The data shows a 62 FPS average at 4K High and 59 FPS at 4K Ultra, both above the 60 FPS target for smooth play. 4K Low reaches 108 FPS, and 4K Medium averages 82 FPS.

Q: Why is the frame rate at 1080p Low not much higher than 1080p High?

A: The difference is 30 FPS (168 vs. 138), which is significant, but the scaling suggests a CPU limit. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H has a Passmark single-thread score of 3468, and the 28 W TDP limits sustained boost clocks. At Low settings, the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's memory configuration affect Thief's performance?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures that Thief's high-resolution textures at 4K Ultra do not cause memory capacity or bandwidth stutters. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 70, which is stable.

Q: What is the biggest performance bottleneck for this system?

A: At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as the RTX 5090's fill rate and compute limits the frame rate. At 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting component, as evidenced by the smaller FPS gap between Low and High presets compared to the gap between 1440p and 4K.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems in Thief?

A: It ranks 882nd out of 3720 combos, placing it in the top 23.7%. The GPU's 92nd percentile score is the primary driver, while the CPU's 83rd percentile holds the combo back from a higher rank.

Q: Is the CPU's core count important for this game?

A: Not particularly. The 16 cores and 22 threads are more than sufficient for Thief, but the game's main thread relies on single-core performance. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1743 is the more relevant metric than the multicore score of 15028.