Thief

# Thief with Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The data for Thief with this Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination reveals a system that delivers strong performance across all tested resolutions, with the game clearly scaling from 1080p through 1440p to 4K. The measured FPS numbers show a setup that can push well beyond 200 frames per second at lower settings, yet still maintains playable frame rates at 4K Ultra, making it a versatile pairing for this 2014 stealth title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this system. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 230 FPS average, while at 1440p Low it drops to 203 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 120 FPS. That is a 47.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which strongly suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, has plenty of headroom at lower resolutions where the game's draw calls and physics are less demanding on the graphics card.

Looking at the High setting specifically, the scaling is even more revealing. At 1080p High, the system achieves 172 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 118 FPS (a 31.4% decrease); and at 4K High, it falls to 70 FPS (a 59.3% decrease from 1080p). This pattern of diminishing returns as resolution climbs indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti's pixel throughput is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, not the processor. The GPU's 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate and 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate are being pushed harder with each pixel count increase.

The Ultra settings tell a similar story. From 164 FPS at 1080p to 113 FPS at 1440p (a 31.1% drop) and then to 66 FPS at 4K (a 59.8% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across High and Ultra settings suggests that the game's rendering pipeline at these settings is heavily GPU-bound, with the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth being taxed more severely as resolution and settings both increase. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is doing more of the work, while at 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this particular CPU-GPU combination ranks 148th out of 2,851 tested combos for Thief, placing it in the top 5.2% of all configurations. This high ranking indicates that the pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with the RTX 4070 Ti is well-balanced for this game, delivering frame rates that place it near the top of the tested field. The rank number alone, however, does not tell the full story; the context of the measured FPS data across resolutions shows that this combo excels particularly at 1080p and 1440p, where the CPU's multi-threaded performance can be fully utilized.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 93 out of 100 for all CPUs reinforces that this processor is in the upper echelon of desktop chips. Its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark data include the AMD EPYC 4464P (with a -0.3% deltaPct), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (0.3% deltaPct), and the AMD EPYC 7343 (0.7% deltaPct). These small deltaPct values indicate that the Core Ultra 7 265 is positioned right at the top of its performance tier, within a fraction of a percent of its closest competitors. This CPU strength helps explain why the combo ranks so well in Thief, a game that can benefit from strong single-thread performance for game logic and multi-thread performance for asset streaming.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4070 Ti holds an 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (-0.8% deltaPct), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (-1.3% deltaPct), and the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (1.6% deltaPct). The fact that the GPU ranks slightly lower than the CPU in percentile terms, combined with the resolution scaling data, suggests that while both components are strong, the GPU is the more likely bottleneck when pushing to 4K in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, plays a critical role in this game's performance. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is essential for handling Thief's textures and geometry at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system still manages 66 FPS average, which is respectable for a game from 2014, but the significant drops from 1080p to 4K at every settings level indicate that the GPU's memory subsystem and compute resources are being pushed to their limits.

The GPU's clock speeds — a base of 2310 MHz and a boost of 2610 MHz — contribute to its 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. This raw compute power is evident in the benchmark results: the GPU scores 31,624 in Passmark G3D and 5024 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. These scores, along with the 84th percentile ranking, place the RTX 4070 Ti as a high-end card that can handle modern titles but shows its age when confronted with the demands of 4K gaming in certain scenarios. The 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores on this GPU are not heavily utilized by Thief, which was released before ray tracing became mainstream, so the game relies primarily on the rasterization performance of the 7,680 shading units.

The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the FPS numbers remain high, but at 4K, the data suggests the GPU is working much harder. The fact that at 4K Low the combo still achieves 120 FPS average shows that even when settings are reduced, the pixel count alone is enough to put significant load on the GPU. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 240 TMUs are being utilized effectively, but the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K indicates that the card cannot maintain the same level of performance as resolution increases, which is expected given the 192-bit memory bus.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 230 FPS, Medium yields 208 FPS with a minimum of 177 and maximum of 240, High achieves 172 FPS, and Ultra drops to 164 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 66 FPS, a 28.7% reduction, which shows that even at the highest settings, the system has ample headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium setting's min FPS of 177 and max FPS of 240 indicate good frame pacing with no severe dips.

Moving to 1440p, the performance remains strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings yield 203 FPS average, Medium produces 155 FPS (with min 132 and max 179), High reaches 118 FPS, and Ultra drops to 113 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is 37 FPS, which is larger than the 36 FPS gap between High and Ultra. This suggests that the transition from Medium to High settings introduces more GPU-intensive effects that impact frame rates more significantly at higher resolutions. The 1440p Medium data shows a min FPS of 132, which is still well above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay.

At 4K, the system's performance is more moderate but still playable. Low settings deliver 120 FPS average, Medium drops to 91 FPS (with min 78 and max 105), High falls to 70 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 66 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 54 FPS, a 45% reduction, which is the most severe across all resolutions. The 4K Medium data is particularly interesting: the min FPS of 78 and max FPS of 105 show a 27 FPS range, indicating more variable performance at this resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, making it viable for gamers who prioritize visual fidelity over extreme frame rates.

FAQ

Q: How does the system perform at 1080p Ultra in Thief?

A: The combo achieves an average of 164 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is 66 FPS lower than at 1080p Low (230 FPS). This indicates that even at the highest settings, the system provides a very smooth experience on standard 1080p displays.

Q: What is the largest frame rate drop between settings at the same resolution?

A: At 4K, the difference between Low (120 FPS) and Ultra (66 FPS) is 54 FPS, a 45% reduction. This is the largest drop across all resolutions, showing that the GPU is most stressed at 4K with high settings.

Q: Is the system capable of 4K gaming in Thief?

A: Yes, at 4K Ultra the system delivers 66 FPS average, and at 4K High it reaches 70 FPS. Both are above the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K gaming viable, though with less headroom compared to 1080p and 1440p.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64,640, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823) and 0.7% lower than the AMD EPYC 7343 (64,202). It is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1440p Medium and 4K Medium?

A: At 1440p Medium, the system achieves 155 FPS average, while at 4K Medium it drops to 91 FPS. This represents a 64 FPS decrease, or a 41.3% reduction, when moving from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44,795, which is 0.8% higher than the RTX 5090 Mobile (45,152) and 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384). It is 1.6% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44,075).

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium settings preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system produces 208 FPS average with a minimum of 177 FPS, ensuring no noticeable stuttering. The 1440p Medium result of 155 FPS (min 132, max 179) provides excellent performance for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 4K Medium, the 91 FPS average with a minimum of 78 FPS keeps the experience smooth and well above the 60 FPS standard.

For gamers with 1080p displays, Ultra settings at 164 FPS are perfectly viable and offer the best visual quality without sacrificing playability. The difference between High (172 FPS) and Ultra (164 FPS) at 1080p is only 8 FPS, so choosing Ultra delivers a modest visual improvement at a minimal performance cost. At 1440p, the choice between High (118 FPS) and Ultra (113 FPS) is similarly close, with only 5 FPS separating them, making Ultra a reasonable option for those who prioritize image quality.

At 4K, the data suggests that Medium settings (91 FPS) provide the best experience, as they offer a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while still delivering good visual fidelity. High settings at 4K (70 FPS) and Ultra (66 FPS) are playable but leave less headroom for demanding scenes. Low settings at any resolution provide the highest frame rates — 230 FPS at 1080p, 203 FPS at 1440p, and 120 FPS at 4K — but the visual downgrade is significant, making this preset more suitable for competitive play or very high refresh rate displays. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, balancing visual quality with performance headroom across all tested resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, plays a crucial role in this game's performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 3 MB help reduce memory latency, which benefits game logic and asset streaming in Thief. The processor's boost clock of 5.30 GHz provides strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960, which is essential for the game's main thread and AI calculations in this stealth title.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are demonstrated by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216 and Passmark multi-thread score of 49,682. These results indicate that the processor can handle the parallel workloads that Thief presents, such as physics calculations and rendering scene management. The 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck, which is particularly important at 1080p where the data shows the CPU has more influence on frame rates.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs places it well above the RTX 4070 Ti's 84th percentile GPU ranking. This disparity suggests that the CPU has more headroom than the GPU in this pairing, which is consistent with the resolution scaling data showing the GPU becoming the limiting factor at 4K. The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals — all within 0.7% deltaPct — shows that it is a top-tier processor for gaming, even though it is not unlocked for overclocking. The 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node from TSMC indicate that this processor achieves its high performance with impressive efficiency, making it a suitable match for the RTX 4070 Ti in this game.